4. • 190 tons of highly
radioactive uranium and
graphite were expelled
into the atmosphere
through a radioactive
fire that burned for 10
days.
• Radioactive material was
carried by the wind and
rain into large areas of
Belarus, Russia, and
Ukraine. The result was
an international
ecological, medical, and
economic calamity.
7. • “Liquidators”
– These were firemen who helped
put out the fires and helped clean
up the radiation
– Most did not realize the dangers
of radiation.
– Many later died from radiation,
because they didn’t wear
protection.
– An estimated 8,000-20,000 to
date have died (20% from
suicide)
• Robots
– United States supplied
– Specifically designed to enter
reactor core and help build the
sarcophagus
The Clean Up
8. Medical Impact
* Over 70% of the radiation
fell on the people of
Belarus. They have been
exposed to radioactivity 90
times greater than that
released by the Hiroshima
bomb – the highest known
exposure to radiation in the
history of the atomic age.
9. Medical Impact (cont.)
• * Kofi Annan,
Secretary General for
the United Nations,
said in 2001 that the
legacy of Chernobyl
will be with us, and
our descendants, for
generations to come.
At least 3 million
children require
physical treatment,
and not until 2016 will
we know the full
11. The Chernobyl disaster on the
health of their people:
• Children were much more
affected by Chernobyl and
the radiation, due to their
weaker immune systems.
– 100% increase in the
incidence of cancer and
leukemia
– 250% increase in birth
deformities
– 1,000% increase in suicide in
the contaminated zones
12. –“Chernobyl AIDS”--the term
doctors are using to describe
illnesses associated with the
damage done to the immune
system. Chernobyl Heart
Documentary
13. Environmental Impact
* Almost 400,000
people –
environmental
refugees have been
forced to leave their
homes as a result of
the explosion.
* Over 2,000 towns
and villages were
bulldozed to the
ground following the
accident.
14. Other problems…
• Food & Water
– Milk—Farmers have to watch
the radiation level in milk.
– Fish—Cannot be eaten, as
water absorbs radiation and
fats concentrate it
– Radioactive Floods every spring
• Many animals are dying as
well from the radiation
• Lives ruined
– Suicide and depression
– Even healthy people were
traumatized
15. * 25% of prime Belarussian farmland
and forests will remain dangerously
contaminated for the next 25,000
years.
* The food and water supply is
continually contaminated by rainfall
and the movement of radioactive
dust.
* 97% of the radioactive material from
the Chernobyl plant remains inside
the crumbling sarcophagus.
* According to a 2003 report by the
Russian Atomic Energy Minister,
Alexander Rumyantsev, "the concrete
shell surrounding the Chernobyl
nuclear reactor is in real danger of
collapsing at any time."
16. Living in the contaminated
zone in Belarus today…
• People must change their clothes twice a day, and may
not walk in the woods for more than two hours a month.
• Radiation level charts are printed in the newspapers and
dictate decisions such as whether children can be allowed
out to play.
• People are told to wash food at least five times in clean
water, but nobody is told where this clean water is to be
found.
• Most people find it impossible to follow these nearly
impossible instructions, so they simply give up trying.
• There are also housing shortages in Belarus and the rest
of the ex-Soviet Union. This is a problem because people
have a hard time moving out of the contaminated zone,
since there are no other places to live.
17. Chernobyl Today
•The plant has been shut down by
Ukraine.
(Dec. 2000)
•The cement sarcophagus build to
contain spreading is falling apart,
due to the quick emergency
construction of it.
•The UN estimates that up to 9
million people have been affected
directly or indirectly by the fallout.
•The full consequences will not be
seen for at least another 50 years.
