Chernobyl disaster

From Environment & Energy Wiki

Contents 1 Description 2 Detailed description 2.1 Assessing the disaster's effects on human health 3 Nuclear Safety 4 References

Description

The following information is an edited excerpt from Wikipedia^[1]

On 26 April 1986 at 01:23:44 a.m. (UTC+3) reactor number four at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant located in the Soviet Union near Pripyat in Ukraine exploded. Further explosions and the resulting fire sent a plume of highly radioactive fallout into the atmosphere and over an extensive geographical area. The plume drifted over all the parts of the western Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Northern Europe, and eastern North America. Large areas in Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia were badly contaminated, resulting in the evacuation and resettlement of over 336,000 people. According to official post-Soviet data,[1] about 60% of the radioactive fallout landed in Belarus.

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Detailed description

For a full detailed assessment of the disaster, please refer to the Wikipedia site referred to above. In this article, only some very basic details and a discussion on the long-term effects are given.

It is almost without doubt that the nuclear reactor at Chernobyl was a Generation I one of poor design, with some neglected safety measures. It happened because of an uncontrolled experiment that should never have taken place. Had the reactor been correctly designed, it would not have happened.

Unfortunately, the political fallout from this accident has been much worse than the radioactive fallout. Eco-political organisations have used it as an argument against the exploitation of all nuclear activities. It is probable that the argument is a very valid concerning similar reactors and many of them have been correctly close down as a result. Nevertheless, the argument is also applied to modern reactors where this kind of accident would be impossible. The latest reactors of Generation III a. It is therefore unfair to compare the modern nuclear power station with Chernobyl.

The following information is an edited excerpt from Wikipedia^[2]

Assessing the disaster's effects on human health

An international assessment of the health effects of the Chernobyl accident is contained in a series of reports by the United Nations Scientific Committee of the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR).^[3] UNSCEAR was set up as a collaboration between various UN bodies, including the World Health Organisation, after the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to assess the long-term effects of radiation on human health.

UNSCEAR has conducted 20 years of detailed scientific and epidemiological research on the effects of the Chernobyl accident. Apart from the 57 direct deaths in the accident itself, UNSCEAR originally predicted up to 4,000 additional cancer cases due to the accident,^[4] however the latest UNSCEAR reports insinuate that these estimates were overstated.^[5] In addition, the IAEA states that there has been no increase in the rate of birth defects or abnormalities, or solid cancers (such as lung cancer) corroborating UNSCEAR's assessments.^[6]

Precisely, UNSCEAR states:

"Among the residents of Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine there had been, up to 2002, about 4,000 cases of thyroid cancer reported in children and adolescents who were exposed at the time of the accident, and more cases are be expected during the next decades. Notwithstanding problems associated with screening, many of those cancers were most likely caused by radiation exposures shortly after the accident. Apart from this increase, there is no evidence of a major public health impact attributable to radiation exposure 20 years after the accident. There is no scientific evidence of increases in overall cancer incidence or mortality rates or in rates of non-malignant disorders that could be related to radiation exposure. The risk of leukaemia in the general population, one of the main concerns owing to its short latency time, does not appear to be elevated. Although those most highly exposed individuals are at an increased risk of radiation-associated effects, the great majority of the population is not likely to experience serious health consequences as a result of radiation from the Chernobyl accident. Many other health problems have been noted in the populations that are not related to radiation exposure."^[7]

Thyroid cancer is generally treatable.^[8] The five year survival rate of thyroid cancer is 96%, and 92% after 30 years, with proper treatment.^[9]

"The Chernobyl Forum"^[10] is a regular meeting of IAEA, other United Nations organizations (FAO, UN-OCHA, UNDP, UNEP, UNSCEAR, WHO and The World Bank) and the governments of Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine, which issues regular assessments of the evidence for health effects of the Chernobyl accident.

"The Chernobyl Forum" has concluded that a greater risk than the long-term effects of radiation exposure, is the risk to mental health of exaggerated fears about the effects of radiation:^[11]

" ... The designation of the affected population as “victims” rather than “survivors” has led them to perceive themselves as helpless, weak and lacking control over their future. This, in turn, has led either to over cautious behavior and exaggerated health concerns, or to reckless conduct, such as consumption of mushrooms, berries and game from areas still designated as highly contaminated, overuse of alcohol and tobacco, and unprotected promiscuous sexual activity."^[12]

While it was commented by Fred Mettler that 20 years later:^[13]

The population remains largely unsure of what the effects of radiation actually are and retain a sense of foreboding. A number of adolescents and young adults who have been exposed to modest or small amounts of radiation feel that they are somehow fatally flawed and there is no downside to using illicit drugs or having unprotected sex. To reverse such attitudes and behaviors will likely take years although some youth groups have begun programs that have promise.

In addition, many charities which help the "Children of Chernobyl" may be helping disadvantaged children, but the health problems of such children are not only to do with the Chernobyl accident, but also with the desperately poor state of post-Soviet health systems.^[14]

In response to the Chernobyl Forum, The Other Report on Chernobyl (TORCH) was produced. It predicted between 30,000 to 60,000 excess cancer deaths, and urged more research, stating that large uncertainties made it difficult to properly assess the full scale of the disaster.^[15] Another study critical of the Chernobyl Forum report was commissioned by Greenpeace. In its report, Greenpeace argued that "the most recently published figures indicate that in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine alone the accident could have resulted in an estimated 200,000 additional deaths in the period between 1990 and 2004." However, the Greenpeace report failed to discriminate between the general increase in cancer rates that followed the dissolution of the USSR's health system and any separate effects of the Chernobyl accident.^[16] Lastly, in its report Health Effects of Chernobyl, the German affiliate of the IPPNW argued that more than 10,000 people are today affected by thyroid cancer and 50,000 cases are expected in the future.^[17] According to some commentators, both the Greenpeace and IPPNW reports suffer from a lack of any genuine or original research and failure to understand epidemiologic data.^[18] This said, it is important to bear in mind that many of the conclusions from reports such as UNSCEAR remain disputed by other commentators and scientists in the field.^[19]

Nuclear Safety

A logical extension of the above is a discussion on nuclear safety. However, such a discussion should compare nuclear energy with other forms of energy generation. This article is not the place for that and energy safety, in general, would be better served in an ad hoc article.

References

1. ↑ Chernobyl disaster [1]
2. ↑ ibid[2]
3. ↑ UNSCEAR assessment of the Chernobyl accident[3]
4. ↑ IAEA Report In Focus: Chernobyl[4]
5. ↑ Chernobyl health effects[5]
6. ↑ Chernobyl’s Legacy[6]
7. ↑ Chernobyl health effects">[7]
8. ↑ Rosenthal, Elisabeth. Experts find reduced effects of Chernobyl, nytimes.com.[8]
9. ↑ Thyroid Cancer[9]
10. ↑ Chernobyl Forum[10]
11. ↑ Chernobyl Forum[11]
12. ↑ International Atomic Energy Agency. What's the situation at Chernobyl?[12]
13. ↑ International Atomic Energy Agency. Chernobyl's living legacy[13]
14. ↑ Chernobyl Forum[14]
15. ↑ TORCH report executive summary(European Greens and UK scientists Ian Fairlie PhD and David Sumner)[15]
16. ↑ Chernobyl health effects[16]
17. ↑ 20 years after Chernobyl – The ongoing health effects[17]
18. ↑ Chernobyl health effects[18]
19. ↑ [19]