Chernobyl

Chernobyl 'not a wildlife haven'
By Mark Kinver
Science and nature reporter, BBC News

The idea that the exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant has created a wildlife haven is not scientifically justified, a study says.

Recent studies said rare species had thrived despite raised radiation levels as a result of no human activity.

But scientists who assessed the 1986 disaster's impact on birds said the ecological effects were "considerably greater than previously assumed".

The findings appear in the Royal Society's journal, Biology Letters.

In April 1986, reactor number four at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded.

After the accident, traces of radioactive deposits were found in nearly every country in the northern hemisphere.

The paper's authors, Anders Moller of University Pierre and Marie Curie, France, and Tim Mousseau from the University of South Carolina, US, said their research did not support the idea that low-level radiation was not affecting animals.

"Recent conclusions from the UN Chernobyl Forum and reports in the popular media concerning the effects of radiation from Chernobyl has left the impression that the exclusion zone is a thriving ecosystem, filled with an increasing number of rare species," they wrote.

Instead, they added: "Species richness, abundance and population density of breeding birds decreased with increasing levels of radiation."

The study, which recorded 1,570 birds from 57 species, found that the number of birds in the most contaminated areas declined by 66% compared with sites that had normal background radiation levels.

It also reported a decline of more than 50% in the range of species as radiation levels increase.

The findings build on a previous study of barn swallows in the affected area, which showed that the number of the birds declined sharply in contaminated areas.

The birds' decline was probably the result of depressed level of antioxidants after its long migration back to the area, making it more vulnerable to the low-level radiation, the researchers concluded.

"It suggests to us that barn swallows are not alone; there are many other species that appear to be affected in a similar way," Professor Mousseau told BBC News.

"This paper also suggests that birds feeding on insects that are living in the upper surface of the soil, where contaminates are highest, seem to be most likely to be missing or depressed."

He added that they were currently carrying out research to find out whether the decline was a result of the birds eating contaminated insects, or whether it was a result of fewer insects living in affected areas.

"We are also looking for funding to expand the range of ecological studies to include invertebrates, as well as plants and animals."

Radioactive retreat

A recent paper published in the American Scientist magazine suggested that plants and animals were better off in the exclusion zone than specimens outside the 30km radius surrounding the site of the destroyed nuclear reactor.



One of the paper's co-authors, Robert Baker from the Texas Tech University, said that the benefits for wildlife from the lack of human activity outweighed the risks of low-level radiation.

Writing on his university web page, Professor Baker said: "The elimination of human activities such as farming, ranching, hunting and logging are the greatest benefits.

"It can be said that the world's worst nuclear power plant disaster is not as destructive to wildlife populations as are normal human activities."

Professor Mousseau acknowledged Professor Baker's description: "It is true that the Chernobyl region gives the appearance of a thriving ecosystem because of its protection from other human activities.

"However, when you do controlled ecological studies, what we see is a very clear signature of negative effects of contamination on diversity and abundance of organisms.

"We clearly need to be applying scientific method to ecological studies before we can conclude, based on anecdotal observations, that there are no consequences."

On 26 April 1986, reactor # 4 at the Chernobyl (Chornobyl) Nuclear Power Station, 100 km north from Kiev, blew up during a routine daily operation. Nearly nine tons of radioactive material - 90 times as much as the Hiroshima bomb - were hurled into the sky. Winds over the following days, mostly blowing north and west, carried, fallout into Belarus, as well as Russia, Poland and the Baltic region.

The radioactive fallout affected 23% of Belarus, with 4,8% of Ukrainian territory and 0,5% of Russian land exposed. About 135,00 people were evacuated from a 30-km radius around the plant, with the peripheral areas remaining at a high risk of radioactive exposure. The reactor was enclosed in a concrete-and-steel sarcophagus. Over the following years about 600,000 people known as "the liquidators" worked on clean-up operations inside the 30-km zone.

Although scientists agree that there is no risk of the sarcophagus exploding, the status of the estimated 180 tons of radioactive material trapped inside the nuclear power plant is still unclear.

If you are interested in a day tour to the site of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, please read on.
 

Tour Schedule:

• Duration of the tours: 1 day - leaving Kyiv in the morning and returning to Kyiv in the evening. Optional visiting the Chornobyl Museum in Kiev - the day before.

• Kiev - Chornobyl. Passing Dytyatky, at the border of the 30-km  Chornobyl zone. Change of transport.

• Arrival at the town of Chernobyl. Meeting with the authorities of "Chernobyl Iinterinform" agency.

• Transfer to the village of Leliyov. Change of the clothes and footwear. Passing the 10-km zone border.

• Transfer to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station and sightseeing of Reactor 4.

• Visit to Pripyat. Sightseeing of "The Dead Town".

• Stop nearby the "Red Forest".

• Return to Chernobyl. Lunch. (Food is delivered from outside of the Chernobyl zone.)

• Visit to the Chernobyl Scientific Center: physical and radiochemical laboratories,  other.

• Visiting the Opachychi village, meeting with "re-settlers", people who have moved back to their villages after evacuation.

• Passage to the village of Rossokha, a cemetery of military machineries.

• Passage through the Dytyatky Control Point. Measuring of radiation.

• Change of the transport. Return to Kiev.

FYI:

• The tour participant is provided with special clothes and footwear, and respiration masks. 

• On entering and leaving the 30-kilometers zone, the participant undergoes a radioactivity testing and is given an official computer-generated printout.

• For the time of the tour, the participants is given an individual radiation dosimeter; personal dosimeters are also allowed. 

• According to the Ukrainian law taking pictures and shooting video during the tour are not permitted. 

July 7, 2004

First let me say that I have nothing to do with this project other than donating the bandwidth to allow the world to see it. When I first saw the site, Angelfire could not handle the amount of traffic the site was receiveing. I knew my server could. Then Angelfire began plastering the site with banner ads shamelessly trying to make money off the site. This is the point at which Elena shut the site down, not because she had anything to hide.

Regardless of what is true, this site has certainly made people think more about Chernobyl and this tragic disaster.

However, this story has been there for years and has been primarily forgotten and neglected.

After "Elena" brought this story to light, everyone that claims to be an expert has come forward identifying it as a hoax or a fraud.

How ironic that although they would label her a hoax and a fraud, she was able to achieve what they could not even dream of achieving. Bringing this issue the world wide attention it deserves.

As the only email contact, I have seen each of the moving emails that were directed to "Elena."
Her words have definitely made the world think about this piece of forgotten history. I have seen every request from news agencies from around the world, each of the big names, begging for interviews.

"Elena" wanted nothing to do with these interviews.

I offered to setup a paypal donate account to create a fund for the project and local charities.

"Elena" Wanted nothing to do with it.

Did she do it for fame or notoriety or even money?

Or did she do it in order to bring attention to a forgotten region.

Read her words and decide for yourself.

Kiddofspeed - GHOST TOWN - Chernobyl Pictures -
Elena's Motorcyle Ride through Chernobyl

The Chernobyl nuclear disaster was the worst nuclear accident in the history of nuclear power. On April 26, 1986 at 01:23 a.m. reactor number four at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant located near Pripyat in Ukraine, exploded. Further explosions and the resulting fire sent a plume of radioactively contaminated fallout into the atmosphere and over an extensive geographical area.

The plume drifted over parts of the Western Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Northern Europe, and Eastern North America. Large areas of 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.

The accident raised concerns about the safety of the Soviet nuclear power industry, slowing its expansion for a number of years, while forcing the Soviet government to become less secretive. The now-independent countries of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus have been burdened with the continuing and substantial decontamination and health care costs of the Chernobyl accident. It is difficult to tally accurately the number of deaths caused by the events at Chernobyl, as the Soviet-era cover-up made it difficult to track down victims. Lists were incomplete, and Soviet authorities later forbade doctors to cite "radiation" on death certificates.[citation needed]

The 2005 report prepared by the Chernobyl Forum, led by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and World Health Organization (WHO), attributed 56 direct deaths (47 accident workers, and nine children with thyroid cancer), and estimated that there may be 4,000 extra deaths due to cancer among the approximately 6.6 million most highly exposed. Specifically, the report cited 4,000 thyroid cancer cases among children diagnosed by 2002.[2]

Although the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone and certain limited areas will remain off limits, the majority of affected areas are now considered safe for settlement and economic activity.

CHERNOBYL
Up to: Nuclear FAQ

2005 Sept 6: The World Health Organization (WHO) [www.who.int] has just released a major study on the effects of the Chernobyl accident. The press release is Chernobyl: the true scale of the accident. The gist of the report is that the effects were much smaller than what the scientific community had expected. The present estimate is 50 direct deaths among workers and fire fighters. The Soviets gave 37 as the number. Also 9 children died from thyroid cancer among 4,000 who got the disease, and this compares with a ten-years-after estimate of 4. These estimates are far lower than those given by the Ukrainian government when it was soliciting money from Russia and Western Europe. How many more people will die of cancer from Chernobyl cannot be calculated, because it is such a tiny fraction of normal cancer deaths. A calculation also depends on what theory is adopted for the effects of very low radiation doses.

A further conclusion of the report is that encouraging people to classify themselves as victims has led to a culture of dependency. However, it was not possible to disentangle the effects of Chernobyl from the much larger harmful effects of the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The Chernobyl accident at Chernobyl, Ukraine, was the worst accident in the history of nuclear energy, worse than all others put together. The following factors made the accident worse than is likely to happen in other plants.

1. The 16 RBMK reactors, of which the Chernobyl plant was one, are built without containment shells. In other reactors, the containment shell will keep almost all radioactive material from spreading in case of an accident.
2. RBMK reactors were intended to produce power and also to produce plutonium for military use. This required that it be possible to remove fuel rods for reprocessing by means of a crane on top of the reactor at short intervals in order to get Pu-239 without substantial admixture of Pu-240. These facilities made the reactor too tall for a containment structure used in Western and other Soviet reactors.

3. The reactor had several other features which were regarded as unsafe in the Soviet Union as well as by experts from other countries. The Soviet Union never exported RBMK reactors.
4. Positive void coefficient If the water in the reactor boils in some spot a bubble of steam is produced. In PWR and BWR reactors, this reduces reactivity, causing the nuclear reaction to slow down. In RBMK reactors it causes the nuclear reaction to speed up.
5. Carbon moderator This can catch fire in case of an accident and did at Chernobyl. Western power reactors and other Russian reactors use water as a moderator.
6. Making an experiment with the reactor which involved disabling its safety features. This is the single main cause of the accident. The safety features would have safely shut down the reactor if they hadn't been disabled.

In order to prevent the reactor from shutting itself off from xenon poisoning, the operators pulled the control rods almost all the way out. This caused an enormous increase in the nuclear reaction to many times the reactor's normal power level. This caused a steam explosion that blew the top off the reactor, probably stopping the nuclear reaction. Then the carbon caught fire and burned for about nine days. This scattered the reactor contents and large amounts of radioactivity. 32 people died in the accident and in efforts to put out the fire. 38 more people died of acute radiation sickness in the following months. There were measurable health effects in Ukraine and Belarus.

The radioactivity spread over northern Europe caused some plants and wild animals to be more radioactive than was legal for human consumption. However, there were no identifiable illnesses outside the Soviet Union. There may be some increase in cancer but this is unlikely to be detectable, because of the large numbers of cancers from other causes.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had a tenth anniversary conference about the Chernobyl accident. Its conclusions and recommendations section is very comprehensive. I recommend reading it. Alas, the three above links are no longer valid. Maybe the pages are available somewhere else.

The following reports are earlier, and maybe I should delete the links.

Here's a report Abstract: Health Effects of the Chernobyl Accident by Vladimir G Bebeshko. It contains new information, but overall it is rather vague. The report was given at a symposium of the World Nuclear Association, London. These links are dead

Here's a report Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station: Past, Present, and Future. Anatolij Nosovsky. from the Deputy Director of the Chernobyl plant. This is also from the World Nuclear Association home page. This link is dead.

Chernobyl - Ten Years On is also from the World Nuclear Association. Also a dead link.

Science and Technology Review, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, for 1999 September has an article by entitled "Researchers determine Chernobyl liquidators' exposure". The liquidators were the people, mostly soldiers, who cleaned up after the Chernobyl accident. 2003 July note: The article is now on-line as Researchers determine Chernobyl liquidators' exposure.

The article says,

"The Livermore team [led by Irene Jones] says its population of liquidators received on average a dose of about 15 centigrays, as determined by FISH [a way of estimating chromosome damage]. Such a radiation dose is roughly equivalent to aging about 10 years or to smoking cigarettes regularly. The expected health consequences to the population under study are small."

In a separate study led by biomedical scientist Joe Lucas, Livermore researchers applied FISH to a subset of Chernobyl liquidators suspected of receiving a large dose of ionizing radiation. They reconstructed doeses for 27 Chernobyl liquidators from the frequency of translocation measured in their lymphocytes. Of the 27 individuals, 15 are being treated for radiation sickness. The remaining 12 show no medical symptoms.

Chernobyl'

In April 1986, Chernobyl' (Chornobyl' in Ukrainian) was an obscure city on the Pripiat' River in north-central Ukraine. Almost incidentally, its name was attached to the V.I. Lenin Nuclear Power Plant located about twenty-five kilometers upstream.

On April 26, the city's anonymity vanished forever when, during a test at 1:21 A.M., the No. 4 reactor exploded and released thirty to forty times the radioactivity of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The world first learned of history's worst nuclear accident from Sweden, where abnormal radiation levels were registered at one of its nuclear facilities.

Ranking as one of the greatest industrial accidents of all time, the Chernobyl' disaster and its impact on the course of Soviet events can scarcely be exaggerated. No one can predict what will finally be the exact number of human victims. Thirty- one lives were lost immediately. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians, Russians, and Belorussians had to abandon entire cities and settlements within the thirty-kilometer zone of extreme contamination. Estimates vary, but it is likely that some 3 million people, more than 2 million in Belarus' alone, are still living in contaminated areas. The city of Chernobyl' is still inhabited by almost 10,000 people. Billions of rubles have been spent, and billions more will be needed to relocate communities and decontaminate the rich farmland.

Chernobyl' has become a metaphor not only for the horror of uncontrolled nuclear power but alsofor the collapsing Soviet system and its reflexive secrecy and deception, disregard for the safety and welfare of workers and their families, and inability to deliver basic services such as health care and transportation, especially in crisis situations. The Chernobyl' catastrophe derailed what had been an ambitious nuclear power program and formed a fledgling environmental movement into a potent political force in Russia as well as a rallying point for achieving Ukrainian and Belorussian independence in 1991. Although still in operation, the Chernobyl' plant is scheduled for total shutdown before the year 2000. The power station will be replaced by a thermal energy giant.

Chernobyl Accident

(May 2007)

• The Chernobyl accident in 1986 was the result of a flawed reactor design that was operated with inadequately trained personnel and without proper regard for safety.
• The resulting steam explosion and fire released at least five percent of the radioactive reactor core into the atmosphere and downwind.
• 28 people died within four months from radiation or thermal burns, 19 have subsequently died, and there have been around nine deaths from thyroid cancer apparently due to the accident: total 56 fatalities as of 2004.
• An authoritative UN report in 2000 concluded that there is no scientific evidence of any significant radiation-related health effects to most people exposed. This was confirmed in a very thorough 2005-06 study.

The April 1986 disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Ukraine was the product of a flawed Soviet reactor design coupled with serious mistakes made by the plant operators in the context of a system where training was minimal. It was a direct consequence of Cold War isolation and the resulting lack of any safety culture.

NB: "Chernobyl" is the well-known Russian name for the site; "Chornobyl" is preferred by Ukraine.

Reactor diagram.

Source: OECD NEA

The accident destroyed the Chernobyl-4 reactor and killed 30 people, including 28 from radiation exposure. A further 209 on site and involved with the clean-up were treated for acute radiation poisoning and among these, 134 cases were confirmed (all of whom apparently recovered). Nevertheless 19 of these subsequently died from effects attributable to the accident. Nobody off-site suffered from acute radiation effects. However, large areas of Belarus, Ukraine, Russia and beyond were contaminated in varying degrees.

The Chernobyl disaster was a unique event and the only accident in the history of commercial nuclear power where radiation-related fatalities occurred.* However, its relevance to the rest of the nuclear industry outside the then Eastern Bloc is minimal.

* There have been fatalities in military and research reactor contexts, eg Tokai-mura.

The accident

On 25 April, prior to a routine shut-down, the reactor crew at Chernobyl-4 began preparing for a test to determine how long turbines would spin and supply power following a loss of main electrical power supply. Similar tests had already been carried out at Chernobyl and other plants, despite the fact that these reactors were known to be very unstable at low power settings.

A series of operator actions, including the disabling of automatic shutdown mechanisms, preceded the attempted test early on 26 April. As flow of coolant water diminished, power output increased. When the operator moved to shut down the reactor from its unstable condition arising from previous errors, a peculiarity of the design caused a dramatic power surge.

The fuel elements ruptured and the resultant explosive force of steam lifted off the cover plate of the reactor, releasing fission products to the atmosphere. A second explosion threw out fragments of burning fuel and graphite from the core and allowed air to rush in, causing the graphite moderator to burst into flames.

There is some dispute among experts about the character of this second explosion. The graphite burned for nine days, causing the main release of radioactivity into the environment. A total of about 14 EBq (10¹⁸ Bq) of radioactivity was released, half of it being biologically-inert noble gases. See also appended sequence of events.

Some 5000 tonnes of boron, dolomite, sand, clay and lead were dropped on to the burning core by helicopter in an effort to extinguish the blaze and limit the release of radioactive particles.

The damaged Chernobyl unit 4 reactor building

Immediate impact

It is estimated that all of the xenon gas, about half of the iodine and caesium, and at least 5% of the remaining radioactive material in the Chernobyl-4 reactor core was released in the accident. Most of the released material was deposited close by as dust and debris , but the lighter material was carried by wind over the Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and to some extent over Scandinavia and Europe.

The main casualties were among the firefighters, including those who attended the initial small fires on the roof of the turbine building. All these were put out in a few hours, but radiation doses on the first day were estimated to range up to 20,000 millisieverts (mSv), causing 28 deaths in the next four months and 19 subsequently.

The next task was cleaning up the radioactivity at the site so that the remaining three reactors could be restarted, and the damaged reactor shielded more permanently. About 200,000 people ("liquidators") from all over the Soviet Union were involved in the recovery and clean up during 1986 and 1987. They received high doses of radiation, average around 100 millisieverts. Some 20,000 of them received about 250 mSv and a few received 500 mSv. Later, the number of liquidators swelled to over 600,000 but most of these received only low radiation doses. The highest doses were received by about 1000 emergency workers and on-site personnel during the first day of the accident.

Initial radiation exposure in contaminated areas was due to short-lived iodine-131, later caesium-137 was the main hazard. (Both are fission products dispersed from the reactor core, with half lives of 8 days and 30 years respectively. 1.8 Ebq of I-131 & 0.085 Ebq of Cs-137 were released.) About five million people lived in areas contaminated (above 37 kBq/m² Cs-137) and about 400,000 lived in more contaminated areas of strict control by authorities (above 555 kBq/m² Cs-137).

On 2-3 May, some 45,000 residents were evacuated from within a 10 km radius of the plant, notably from the plant operators' town of Pripyat. On 4 May, all those living within a 30 kilometre radius - a further 116 000 people from the more contaminated area - were evacuated and later relocated. About 1,000 of these have since returned unofficially to live within the contaminated zone. Most of those evacuated received radiation doses of less than 50 mSv, although a few received 100 mSv or more.

Reliable information about the accident and resulting contamination was not available to affected people for about two years following the accident. This led to distrust and confusion about health effects.

In the years following the accident a further 210 000 people were resettled into less contaminated areas, and the initial 30 km radius exclusion zone (2800 km²) was modified and extended to cover 4300 square kilometres. This resettlement was due to application of a criterion of 350 mSv projected lifetime radiation dose, though in fact radiation in most of the affected area (apart from half a square kilometre) fell rapidly so that average doses were less than 50% above normal background of 2.5 mSv/yr.

Environmental and health effects

Several organisations have reported on the impacts of the Chernobyl accident, but all have had problems assessing the significance of their observations because of the lack of reliable public health information before 1986. In 1989 the World Health Organisation (WHO) first raised concerns that local medical scientists had incorrectly attributed various biological and health effects to radiation exposure.

An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) study involving more than 200 experts from 22 countries published in 1991 was more substantial. In the absence of pre-1986 data it compared a control population with those exposed to radiation. Significant health disorders were evident in both control and exposed groups, but, at that stage, none was radiation related.

Subsequent studies in the Ukraine, Russia and Belarus were based on national registers of over one million people possibly affected by radiation. By 2000 about 4000 cases of thyroid cancer had been diagnosed in exposed children. Among these, nine deaths are attributed to radiation. However, the rapid increase in thyroid cancers detected suggests that some of it at least is an artifact of the screening process. Thyroid cancer is usually not fatal if diagnosed and treated early.

The average radiation doses for the general population of the contaminated areas over 1986-2005 is estimated to be between 10 and 20 mSv, and the vast majority receive under 1 mSv/yr. These are lower than many natural levels.

An increased risk of leukaemia due to radiation exposure from Chernobyl may become evident in future among the higher-exposed liquidators. There is some evidence already of this and possibly solid cancers among Russian liquidators exposed to more than 150 mSv. No effect is expected in populations of contaminated areas. There is no evidence nor any likelihood of an increase attributable to Chernobyl in birth defects, adverse pregnancy outcomes, decreased fertility or any other radiation-induced disease in the general population either in the contaminated areas or further afield.

Paths of radiation exposure.

An authoritative multi-agency study published in 2006 quantified the effects. Overall some 56 people were killed or have subsequently died, including the 9 children from thyroid cancer - which could have been avoided. Among some 600,000 workers exposed in the first year, the possible increase in cancer deaths "due to this radiation exposure might be up to a few percent. This might eventually represent up to four thousand fatal cancers in addition to the approximately 100,000 fatal cancers to be expected due to all other causes in this population."

The 600-page report says that people in the area have suffered a paralysing fatalism due to myths and misperceptions about the threat of radiation, which has contributed to a culture of chronic dependency. Some "took on the role of invalids." Mental health coupled with smoking and alcohol abuse is a very much greater problem than radiation, but worst of all at the time was the underlying level of health and nutrition. Apart from the initial 116,000, relocations of people were very traumatic and did little to reduce radiation exposure, which was low anyway. Psycho-social effects among those affected by the accident are similar to those arising from other major disasters such as earthquakes, floods and fires.

This 2005 Chernobyl Forum study (revised version published 2006) involved over 100 scientists from eight specialist UN agencies and the governments of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. Its conclusions are in line with earlier expert studies, notably the UNSCEAR* 2000 Report which said that "apart from this [thyroid cancer] increase, there is no evidence of a major public health impact attributable to radiation exposure 14 years after the accident. There is no scientific evidence of increases in overall cancer incidence or mortality or in non-malignant disorders that could be related to radiation exposure." As yet there is little evidence of any increase in leukaemia, even among clean-up workers where it might be most expected. However, these workers remain at increased risk of cancer in the long term.

* the United Nations Scientific Commission on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, which is the UN body with a mandate from the General Assembly to assess and report levels and health effects of exposure to ionizing radiation.

Some exaggerated figures have been published regarding the death toll attributable to the Chernobyl disaster. A publication by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) entitled Chernobyl - a continuing catastrophe lent support to these. However, the Chairman of UNSCEAR made it clear that "this report is full of unsubstantiated statements that have no support in scientific assessments," and the 2005 report also repudiates them.

The 58-page version of the 2005 Chernobyl Forum report is available on the web.

Copies of the Conclusions from the UNSCEAR 2000 report on the health effects of Chernobyl are appended. A May 2004 paper by Z. Jaworowski on Lessons of Chernobyl , including evaluation of health effects, is also appended. (This is PDF: 0.5 MB, html version is on WNA web site).

Chernobyl today

The Chernobyl unit 4 is now enclosed in a large concrete shelter which was erected quickly to allow continuing operation of the other reactors at the plant. However, the structure is neither strong nor durable and there are plans for its reconstruction. The international Shelter Implementation Plan involved raising US$715 million for remedial work including removal of the fuel-containing materials. Some work on the roof has already been carried out.

In March 2001 a US$36 million contract was signed for construction of a radioactive waste management facility to treat spent fuel and other operational wastes, as well as material from decommissioning units 1-3. These will be the first RBMK units decommissioned anywhere.

In the early 1990s some US$400 million was spent on improvements to the remaining reactors at Chernobyl, considerably enhancing their safety. Energy shortages necessitated the continued operation of one of them (unit 3) until December 2000. (Unit 2 was shut down after a turbine hall fire in 1991, and unit 1 at the end of 1997.) Almost 6,000 people worked at the plant every day, and their radiation dose has been within internationally accepted limits. A small team of scientists works within the wrecked reactor building itself, inside the shelter.

Workers and their families now live in a new town, Slavutich, 30 km from the plant. This was built following the evacuation of Pripyat, which was just 3 km away.

Ukraine depends upon, and is deeply in debt to, Russia for energy supplies, particularly oil and gas, but also nuclear fuel. Although this dependence is gradually being reduced continued operation of nuclear power stations, which supply half of total electricity, is now even more important than in 1986. Ukraine is also planning to develop its own nuclear fuel cycle facilities to further increase its independence.

When it was announced in 1995 that the two operating reactors at Chernobyl would be closed by 2000, a memorandum of understanding was signed by Ukraine and G7 nations to progress this, but its implementation was conspicuously delayed. Alternative generating capacity was needed, either gas-fired, which has ongoing fuel cost and supply implications, or nuclear, by completing Khmelnitski unit 2 and Rovno unit 4 in Ukraine. Construction of these was halted in 1989 but then resumed, and both reactors came on line late in 2004, financed by Ukraine rather than international grants as expected on the basis of Chernobyl's closure.

What has been gained from the Chernobyl disaster?

Leaving aside the verdict of history on its role in melting the Soviet iron curtain, some very tangible practical benefits have resulted from the Chernobyl accident . The main ones concern reactor safety, notably in eastern Europe. (The US Three Mile Island accident in 1979 had a significant effect on western reactor design and operating procedures. While that reactor was destroyed, all radioactivity was contained - as designed - and there were no deaths or injuries.).

While no-one in the West was under any illusion about the safety of early Soviet reactor designs, some lessons learned have also been applicable to western plants. Certainly the safety of all Soviet-designed reactors has improved vastly. This is due largely to the development of a culture of safety encouraged by increased collaboration between East and West, and substantial investment in improving the reactors.

Modifications have been made to overcome deficiencies in all the RBMK reactors still operating. In these, originally the nuclear chain reaction and power output would increase if cooling water were lost or turned to steam, in contrast to most Western designs. It was this effect which caused the uncontrolled power surge that led to the destruction of Chernobyl-4.

All of the RBMK reactors have now been modified by changes in the control rods, adding neutron absorbers and consequently increasing the fuel enrichment from 1.8 to 2.4% U-235, making them very much more stable at low power. Automatic shut-down mechanisms now operate faster, and other safety mechanisms have been improved. Automated inspection equipment has also been installed. A repetition of the 1986 Chernobyl accident is now virtually impossible, according to a German nuclear safety agency report.

Since 1989 over 1,000 nuclear engineers from the former Soviet Union have visited Western nuclear power plants and there have been many reciprocal visits. Over 50 twinning arrangements between East and West nuclear plants have been put in place. Most of this has been under the auspices of the World Association of Nuclear Operators, a body formed in 1989 which links 130 operators of nuclear power plants in more than 30 countries. See also Cooperation in the Nuclear Power Industry .

Many other international programmes were initiated following Chernobyl. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safety review projects for each particular type of Soviet reactor are noteworthy, bringing together operators and Western engineers to focus on safety improvements. These initiatives are backed by funding arrangements. The Nuclear Safety Assistance Coordination Centre database lists Western aid totalling almost US$1 billion for more than 700 safety-related projects in former Eastern Bloc countries. The Nuclear Safety Convention is a more recent outcome.

In 1998 an agreement with the US provided for the establishment of an international radioecology laboratory inside the exclusion zone.

The 2005 Chernobyl Forum report said that some seven million people are now receiving or eligible for benefits as "Chernobyl victims", which means that resources are not targeting the needy few percent of them. Remedying this presents daunting political problems however.

Chernobyl is a small town in the Ukraine near the Belarus border. One-hundred ten kilometers north of Kiev (the capital city of the Ukraine with a population of 2.4 million) lies Chernobyl (with a population of 12,500). Three kilometers northwest of the reactors is the city of Pripyat, with a population of 45,000. The Pripyat River and the Dniepr River flow past the nuclear power station on their way to the Kiev Reservoir, which is south of the power station. The nuclear power station of Chernobyl lies 15 kilometers to the northwest of the actual Chernobyl town. ^[1]

Map-1 Map of Chernobyl and its surroundings, including the capital city of Kiev.

In 1986, the USSR generated roughly 10% of the world's nuclear power from only 43 operating reactors. Together they produced 27 thousand Mega Watts of electricity. Another 36 reactors were still under construction that would produce 37 thousand Mega Watts of electricity. Still in their planning stages were another 34 reactors which would ultimately represent 36 thousand Mega Watts of electricity. ^[2]

By 1986, the year of the accident, four of the reactors at the Chernobyl nuclear power station were the most modern to date Soviet reactors, the RBMK-type. Two more of these reactors were still under construction at the station.

• The Chernobyl accident in 1986 was the result of a flawed reactor design that was operated with inadequately trained personnel and without proper regard for safety.
• The resulting steam explosion and fire released at least five percent of the radioactive reactor core into the atmosphere and downwind.
• 28 people died within four months from radiation or thermal burns, 19 have subsequently died, and there have been around nine deaths from thyroid cancer apparently due to the accident: total 56 fatalities as of 2004.
• An authoritative UN report in 2000 concluded that there is no scientific evidence of any significant radiation-related health effects to most people exposed. This was confirmed in a very thorough 2005-06 study.

The April 1986 disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Ukraine was the product of a flawed Soviet reactor design coupled with serious mistakes made by the plant operators in the context of a system where training was minimal. It was a direct consequence of Cold War isolation and the resulting lack of any safety culture.

NB: "Chernobyl" is the well-known Russian name for the site; "Chornobyl" is preferred by Ukraine.

Map. click to enlarge
Reactor diagram. click to enlarge
Source: OECD NEA

The accident destroyed the Chernobyl-4 reactor and killed 30 people, including 28 from radiation exposure. A further 209 on site and involved with the clean-up were treated for acute radiation poisoning and among these, 134 cases were confirmed (all of whom apparently recovered). Nevertheless 19 of these subsequently died from effects attributable to the accident. Nobody off-site suffered from acute radiation effects. However, large areas of Belarus, Ukraine, Russia and beyond were contaminated in varying degrees.

The Chernobyl disaster was a unique event and the only accident in the history of commercial nuclear power where radiation-related fatalities occurred.* However, its relevance to the rest of the nuclear industry outside the then Eastern Bloc is minimal.

* There have been fatalities in military and research reactor contexts, eg Tokai-mura.

The accident

On 25 April, prior to a routine shut-down, the reactor crew at Chernobyl-4 began preparing for a test to determine how long turbines would spin and supply power following a loss of main electrical power supply. Similar tests had already been carried out at Chernobyl and other plants, despite the fact that these reactors were known to be very unstable at low power settings.

A series of operator actions, including the disabling of automatic shutdown mechanisms, preceded the attempted test early on 26 April. As flow of coolant water diminished, power output increased. When the operator moved to shut down the reactor from its unstable condition arising from previous errors, a peculiarity of the design caused a dramatic power surge.

The fuel elements ruptured and the resultant explosive force of steam lifted off the cover plate of the reactor, releasing fission products to the atmosphere. A second explosion threw out fragments of burning fuel and graphite from the core and allowed air to rush in, causing the graphite moderator to burst into flames.

There is some dispute among experts about the character of this second explosion. The graphite burned for nine days, causing the main release of radioactivity into the environment. A total of about 14 EBq (10¹⁸ Bq) of radioactivity was released, half of it being biologically-inert noble gases. See also appended sequence of events.

Some 5000 tonnes of boron, dolomite, sand, clay and lead were dropped on to the burning core by helicopter in an effort to extinguish the blaze and limit the release of radioactive particles.

click to enlarge
The damaged Chernobyl unit 4 reactor building

Immediate impact

It is estimated that all of the xenon gas, about half of the iodine and caesium, and at least 5% of the remaining radioactive material in the Chernobyl-4 reactor core was released in the accident. Most of the released material was deposited close by as dust and debris , but the lighter material was carried by wind over the Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and to some extent over Scandinavia and Europe.

The main casualties were among the firefighters, including those who attended the initial small fires on the roof of the turbine building. All these were put out in a few hours, but radiation doses on the first day were estimated to range up to 20,000 millisieverts (mSv), causing 28 deaths in the next four months and 19 subsequently.

The next task was cleaning up the radioactivity at the site so that the remaining three reactors could be restarted, and the damaged reactor shielded more permanently. About 200,000 people ("liquidators") from all over the Soviet Union were involved in the recovery and clean up during 1986 and 1987. They received high doses of radiation, average around 100 millisieverts. Some 20,000 of them received about 250 mSv and a few received 500 mSv. Later, the number of liquidators swelled to over 600,000 but most of these received only low radiation doses. The highest doses were received by about 1000 emergency workers and on-site personnel during the first day of the accident.

Initial radiation exposure in contaminated areas was due to short-lived iodine-131, later caesium-137 was the main hazard. (Both are fission products dispersed from the reactor core, with half lives of 8 days and 30 years respectively. 1.8 Ebq of I-131 & 0.085 Ebq of Cs-137 were released.) About five million people lived in areas contaminated (above 37 kBq/m² Cs-137) and about 400,000 lived in more contaminated areas of strict control by authorities (above 555 kBq/m² Cs-137).

On 2-3 May, some 45,000 residents were evacuated from within a 10 km radius of the plant, notably from the plant operators' town of Pripyat. On 4 May, all those living within a 30 kilometre radius - a further 116 000 people from the more contaminated area - were evacuated and later relocated. About 1,000 of these have since returned unofficially to live within the contaminated zone. Most of those evacuated received radiation doses of less than 50 mSv, although a few received 100 mSv or more.

Reliable information about the accident and resulting contamination was not available to affected people for about two years following the accident. This led to distrust and confusion about health effects.

In the years following the accident a further 210 000 people were resettled into less contaminated areas, and the initial 30 km radius exclusion zone (2800 km²) was modified and extended to cover 4300 square kilometres. This resettlement was due to application of a criterion of 350 mSv projected lifetime radiation dose, though in fact radiation in most of the affected area (apart from half a square kilometre) fell rapidly so that average doses were less than 50% above normal background of 2.5 mSv/yr.

Environmental and health effects

Several organisations have reported on the impacts of the Chernobyl accident, but all have had problems assessing the significance of their observations because of the lack of reliable public health information before 1986. In 1989 the World Health Organisation (WHO) first raised concerns that local medical scientists had incorrectly attributed various biological and health effects to radiation exposure.

An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) study involving more than 200 experts from 22 countries published in 1991 was more substantial. In the absence of pre-1986 data it compared a control population with those exposed to radiation. Significant health disorders were evident in both control and exposed groups, but, at that stage, none was radiation related.

Subsequent studies in the Ukraine, Russia and Belarus were based on national registers of over one million people possibly affected by radiation. By 2000 about 4000 cases of thyroid cancer had been diagnosed in exposed children. Among these, nine deaths are attributed to radiation. However, the rapid increase in thyroid cancers detected suggests that some of it at least is an artifact of the screening process. Thyroid cancer is usually not fatal if diagnosed and treated early.

The average radiation doses for the general population of the contaminated areas over 1986-2005 is estimated to be between 10 and 20 mSv, and the vast majority receive under 1 mSv/yr. These are lower than many natural levels.

An increased risk of leukaemia due to radiation exposure from Chernobyl may become evident in future among the higher-exposed liquidators. There is some evidence already of this and possibly solid cancers among Russian liquidators exposed to more than 150 mSv. No effect is expected in populations of contaminated areas. There is no evidence nor any likelihood of an increase attributable to Chernobyl in birth defects, adverse pregnancy outcomes, decreased fertility or any other radiation-induced disease in the general population either in the contaminated areas or further afield.

Paths of radiation exposure. click to enlarge
 

An authoritative multi-agency study published in 2006 quantified the effects. Overall some 56 people were killed or have subsequently died, including the 9 children from thyroid cancer - which could have been avoided. Among some 600,000 workers exposed in the first year, the possible increase in cancer deaths "due to this radiation exposure might be up to a few percent. This might eventually represent up to four thousand fatal cancers in addition to the approximately 100,000 fatal cancers to be expected due to all other causes in this population."

The 600-page report says that people in the area have suffered a paralysing fatalism due to myths and misperceptions about the threat of radiation, which has contributed to a culture of chronic dependency. Some "took on the role of invalids." Mental health coupled with smoking and alcohol abuse is a very much greater problem than radiation, but worst of all at the time was the underlying level of health and nutrition. Apart from the initial 116,000, relocations of people were very traumatic and did little to reduce radiation exposure, which was low anyway. Psycho-social effects among those affected by the accident are similar to those arising from other major disasters such as earthquakes, floods and fires.

This 2005 Chernobyl Forum study (revised version published 2006) involved over 100 scientists from eight specialist UN agencies and the governments of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. Its conclusions are in line with earlier expert studies, notably the UNSCEAR* 2000 Report which said that "apart from this [thyroid cancer] increase, there is no evidence of a major public health impact attributable to radiation exposure 14 years after the accident. There is no scientific evidence of increases in overall cancer incidence or mortality or in non-malignant disorders that could be related to radiation exposure." As yet there is little evidence of any increase in leukaemia, even among clean-up workers where it might be most expected. However, these workers remain at increased risk of cancer in the long term.

* the United Nations Scientific Commission on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, which is the UN body with a mandate from the General Assembly to assess and report levels and health effects of exposure to ionizing radiation.

Ghost Town - Introduction

My name is Elena. I run this website and I don't have anything to sell. What I do have is my motorbike and the absolute freedom to ride it wherever curiosity and the speed demon take me.

This page is maintained by the author, but when internet traffic is heavy it may be down occasionally.

Biking

I have ridden all my life and over the years I have owned several different motorbikes. I ended my search for a perfect bike with a big kawasaki ninja, that boasts a mature 147 horse power, some serious bark, is fast as a bullet and comfortable for a long trips. here is more about my motorcycle

I travel a lot and one of my favorite destinations leads North from Kiev, towards so called Chernobyl "dead zone", which is 130kms from my home. Why my favorite? Because one can take long rides there on empty roads.

The people there all left and nature is blooming. There are beautiful woods and lakes.

In places where roads have not been travelled by trucks or army vehicles, they are in the same condition they were 20 years ago - except for an occasional blade of grass that discovered a crack to spring through. Time does not ruin roads, so they may stay this way until they can be opened to normal traffic again........ a few centuries from now.

Roentgens

To begin our journey, we must learn a little something about radiation. It is really very simple, and the device we use for measuring radiation levels is called a geiger counter . If you flick it on in Kiev, it will measure about 12-16 microroentgen per hour. In a typical city of Russia and America, it will read 10-12 microroentgen per hour. In the center of many European cities are 20 microR per hour, the radioactivity of the stone.

1,000 microroentgens equal one milliroentgen and 1,000 milliroentgens equal 1 roentgen. So one roentgen is 100,000 times the average radiation of a typical city. A dose of 500 roentgens within 5 hours is fatal to humans. Interestingly, it takes about 2 1/2 times that dosage to kill a chicken and over 100 times that to kill a cockroach.

This sort of radiation level can not be found in Chernobyl now. In the first days after explosion, some places around the reactor were emitting 3,000-30,000 roentgens per hour. The firemen who were sent to put out the reactor fire were fried on the spot by gamma radiation. The remains of the reactor were entombed within an enormous steel and concrete sarcophagus, so it is now relatively safe to travel to the area - as long as we do not step off of the roadway.......

The map above shows the radiation levels in different parts of the dead zone. The map will soon be replaced with a more comprehensive one that identifies more features.

It shows various levels of radiation on asphalt - usually on the middle of road - because at edge of the road it is twice as high. If you step 1 meter off the road it is 4 or 5 times higher. Radiation sits on the soil, on the grass, in apples and mushrooms. It is not retained by asphalt, which makes rides through this area possible.

I have never had problems with the dosimeter guys, who man the checkpoints. They are experts, and if they find radiation on you vehicle, they give it a chemical shower. I don't count those couple of times when "experts" tried to invent an excuse to give me a shower, because those had a lot more to do with physical biology than biological physics.