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Chernobyl 20th anniversary
Apr. 26th, 2006 01:02 pmOn Saturday, April 26, 1986, at 1:23:58 a.m. local time, the unit 4 reactor of the Chernobyl power plant -- known as Chernobyl-4 -— suffered a catastrophic steam explosion that resulted in a fire, a series of additional explosions, and a nuclear meltdown.
It has been twenty years today since the Chernobyl disaster. Restriction orders are still in place regarding production, transportation and consuming of food which has been contaminated by Chernobyl's fallout. Over 300,000 people were resettled due to the accident while millions still live in the contaminated area. Opinions differ on how many people have been affected by the accident, but (for example) according to the Union Chernobyl, the main organization responsible for liquidation and cleanup after the accident, 10% of the 600,000 liquidators are now dead, and 165,000 more are disabled.
About 95% of the fuel (about 180 tons) in the reactor at the time of the accident remains inside the shelter, with a total radioactivity of nearly 18 million curies. The stone sarcophagus encasing the dead reactor and its tons of radioactive material and dust is unstable and decaying. Plans have been implemented for a more permanent solution, a movable arch which will be constructed elsewhere and then transported to the site to avoid radiation. This shelter is estimated to have a lifetime expectancy of about 100 years.
The lifetime of the radioactive material inside the shelter, however, will be more than 100,000 years.
I often wish that we as a species had never had the idea to start splitting atoms. Nuclear power, when properly supervised and controlled, can provide cheap and efficient energy for years to come. But when it's used in weapons, or when a disaster like the Chernobyl one occurs, the consequences are catastrophic.
There are countless photographic and documentary sites dedicated to the Chernobyl disaster. One of the most interesting is a sort of photojournal written by a woman named Elena Filatova, a Ukrainian who claimed to have acquired access to the Dead Zone around Chernobyl, and to regularly travel it via solo trips on her motorcycle. Filatova's story has since been proven false by countless reports, but her site remains up and presents a creepy look at the ghost towns around Chernobyl. Dead vehicles on the side of the road, used by the cleanup crews and now far too radioactive to approach. Empty streets choked with weeds. Mailboxes with mail in them that will never be picked up. Eerie silence everywhere.
Go check it out (keeping firmly in mind, of course, that her story is completely made up) and then go outside and get some fresh air. This is a beautiful blue marble we live on, and the Chernobyl thing is a poignant reminder of the damage we do to it so frequently...far too often for my comfort.
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[[The Oracle would like to know what the weather is like where you are.]]
It has been twenty years today since the Chernobyl disaster. Restriction orders are still in place regarding production, transportation and consuming of food which has been contaminated by Chernobyl's fallout. Over 300,000 people were resettled due to the accident while millions still live in the contaminated area. Opinions differ on how many people have been affected by the accident, but (for example) according to the Union Chernobyl, the main organization responsible for liquidation and cleanup after the accident, 10% of the 600,000 liquidators are now dead, and 165,000 more are disabled.
About 95% of the fuel (about 180 tons) in the reactor at the time of the accident remains inside the shelter, with a total radioactivity of nearly 18 million curies. The stone sarcophagus encasing the dead reactor and its tons of radioactive material and dust is unstable and decaying. Plans have been implemented for a more permanent solution, a movable arch which will be constructed elsewhere and then transported to the site to avoid radiation. This shelter is estimated to have a lifetime expectancy of about 100 years.
The lifetime of the radioactive material inside the shelter, however, will be more than 100,000 years.
I often wish that we as a species had never had the idea to start splitting atoms. Nuclear power, when properly supervised and controlled, can provide cheap and efficient energy for years to come. But when it's used in weapons, or when a disaster like the Chernobyl one occurs, the consequences are catastrophic.
There are countless photographic and documentary sites dedicated to the Chernobyl disaster. One of the most interesting is a sort of photojournal written by a woman named Elena Filatova, a Ukrainian who claimed to have acquired access to the Dead Zone around Chernobyl, and to regularly travel it via solo trips on her motorcycle. Filatova's story has since been proven false by countless reports, but her site remains up and presents a creepy look at the ghost towns around Chernobyl. Dead vehicles on the side of the road, used by the cleanup crews and now far too radioactive to approach. Empty streets choked with weeds. Mailboxes with mail in them that will never be picked up. Eerie silence everywhere.
Go check it out (keeping firmly in mind, of course, that her story is completely made up) and then go outside and get some fresh air. This is a beautiful blue marble we live on, and the Chernobyl thing is a poignant reminder of the damage we do to it so frequently...far too often for my comfort.
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[[The Oracle would like to know what the weather is like where you are.]]