Chernobyl

A place in Ukraine where a nuclear power plant — a generator powered by a nuclear reactor — underwent a meltdown in 1986. A cloud of radioactive gases spread throughout the region of Chernobyl, and to foreign countries as well. Forty thousand people living nearby were evacuated. Dozens of deaths and hundreds of illnesses were reported to have been caused by the accident. (Compare Three Mile Island.)

On April 26, 1986, at 1:23 A.M., an accident occurred during a test of a turbine generator on the Unit 4 reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power station in the Ukraine. The accident resulted from the improper withdrawal of control rods and the inactivation of important safety systems—in violation of the operating rules—which caused the reactor to overheat, explode, and catch fire. Because the facility lacked an adequate containment structure, the damage to the reactor core and control building allowed large quantities of radiation and millions of curies of krypton-85, xenon-133, iodine-131, tellurium-132, strontium-89, strontium-90, plutonium-240, and other radionuclides from the rector core to be released during the ensuing ten days, necessitating the evacuation of tens of thousands of people and farm animals from the surrounding area and resulting in radiation sickness and burns in more than two hundred emergency personnel and firefighters, thirty-one of whom were injured fatally.

The heaviest contamination occurred in the vicinity of the reactor itself and, to a lesser extent, in neighboring countries of eastern Europe. Those living in the vicinity of the reactor were given potassium iodide preparations to inhibit the thyroidal uptake of radioactive iodine, but infants in a number of areas elsewhere in eastern Europe are estimated to have received sizeable radiation doses to the thyroid gland, largely through ingestion of radioiodine via cow's milk, and the incidence of thyroid cancer in such persons has since risen dramatically in Belarus and in Ukraine. In areas outside Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine, organs other than the thyroid typically received only a small fraction of the radiation dose normally accumulated each year from natural background radiation. For example, the highest average effective dose in such areas during the first year was received in Bulgaria, where it is estimated to have approximated slightly less than one-third of the average annual effective dose received from natural sources. Because of the small magnitude of the average dose to a given individual, the ultimate health impacts of the accident cannot be predicted with certainty. However, nonthreshold risk models for the carcinogenic effects of radiation imply that the collective dose to the population of the northern hemisphere may cause up to thirty thousand additional cancer deaths during the next seventy years.

The accident, by far the worst nuclear reactor accident to date, highlighted flaws in the design, as well as the operation, of the Chernobyl reactor. The reactor's lack of adequate containment and its positive void coefficient, which made the reactor potentially unstable at low-risk power levels, prompted the International Atomic Energy Agency subsequently to recommend the decommissioning of all Chernobyl-type reactors, a recommendation yet to be fully implemented throughout eastern Europe. In spite of the fact that the accident also prompted reassessment and upgrading of the safety of nuclear power systems everywhere, nuclear power has fallen into disfavor in most countries because of the magnitude of the disaster. To many experts, nevertheless, nuclear power still compares favorably with other sources of energy in its impact on human health and the environment, and it is expected to continue to play a role in helping to meet the world's rapidly growing demands for energy.

(SEE ALSO: Nuclear Power; Nuclear Waste; Radiation, Ionizing; Three Mile Island)

Bibliography

Eisenbud, M., and Gesell, T. (1999). Environmental Radioactivity: From Natural, Industrial, and Military Sources, 4th edition. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

Heidenreich, W. F.; Kenigsberg, J.; Jacob, P.; Buglova, E.; Goulko, G.; Paretzke, H. G.; Demidchik, E. P.; and Golovneva, A. (1999). "Time Trends of Thyroid Cancer Incidence in Belarus After the Chernobyl Accident." Radiation Research 181:617–625.

Krewitt, W.; Hurley, F.; Trukenmuller, A.; and Friedrich, R. (1998). "Health Risks of Energy Systems." Risk Analysis 18:377–385.

Rhodes, R., and Beller, D. (2000). "The Need for Nuclear Power." Foreign Affairs 79:30–44.

— ARTHUR C. UPTON

The disaster at Chernobyl (Ukrainian spelling: Chornobyl) on April 26, 1986 occurred as a result of an experiment on how long safety equipment would function during shutdown at the fourth reactor unit at Ukraine's first and largest nuclear power station. The operators had dismantled safety mechanisms at the reactor to prevent its automatic shutdown, but this reactor type (a graphitemoderated Soviet RBMK) became unstable if operated at low power. An operator error caused a power surge that blew the roof off the reactor unit, releasing the contents of the reactor into the atmosphere for a period of about twelve days.

The accident contaminated an area of about 100,000 square miles. This area encompassed about 20 percent of the territory of Belarus; about 8 percent of Ukraine; and about 0.5-1.0 percent of the Russian Federation. Altogether the area is approximately the size of the state of Kentucky or of Scotland and Northern Ireland combined. The most serious radioactive elements to be disseminated by the accident were Iodine-131, Cesium-137, and Strontium-90. The authorities contained the graphite fire with sand and boron, and coal miners constructed a shelf underneath it to prevent it from falling into the water table.

After the accident, about 135,000 people were evacuated from settlements around the reactor, including the town of Pripyat (population 45,000), the home of the plant workers and their families, and the town of Chernobyl (population 10,000), though the latter remained the center of the cleanup operations for several years. The initial evacuation zone was a 30-kilometer (about 18.6 miles) radius around the destroyed reactor unit. After the spring of 1989 the authorities published maps to show that radioactive fallout had been much more extensive, and approximately 250,000 people subsequently moved to new homes.

Though the Soviet authorities did not release accurate information about the accident, and classified the health data, under international pressure they sent a team of experts to a meeting of the IAEA (The International Atomic Energy Agency) in August 1986, which revealed some of the causes of the accident. The IAEA in turn was allowed to play a key role in improving the safety of Soviet RBMK reactors, though it did not demand the closure of the plant until 1994. A trial of Chernobyl managers took place in 1987, and the plant director and chief engineer received sentences of hard labor, ten and five years respectively.

Chernobyl remains shrouded in controversy as to its immediate and long-term effects. The initial explosion and graphite fire killed thirty-one operators, firemen, and first-aid workers and saw several thousand hospitalized. Over the summer of 1986 up until 1990, it also caused high casualties among cleanup workers. According to statistics from the Ukrainian government, more than 12,000 "liquidators" died, the majority of which were young men between the ages of twenty and forty. A figure of 125,000 deaths issued by the Ukrainian ministry of health in 1996 appears to include all subsequent deaths, natural or otherwise, of those living in the contaminated zone of Ukraine.

According to specialists from the WHO (World Health Organization) the most discernible health impact of the high levels of radiation in the affected territories has been the dramatic rise in thyroid gland cancer among children. In Belarus, for example, a 1994 study noted that congenital defects in the areas with a cesium content of the soil of one - five curies per square kilometer have doubled since 1986, while in areas with more than fifteen curies, the rise has been more than eight times the norm.

Among liquidators and especially among evacuees, studies have demonstrated a discernible and alarming rise in morbidity since Chernobyl when compared to the general population. This applies particularly to circulatory and digestive diseases, and to respiratory problems. Less certain is the concept referred to as "Chernobyl AIDS," the rise of which may reflect more attention to medical problems, better access to health care, or psychological fears and tension among the population living in contaminated zones. Rises in children's diabetes and anemia are evident, and again appear much higher in irradiated zones. The connection between these problems and the rise in radiation content of the soil have yet to be determined.

To date, the rates of leukemia and lymphoma - though they have risen since the accident - remain within the European average, though in the upper seventy-fifth percentile. One difficulty here is the unreliability or sheer lack of reporting in the 1970s. The induction period for leukemia is four to fifteen years, thus it appears premature to state, as some authorities have, that Chernobyl will not result in higher rates of leukemia.

As for thyroid cancer, its development has been sudden and rapid. As of 2003 about 2,000 children in Belarus and Ukraine have contracted the disease and it is expected to reach its peak in 2005. One WHO specialist has estimated that the illness may affect one child in ten living in the irradiated zones in the summer of 1986; hence ultimate totals could reach as high as 10,000. Though the mortality rate from this form of cancer among children is only about 10 percent, this still indicates an additional 1,000 deaths in the future. Moreover, this form of cancer is highly aggressive and can spread rapidly if not operated on. The correlation between thyroid gland cancer and radioactive fallout appears clear and is not negated by any medical authorities.

After pressure from the countries of the G7, Ukraine first imposed a moratorium on any new nuclear reactors (lifted in 1995) and then closed down the Chernobyl station at the end of the year 2000. The key issue at Chernobyl remains the construction and funding of a new roof over the destroyed reactor, the so-called sarcophagus. The current structure, which contains some twenty tons of radioactive fuel and dust, is cracking and is not expected to last more than ten years. There are fears of the release of radioactive dust within the confines of the station and beyond should the structure collapse.

It is fair to say that the dangers presented by former Soviet nuclear power stations in 2003 exceed those of a decade earlier. In the meantime, some 3.5 million people continue to live in contaminated zones. From a necessary panacea, evacuation of those living in zones with high soil contamination today has become an unpopular and slow-moving process. Elderly people in particular have returned to their homes in some areas.

Bibliography

Marples, David R. (1988). The Social Impact of the Chernobyl Disaster. London: Macmillan.

Medvedev, Zhores. (1992). The Legacy of Chernobyl. New York: Norton.

Petryna, Adriana. (2002). Life Exposed: Biological Citizens after Chernobyl. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Shcherbak, Yurii. (1988). Chernobyl: A Documentary Story. London: Macmillan.

Yaroshinskaya, Alla. (1995). Chernobyl: The Forbidden Truth. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

—DAVID R. MARPLES

On April 26, 1986, a nuclear reactor in the town of Chernobyl (in the Ukraine, then a member state of the Soviet Union) exploded, collapsing the building in which it was located and releasing a radioactive plume that deposited material over much of Europe and Scandinavia.

This article is about the city of Chernobyl. For the nuclear plant incident in 1986, see Chernobyl disaster. For other uses, see Chernobyl (disambiguation).

Coordinates: 51°16′N 30°13′E / 51.267°N 30.217°E / 51.267; 30.217

Chernobyl area as seen from the Russian space station Mir in 1997 (51°22′50″N 30°06′59″E / 51.380567°N 30.116272°E / 51.380567; 30.116272).

Satellite image of the Chernobyl area.

Chornobyl (as transliterated from Ukrainian: Чорнобиль, IPA: [tʃɔrˈnɔbɪlʲ]), or Chernobyl (as transliterated from the Russian: Чернобыль, Russian pronunciation: [tɕɪˈrnobɨlʲ]), is a city in northern Ukraine, in Kiev Oblast (Province), near the border with Belarus.

The city was evacuated in 1986 due to the Chernobyl disaster at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, located 14.5 kilometers (9 miles) north-northwest. The power plant is within Chernobyl Raion (District), but the city was not the residence of the power-plant workers. When the power plant was under construction, Prypiat, a city larger and closer to the power plant, had been built as home for the power-plant workers.

Though the city today is mostly uninhabited, a small number of inhabitants reside in houses marked with signs stating that the "Owner of this house lives here". Workers on watch and administrative personnel of the Zone of Alienation are stationed in the city on a long term basis. Prior to its evacuation, the city was inhabited by about 14,000 residents.^[1]

Contents 1 Name origin 2 History 3 Chernobyl nuclear reactor disaster 4 Chernobylite 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

Name origin

The city is named after the Ukrainian word for mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris), which is "chornobyl". The word is a combination of chornyi (чорний, black) and byllia (билля, grass blades or stalks), hence it literally means black grass or black stalks. That may signify burnt grass, perhaps prior to cultivation.

Sometimes chornobyl is erroneously translated as simply "wormwood" (which most commonly refers to Artemisia absinthium), with consequent apocalyptic associations, probably originating from a The New York Times article by Serge Schmemann, Chernobyl Fallout: Apocalyptic Tale, July 25, 1986. The article quoted an unnamed "prominent Russian writer" as claiming the Ukrainian word for wormwood was chernobyl.

In fact, there are over 160 kinds of Artemisia, and the terminology is not generally accepted. Some sources refer to Artemisia vulgaris as "common wormwood", while others claim that "common wormwood" is Artemisia absinthium.

Wormwood is a different (but related) plant, Artemisia absinthium, Полин (Polyn). "Polyn" has no English equivalent, but corresponds to the botanical genus Artemisia. Botanically, mugwort is "Common Polyn" ; while wormwood is "Bitter Polyn" .

The word "wormwood" is used in the English text of the Book of Revelation, whose usage as the name of a plant matches to that of the original Greek (Absinthe). The apocalyptic context is that 1/3 of all fresh waters will be poisoned by bitterness because of a bright 'star' called wormwood / absinthe. Certainly, the estimates from Soviet Russia are that huge areas are contaminated by various poisons, among them radio-activity, the water being dangerous to drink. The Apocalytic text merely says the star is 'called' wormwood, and does not indicate that the name is etymologically or scientifically correct.

Chernobyl bears poetic connotations in folklore, for a number of reasons. Its strong smell is evocative of the steppe, as various species of Artemisia are widespread there. Chernobyl roots were used in folk medicine to heal neurotic conditions, although an overdose could lead to neurological disorders, including memory loss.

History

Chernobyl first appeared in a charter of 1193 described as a hunting-lodge of knyaz Rostislavich.^[2][3] It was a crown village of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 13th century. The village was granted as a fiefdom to Filon Kmita, a captain of the royal cavalry, in 1566. The province containing Chernobyl was transferred to the Kingdom of Poland in 1569, and then annexed by the Russian Empire in 1793.^[4] Prior to the 20th century Chornobyl was inhabited by Ukrainian and some Polish peasants, and a relatively large number of Jews.

Chernobyl had a rich religious history. The Jews were brought by Filon Kmita during the Polish campaign of colonization. The traditionally Christian Eastern Orthodox Ukrainian peasantry of the district was largely forced by Poland to convert to the Greek Catholic Uniate religion after 1596, and returned to Eastern Orthodoxy only after Ukraine was annexed by Muscovy.

The Dominican church and monastery were founded in 1626 by Lukasz Sapieha, at the height of the Counter-reformation. There was a group of Old Catholics, which opposed the decrees of the Council of Trent. The Dominican monastery was sequestrated in 1832, and the church of the Old Catholics was disbanded in 1852.^[2]

In the second half of 18th century, Chernobyl became one of the major centers of Hasidic Judaism. The Chernobyl Hasidic dynasty had been founded by Rabbi Menachem Nachum Twersky. The Jewish population suffered greatly from pogroms in October 1905 and in March–April 1919, when many Jews were killed and others were robbed, at the instigation of the Russian nationalist Black Hundreds. In 1920, the Twersky dynasty left Chernobyl, and it ceased to exist as a Hasidic center.

Since the 1880s, Chernobyl has seen many changes of fortune. In 1898 Chernobyl had a population of 10,800, including 7,200 Jews. In World War I the village was occupied and in the ensuing Civil War was fought over by Bolsheviks and Ukrainians. In the Polish-Soviet War of 1919-20, it was taken first by the Polish Army and then by cavalry of the Red Army. From 1921, it was incorporated into the Ukrainian SSR.^[2]

During the period 1929–33 Chernobyl suffered greatly from mass killings during Stalin's collectivization campaign, and in the Holodomor (famine) that followed. The Polish community of Chernobyl was deported to Kazakhstan in 1936 during the Frontier Clearances. The Jewish community was murdered during the German occupation of 1941–44.^[2] Twenty years later, the area was chosen as the site of the first nuclear power station on Ukrainian soil.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Chernobyl remained part of Ukraine, now an independent nation.

Chernobyl nuclear reactor disaster

Main article: Chernobyl disaster

On April 26,1986, Reactor #4 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant near the town of Pripyat, Ukraine, exploded. The explosion took place at around one in the morning while the neighboring town of Pripyat slept. Four workers were killed instantly. Thirty-six hours later, the residents of Pripyat were ordered to evacuate, and most never returned.

In 2003, the United Nations Development Programme launched a project called the Chernobyl Recovery and Development Programme (CRDP) for the recovery of the affected areas.^[5] The program launched its activities based on the Human Consequences of the Chernobyl Nuclear Accident report recommendations and was initiated in February 2002. The main goal of the CRDP’s activities is supporting the Government of Ukraine to mitigate long-term social, economic and ecological consequences of the Chernobyl catastrophe, among others. CRDP works in the four most Chernobyl-affected areas in Ukraine: Kiev Oblast, Zhytomyrska Oblast, partially Kiev, Chernihivska Oblast and Rivne Oblast.

Chernobylite

Chernobylite is the name cited by two media sources^[6][7] for highly radioactive, unusual and potentially novel crystalline formations found at the Chernobyl power-plant after the explosion. These formations were found in the basement below Reactor #4 during an investigation into missing reactor fuel. ^[8]

These formations may be similar or identical^{[citation needed]} to Čejkaite.^[9][10]

See also

• List of Chernobyl-related articles

References

1. ^ Mould, Richard. "Evacuation zones and populations". Chernobyl Record. Bristol, England: Institute of Physics. p. 105. ISBN 0-7503-0670-X. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d} Norman Davies, Europe: A History, Oxford University Press, 1996, ISBN 0198201710
3. ^ Chernobyl ancient history and maps.
4. ^ Davies, Norman (1995) "Chernobyl", The Sarmatian Review, vol. 15, No. 1.
5. ^ CRDP: Chernobyl Recovery and Development Programme (United Nations Development Program)
6. ^ BBC Special Report: 1997: Containing Chernobyl?
7. ^ Suicide Mission to Chernobyl: NOVA, Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)1991, 60mins
8. ^ excerpt
9. ^ Čejkaite at mindat.org
10. ^ Cejkaite Mineral Data

External links

This article's external links may not follow Wikipedia's content policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links. (May 2009)

Look up chernobyl in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• United Nations Chernobyl Recovery and Development Programme See the actions of the Chernobyl Recovery and Development Programme towards Chornobyl-affected area and its population.
• The Flickr Chernobyl-Pripyat Group
• Chernobyl and Pripyat 22 years later
• EU To Extend Checks On Food From Chernobyl Area

Administrative divisions of Kiev Oblast, Ukraine Administrative center:  Kiev Raions Baryshivka · Bila Tserkva · Bohuslav · Boryspil · Borodianka · Brovary · Fastiv · Ivankiv · Kaharlyk · Kiev-Sviatoshyn · Makariv · Myronivka · Obukhiv · Pereiaslav-Khmelnytskyi · Poliske · Rokytne · Skvyra · Stavysche · Tarascha · Tetiiv · Vasylkiv · Volodarka · Vyshhorod · Yahotyn · Zghurivka Cities Berezan · Bila Tserkva · Bohuslav · Boryspil · Boyarka · Brovary · Bucha · Chernobyl · Fastiv · Irpin · Kaharlyk · Kiev1 · Myronivka · Obukhiv · Pereiaslav-Khmelnytskyi · Prypiat · Rzhyschiv · Skvyra · Slavutych2 · Tarascha · Tetiiv · Ukrainka · Uzyn · Vasylkiv · Vyshhorod · Vyshneve · Yahotyn Urban-type settlements Baryshivka · Borodianka · Hostomel · Ivankiv · Kotsiubynske2 · Krasiatychi · Makariv · Rokytne · Stavysche · Volodarka · Zghurivka · more Villages Dvirkivschyna · Hermanivka · Hornostaypil · Litky · more 1 Administratively separate from the surrounding Kiev Oblast.   2 Geographically located outside the borders of Kiev Oblast.

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