ChernobylThe legacy of Chernobyl -- 30 years on
The 26 April 2016 marks the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear accident. For many, especially those born since 1986, it is a word they know without appreciating the full significance of what happened on that day. For others, it was a life changing catastrophe which resulted in largest release of radioactivity in the history of nuclear energy.
The 26 April 2016 marks the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear accident.
For many, especially those born since 1986, it is a word they know without appreciating the full significance of what happened on that day. For others, it was a life changing catastrophe which resulted in largest release of radioactivity in the history of nuclear energy.
After an explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear reactor in northern Ukraine, the release of fuel particles composed of uranium oxides and other radionuclides affected areas across the former Soviet Union (Ukraine, Belarus and Russia), also spreading to other parts of Europe.
Between 27 April and 6 May, the entire population of the Pripyat township — about 44,000 people — was evacuated, with a 30km exclusion zone placed around the accident site. Overall, an area inhibited by six million people in the former Soviet Union was officially designated as ‘contaminated’, and about five million still live in areas with elevated levels of radioactive deposition – approximately half of those are in strictly controlled zones (SCZs).
When the accident happened, the Iron Curtain was down and we only learned about it when the radioactivity was detected by Scandinavian countries. Many believe the accident and the associated economic impact, which over the decades has been estimated to be in hundreds of billions U.S. dollars, acted as a catalyst for the Glasnost movement, leading to dissolution of the Soviet Union.
The accident did stimulate many international collaborations, laws, treaties and conventions, but these have proved not to be strong enough to enable international organizations to immediately and independently intervene and overview accident situations. This was evident in Japan five years ago when the world had to wait for weeks to know the precise impact of a tsunami on the nuclear reactor at Fukushima.
Since April 1986, a huge amount of resources have been spent on research to assess the lasting consequences of the accident on our health, and advancing technologies for nuclear safety.
Ionizing radiations are known to induce genetic mutations, which can be passed down the generations, and in the body these cells can lead to cancer development. But apart from higher incidence of thyroid cancers in the exposed population, any increases in other cancers are yet to be fully established with figures from the World Health Organization (WHO) — estimating up to 5,000 additional cancers – being contested by other organizations.
