Chernobyl Nuclear

Disaster
Where is Chernobyl???
 The V.I. Lenin Memorial Chernobyl
Nuclear Power Station is a nuclear
power plant near the city of Prypiat,
Ukraine, 18 km northwest of the city of
Chernobyl, 16 km from the border of
Ukraine and Belarus, and about 110 km
north of Kiev. It was the site of the
Chernobyl disaster in 1986, but due to
high power demand, continued to operate
until December 2000. Workers remain at
the site as the remaining three reactors at
the Chernobyl plant, although no longer in
operation, still contain nuclear fuel which
needs to be monitored around the clock.
Chernobyl Nuclear
Plant Chernobyl Nuclear
Reactor
 

Data  
Country Ukraine
Start of commercial 1977
operation
Ceased Operation 2000
   
Reactors  
Reactors (Active) 0 (0 MW)
Reactors (Shut Down) 4
Reactors (Canced) 2 (2000 MW)

   
Power  
Capacity 4000 MW
Total Power Generation (in 0 GWh
2008)
Average Annual Generation 0 GWh
(last 5 years)
 Nuclear Accidents in
Chernobyl
Accidents
1982

 In 1982, a partial core meltdown occurred in reactor no. 1 at the Chernobyl

plant. Due to the secret policy of the Soviet Union, the extent of the
accident was not made public until years later. The reactor was repaired
and put back into operation within months.
1986

 On April 26, 1986, a disaster occurred at reactor no. 4, which has been
widely regarded as the worst accident in the history of nuclear power. As a
result, reactor no. 4 was completely destroyed and has since been
enclosed in a concrete sarcophagus to prevent further escape of radiation.
1991

 In 1991, during a scheduled shutdown, a fire broke out in reactor no. 2's
turbine, causing severe damage to the reactor building. It was then
decided that reactor no. 2 would not be returned to operation because of
the severity of the damage.
 Chernobyl Nuclear
Disaster:1986

Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster 1986

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 Chernobyl disaster triggered the release of substantial
amounts of radiation into the atmosphere in the form of both
particle and gaseous radioisotopes, and is the most
significant unintentional release of radiation into the
environment to date.
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 kilometer 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.
Effects on
Environment and
Health
 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.
 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.
Silent Screams
What happened after
the disaster???
 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.)
 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.
 Chernobyl: Today
 The Chernobyl unit 4 is now enclosed in a large concrete shelter
(sacrophagus).
 The international Shelter Implementation Plan in the 1990s involved
raising money for remedial work including removal of the fuel-
containing materials.
 Some major work on the shelter was carried out in 1998 and 1999.
 Some 200 tonnes of highly radioactive material remains deep within
it, and this poses and environmental hazard until it is better
contained.
 A New Safe Confinement structure will be built by the end of 2011,
and then will be moved into place on rails. 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.
 In January 2008 the Ukraine government announced a 4-stage
decommissioning plan which incorporates the above waste activities
and progresses towards a cleared site.
 The Worst Disaster Of
Its Kind
 Video

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