I just watched Discovery Channels Battle of Chernobyl It shows what really killed the USSR!

sce56

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Tue Sep-04-07 10:45 PM
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I just watched Discovery Channels Battle of Chernobyl It shows what really killed the USSR!

http://www.discoverychannel.co.uk/battle_of_chernobyl/index.shtml

WOW what a show must see for all who care about our planet!
And the problem is still there. Half a million people were involved in the initial cleanup and containment! The cost was so staggering it put the nails in the coffin for the USSR they could never recover from that nightmare imagine if it happened here! The Shrub admin wants to build more of these monster killers around the USA we can't let them do it! If at all possible watch this documentary.

Chernobyl

Thursday 26th April 1986 became a momentous date in modern history, when one of the reactors at the Chernobyl nuclear power station in northern Ukraine, exploded. It was the most significant reactor failure in the history of nuclear power, a Maximum Credible Accident (MCA).

The plant, just 20 km away from the town centre, was made up of four reactor units each generating an output of 1,000 megawatts. The reactor in question exploded due to operational errors and inadequate safety measures and the meltdown was directly linked to routine testing on the reactor unit’s turbine generators.

The test required reactor activity and the thermal reactor output to be run down to a lower level. During the procedure, however, the reactor plummeted to an unexpectedly low and unstable level of activity. At this point, it should have been shut down; as the operators chose to continue with the test, the events subsequently proved to be catastrophic.

More than 200 people died or were seriously injured by radiation exposure immediately after the explosion. 161,000 people had to be evacuated from a 30 kilometre radius of the reactor and 25,000 square km of land was contaminated. As time went on millions of people suffered radiation related health problems such as leukaemia and thyroid cancer and around 4,000 people have died as a result of the long-term effects of the accident.

The Chernobyl disaster brought the ongoing discussion of the pros and cons of nuclear power to the forefront of public attention. Critics saw the reactor failure as dramatic and alarming evidence to support their anti-nuclear stance. Advocates of nuclear power insisted that the fragile Chernobyl reactor was an outdated model, and that the plants of Western Europe and the US demonstrated a vastly improved safety culture thanks to their more advanced technology. These conflicting assessments of the accident have led to extensive research into nuclear safety standards and the disposal of radioactive fuel elements.

Today, the fundamental issues surrounding the benefits and risks of nuclear energy and its future role in power generation continue to be hotly debated.

The Consequences

It took three days to evactuate the people living in the area surrounding the power station; 161,000 people had to abandon their homes. Food was immediately screened for radiation, uncontaminated food had to be imported, and agricultural production methods were rapidly modified.

At the time of the accident, 273,000 people were living in the immediate vicinity of the power plant. Some towns in the area, such as Zaborye in the Russian district of Bryansk, displayed caesium-137 contamination levels of up to 4 million Becquerel per square metre.

Immediately following the explosion and the ensuing fire fighting and rescue efforts, 203 people were admitted to hospital; 31 of these died. The UN later announced that 56 people had died from exposure to radiation caused by the explosion and related incidents.

The fatalities primarily included fire fighters and rescue workers; the people who fought to contain the blaze. It seems that neither they, nor the many other helpers, had been made aware of the acute danger of the radiation they were being exposed to. Most of these people were deployed in the area right next to the ruptured reactor without any protective gear; many were ordered to the site by the army, others were attracted by financial and other rewards. 210,000 so-called liquidators (approximately half of these were soldiers) plus another 400-600,000 helpers were later involved in the extensive clean-up of the accident.

The public was not informed of the radiation levels measured during the recovery work; the figures that were published were falsified. The radioactive materials released, particularly the nuclides iodine-131 and caesium-137, formed aerosols that deeply infiltrated the atmosphere. A cloud of radioactivity moved to the northwest, initially heading towards Scandinavia. The wind changed when the cloud was above the Baltic Sea, and headed southwest in a semi-circular motion, crossing the regions of Poland, Saxony, the Czech Republic and southern Germany. The wind then changed back to a north-westerly direction and blew the cloud towards the North Sea, over the Netherlands.

On its journey, the radioactive cloud moved through several areas of rain. The radioactive material was washed out of the air, and much like the fallout of a nuclear explosion, it covered and permeated the soil beneath. Many crops were directly contaminated; cows’ and goats’ milk was polluted indirectly through the food chain, as were fish and game (such as reindeer in Finland and elk in Sweden). The radioactive contamination of food, therefore, was spread far beyond northern Ukraine. The public became alarmed and intense debates over the effects of radiation contamination in food followed. In some areas, such as Bavaria, excessive traces of radiation can still be found in mushrooms today.

In heavily polluted areas, whey had to be extracted from locally produced milk and withdrawn from sale. The whey was put in storage, and entire convoys transporting the contaminated powder were shuffled from one location to the next as nobody could properly dispose of the spoilt product. The problem was discussed in the media and by the authorities for years, but no action was taken. Finally, the whey powder was incinerated – a course of action that not only cost millions but also provoked wide-spread protest.

Radioactive particles are easily bound and form residue very quickly. This meant that standing waters, such as reservoirs, were contaminated in the short term. At some points, local authorities even closed down communal playgrounds. Around 10,300 square km surrounding the accident site, the level of caesium-137 was in excess of 555,000 Becquerel per square metre (15 Curie per square kilometre).

Unnaturally high radiation was also measured in regions further a field; 7,900 square km in Russia, 4,700 square km in Ukraine and 16,000 square km in Belarus displayed radiation levels exceeding 185,000 Becquerel per square metre (5 Curie per square kilometre). Belarus fared the worst, collecting 70 percent of the fallout. In many areas, up to 22 percent of the soil was contaminated with caesium-137. In German regions where the radioactive cloud had been passed through rain, peak caesium-137 levels of up to 100,000 Becquerel per square metre were measured.

Now imagine Shrub attacks Iran with nuclear bunker busters on underground nuclear facilities! Where will the fallout from that attack go to? Look at the map I don't think the Chinese will like it very much as well as Pakistan and India! Where do we go to stop this madness? Chernobyl is still a problem the sarcophagus placed over it was designed to last thirty years, it has been twenty one years since it was done, it needs to be sealed permanently the estimated cost is over a billion dollars!