Chernobyl exploded on April 26, 1986. By December of 86, it had been entombed.

[Stinky The Clown]

Chernobyl was only one reactor.

Some of the first emergency workers on scene were dead from radiation within two weeks of the event. 340,000 residents of the fallout zone were eventually relocated.

Fukushima's reactors are still exposed. And still actively spewing radioactive material. And there are four of them. And there are spent fuel ponds. With about 40 years' worth of highly radioactive spent fuel rods. And they're hot. And they're exposed. And . . . And . . .

Only history will be able to say which is the worse disaster, but I'm guessing Fukushima is orders of magnitude worse.







edit to change "or" to "of" in the title

[Cronus Protagonist]

1. This is nowhere near as bad...

TEPCO says "It is now conducting final checks so that leaks of radioactive material will not occur from the facility."

:sarcasm:

[Teaser]

2. Chernobyl caught fire, and released a shitload of radioactivity into the air during that process

that, to date, hasn't happened at Fukushima, and I believe it is helped keep the aggregate radioactive release lower than Chernobyl's at every stage thus far.

[franzia99]

4. Nuke Physicists say Fukushima = Chernobyl in slow motion. Chernobyl was one big blast. Fukushima

= smaller releases over many months. Gunderson said in one of his videos on fairewinds.com that the Chernobyl releases had already stopped at this point in the game. Fukushima is still leaking away and will be doing so for a long time. A TEPCO exec admitted in an interview that Fukushima could release more fallout than Chernobyl.

[Teaser]

24. perhaps. Depends how long it takes to shut down the rads

It's speculation right now.

[franzia99]

3. TEPCO is saying situation will be under control in 6 to 9 months

And keep in mind they could be lowballing the number but even if true that's a long time for continued releases to accumulate.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/japan-n-plant-to-stabilise-in-6-9-months/articleshow/8007135.cms

[YellowRubberDuckie]

5. There are still people dying and in agony from all of that!

Seriously, if you have several hours, you tube Pripyat or Chernobyl. One of the men who was there just died a couple of years ago after a long battle with illness and cancers. You don't die immediately, as a lot of those people did who were the first responders at Chernobyl. And the people who were irradiated by it have kids with serious birth defects and issues. It's a cycle that is still going on today. And in thirty years, the same will be said of Fukushima.
Duckie

[Stinky The Clown]

7. I've been following Chernobyl and the aftermath for a long time.

Yes, I'm aware that the deaths were long and agonizing.

It seems to me a bigger issue in comparing the two events is the number of residents near the hot zone. Many more near Fukushima than were near Chernobyl. Pripyat was pretty much a small town in the middle of nowhere. Not so in the surrounds of the Japanese plant.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

8. I was not speaking of the scale, only the aftermath and death.

But you are correct.

[Stinky The Clown]

9. I understand. Making direct comparisons is actually kinda difficult.

The two events are quite different except for the fact that both are Level 7 nuclear mishaps.

[madokie]

6. I don't think that the two can really be compared since one blew up and out

this one now is spewing and will for a long time. Japan is screwed if you ask me. TEPCO is being less than honest with us you can bet on that, so is their regulatory agency.

[franzia99]

11. Lots of people over a thousand miles from Chernobyl got cancer as a result. Is Japan even 1000 miles

from end to end? I agree that Japan is screwed. Only thing that will save them is if somehow the situation is brought under control very soon. That seems pretty unlikely.

[CJvR]

10. Fukushima is actually...

...still several magnitudes better.

Chernobyl caused some 30 deaths from the blast and extreme radiation poisoning in the first days, over 200 other cases of radiation poisoning. Just to prove no situation is so bad that it can't be made even worse the Soviet authorities didn't do anything at all to warn or evacuate the area for over 24h.

Fukushima have, IIRC, caused 2 fatalities and no cases of radiation poisoning so far.

[Shagbark Hickory]

13. 2? I thought they found 11 in the nuke plant.

[CJvR]

15. Only ever heard of 2.

They were missing since before the meltdown IIRC.

[Shagbark Hickory]

19. Well maybe I have more up to date information. I believe F-U-shima is 11 dead.

[ChibaResident]

20. Is there any reason to disparage the name of the region?

Fuck You Shima?

Really?

Would you disparage the region of any other place that had a nuclear catastrophe?

Is that really nice of you?

What about the people who lived in, and love, Fukushima?

Is that really so cool?

Personally, I don't think so.

It is still a PLACE, a HOME for people (despite the disaster zone, Fukushima is still a large area and even if not, it will have been a former home to so many!), and that should be respected.

[Shagbark Hickory]

21. yeah yeah yeah

[ChibaResident]

22. classy. nt

[Shagbark Hickory]

23. you're reading a little too much into it.

[franzia99]

14. Fukushima is expected to leak radiation much, much longer than Chernobyl.

[CJvR]

16. Perhaps...

...but it will take a long, long, long time to get anywhere close to the Chernobyl blast. That also assumes the Japanese will fail to plug the various leaks.

[franzia99]

18. Go to Fairewinds.com. Gunderson paints a pretty bleak picture of the task ahead for TEPCO.

He's a pretty credible source BTW. He assisted with three mile island after the leak there and I've seen him in different interviews on various tv stations.

[ChibaResident]

17. I believe, but can't say for sure, that those 2 fatalities occurred during the tsunami.

If I'm wrong, I apologize. I want to accurately keep this account, if there were any deaths due to radiation (obviously the death of the ocean is occurring, around Fukushima!).

The two workers went missing after the tsunami, and were later found in a battered condition (God save their souls!).

But I haven't read that their deaths were radiation related.

The workers send to the hospital with radiation burn were different condition!

[Shagbark Hickory]

12. Does it really matter which one was worst? Wait until the nukes in India and Iran encounter problems

There's still time to take top honors, don't worry.