Environmental and health impacts of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster

Chernobyl Disaster

The Chernobyl nuclear disaster is one of the worst ever catastrophe to strike the world. On April 26, 1986 the unit 4 reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine was totally destroyed by the explosion that was triggered by the sudden surge in the power output. Radioactive material got scattered all over the place leading to severe radiation hazard which was not restricted to Ukraine and the places in the immediate vicinity but affected most of the nations in the European continent. The severity of the problem can be ascertained by the grave environmental implications and the serious damage it caused to the ecosystem. Let us study the disaster with respect to the impact on the environment and its effect on the health of people.

The Accident (A brief outlook)

The Chernobyl accident occurred when the operators pushed the parameters beyond the safety limit as an experiment. For days after the accident the fire continued nonstop even though heaps of boron carbide lead (to absorb radiation) and sand were dropped over the explosion site. During this period around 70% of the radioactive material lay exposed without any protective shield and radiation continued unabated. The strength of the radioactivity that resulted due to the explosion is said to be more than 200 times that of the atom bombing in Hiroshima and Nagasaki giving us a fair idea of the seriousness of the accident and the potential danger to animal and plant life. [Roberta Crowell Barabalace]

Long-Term Effects

When we study the effect of radiation on the environment we are actually concerned about the long-term effects. The long-term consequences of radiation were studied mainly within former Soviet Union. There were reported incidences of a 5.7% increase in birth defects. [Nuclear Information center] The research conducted by IPHECA has indicated that the radiation exposure had a direct relation to the increasing number of thyroid cancers. However no significant changes in the number of Leukemia cases have been recorded in the affected areas even after a 10 year period suggesting the absence of a direct relation to radiation. Thus the occurrence of diseases as a direct consequence of radiation is much less significant compared to the genetic mutation and the long-term consequences that it may create. The recessive nature of the genetic disorder implies that the mutations will take more time to manifest. There is a strong possibility that the genetic anomalies will find expression in future generations of children who are born to parents affected by mutation. [Souchkevitch, G. N]

The IAEA organized a study of the population in areas, which had caesium contamination of above 555 KBq / m2. The study that was conducted after a decade of the incident was organized into different control groups of 2000 to 50000 people based on their age. In all 1356 people were analyzed and the findings indicated that the absence of any significant radiation related diseases but projected an increase in non-radiation related disorders both within the contaminated as well as the control regions. The soviet atomic energy minister Mr. Rumyantsev said, 'radio-phobia' cause more harm than actual radioactive contamination," [Elizabeth Manning]. So the psychological implications of the disaster cannot be lightly ignored. More recent studies have confirmed our fears that even low dose of radiation can induce genetic mutations. A joint research conducted by Ukraine and Israeli scientists has revealed an "an unexpectedly high increase" in mutation levels in children born to affected parents. "These results indicate that low doses of radiation can induce multiple changes in human germline DNA." [BBC]

Habitat destruction

The effect of radiation was such that large cultivable lands were rendered unusable for decades together. To quote Mr. Valery Boldin, senor staff in the Gorbachev government, "radioactivity had contaminated enormous areas, some of which would be unsuitable for human habitation for many decades." The entire ecosystem in the nearby 'red forest' was destroyed. Almost all the trees in the forest were dead due to the radiation. [Jason Manning]

Radiation and Thyroid Cancer

One of the most obvious and direct consequences of the disaster was the observed increase in Thyroid cancer among children, particularly in Belarus. The radiation absorption by the thyroid gland was the primary factor used by the researchers in assessing the level of irradiation. In Gomel Oblast, (Belarus) the instances of thyroid cancer in children increased more than 200 times the usual number of cases. Iodine 131 isotope, one of the nucleotides that got scattered in the explosion is found to be the main cause for the increase in the reported cases of thyroid cancer. The presence of radiation in the sand affects the plants, which in turn affect the grazing animals. Iodine 134, one of the radioactive isotopes is easily absorbed into milk. The consumption of milk from these affected animals has been cited as the major cause for the increased cases of thyroid cancer among the children of Belarus. [Nuclear Energy Agency]

Conclusion

Based on the pilot study and the research results conducted by the IPHECA and the IAEA we draw the conclusion that the effects of the radiation is more pronounced in terms of the genetic anomalies rather than the acute diseases. We do not yet have complete information pertaining to the health implications of the disaster as it might take many years before the genetic disorders start to manifest. Though the direct health consequences on humans are not so threatening at this moment, the habitat destruction that was caused buy the disaster is more severe and difficult to stabilize. The Chernobyl disaster is a clear warning to our indiscreetness and poses a big question as regards the safety of nuclear energy.