Chernobyl. 30 years ago today

Hi

The biggest ever Nuclear Accident.

At the time, the former USSR was very secretive, both internally and externally, nobody knew exactly what had happened at first, at the plant the amount of radiation released was so great that it did not register on the radiation detectors, it simply overwhelmed them.

The first time I realised just how big the accident was when I saw a clip on the TV with a soldier in Norway holding a military Geiger Counter, when those things register, it is serious.

Thirty years on, still no technical solution to the problem.

The original concrete used to contain the mess is now porous, there is a major International effort going on at the moment and a new containment arch is being made, it is massive, big enough to get the whole of St.Pauls Cathedrel inside.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...e-footage.html

It will last another 100 years, then another one will be needed.

The evacuated area is huge, and fascinating to see, you can even get guided tours around the less dangerous areas.

The exclusion zone is the size of Luxembourg and it will be there for thousands of years.

Thirty years on, it is amazing how quickly Nature has taken over and the amount of wildlife that there is.

Big mammals in particular have confounded the experts, loads of them when they were expected to be the most affected, even the predators have survived, wolves and lynx, a bear was seen recently, first time in over 100 years.

A reminder that us humans are not top dogs so to speak.

Re: Chernobyl. 30 years ago today

There was a documentary on TV a while back about Chernobyl and some interesting facts had come to light. It seems the expected amount of deaths as a result of the accident had been vastly exaggerated, and far fewer people had been affected that was at first thought.
Some American scientists had done some research and found that in America (as in other places) there was natural radiation present in the earth which varied. Some places had high levels, and some hardly any. People who grew up in places where radiation was high were more resistant to it's effects than people who had not been exposed to it. This led the scientists to believe that the human body can learn to resist radiation. Although I doubt whether anybody could have resisted the amounts that were discharged close to the reactors at Chernobyl.

Re: Chernobyl. 30 years ago today

Who could forget it?

Re: Chernobyl. 30 years ago today

Surely this is old news.

Top Gear covered this ages ago (Nov 2014) in series 21, they drove through it, saw the great structure being built over the reactor, saw the abandoned blocks of houses and the famous fairground ferris wheel. Fukushima is equally devastating but in different ways. The event still seems like it was only yesterday but it was actually March 2011, a full 4 years ago. Since that time the plant has been steadily leaking highly contaminated radioactive pollution into the Pacific Ocean day by day by day.

Only last Dec researchers detected 110 new contaminated sites off the American Pacific coast, including the highest levels of radioactive contamination around 2,500 km west of San Francisco.

The whole thing is greatly played down of course, just as the initial radiation levels were played down by the Japanese government at the time of the disaster. Only the most naïve would believe the dumbed down propaganda though. The leakages will have affected large parts of the ocean life and will continue to do so for many years to come imo. Source your fish and prawns carefully imo.

Re: Chernobyl. 30 years ago today

Hi

The figures of 1 million deaths bandied about by those opposed to all Nuclear is quite frankly scaremongering.

The official line is around 4,000.

The problem is Bob, we will never know.

The old USSR was very secretive, mass evacuations after the accident and no monitoring of the majority of those moved.

The Ukraine at the present time is not known for openness either, and to be honest they do not have the money to trace and test all those affected.

There are parts of the Exclusion Zone which are still very radioactive and decontamination is just not cost effective.

It would also be dangerous, release far too much radioactive dust from demolition for a start and water supplies are bound to become more contaminated with the disturbance.

It is , in my view, just better to leave it as it is, a monument to Human Stupidity, an accident which should never have happened.

Re: Chernobyl. 30 years ago today

Could this be the way the world will end for us. As we become more and more dependent on electricity the need for more nuclear power stations becomes apparent. These sorts of accidents might become common place.

Re: Chernobyl. 30 years ago today

People are still living there and there are tours to visit?

http://www.viator.com/tours/Kiev/2-D...d22377-16008P1

Re: Chernobyl. 30 years ago today

What l do remember about the disaster was the scare about sheep in Wales and in the northern areas of the U.K. It was thought that they could have been, or were affected. No one was buying lamb much during that time!

Re: Chernobyl. 30 years ago today

Hi

Yes wabble, some of the old people have returned to the outlying villages.

The Ukrainian Government turns a blind eye, they are dying anyway.

There are Tourist Trips around, but on very carefully chosen
routes.

A day there on a Tourist is not going to have much effect at all on the average person.

It is an interesting place to go.

Re: Chernobyl. 30 years ago today

Its been said that in the event of a worldwide nuclear exchange, cockroaches would be survivors. May be the can do a better job than humans.