The Chernobyl Disaster: The Increase In Energy And Its Community

Throughout history, scientific advancement in energy has enhanced civilization. As civilization grows, so does the increase in energy sources. Many of those advancements people rely on. Society enjoys the fruits of someone else’s labor without knowing intricate details about how lethal some of these energy source can be. The Chernobyl incident emphasizes the dangers the use of nuclear and radiological energy can have. The Chernobyl incident, caused irreversible change on the environment and its community.
On April 26, 1986, a reactor rupture at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and caused an explosion. This explosion caused a fire and released large quantities of radioactive contamination into the atmosphere miles from the city Chernobyl. Because
of the explosion an uncontrolled fire began and lasted two weeks. This burn of radioactive material released one billion or more curies around the northern hemisphere. Per “The Other Report on Chernobyl”, “Chernobyl was 200 times that of the combined releases from the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki” (Fairlie). This unhealthy doses radiation exposure caused the displacement of many people. Many citizens were advised to evacuate. Many abandon their homes and fled to regions were radiation doses were high. Radiation being invisible, forced people unknowingly to migrate into these regions with high radioactivity. The countries initially exposed to radiation were Russia, Belarus and the Ukraine. This exposer increased the risk to the public’s health in these neighboring countries.
This catastrophic event exposed numerous people to radiation.
The capacity of exposed radiation was enormous, “accident of 1986 released vast quantities of radioactive materials and significantly contaminated about 200,000 square kilometers of land” (Mousseau). Acute radiation syndrome caused the death of over 30 Chernobyl plant workers and first responders a few days and weeks after initial exposure. Per the NRC and UNSCEAR “More than 6,000 cases of thyroid cancer may eventually be linked to radiation exposure in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia” (Lallanilla). Acute radiation is an illness that causes digestive problems to include, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea. This exposure to radiation has complicating effects on the nervous system, heart, and lungs. Some studies show an increased rate of childhood leukemia from the Chernobyl incident in West Germany, Greece and Belarus. These children were likely exposed to high dose of radiation which can damage genes and chromosomes. Thyroid cancer is very rare in children, this rapid increase was surely related to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. This occurred among people who were young children and adolescents at the time of the accident accordingly lived in the most contaminated areas of Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine. Many adults exposed also suffered from thyroid cancer to include leukemia. “Leukemia was the first malignancy to be linked to radiation exposure among atomic bomb survivors (54) and has the highest radiation related relative risk of all cancers, particularly following exposure in childhood” (Hatch). These developments are awful long lasting remnants of what this catastrophe did to
people.
Exposer to the agriculture and the environment due to radiation was apparent. A large percentage of the area was used for farming, the forest and bodies of water were also contaminated. Plants and animals living in the exclusion zone received the highest level of radiation. Radionucleotides remain in the soil, which grew into plants which cattle fed, then transferred to the milk and meat. This led to more exposure to people and restrictions placed on the production, transportation and consumption of food contaminated by the Chernobyl incident. This contamination caused adverse health reactions which’d caused people to become sick. Animals in the region have flourished. The abandonment of the area allowed, the exclusion zone to become a thriving ecosystem. This abandonment allowed plants and animals to flourished without the influence of human disturbance. It has been difficult to determine how the animals respond directly from the radiation. “Species richness and abundance of animals can be affected by numerous environmental factors other than radiation” (Mousseau). Some research on wildlife reveal subtle changes, with no effects on longevity or reproduction. In many cases a lot more research is needed to determine how the effects of radiation has challenged many animals in this eco system.
This exposure to radiation changed the lives of many. Extensive amounts of radioactive materials were released into the environment resulting in a radioactive cloud that spread over much of Europe. This radiation exposure transformed a community to include the people, animals and the environment in which they coexisted. Since this event significant progress has been made in the development of safety and health directly relevant to issues regarding radiation protection.