A Nuclear Explosion at Chernobyl and the Health Effects Essay
A Nuclear Explosion at Chernobyl and the Health Effects Essay
This incident became one of the world’s biggest nuclear disasters and more so because this plant was considered to be a model nuclear power plant for the whole of USSR. While probing the reasons for the disaster, many mistakes were revealed which were committed by plant operators to managers, coupled with a flawed design.
Primarily, Chernobyl tragedy has been attributed to human error though it has been observed that this “error has a general tendency” (British Nuclear Energy Society, 1987, pp.2). British Nuclear Energy Society (1987, pp.2) has also observed that this accident had emerged from the “eternal tension between efficient performance and safety. A Nuclear Explosion at Chernobyl and the Health Effects Essay. ” British Nuclear Energy Society (1987, pp.2) had accused that the designers of the Chernobyl power plant were well “aware of the natural instabilities of this particular design.” The Chernobyl plant is a “graphite moderated channel tube reactor” (British Nuclear Energy Society, 1987, pp.3). In the Soviet Union, this design was chosen to provide a major share of the nuclear power needed for the country primarily because “its smaller components were easier to manufacture and transport t site in Russia” (British Nuclear Energy Society, 1987, pp.3). It has been noted that “at the IAEA conference held in Vienna, in August 1986, the Russians acknowledged hat several fundamental shortcomings in the RBMK were recognized in the early 1970s” (British Nuclear Energy Society, 1987, pp.4). A Nuclear Explosion at Chernobyl and the Health Effects Essay.
We cannot prevent all disasters, but we can do everything possible to keep them from happening again. The Chernobyl nuclear disaster of 1986 was one of the events that the human race should have prevented at all cost. But we failed. Today, we can only study the reasons for the tragedy, and the consequences of it. The Chernobyl disaster had a significant impact on the citizens of the Soviet Union and the whole world.
The Chernobyl tragedy is one of the largest nuclear disasters in history, along with the Fukushima Daiichi disaster. These were “the only disasters to receive a level 7 (the maximum classification) on the International Nuclear Event Scale” (Ritchie). Although the exact number of people who died as a direct result of the Chernobyl disaster is known (2 power plant workers and 29 firemen), it is impossible to evaluate the number of victims who suffered from low-level radiation exposure.
The radioactive emissions had a negative impact on the population in many European countries. According to the research by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, “Chernobyl may have caused about 1,000 cases of thyroid cancer and 4,000 cases of other cancers in Europe” (Cardis et al.). However, the citizens of the Soviet Union in Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus were most affected by the radiation.
The Soviet government tried to hide the facts of the accident and the possible consequences not only from the world press, but from its citizens. As a result, the population was negatively affected by radiation poisoning. A Nuclear Explosion at Chernobyl and the Health Effects Essay. In the report provided by the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation of 2018, the researchers claimed that “the accident also was responsible for nearly 20,000 documented cases of thyroid cancer among individuals who were under 18 years of age at the time of the accident in the three affected countries including Belarus, Ukraine and the Russian Federation” (qtd. in “Chernobyl Accident and Its Consequences”).
Along with disastrous consequences for the Soviet and European population, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster also had a significant impact on world history. Firstly, this disaster could have been one of the main reasons for the fall of the Soviet Union. Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the USSR, suggested that Chernobyl was “perhaps the real cause of the collapse of the Soviet Union” (qtd. in Stern).
Secondly, after the tragedy, other countries have comprehended the full extent of nuclear power and its danger for humanity. Finally, the Chernobyl disaster made the Soviet government reconsider its policy and announce a new epoch of “glasnost” (“openness”). This epoch was the beginning of a more democratic regime. In addition, “glasnost” triggered the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
The consequences of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster are difficult to estimate, but even the approximate number of fatalities terrifies. Thousands of people in the Soviet Union and in Europe have suffered from this accident, and they still pay for the mistakes made by a few politicians. A Nuclear Explosion at Chernobyl and the Health Effects Essay.
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Works Cited
1. “Chernobyl Accident and Its Consequences.” Nuclear Energy Institute, May 2019, www.nei.org/resources/fact-sheets/chernobyl-accident-and-its-consequences.
2. Cardis, Elisabeth, et al. “Estimates of the Cancer Burden in Europe from Radioactive Fallout from the Chernobyl Accident.” International Journal of Cancer, National Center for Biotechnology Information, 15 Sept. 2006, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16628547.
3. Ritchie, Hanna. “What Was the Death Toll from Chernobyl and Fukushima?” Our World in Data, 24 July 2017, ourworldindata.org/what-was-the-death-toll-from-chernobyl-and-fukushima.
4. Stern, Mark Joseph. “How a Nuclear Catastrophe Undermined an Entire Empire.” Slate Magazine, Slate, 25 Jan. 2013, slate.com/technology/2013/01/chernobyl-and-the-fall-of-the-soviet-union-gorbachevs-glasnost-allowed-the-nuclear-catastrophe-to-undermine-the-ussr.html.
The Chernobyl accident has changed our perception of nuclear power. We can’t deny the value of this energy, but we’ve seen how deadly it can be. However, modern society can’t progress without powerful sources of energy. If you’re interested in this topic, we recommend you to take a look at our presentation about nuclear and solar powers. A Nuclear Explosion at Chernobyl and the Health Effects Essay.
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In the wee hours of the morning of April 26, 1986, the town was still and operation of the power plant was going smoothly. However, at 1:24 AM, 2 explosions suddenly tore through the fourth unit, sending both debris and radioactive material flying through the air (IAEA, “One Decade After Chernobyl: Summing Up The Consequences of The Accident.” 67). The explosions that occurred that night were not at all planned. They were the results of human error; an experiment conducted in the fourth unit that had gone horribly wrong. During the conduction of the experiment, the power was shut too rapidly and pressure began to build, rendering the unit unstable (Chernobyl Accident 1986). However, there were several other factors that also played a role in the explosions; specifically, the different defects and flaws in the design of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. A Nuclear Explosion at Chernobyl and the Health Effects Essay. The plant in Chernobyl was an RBMK model, a military-based type of reactor. However, this model suffered 3 major flaws in its design. Firstly, its cooling systems were made in such a way that instead of reducing power when water or fuel becomes scarce, power would increase. The second flaw would be in the control rods; they lacked the speed necessary to cope with changes in reactivity. Lastly, it was lacking in proper containment systems to ensure safety within the unit (Henares, jr., n.p.). There was also one flaw that was unique to this plant which may have led to its demise: A Nuclear Explosion at Chernobyl and the Health Effects Essay.
