Not a single event since World War II
did not touch so many people in Europe,
like the explosion of the 4th reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
The Times, April 1987
Location : p/c "Tourist"
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Not a single event since World War II
did not touch so many people in Europe,
like the explosion of the 4th reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
The Times, April 1987
Location: p/c "Tourist"
25 years ago, on the night of April 25-26, 1986, on nuclear power plant, located near the city of Chernobyl, 130 km from the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, one of the world's largest industrial accidents occurred. Nuclear reactor of the fourth power unit nuclear power plant got out of control, exploded and caught fire. Eyewitnesses said that at approximately 1 hour 24 minutes on the night of April 26, two explosions were heard.
Burning pieces of graphite and sparks flew over the roof of the fourth power unit. Some of them fell on the roof of the turbine room and caused a fire in the building. As a result of the fire, a huge amount of deadly radioactive substances in the reactor were released into the environment. They were carried by winds many hundreds of thousands of kilometers from Chernobyl. Where radioactive substances fell on the surface of the earth, zones of radioactive contamination formed.
The areas most affected were Belarus, Ukraine and Russia, as the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was located near the intersection of the borders of the three countries. About 70% of the released radioactive substances fell on Belarus. In Ukraine, 4.8% of the territory is infected, in Russia - 0.5%.
The consequences of the disaster are global. For the first time in human history, an industrial accident has reached such a scale that its consequences can be found anywhere on Earth.According to observational data, on April 29, 1986, high background radiation was recorded in Poland, Germany, Austria, Romania, on April 30 - in Switzerland and Northern Italy, on May 1-2 - in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Northern Greece, on May 3 - in Israel, Kuwait, Turkey...
Gaseous and volatile substances thrown at high altitudes spread globally: on May 2 they were registered in Japan, on May 4 - in China, on May 5 - in India, on May 5 and 6 - in the USA and Canada.
It took less than a week for Chernobyl to become a problem for the whole world...
The Times newspaper wrote in April 1987:
“Not a single event since World War II touched so many people in Europe as the explosion of the 4th reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.”
What radioactive substances got into the environment?
Thousands of tons of cesium, iodine, lead, zirconium, cadmium, beryllium, boron, an unknown amount of plutonium - a total of four hundred and fifty types of radionuclides - were already lying on our soil. Their number was equal to three hundred and fifty bombs dropped on Hiroshima.
According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation in Europe, the following radioactive substances were released into the environment as a result of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident: isotopes of iodine, cesium and strontium.
How much radioactive substances got into the environment?
There is no exact data about this; there are calculations made based on measurements.
The danger of the Chernobyl release is that it contained both radioactive elements that easily penetrate the body and cause internal irradiation (iodine, strontium, cesium), and ultra-long-lived elements (uranium, plutonium), which will pose a danger for tens of thousands of years. years.It is also important to know that as a result of the decay of some radionuclides, other radioactive substances usually arise, which can also pose a serious danger.
Radioactive isotopes can be very dangerous to humans. Even in small quantities, radioactive elements pose a danger to life. Radiation can damage genetic structure. Let's see in which parts of the body and what radioactive isotopes accumulate.
In the lungs: krypton 85, radium 222, uranium, plutonium; in the thyroid gland: iodine 131; in the liver: cobalt 60, in muscles: cesium 137, potassium 40; in bones: carbon 14, phosphorus 32, radium 226, strontium 90.
Which radioactive elements pose the greatest danger to humans 25 years after the disaster?
After 25 years, radioactive isotopes of cesium and strontium with a half-life of about 30 years pose a particular danger. Currently, more than 60% of the original quantity of these elements is still in environment.
Ultra-long-lived plutonium poses a particular danger. During a reactor fire, plutonium and soot formed “hot particles” that are easily transported by the wind and, upon entering the human body, settle in the lungs, causing serious internal radiation. To one degree or another, radiation affects all inhabitants of the Earth. About 600 thousand people passed directly through the work in the “zone” to eliminate the consequences of the accident and through the contaminated areas.
The tragedy of people - hundreds of thousands of victims of the accident cannot be conveyed. You can listen to them, try to understand what “Chernobyl” is. Listen to a small part of the memories of people whose lives were scorched by a terrible atomic fire.
Firefighters from the city of Pripyat were the first to arrive at the burning nuclear power plant.
Many of them received terrible doses of radiation and died a painful death.
In memory of a friend
Krylov Anatoly Alekseevich
We left Chernobyl with you.
And this, I think, is not small.
Trouble called us to this fight,
And you died... And I’m still in service.
Area. Third block. Dinner.
The tunnel and the bright light of the failure...
You lasted ten years
One thing in the soul keeps the light alive,
She was lying in wait for us everywhere,
Strike from around the corner, where they were not expected.
In desperate but competent work,
We risked our lives.
And God forbid to repeat everything all over again.
And I don’t want a new catastrophe.
How can I stand before her alone?
You can't be replaced by someone else.
But the “bony” one still got it.
Contrary to cold thoughts:
Although you have been gone for two years -
Your students are standing in line
If it were not for the heroism of the station personnel, firefighters, and accident liquidators who gave their lives, the consequences would have been much worse. In addition to nuclear power plant personnel, firefighters and liquidators, residents of Belarus, Ukraine and other countries were exposed to radiation. Immediately after the accident, about 90 thousand people were evacuated from a 30-kilometer zone around the station. From the Gomel region of Belarus - 17 thousand people. But not everyone understood the danger of radiation, its impact on humans and animals. There are quite a few types of radioactive radiation, they differ in their effects on the body. Most types of radioactive radiation are dangerous to humans and almost all living things.
Large doses of radiation lead to death. It was precisely this painful death from radiation that many participants in the liquidation of the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster suffered. The first of them were heroic firefighters who extinguished the burning reactor immediately after the explosion. Most of them died over the next 14 days.
Small doses of radiation do not immediately lead to visible consequences, but can cause damage to individual organs, a disorder of the immune system, and cancer. Radiation often causes blood cancer and thyroid cancer.
Ultra-small (“allowed”) doses of radiation can cause a violation of the genetic structure, which, if transmitted by inheritance, can cause irreversible damage to the health of the children and grandchildren of the exposed person.
A tragic consequence of Chernobyl contamination was a sharp increase in spontaneous abortions and stillbirths. The body of pregnant women rejects the fetus after irradiation with small doses.
Chernobyl contamination caused and continues to cause an increase in mortality among the population of all ages.
The huge collective dose of radiation from the Chernobyl disaster could not but lead to changes at the genetic level. Thus, in West Berlin, there was a 2.5-fold increase in the number of newborns with Down syndrome among those conceived in May 1986. This disease is associated with genomic mutations (changes in the normal number of chromosomes).
In contaminated areas, there is an increase in the number of children with congenital malformations, such as bifurcation of the lip and palate, duplication of the kidneys, ureters, the appearance of additional fingers, abnormalities in the development of the nervous and circulatory systems, and occlusion of the esophagus.
Cancer is one of the typical manifestations of the effects of radiation. Selective studies in Poland, which lasted 11 years and covered 21 thousand people, showed that every second woman and every tenth child living in the affected areas had an enlarged thyroid gland.
Research conducted in Yekaterinburg showed that by 1998, every third child had abnormalities in the development of the thyroid gland. Of the 119,178 children who were under 10 years old at the time of the disaster, for 62 cases of cancer, 45,873 cases of other pathologies of this gland were discovered.
Radiation disrupts all known types of immunity. One of the causes of immune dysfunction is a deficiency or excess of vital microelements.
45% of children living in the territory of Ukraine contaminated by the Chernobyl release have a reduced immune status. As a consequence, an increase in the frequency and severity of acute and chronic diseases.
In children born in the affected areas, there is a delay in the development of the central nervous system, delay speech development, neurotic disorders, disorder mental development. Cases have been recorded of the birth of children irradiated in the womb with underdevelopment of the brain and skull.
Radiation exposure entails a noticeable increase in the overall morbidity of the population. There has been an increase in the number of diseases of the respiratory system, visual disorders, allergies, and incurable skin diseases.
Let's summarize the above. The accident at the nuclear power plant had a negative impact on human health and resulted in:
decreased birth rate; increased mortality; genetic disorders; an increase in the number of children with congenital malformations; increased incidence of cancer; changes in hormonal status; impaired immunity; impaired mental development, diseases of the circulatory system.Kofi Annan (UN Secretary General) noted in one of his speeches: “At least 3 million children in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia require treatment today (due to the Chernobyl disaster). The total number of those who develop serious health problems, we will not know until 2016.”
Today, 25 years later, we are talking about the lessons of the Chernobyl disaster.
Firstly, “The Chernobyl disaster is undoubtedly the most terrible event in the history of civilization. As a result, all of humanity suffered.”
The consequences of the accident are global and terrible. Global, because radioactive substances from the exploded reactor were spread throughout the planet. Terrible because a huge number of people were exposed to radiation.
Secondly, You can’t rely on technology, no matter how reliable it may seem
Third, Unfortunately, many long-lived radioactive elements released from an exploded reactor 20 years ago are still in the environment, carried by air and water currents and pose a health hazard to the inhabitants of the Earth.
Therefore, people must remember Chernobyl for the sake of the future, be aware of the dangers of radiation and do everything to ensure that such disasters never happen again.
April 26 is the International Day of Remembrance for Victims radiation accidents and disasters. On this day in 1986, an accident occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant - the largest man-made disaster of the 20th century in terms of the scale of damage and consequences.
On the night of April 26, an explosion occurred at the fourth power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant during design tests of one of the safety systems.
As a result of the explosion, the core and the entire upper part of the reactor building were completely destroyed, and other structures were also severely damaged. Barriers and safety systems that protected the environment from radionuclides produced in irradiated fuel were destroyed.
The release of nuclear fuel products from the damaged reactor at a level of millions of curies per day continued for 10 days from April 26 to May 6, 1986, after which it fell sharply (thousands of times) and subsequently continued to decrease.
As a result of the accident radioactive contamination The territories of 17 European countries with a total area of 207.5 thousand square kilometers were affected. Most of it fell on the territory of Ukraine (37.63 thousand square kilometers), Belarus (43.5 thousand square kilometers) and Russia (59.3 thousand square kilometers). In Russia, 14 regions with a population of about three million people were exposed to radiation contamination.
The radioactivity that contaminated clouds from Chernobyl brought with them was recorded not only in the northern and southern parts Europe, but also in Canada, Japan and the United States. Only the southern hemisphere of the Earth remained uncontaminated.
The Chernobyl accident affected the lives of millions of people in one way or another. As a result of the Chernobyl accident, most of the population of the northern hemisphere was exposed to radiation in varying degrees. People living outside the former Soviet Union received relatively small doses, depending largely on whether rainfall occurred along the radioactive trail.
Almost 8.4 million people in Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine were exposed to radiation, hundreds of thousands of them were evacuated from contaminated areas.
Directly during the accident, more than 300 people from the nuclear power plant personnel and firefighters were exposed to acute radiation effects. Of these, 237 were given a primary diagnosis of “acute radiation sickness” (ARS); this diagnosis was subsequently confirmed in 134 people. 28 people died from ARS in the first months after the accident. Three people died during the explosion at the fourth power unit (one person died from the explosion under the rubble, another died a few hours later from injuries and burns, and the third of them died from heart failure).
After the accident, 600 thousand citizens of the USSR were involved in the work to eliminate its consequences (according to some estimates, up to 800 thousand people, including a large number of military), including 200 thousand from Russia. They directly participated in the creation of the “Shelter” over the destroyed fourth block, in the decontamination of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant site and other blocks.
The largest group of liquidators participated in cleanup operations after the accident. Although they were no longer working in an emergency situation, they nevertheless received significant doses of radiation.
Participants in the liquidation of the consequences of the accident, risking life and health, fulfilled their duty and prevented the spread of destructive radioactive emissions.
Paying tribute to the memory of those killed, the heads of state of the Commonwealth of Independent States at the summit in June 2001 adopted.
On December 17, 2003, the UN General Assembly supported the decision of the Council of Heads of State of the CIS to proclaim April 26 as the International Day of Remembrance for Victims of Radiation Accidents and Disasters, and also called on all UN member states to celebrate this International Day and hold relevant events within its framework.
In 2011, the Verkhovna Rada approved the decommissioning program for the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. According to the program, Chernobyl nuclear power plant will be completely eliminated by 2065.
On October 16, 2015, an important political and international document was adopted at the CIS summit in the Republic of Kazakhstan - . The Appeal emphasizes tribute to those killed as a result of the Chernobyl tragedy and the determination to continue making efforts to overcome the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster, and also calls for every possible assistance in solving problems related to the consequences of the participation of Chernobyl veterans in the liquidation of the Chernobyl disaster.
On December 8, 2016, at the UN headquarters in New York, at a plenary meeting, the UN General Assembly adopted by consensus the resolution “Long-term consequences of the Chernobyl disaster” initiated and prepared by the delegation of Belarus.
The UN General Assembly resolution adopted at the initiative of Belarus is a clear indication of the international community’s solidarity with the efforts of the affected countries and its readiness to continue cooperation with them on post-Chernobyl problems and provide appropriate assistance.
The resolution calls for continued attention from the international community to post-Chernobyl problems and coordinated international action to address the long-term consequences of the Chernobyl accident. The main message of the new UNGA resolution is the need to continue Chernobyl cooperation under the auspices of the UN in order to achieve sustainable development of the affected regions and populations through partnerships, innovations and investments.
The document calls on Member States and UN agencies to harmonize approaches to the development of international Chernobyl cooperation in connection with the completion of the UN decade for rehabilitation and rehabilitation in 2016. sustainable development affected regions.
According to information from open sources Internet
On the opening of the Chernobyl photo exhibition at the UN headquarters
April 26, 2017 at the UN headquarters in New York on the occasion International Day In memory of the Chernobyl disaster, which is celebrated for the first time this year, the opening ceremony of the photo exhibition “You are not alone: Celebrating the healing power of empathy and compassion in the face of tragedy” took place.
The event was organized by the Permanent Mission of Belarus to the UN together with the UN Development Program Office in Belarus and two non-governmental organizations from the USA and Ireland, which identified their main goal assistance to the children of Chernobyl: “Ramapo to the children of Chernobyl” and “International project for the children of Chernobyl.” The exhibition presents photographic materials from the archives of these organizations, as well as works by American photographer Philip Grossman, taken following his trip to Belarus in November 2016.
The purpose of the event was to pay tribute to the help, compassion, selflessness and humanity expressed to the people of Belarus in difficult times for the country.
During the ceremony, an appeal from the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus was read, in which Vladimir Makei, on behalf of the Government of Belarus, expressed gratitude to states, international organizations, charitable non-governmental organizations and people of good will for their assistance in implementing important projects in the country in the field of health and ecology, their great contribution to health improvement and treatment of children from Chernobyl regions and valuable humanitarian assistance to Belarus.
The founder of the American charitable project “Ramapo for the Children of Chernobyl,” Donald Kerns, spoke about the work of the Ramapo School to support children from the Chernobyl regions. The head of the Washington office of the Irish organization “International Project for the Children of Chernobyl,” Kathleen Ryan, read a special address from the President of Ireland on the occasion of the International Day of Remembrance of the Chernobyl Disaster.
Special messages were read at the opening ceremony of the exhibition Secretary General UN Antonio Guterres and the President of the UN General Assembly Peter Thomson.
The opening ceremony of the exhibition was attended by heads and staff of many missions of UN member states in New York, agencies of the UN system, representatives of non-governmental organizations and the American public.
The photo exhibition became the main event in a number of events at the UN on the occasion of the first International Day of Remembrance of the Chernobyl disaster. Earlier, in early April, a meeting of the UN inter-agency group on Chernobyl was held with the participation of a number of countries and international organizations. Belarus also organized on April 26 round table on international Chernobyl cooperation.
Over the last century, humanity has made tremendous progress in technological development. A huge number of industrial facilities were built, including using atomic energy. Unfortunately, sometimes accidents occur on them, leading to serious damage and loss of life. To honor their memory, a special date has been set during which annual themed events are held.
When is it celebrated?
The International Day of Remembrance for Victims of Radiation Accidents and Disasters is celebrated on April 26 around the world. It was established at the CIS summit in September 2003 on the initiative of former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma. The idea was supported by the UN, calling for its resolution to celebrate it in all member countries of the organization. In 2020, the event is celebrated for the 17th time at the international level.
In Russia, it has been celebrated since 1993 as the Day of Remembrance for those killed in radiation accidents and disasters. On April 4, 2012, the government of the Russian Federation adopted a resolution changing the name of the date to the Day of Participants in Elimination of the Consequences of Radiation Accidents and Disasters and the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of These Accidents and Disasters.
Who's celebrating
The Day of the Chernobyl Tragedy is a tribute to all veterans and liquidators of man-made accidents who, risking their own lives and health, eliminated the threats and consequences of disasters: firefighters, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the police and other services.
history of the holiday
The date was not chosen by chance. It was on this day that a terrible disaster occurred, which claimed many lives and left its mark on the fates of millions of people - the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. It especially affected Ukraine, where the power plant was located, as well as the nearby territories of Russia and Belarus.
As a result of the destruction of one of the reactors, a large amount of radioactive elements were released into the air, which were carried by the wind over a distance of more than 160 thousand square kilometers. The territories of the cities of Pripyat and Chernobyl suffered the greatest damage, as a result of which a decision was made to completely evacuate the population living in a 30-kilometer zone from the damaged reactor. Nuclear power plant employees received the highest dose of radiation; more than 30 of them died from radiation sickness within a few months.
The fire that arose after the explosion was extinguished by local firefighters, as well as auxiliary teams from Kyiv and neighboring areas. The work was carried out without special protective suits, people received gigantic doses of radiation, practically sacrificing their lives. The consequences of the accident are being eliminated to this day: a concrete sarcophagus was built over the destroyed reactor, and work was carried out to clean up the areas from dangerous radioactive elements. All these events were carried out jointly by several ministries - the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the army, and the police. Over the course of several years, more than 600 thousand people worked in the most contaminated 30-kilometer zone (exclusion zone). Subsequently, they all received the status of accident liquidator and certain benefits, but the mortality rate among them was tens of times higher than normal.
Many residents of villages and hamlets from the exclusion zone, despite the bans, returned to their homes after some time. The high background radiation did not have a detrimental effect on them; some continue to live there to this day.
Tell students about the Chernobyl tragedy; about the people who took part in the liquidation of this accident, to contribute to the formation of environmental knowledge and its use in educational and practical activities.
Develop a positive active life position;
Cultivate a sense of compassion and respect.
April 26 - International Day of Remembrance for Victims of Radiation Accidents and Disasters; proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in December 2003 (the initiative to adopt a corresponding resolution was taken by the member countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States).
April 26, 2011 marked the 30th anniversary of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
30 years ago, on the night of April 25-26, 1986, one of the world's worst industrial accidents occurred at a nuclear power plant located near the city of Chernobyl, 130 km from the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv. The nuclear reactor of the fourth power unit of the nuclear power plant went out of control, exploded and caught fire. Eyewitnesses said that at approximately 1 hour 24 minutes on the night of April 26, two explosions were heard.
Burning pieces of graphite and sparks flew over the roof of the fourth power unit. Some of them fell on the roof of the turbine room and caused a fire in the building. As a result of the fire, a huge amount of deadly radioactive substances in the reactor were released into the environment. They were carried by winds many hundreds of thousands of kilometers from Chernobyl. Where radioactive substances fell on the surface of the earth, zones of radioactive contamination formed.
The Times newspaper wrote in April 1987:
“Not a single event since World War II touched so many people in Europe as the explosion of the 4th reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.”
What radioactive substances got into the environment?
Thousands of tons of cesium, iodine, lead, zirconium, cadmium, beryllium, boron, an unknown amount of plutonium - a total of four hundred and fifty types of radionuclides - were already lying on our soil. Their number was equal to three hundred and fifty bombs dropped on Hiroshima.
According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation in Europe, the following radioactive substances were released into the environment as a result of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident: isotopes of iodine, cesium and strontium.
Radioactive isotopes can be very dangerous to humans. Even in small quantities, radioactive elements pose a danger to life. Radiation can damage genetic structure.
Which radioactive elements pose the greatest danger to humans 30 years after the disaster?
For 30 years, radioactive isotopes of cesium and strontium with a half-life of about 30 years posed a particular danger. Currently, more than 60% of the original amounts of these elements are still found in the environment.
Ultra-long-lived plutonium poses a particular danger. During a reactor fire, plutonium and soot formed “hot particles” that are easily transported by the wind and, upon entering the human body, settle in the lungs, causing serious internal radiation. To one degree or another, radiation affects all inhabitants of the Earth. About 600 thousand people passed directly through the work in the “zone” to eliminate the consequences of the accident and through the contaminated areas.
Large doses of radiation lead to death. It was precisely this painful death from radiation that many participants in the liquidation of the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster suffered. The first of them were heroic firefighters who extinguished the burning reactor immediately after the explosion. Most of them died over the next 14 days.
Small doses of radiation do not immediately lead to visible consequences, but can cause damage to individual organs, a disorder of the immune system, and cancer. Radiation often causes blood cancer and thyroid cancer.
Ultra-small (“allowed”) doses of radiation can cause a violation of the genetic structure, which, if transmitted by inheritance, can cause irreversible damage to the health of the children and grandchildren of the exposed person.
A tragic consequence of Chernobyl contamination was a sharp increase in spontaneous abortions and stillbirths. The body of pregnant women rejects the fetus after irradiation with small doses.
Chernobyl contamination caused and continues to cause an increase in mortality among the population of all ages.
The huge collective dose of radiation from the Chernobyl disaster could not but lead to changes at the genetic level. Thus, in West Berlin, there was a 2.5-fold increase in the number of newborns with Down syndrome among those conceived in May 1986. This disease is associated with genomic mutations (changes in the normal number of chromosomes).
In contaminated areas, there is an increase in the number of children with congenital malformations, such as bifurcation of the lip and palate, duplication of the kidneys, ureters, the appearance of additional fingers, abnormalities in the development of the nervous and circulatory systems, and occlusion of the esophagus.
Cancer is one of the typical manifestations of the effects of radiation. Selective studies in Poland, which lasted 11 years and covered 21 thousand people, showed that every second woman and every tenth child living in the affected areas had an enlarged thyroid gland.
Research conducted in Yekaterinburg showed that by 1998, every third child had abnormalities in the development of the thyroid gland. Of the 119,178 children who were under 10 years old at the time of the disaster, for 62 cases of cancer, 45,873 cases of other pathologies of this gland were discovered.
Radiation disrupts all known types of immunity. One of the causes of immune dysfunction is a deficiency or excess of vital microelements.
45% of children living in the territory of Ukraine contaminated by the Chernobyl release have a reduced immune status. As a consequence, an increase in the frequency and severity of acute and chronic diseases.
In children born in the affected areas, there is a delay in the development of the central nervous system, delayed speech development, neurotic disorders, and impaired mental development. Cases have been recorded of the birth of children irradiated in the womb with underdevelopment of the brain and skull.
Radiation exposure entails a noticeable increase in the overall morbidity of the population. There has been an increase in the number of diseases of the respiratory system, visual disorders, allergies, and incurable skin diseases.
Let's summarize the above. The accident at the nuclear power plant had a negative impact on human health and resulted in: decreased birth rate; increased mortality; genetic disorders; an increase in the number of children with congenital malformations; increased incidence of cancer; changes in hormonal status; impaired immunity; impaired mental development, diseases of the circulatory system.
As a result of the Chernobyl accident, more than 53.5 thousand square kilometers of Ukrainian territory were contaminated. There are no people living on the territory of 2598 square kilometers - they were forcibly resettled. 162 thousand people were evacuated and resettled from their places of permanent residence, including the city of Pripyat. Firefighters from the city of Pripyat were the first to arrive at the burning nuclear power plant. Many of them received terrible doses of radiation and died a painful death.
Echo of Chernobyl! Kirill Voloshin
CHERNOBYL – one word is enough.
And my heart is like a painful lump,
It begins to shrink, waiting,
A hot blizzard with an atom inside.
There the sunsets flared up red,
Burning through fields, steppes, forests.
The future is level with the sky
With light-colored nuclear power plant buildings.
Not to drink away grief, but to drink it in one gulp!..
Don't touch anything here with your hand:
Dead city over the Pripyat River,
This town is a ghost town
Emits a dead sign
Having opened the hem above Hell,
He lost the battle in the war...
And children irradiated with uranium
Caught by the winds of change,
Separated a long time ago different countries…
I think you're sane today
And are alive even this year,
But many died in agony,
And many people are still suffering...
But it’s not a sign, not a miracle,
Just a small mistake...
And the city is empty. Actually people
They left him in just a day.
And we thought then that it wouldn’t last long
They didn’t lock the houses tightly
And they carelessly took something valuable
They didn’t know that it would last forever! forever!
Those who remained alive turned gray,
Having thus accepted the general misfortune.
The sentence is terrible: irradiated,
Each one is stitched with a “peaceful” atom.
It would be better to live a steppe, nomadic life,
In the faces - the wind is hops and the sun is copper,
What is this disease - radiation,
A slow, painful death.
It's easier to fall apart and fall asleep,
Transformed into today's mound.
...Dead city over the Pripyat River,
Dead city of Pripyat over the river.
The city was named Pripyat after the full-flowing beauty of the river, which, whimsically meandering like a blue ribbon, connects Belarusian and Ukrainian Polesie and carries its waters to the gray Dnieper. And the city owes its appearance to the construction here of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant named after V.I. Lenin. February 4, 1970 considered the beginning of the construction of the city.
In the mid-1980s, about 48,000 people lived in prosperous Pripyat, and it was designed for 75-78 thousand residents. This rapid population growth (every year the number of Pripyat residents increased by more than one and a half thousand people, of which almost half were newborns) was also facilitated by the fact that, in addition to the nuclear power plant, residents began to be served by a convenient transport node throughout Polesie - not far from the city there is a large railroad station Yanov, in Pripyat itself they built a bus station and a large river pier, more like a small river port. This is how this garden city grew and lived until April 26, 1986.
Currently, the city of Pripyat is a dead city, it is also called a ghost town. Organized excursions and car rallies are held there. The purpose of visiting the city is to study the state of natural objects, but most often people come to Pripyat to look at the city, in which for 30 years the hum of cars and children’s laughter have not been heard, in which lonely houses are still waiting for their owners who so quickly left their cozy Houses:
This accident forced humanity to take a new approach to nuclear energy and the safe operation of nuclear power plants. As a result of the explosion, not only the republics were affected former USSR- Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, but also a number of countries bordering Soviet Union.
In Ukraine, there are 2 million 600 thousand victims of the Chernobyl disaster, 255 thousand liquidators, 106 thousand disabled people.
Today, 30 years later, we are talking about the lessons of the Chernobyl disaster.
Firstly, “The Chernobyl disaster is undoubtedly the most terrible event in the history of civilization. As a result, all of humanity suffered.” The consequences of the accident are global and terrible. Global, because radioactive substances from the exploded reactor were spread throughout the planet. Terrible because a huge number of people were exposed to radiation.
Secondly,
Third, Unfortunately, many long-lived radioactive elements released 30 years ago from an exploded reactor are still in the environment, carried by air and water currents and pose a health hazard to the inhabitants of the Earth.
The very first major radiation accidents in history occurred during the production of nuclear materials for the first atomic bombs.
September 1, 1944 in the USA , Tennessee, at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, while trying to clean a pipe in the laboratory's uranium enrichment device, uranium hexafluoride exploded, resulting in the formation of the dangerous substance hydrofluoric acid. Five people who were in the laboratory at the time suffered from acid burns and inhalation of a mixture of radioactive and acid fumes. Two of them died and the rest were seriously injured.
In the USSR, the first serious radiation accident occurred on June 19, 1948 , the very next day after the release of the nuclear reactor for the production of weapons-grade plutonium (object “A” of the Mayak plant in Chelyabinsk region) to design capacity. As a result of insufficient cooling of several uranium blocks, they locally fused with the surrounding graphite. Over the course of nine days, the canal was cleared by manual drilling. During the liquidation of the accident, all male reactor personnel, as well as soldiers of the construction battalions involved in the liquidation of the accident, were exposed to radiation.
March 3, 1949 in the Chelyabinsk region As a result of the massive discharge of high-level liquid radioactive waste into the Techa River by the Mayak plant, about 124 thousand people in 41 settlements were exposed to radiation. The highest radiation dose was received by 28,100 people living in coastal areas. populated areas along the Techa River; Cases of chronic radiation sickness were reported in many of those exposed.
December 12, 1952 in Canada The world's first serious accident at a nuclear power plant occurred. A technical error by the personnel led to overheating and partial melting of the reactor core.
September 29, 1957 An accident occurred, called "Kyshtym". A container containing radioactive substances exploded in the radioactive waste storage facility at Mayak in the Chelyabinsk region. Experts estimated the power of the explosion at 70-100 tons of TNT equivalent. The radioactive cloud from the explosion passed over the Chelyabinsk, Sverdlovsk and Tyumen regions, forming the so-called East Ural radioactive trace with an area of over 20 thousand square kilometers. According to experts, from the moment of the explosion until the evacuation from the industrial site of the plant, more than five thousand people were exposed to one-time exposure to up to 100 roentgens. From 25 to 30 thousand military personnel took part in eliminating the consequences of the accident in the period from 1957 to 1959. During Soviet times, information about the disaster was classified.
October 10, 1957 in Great Britain In the town of Windscale, a major accident occurred at one of two reactors producing weapons-grade plutonium. Due to an error made during operation, the temperature of the fuel in the reactor increased sharply, and a fire broke out in the core, which lasted about four days. As a result, 11 tons of uranium burned, and radioactive substances were released into the atmosphere. Radioactive fallout contaminated large areas of England and Ireland; The radioactive cloud reached Belgium, Denmark, Germany, and Norway.
In April 1967 Another radiation incident occurred at PA Mayak. Lake Karachay, which Mayak used to dump liquid radioactive waste, has become very shallow; at the same time, the coastal strip and the bottom of the lake were partially exposed. Radioactive dust from dried bottom sediments was carried by the wind far beyond the lake: an area of 1 thousand 800 square kilometers was contaminated, where about 40 thousand people lived.
The most serious incident in the US nuclear power industry was the accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania, which occurred March 28, 1979 . As a result of a series of equipment malfunctions and gross errors by operators, 53% of the reactor core melted at the second power unit of the nuclear power plant. There was a release of inert radioactive gases into the atmosphere. In addition, 185 cubic meters weakly radioactive water. 200 thousand people were evacuated from the area exposed to radiation.
On the night of April 25-26, 1986 at the fourth unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (Ukraine) The largest nuclear accident in the world occurred - with partial destruction of the reactor core and the release of fission fragments outside the zone. According to experts, the accident occurred due to an attempt to conduct an experiment to remove additional energy during operation of the main nuclear reactor. 190 tons of radioactive substances were released into the atmosphere. Eight of the reactor's 140 tons of radioactive fuel ended up in the air. Other hazardous substances were released into the atmosphere as a result of the fire, which lasted almost two weeks. People at Chernobyl were exposed to 90 times more radiation than when the bomb fell on Hiroshima. As a result of the accident, radioactive contamination occurred within a radius of 30 kilometers. An area of 160 thousand square kilometers was contaminated. The northern part of Ukraine, Belarus and western Russia were affected. 19 Russian regions with a territory of almost 60 thousand square kilometers and a population of 2.6 million people were exposed to radiation contamination.
September 30, 1999 The largest accident in Japanese nuclear power history occurred. At the plant for the production of fuel for nuclear power plants in the scientific town of Tokaimura (Ibaraki Prefecture), an uncontrollable accident began due to a personnel error. chain reaction, which lasted for 17 hours. 439 people were exposed to radiation, 119 of them received a dose exceeding the annual permissible level. Three workers received critical doses of radiation. Two of them died.
On August 9, 2004, an accident occurred at the Mihama nuclear power plant, located 320 kilometers west of Tokyo on the island of Honshu.. A powerful release of steam with a temperature of about 200 degrees Celsius occurred in the turbine of the third reactor. NPP employees nearby received serious burns. No leakage of radioactive materials was detected as a result of the accident. At the time of the accident, about 200 people were in the building where the third reactor is located. Four of them died, 18 were seriously injured.
Today, 30 years later, we are talking about the lessons of the Chernobyl disaster.
Firstly, “The Chernobyl disaster is undoubtedly the most terrible event in the history of civilization. As a result, all of humanity suffered.”
The consequences of the accident are global and terrible. Global, because radioactive substances from the exploded reactor were spread throughout the planet. Terrible because a huge number of people were exposed to radiation.
Secondly, You can’t rely on technology, no matter how reliable it may seem
Third, Unfortunately, many long-lived radioactive elements released from an exploded reactor 20 years ago are still in the environment, carried by air and water currents and pose a health hazard to the inhabitants of the Earth.
Therefore, people must remember Chernobyl for the sake of the future, be aware of the dangers of radiation and do everything to ensure that such disasters never happen again.
REQUIEM. Vladimir Lahutin
The doom bell rings over the world,
Disturbing the memory, remembering the grief,
The face of the gray war is cruel and terrible,
Like a raging sea in a storm.
Japan has been mourning for many years now
Known to people are Hiroshima, Nagasaki,
But there is no ban on tragedy,
There are nuclear chopping blocks everywhere.
Humanity doesn't want to understand
That life is the most sacred thing in the world,
It can be cut off instantly
In the crucible of an explosion or in the thick of battle.
We cannot count all the sacrifices and trials,
But the arsenals and training grounds are intact,
Chernobyl devastating news
A warning to new generations.
The millennium has begun to count down,
The twenty-first century walks across the earth,
May his children have better luck
And a ray of sun greets them every day.
Application
April 26 - Day of Remembrance for those killed in radiation accidents and disasters. This year marks 27 years since the Chernobyl disaster - the largest in the history of nuclear energy in the world. A whole generation has grown up without this terrible tragedy, but on this day we traditionally remember Chernobyl. After all, only by remembering the mistakes of the past can we hope not to repeat them in the future.
In 1986, an explosion occurred at Chernobyl reactor No. 4, and several hundred workers and firefighters tried to put out the fire, which burned for 10 days. The world was enveloped in a cloud of radiation. About 50 station employees were killed and hundreds of rescuers were injured. It is still difficult to determine the scale of the disaster and its impact on people's health - from 4 to 200 thousand people died from cancer that developed as a result of the radiation dose received. Pripyat and the surrounding areas will remain unsafe for human habitation for several centuries.
This 1986 aerial photo of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, shows the damage from the explosion and fire of reactor No. 4 on April 26, 1986. As a result of the explosion and fire that followed it, a huge amount of radioactive substances was released into the atmosphere. Ten years after the world's worst nuclear disaster, the power plant continued to operate due to severe power shortages in Ukraine. The final shutdown of the power plant occurred only in 2000. (AP Photo/Volodymyr Repik)
On October 11, 1991, when the speed of turbogenerator No. 4 of the second power unit was reduced for its subsequent shutdown and removal of the SPP-44 steam separator-superheater for repair, an accident and fire occurred. This photo, taken during a journalists' visit to the plant on October 13, 1991, shows part of the collapsed roof of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, destroyed by fire. (AP Photo/Efrm Lucasky)
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Aerial view of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, after the largest nuclear disaster in human history. The photo was taken three days after the explosion at the nuclear power plant in 1986. In front of the chimney is the destroyed 4th reactor. (AP Photo)
A Soviet medical worker examines an unknown child who was evacuated from the nuclear disaster zone to the Kopelovo state farm near Kiev on May 11, 1986. The photo was taken during a trip organized by Soviet authorities to show how they deal with the accident. (AP Photo/Boris Yurchenko)
Kiev residents queue for forms before being tested for radiation contamination after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, in Kyiv on May 9, 1986. (AP Photo/Boris Yurchenko)
One of the engineers who worked at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant undergoes a medical examination at the Lesnaya Polyana sanatorium on May 15, 1986, a few weeks after the explosion. (STF/AFP/Getty Images)
Workers who took part in the construction of the cement sarcophagus covering the Chernobyl reactor are pictured in a memorable photo from 1986 next to the unfinished construction site. According to the Chernobyl Union of Ukraine, thousands of people who took part in the liquidation of the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster died from the consequences of radiation contamination, which they suffered during their work. (AP Photo/Volodymyr Repik)
Archive photo from April 14, 1998. Workers at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant walk past the control panel of the destroyed 4th power unit of the station. On April 26, 2006, Ukraine celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl accident, which affected the lives of millions of people, required astronomical costs from international funds and became an ominous symbol of the dangers of nuclear energy. (AFP PHOTO/GENIA SAVILOV)
A Ferris wheel and carousel in a deserted amusement park in the ghost town of Pripyat next to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on May 26, 2003. The population of Pripyat, which in 1986 was 45,000 people, was completely evacuated within the first three days after the explosion of the 4th reactor No. 4. The explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant occurred at 1:23 a.m. on April 26, 1986. The resulting radioactive cloud damaged much of Europe. According to various estimates, from 15 to 30 thousand people subsequently died as a result of radiation exposure. More than 2.5 million residents of Ukraine suffer from diseases acquired as a result of radiation, and about 80 thousand of them receive benefits. (AFP PHOTO/ SERGEI SUPINSKY)
In the photo from May 26, 2003: an abandoned amusement park in the city of Pripyat, which is located next to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (AFP PHOTO/ SERGEI SUPINSKY)
Toys and gas mask in the dust in the former primary school abandoned city of Pripyat on January 25, 2006. (Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)
In the photo on January 25, 2006: an abandoned gym of one of the schools in the deserted city of Pripyat. (Photo by Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)
A resident of the Belarusian village of Novoselki, located just outside the 30-kilometer exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, in a photo taken on April 7, 2006. (AFP PHOTO / VIKTOR DRACHEV)
Residents of the village of Ilintsy in the closed zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, about 100 km from Kyiv, pass by rescuers from the Ukrainian Ministry of Emergency Situations who are rehearsing before a concert on April 5, 2006. Rescuers organized an amateur concert on the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster for more than three hundred people (mostly elderly people) who returned to live illegally in villages located in the exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP/Getty Images)
A worker at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant measures radiation levels using a stationary radiation monitoring system at the exit of the power plant building after work on April 12, 2006. (AFP PHOTO/GENIA SAVILOV)
A construction crew wearing masks and special protective suits on April 12, 2006, during work to strengthen the sarcophagus covering the destroyed 4th reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (AFP PHOTO / GENIA SAVILOV)
On April 2, 2006, workers sweep away radioactive dust in front of the sarcophagus covering the damaged 4th reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Because of high level radiation teams only work for a few minutes. (GENIA SAVILOV/AFP/Getty Images)
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