R.+Keedy+Nuclear+Powerpoint+2


 * Chernobyl Disaster**

On April 26, 1986 a power plant located in Soviet Union, Ukraine exploded. People living in Belarus were greatly affected. About 60% of the radioactive material landed in Belarus. Luckily a good amount of people were able to evacuate. In total 336,000 people evacuated. Even though many people escaped 56 people were killed and 47 workers were killed. In addition, the rate of people with cancer went up a high amount. Also,about 4,000 children were diagnosed with thyroid cancer. The chernobyl disaster created many birth defects.



At the plant at 1:23:04 the deadly experiment took place. When the insertion of the fuel rod took place something very wrong happened. The rod was supposed to fully go in so that it reduces the amount of coolant present but only went one third of the way in. The steam pressure started to increase and the fuel rods began to melt. This created a large steam explosion. In addition, a fire was sparked. This added a great deal to the spread of radioactive material. A few firefighters went to the power plant to try to put out the fire. Little did they know that this fire contained deadly materials. The firefighters just thought that this fire was a basic fire. Many were unfortunetly killed. Before the firefighters were killed by the radiation, they described the feeling of radiation to be like pins and needles all over their face. They also said that the radiation tasted like metal.

The radiation levels were extremely high. 20,000 rotgens were being emmited. 500 rotgens emmited over five hours are deadly. Many of the workers did not realize the huge amounts of radiactive material that were being emmited. Many died from exposion. Nobody knows exactly why this terrible disaster occured but there are two main theories. The first theory is called the flawed operators theory. Part of the rod was made of graphite. This was not a smart choice of material to use. Graphite can easily create a nuclear reaction. Fission reaction would occur more easily. The second theory is the flawed operators theory. This mainly states that the workers in the plant ignored safety regulations and plant procedures. In addition, the workers that were working on this particular experiment had already left leaving the less experienced workers to do the job.

Also, many rivers and lakes were affected. In many areas of Ukraine the amount of radioactive material in drinking water was a concern. Also the consumption of fish was a concern. Many fish had radioactive material in them. The disaster did not just affect Ukraine but many countries in Europe including Germany. These countries also had to pay close attention to whethere or not their drinking water is safe and the consumtion of fish there.

Quote: //"Chernobyl is a word we would all like to erase from our memory. It [opened] a Pandora's box of invisible enemies and nameless anxieties in people's minds, but which most of us probably now think of as safely relegated to the past. Yet there are two compelling reasons why this tragedy must not be forgotten...First, if we forget Chernobyl, we increase the risk of more such technological and environmental disasters in the future. Second, more than seven million of our fellow human beings do not have the luxury of forgetting. They are still suffering, every day, as a result of what happened 14 years ago. Indeed, the legacy of Chernobyl will be with us, and with our descendants, for generations to come." - Kofi Annan United Nations secretary general// Bibliography: 1. http://www.wagingpeace.org/menu/action/urgent-actions/chernobyl/ 2. http://www.uic.com.au/nip22.htm 3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster 4. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/reaction/readings/chernobyl.html