The losses caused by the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant are enormous. The concentration of nuclear fuel leaked during the explosion was as high as 60%. After the accident 10 days and nights, the reactor was sealed and radioactive elements were released beyond the standard. Three days after the accident, nearby residents were evacuated, but these three days have caused many people to be polluted by radioactive materials. Two people died on the spot in this accident. By 1992, more than 7,000 people had died of nuclear pollution in this accident. The radioactive pollution caused by this accident spread all over the area of 6.5438+0.5 million square kilometers in the former Soviet Union where 6.945 million people lived. As a result of this accident, 30 kilometers around the nuclear power plant was designated as an isolation zone, nearby residents were evacuated, all crops were buried, and trees within 7 kilometers around gradually died. In the next half century, it will be impossible to farm and graze within 10 km; Milk production is prohibited within 10 years 100 kilometers. Not only that, due to the spread of radioactive smoke, the whole of Europe is shrouded in the haze of nuclear pollution. Abnormal radioactive dust was detected in neighboring countries, which caused great losses to the production of grain, vegetables and dairy products. Nuclear pollution brings people more mental and psychological anxiety and fear.
According to statistics, 7,000 liquidators died in the seven years after the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident, of which 1/3 committed suicide. 40% of the staff involved in medical rescue suffer from mental illness or permanent amnesia. Up to now, among the 834,000 people involved in the rescue work, 55,000 people have lost their lives, and more than 300,000 people have died from radiation injuries. Chernobyl nuclear power plant was the first nuclear power plant built in Ukraine during the Soviet period. Once upon a time, Chernobyl was the pride of the Soviet people and was regarded as the safest and most reliable nuclear power plant in the world. But a loud noise on April 26th 1986 completely broke this myth. The No.4 nuclear reactor of the nuclear power plant caught fire suddenly during the semi-baking experiment, causing an explosion. It is estimated that the radiation pollution caused by this nuclear accident is equivalent to 100 times of the atomic bombing in Hiroshima, Japan. The explosion caused the unit to be completely damaged, more than 8 tons of radioactive materials leaked and dust drifted with the wind, resulting in nuclear radiation pollution in many areas of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.
Radioactive dust leaked from the melting of atomic furnaces drifted over Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, as well as parts of Europe, such as Turkey, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Lithuania, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Poland, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Ireland, France (including Corsica) and Britain. At the earliest time of the accident, some people thought that the Chernobyl nuclear leak came from Sweden rather than Russia. 1on April 27th, 986, the staff of Forsmark nuclear power plant in Sweden found abnormal radiation particles stuck on clothes. The power plant is about1100km away from Chernobyl. According to Swedish research, it was found that the radiation did not come from local nuclear power plants, and they suspected that it was a problem with Russian nuclear power plants. At that time, Sweden asked the Soviet Union through diplomatic channels, but it was not confirmed. In addition, the French government claimed that radioactive dust only drifted to the border between Germany and Italy. Because of radioactive dust, Italy stipulates that some crops are forbidden to people, such as mushrooms. In order to avoid causing public fear, the French government did not conduct similar measurements.
The Chernobyl disaster not only polluted the surrounding towns and villages, but also was helped by the airflow, so it could spread irregularly. According to the reports of Russian and western scientists, 60% of radioactive dust falling from Russia is in Belarus. According to the report of Torch 2006, half of volatile particles fall outside Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. A large area in southern Bryansk, Russian Federation, and parts of northern Ukraine have been polluted by radioactive materials. Immediately after the accident, 203 people were sent to hospital for treatment, of which 3 1 person died, and 28 of them died of excessive radiation. Not knowing the danger of radiation in the accident, most of the victims were firefighters and paramedics. In order to control the spread of nuclear radiation dust, the authorities immediately sent people to evacuate 65,438+035,000 people from their homes, of whom about 50,000 were residents of the town of Puri Piater near Chernobyl. Health units predict that in the next 70 years, the proportion of people exposed to 5–12 Aybek radiation will increase by 2%. In addition, 10 people have been exposed to radiation and died of cancer.
Russian scientists reported that Chernobyl No.4 reactor contained 180 to 190 tons of uranium dioxide and nuclear waste generated by nuclear reaction. They also estimate that about 5%-30% of these substances flow to the outside. However, according to the cleaners who have been to the sarcophagus reactor for subsequent treatment (such as Usatenko and Dr. Kalpan), only about 5%- 10% of the material is left in the reactor. Photos of the reactor show that the reactor is completely empty. Due to the high temperature caused by the fire, many radioactive substances rushed into the upper atmosphere and spread in all directions.
Soviet Disaster Investigator Medal. In a disaster, employees responsible for recovery and integration call them "liquidators". The cleaner received a high dose of radiation during the cleaning process. According to Russian estimates, within two years after the disaster, about 300,000 to 600,000 cleaners went to the reactor within 30 kilometers to remove radiation pollutants. In the areas polluted by radiation, there are many children whose radiation dose is as high as 50 Gy. This is because they absorbed locally produced milk contaminated by radiation in the process of drinking milk. Local milk was polluted by iodine-13 1, and the half-life of iodine-13 1 was 8 days. Many studies have found that the proportion of children suffering from thyroid cancer in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia has also increased rapidly. According to the statistics after the atomic bombing in Japan, leukemia in Chernobyl will increase in the next few years. But so far, the increase of leukemia cases is not enough to infer statistically, which is related to radiation leakage. However, it has been proved that the birth rate of deformed babies in Chernobyl has indeed increased. Some surveys show that this is the result of radiation dust after the radiation disaster.
After the accident, people's health problems were mainly affected by radioactive substances "iodine-13 1". Some people worry that strontium -90 and cesium-137 20 years ago will still pollute the soil. Moreover, the topsoil of plants, insects and mushrooms will absorb cesium-137. Therefore, some scientists worry that nuclear radiation will affect local people for centuries.
Thirty-six hours after the incident, Soviet authorities began to evacuate residents living around the Chernobyl reactor. 1May 1986, that is, one month after the incident, about116,000 residents living within 30 kilometers (equivalent to 18 miles) of Fiona Fang Nuclear Power Plant were evacuated to other areas. Therefore, this area is usually called the evacuation area. However, the effects of radiation can actually spread to places more than 30 kilometers away from Fiona Fang.
The long-term impact of nuclear power plant explosion on Chernobyl residents has been controversial. More than 300,000 people have escaped the threat of disaster, but millions of people still live in polluted areas. However, those affected by low-dose radiation have almost no symptoms of increased mortality, cancer or birth defects. However, the relationship between the cause and radioactive pollution is still uncertain.
At the same time, the former Soviet authorities set up obstacles in the disaster: scientific research may be restricted by incomplete democracy. In Belarus, Yuri Bandazhevsky, a scientist questioned by the government, was detained by the national monitoring organization for misjudging the horsepower (1000 Bq/kg) of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. 1986 in April, some European countries (except France) have implemented food restrictions, especially fungi and milk. In the 20 years after the disaster, food pollution from Chernobyl radioactive dust in the process of manufacturing, transportation and consumption was mainly restricted, especially the cesium-137 index was controlled to prevent them from entering the human food chain. In parts of Sweden and Finland, some meat products are monitored, including antelopes living in natural and near-natural environments. In some areas of Germany, Austria, Italy, Sweden, Finland, Lithuania and Poland, the game content [including wild boar, deer, etc. ], wild mushrooms, berries and carnivorous fish salvaged from the lake reached thousands of beck per kilogram. In Germany, the cesium-137 content of some wild mushrooms even reaches 40000 beck/kg. According to the TORCH report in 2006, the average level in these areas is about 6,800 beck/kg, which is more than 0/0 times of the 600 beck/kg stipulated by the European Union. Therefore, Council of Europe stated that "the restrictions on the import of certain foods from these member countries must be maintained for many years to come".
In Britain, according to the Food and Environmental Protection Act (FEPA) implemented from 1985, the migration and sale of sheep with radiation index exceeding 1000 baker/kg are restricted from 1986. This security measure is based on the recommendations of the report of the European Commission Expert Group 3 1. However, since 1986, the restricted area has been reduced by 96%: from the beginning, the restricted area almost included 9,000 farms and 4 million sheep, and by 2006 it was reduced to 374 farms, covering an area of about 750 square kilometers and about 200,000 sheep. Only cambria, North Wales and some parts of southwest Scotland are still restricted.
In Norway, Sami people are affected by contaminated food. Some reindeer are polluted by eating lichens, which absorb radioactive particles in the process of getting nutrients from the air. According to the British "Independent" news, in April 2006, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear accident, Greenpeace revealed that the damage degree of the world's worst nuclear accident was 10 times higher than the assessment at that time, and the leakage would cause about 654.38+million deaths in the future.
According to reports, the latest report held by the organization shows that due to nuclear leakage into the atmosphere, it has caused great damage to the air. There are about 200,000 casualties in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, and there are 270,000 cancer cases, of which more than 90,000 cases are very serious.
The organization claimed: "The radiation released by a reactor far exceeds the radioactive pollution of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. We are very clear that a nuclear reactor can pollute half the earth. "
Mike, the radiation director of the United Nations World Health Organization, pointed out: "The potential impact of this accident is terrible, but when you look at this problem with scientific conclusions, its impact on public health is not as terrible as people initially feared."
The worst nuclear accident in history caused 5 million people to suffer from nuclear radiation, and 2/kloc-0 people died on the spot. In Europe, the number of people affected by radiation has increased from less than 50 cleaning workers initially estimated to hundreds of thousands.
Impact on nature
After the accident, the quarantine area became a paradise for some wild animals. Although animals are also exposed to radiation, the damage to them is very slight compared with humans, so it is a good thing that they have an accident. Animals in isolated areas, such as mice, have adapted to radiation and their life span is similar to that of mice in areas not affected by radiation. The following animals have reappeared or been introduced into the quarantine area: bobcats, owls, great egrets, swans, suspected bears, European bison, Mongolian wild horses, badgers, beavers, wild boar, deer, elk, foxes, rabbits, otters, raccoons, wolves, waterfowl, gray-blue tits, black grouse, black storks, cranes and white tails.