The Chernobyl Disaster

Environment | April 30, 2010 | Share

26 April 1986 was a day to be remembered when the world saw one of the biggest technological disasters ever. The Chernobyl nuclear disaster which claimed thousands of lives is considered to be the worst nuclear disasters whose repercussions can be seen till date. Around 300,000 residents were evacuated the very next day with around 50,000 people from the neighboring city Pripyat were asked to leave leaving behind all their belongings. One can still find books, utensils and other household remains lying about the place. The nuclear leak let out a plume of radioactive material which was detected as far as Sweden. This accident also affected the Western Soviet and the Eastern North America. People who were sent for rescue operations who were not told about the dangers of the radioactivity also suffered acute radioactive sickness symptoms. Pilots who were sent in to drop clay and sand into the reactor unaware of the radioactive clouds faced some major accidents.

A monument has been erected in Chernobyl which was funded by the families of the people lost their lives and not the government. It says â€˜for those who saved the world and as a testament to human sacrifice and the development and control of technologyâ€™. There were three orthodox churches in the area, a synagogue, an old believerâ€™s church, and a catholic church. Also present were number of Jewish schools, 2 orthodox schools and a catholic school, one hospital and a pharmacy which were completely destroyed and later abandoned. Most of these monuments are under a restoration process to help recover their original beauty. Even today, people pose a risk of falling sick because of the radioactive fallouts due to their inclusion in the food chain cycle that takes a long time to decay. There have been plenty of instances where children and animals were born with some major deformities. The nuclear reactor was next to the river Pripyat which is one of the largest surface water systems in Europe. The contamination, which was being spread into the drinking water, became a major matter of concern. It became highly unsafe even to eat fishes from these waters for years after the accident took place. During the meltdown of the 4^th reactor, two more reactors were under construction whose construction was later cancelled. Even now, as people approach the 4^th reactor, the radioactive levels are notices to be exponentially high. It was noticed that the radioactive level was forty times more than what it is supposed to be normally even 24 years after the fallout.

There is still enough radioactive material in the reactor to completely wash out Europe, the only thing stopping that from happening is a decaying sarcophagus.

Today Chernobyl is as beautiful as any place could ever be which has become a major tourist attraction with plenty of hotels and offices set up in and around Chernobyl though it is still advised not to stay there for more than 10 days at a stretch.

Hannah Mason