4 ms·
>It will be impossible to re-populate land up to six miles from the Chernobyl There are still humans living within the exclusion zone, still humans working at
by srslack 9y ago
>It will be impossible to re-populate land up to six miles from the Chernobyl
There are still humans living within the exclusion zone, still humans working at Chernobyl where three reactors continued to operate after the accident, the vast majority of gamma from the site is from an isotope with a half-life of 30 years, and the background radiation within the exclusion zone is provably less than the background radiation you find when living in high altitudes.
Chernobyl was the absolute worst case in that it had no containment whatsoever, and Fukushima was an absolute worst case for a western reactor in that it couldn't SCRAM and cool properly with multiple backup systems failing, but the implication that large tracts of land are uninhabitable for tens of thousands, or even hundreds of years is patently false.
In addition, there are no attributable deaths to either accident among the general population. Radiation doses in both cases were very low in the context of the general population surrounding these plants.
The fact is that more people died from the sudden evacuations and stress of relocating than died, or will die, from the radiation levels.
- Majestic121 9y agoHmm, I got the 10000 years number from this source : https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/12189175/Chernobyl-and-Fukushima-contamination-a-risk-for-decades-or-even-centuries-to-come-warns-Greenpeace.html https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/12... But I can't seem to be able to find the original, even on Greenpeace You might be right on this
- lainga 9y agoYou did it: you have found a piece of fake news. I am glad you took the time to look!
- rsync 9y ago"In addition, there are no attributable deaths to either accident among the general population. Radiation doses in both cases were very low in the context of the general population surrounding these plants." I think you need to spend more time reading about chernobyl. Many, many of the cleanup workers at chernobyl in the weeks and months following the disaster were normal people who were essentially gang-pressed into service and handed a shovel. All of those people wrapping tree trunks in plastic and burying them were not all soldiers or paid, professional firefighters. These people were worked until they literally fell over and died in hospital shortly thereafter. I would characterize these people as part of the "general population". I recommend _All that is Solid Melts Into Air_ and _Voices from Chernobyl.
- srslack 9y agoI know all about the liquidators, and I sympathize, but that's why I stressed "general population" several times. It's a given that the cleanup crew isn't part of the general population. >These people were worked until they literally fell over and died in hospital shortly thereafter. It's more accurate to say that they were literally cooked. It's horrible, but that's what the Soviets did, and continue to neglect many who are still alive. Their sacrifices prevented the absolute worst outcome of that disaster, and they certainly deserve all recognition they can get. And for leaving the liquidators out of that comment, I apologize. The real stories surrounding the accident and the cleanup certainly are terrifying. The control room in particular and the imagery of several individuals being totally and instantly vaporized will always stick with me.