CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR ACCIDENT : Fact Sheet
WORLD'S WORST NUCLEAR DIASTER - WHAT HAPPENED AT CHERNOBYL
'The splitting of atom has changed everything except our way of thinking and thus we drift towards unparalleled catastrophe'
WORLD'S WORST NUCLEAR DIASTER - WHAT HAPPENED AT CHERNOBYL
'The splitting of atom has changed everything except our way of thinking and thus we drift towards unparalleled catastrophe'
Albert Einstein
1. On 26th April 1986 at 1.23 am the world's worst nuclear disaster took place at the Chernobyl nuclear power station in northern Ukraine. 190 tons of highly radioactive uranium and graphite were expelled into the atmosphere. The result was an international ecological calamity.
2. The people of Chernobyl were exposed to radiation 300 times greater than that from the Hiroshima bomb.
3. A United Nations 1995 Report estimated that a total of 9 million people were directly or indirectly affected by the Chernobyl disaster and that 3 to 4 million of those affected were children. Radiation specialist Professor John Gofman's assessment is that the Chernobyl accident will cause 475,000 fatal cancers world-wide, and an equal number of non-fatal cancers.
4. Almost 400,000 people have been forced to leave their homes as a result of the nuclear power plant explosion. According to the Belarus Ministry of Health, the incidence of thyroid cancer, which has already shown marked increase, may rise still further and could peak between the years 2005 and 2010. An area the size of England, Wales and Northern Ireland combined - over 160,000 square kilometres - is estimated to have been contaminated by the disaster. Chiefly affected are Northern Ukraine, Western Russia and the Republic of Belarus.
Since the accident approximately 400,000 people have been evacuated and relocated. They have become environmental refugees. The areas they have left have become a radioactive desert comprised of no-go areas covering thousands of hectares fenced off with barbed wire. Approximately 2,000 towns and villages in Belarus and The Ukraine have been evacuated. In Belarus, evacuations have been abandoned since new hot spots of contamination are being found daily. During the summer radiation is spread through forest fires. Recontamination through food and water is a constant
problem in Belarus and there is no access to clean food. The people of this traditional farming area still till their fields, herd their cattle and eat their own produce.
5. Over 1.8 million people, including 500,000 children, live in radioactive zones in Belarus. Between 3 and 5 million people, including 2 million children, in The Ukraine live in radioactive zones. In the radioactive zone areas there are bans on children walking in forests or in rain, playing in the parks, and picking wild berries or flowers due to the high levels of radiation. Parents in these zones must check local radiation levels before allowing their children out to school.
6. Over 70 % of the 100 million curies of radiation released into the atmosphere from Chernobyl fell on to the population of Belarus. 25 % of the countrys prime farmland and forest has been subjected to radioactive contamination of varying degrees. 10 % of the land is now unusable. Only 1 % of the Belarussian land remains uncontaminated by international standards.
7. THE COVER UP:
'The most dangerous isotope to escape from the bleeding mouth of the reactor will never appear on the periodic chemistry scale. It is lie 86. A lie as global as the accident itself.'
Alla Yaroshinskaya - Ukrainian journalist.
The radioactive plume from the burning Chernobyl reactor travelled over the people of Belarus, Western Russia and Northern Ukraine. It then moved north and then west into Poland and Sweden where it was first detected and this was how the international community learnt that a serious nuclear accident had taken place.
The former Soviet authorities did not announce the accident had happened for several days and the secrecy surrounding the disaster has had disastrous consequences.
40 secret protocols were signed by the former Soviet authorities to limit awareness of the true extent of the disaster and to give an appearance that the situation was under control. The Protocols controlled the information given to the International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA), and to 'certain leaders of capitalist countries.'
8. The International permissible lifetime dose of radiation is set at 7 rem, yet in the affected regions this limit was altered to 25 rem and altered again in 1988 to 35 rem.
9. For 8 days after the accident, the entire population of Belarus was exposed to Iodine 131. Iodine 131, when ingested, concentrates in the thyroid gland and can cause thyroid cancer. The level of iodine 131 surpassed permissible levels over 1,000 times.
10. The 30km exclusion zone was extended to 70km 7 years after the accident.
11. An unidentified number of men were conscripted or recruited for work as Liquidators for the clear up at the reactor and surrounding area. Of the 800,000 men registered as Liquidators, 13,000 have died (20 % through suicide) and a further 70,000 of these men are permanently disabled.
12. Over 1.3 million people are registered with Chernobyl linked health problems, for example respiratory problems, nose bleeding, vomiting, severe headaches and depression. Links between nuclear radiation and cancer are controversial. Links with leukaemia and cancer of the thyroid are now acknowledged.
13. There is a 100 % increase in childhood leukaemia in Belarus. The United Nations acknowledges a 24 fold rise in thyroid cancer, 100 fold in the worst affected region in Belarus.
14. The U.N. report acknowledges increases in a range of cancers and other medical disorders amongst Belarussian children: Bone e Connective 62 %, Nervous e Sensory 43 %, Blood e Circulatory 43 %, Digestive 28 %, Genito e Urinary 39 %, Iron deficiency 10 %, Endocrine 8 %, Diabetes 28 % and Heart e Circulatory 25 %. There is a 250 % increase in congenital birth defects and in infant mortality.
New diseases have been discovered. 'Chernobyl Aids' is an incurable condition where radiation leads to the breakdown of the immune system,loss of hearing and the build up of fluid in children's heads. 90 % of children in the contaminated zones are unhealthy. 800,000 children in the Chernobyl region are at high risk of cancer and leukaemia. 170,000 children under 7 in the Chernobyl area have received radiation doses high enough to cause thyroid cancer. There now exists a real threat to the gene pool of Belarus as 90 % of children in Belarus have now been contaminated. In the radiation zones of Belarus the birth rate is down 50 % and death rates now exceed the birth rates.
15. New hot spots of contamination are being found daily in Belarus. Evacuations have been abandoned. During the summer, forest fires spread radiation. Recontamination through food and water is a constant problem. There is no access to clean food. People still till their fields, herd cattle and eat the produce of their work, for example vegetables, milk and meat.
16. 10 years after the accident, 2 out of the 4 reactors are still functioning despite assurances that they would be closed. Holes in the cement sarcophagus or covering, encasing the exploded reactor bleed radioactivity daily. There are over 1,000 square metres of holes and the concrete structure is crumbling. The next Chernobyl could be Chernobyl! A target date for closure has been set for the year 2000 and a deal struck. Yet despite a Ukraine government study showing that wind power could fully replace nuclear capacity, the Ukraine intends building new nuclear reactors. Areas with plutonium contamination will be radioactive virtually forever.
Plutonium has a half life of 24,400 years.
There is a 10 - 15 % chance of curing childhood leukaemia in Belarus. It is 85 % in the western world.
1. On 26th April 1986 at 1.23 am the world's worst nuclear disaster took place at the Chernobyl nuclear power station in northern Ukraine. 190 tons of highly radioactive uranium and graphite were expelled into the atmosphere. The result was an international ecological calamity.
2. The people of Chernobyl were exposed to radiation 300 times greater than that from the Hiroshima bomb.
3. A United Nations 1995 Report estimated that a total of 9 million people were directly or indirectly affected by the Chernobyl disaster and that 3 to 4 million of those affected were children. Radiation specialist Professor John Gofman's assessment is that the Chernobyl accident will cause 475,000 fatal cancers world-wide, and an equal number of non-fatal cancers.
4. Almost 400,000 people have been forced to leave their homes as a result of the nuclear power plant explosion. According to the Belarus Ministry of Health, the incidence of thyroid cancer, which has already shown marked increase, may rise still further and could peak between the years 2005 and 2010. An area the size of England, Wales and Northern Ireland combined - over 160,000 square kilometres - is estimated to have been contaminated by the disaster. Chiefly affected are Northern Ukraine, Western Russia and the Republic of Belarus.
Since the accident approximately 400,000 people have been evacuated and relocated. They have become environmental refugees. The areas they have left have become a radioactive desert comprised of no-go areas covering thousands of hectares fenced off with barbed wire. Approximately 2,000 towns and villages in Belarus and The Ukraine have been evacuated. In Belarus, evacuations have been abandoned since new hot spots of contamination are being found daily. During the summer radiation is spread through forest fires. Recontamination through food and water is a constant
problem in Belarus and there is no access to clean food. The people of this traditional farming area still till their fields, herd their cattle and eat their own produce.
5. Over 1.8 million people, including 500,000 children, live in radioactive zones in Belarus. Between 3 and 5 million people, including 2 million children, in The Ukraine live in radioactive zones. In the radioactive zone areas there are bans on children walking in forests or in rain, playing in the parks, and picking wild berries or flowers due to the high levels of radiation. Parents in these zones must check local radiation levels before allowing their children out to school.
6. Over 70 % of the 100 million curies of radiation released into the atmosphere from Chernobyl fell on to the population of Belarus. 25 % of the countrys prime farmland and forest has been subjected to radioactive contamination of varying degrees. 10 % of the land is now unusable. Only 1 % of the Belarussian land remains uncontaminated by international standards.
7. THE COVER UP:
'The most dangerous isotope to escape from the bleeding mouth of the reactor will never appear on the periodic chemistry scale. It is lie 86. A lie as global as the accident itself.'
Alla Yaroshinskaya - Ukrainian journalist.
The radioactive plume from the burning Chernobyl reactor travelled over the people of Belarus, Western Russia and Northern Ukraine. It then moved north and then west into Poland and Sweden where it was first detected and this was how the international community learnt that a serious nuclear accident had taken place.
The former Soviet authorities did not announce the accident had happened for several days and the secrecy surrounding the disaster has had disastrous consequences.
40 secret protocols were signed by the former Soviet authorities to limit awareness of the true extent of the disaster and to give an appearance that the situation was under control. The Protocols controlled the information given to the International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA), and to 'certain leaders of capitalist countries.'
8. The International permissible lifetime dose of radiation is set at 7 rem, yet in the affected regions this limit was altered to 25 rem and altered again in 1988 to 35 rem.
9. For 8 days after the accident, the entire population of Belarus was exposed to Iodine 131. Iodine 131, when ingested, concentrates in the thyroid gland and can cause thyroid cancer. The level of iodine 131 surpassed permissible levels over 1,000 times.
10. The 30km exclusion zone was extended to 70km 7 years after the accident.
11. An unidentified number of men were conscripted or recruited for work as Liquidators for the clear up at the reactor and surrounding area. Of the 800,000 men registered as Liquidators, 13,000 have died (20 % through suicide) and a further 70,000 of these men are permanently disabled.
12. Over 1.3 million people are registered with Chernobyl linked health problems, for example respiratory problems, nose bleeding, vomiting, severe headaches and depression. Links between nuclear radiation and cancer are controversial. Links with leukaemia and cancer of the thyroid are now acknowledged.
13. There is a 100 % increase in childhood leukaemia in Belarus. The United Nations acknowledges a 24 fold rise in thyroid cancer, 100 fold in the worst affected region in Belarus.
14. The U.N. report acknowledges increases in a range of cancers and other medical disorders amongst Belarussian children: Bone e Connective 62 %, Nervous e Sensory 43 %, Blood e Circulatory 43 %, Digestive 28 %, Genito e Urinary 39 %, Iron deficiency 10 %, Endocrine 8 %, Diabetes 28 % and Heart e Circulatory 25 %. There is a 250 % increase in congenital birth defects and in infant mortality.
New diseases have been discovered. 'Chernobyl Aids' is an incurable condition where radiation leads to the breakdown of the immune system,loss of hearing and the build up of fluid in children's heads. 90 % of children in the contaminated zones are unhealthy. 800,000 children in the Chernobyl region are at high risk of cancer and leukaemia. 170,000 children under 7 in the Chernobyl area have received radiation doses high enough to cause thyroid cancer. There now exists a real threat to the gene pool of Belarus as 90 % of children in Belarus have now been contaminated. In the radiation zones of Belarus the birth rate is down 50 % and death rates now exceed the birth rates.
15. New hot spots of contamination are being found daily in Belarus. Evacuations have been abandoned. During the summer, forest fires spread radiation. Recontamination through food and water is a constant problem. There is no access to clean food. People still till their fields, herd cattle and eat the produce of their work, for example vegetables, milk and meat.
16. 10 years after the accident, 2 out of the 4 reactors are still functioning despite assurances that they would be closed. Holes in the cement sarcophagus or covering, encasing the exploded reactor bleed radioactivity daily. There are over 1,000 square metres of holes and the concrete structure is crumbling. The next Chernobyl could be Chernobyl! A target date for closure has been set for the year 2000 and a deal struck. Yet despite a Ukraine government study showing that wind power could fully replace nuclear capacity, the Ukraine intends building new nuclear reactors. Areas with plutonium contamination will be radioactive virtually forever.
Plutonium has a half life of 24,400 years.
There is a 10 - 15 % chance of curing childhood leukaemia in Belarus. It is 85 % in the western world.
Images of Ghost Town below, thanks to Elena's web site:
updated 07.07.2007 : http://www.elenafilatova.com/
previous: http://ossh.com/misc/extreme4/kiddofspeed/
"High Vibration go on
To the sun, oh let my heart dreaming
Past a mortal as me
Where can I be"
To the sun, oh let my heart dreaming
Past a mortal as me
Where can I be"
"Wish the sun to stand still
Reaching out to touch our own being
Past all mortal as we
Here we can be "
"AWAKEN SUNS HIGH STREAMS THRU AWAKEN
GENTLE STRONG DREAMS REIGN HERE GENTLE
MASS .)(. MASS TOUCH STAR, SONG, AGE, LESS TOUCHING "
"Workings of man Set to ply out historical life
Reregaining the flower of the fruit of his tree
All awakening All restoring you "
"Workings of man Crying out from the fire set aflame
By his blindness to see that the warmth of his being
Is promised for his seeing his reaching so clearly "
"Workings of man Driven far from the path
Rereleased in inhibitions So that all is left for you
all is left for you "
"Master of Images Songs cast a light on you
Hark thru dark ties That tunnel us out of sane existence
In challenge as direct As eyes see young stars assemble
Master of Light All pure chance
As exists cross divided In all encircling mode
Oh closely guided plan Awaken in our heart
Master of Soul Set to touch all impenetrable youth Ask away
That thought be contact With all that's clear
Be honest with yourself There's no doubt no doubt
Master of Time Setting sail over all our lands And as we look
Forever closer Shall we now bid Farewell farewell..."
"High Vibration go on
To the sun, oh let my heart dreaming
Past a mortal as me Where can I be
Wish the sun to stand still
Reaching out to touch our own being
Past all mortal as we Here we can be
