Many questions were formed in the minds of many people across eastern Europe as radiation levels
rose mysteriously across the continent. From country to country unusually high radiation levels
were being read. Although the radiation levels were not yet harmful in most places, it was
feared the levels would keep rising with the origin of the radiation still unknown. By studying
wind and weather patterns scientists were able to pinpoint from where all of this radiation was
coming. The place was the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. A nuclear meltdown had occurred.
THE CHERNOBYL DISASTER: On April 26, 1986 at 1:23 am technicians at the Chernobyl Power Plant in
the Ukraine (former Soviet Union) allowed the power in the fourth reactor to fall to low levels
as part of a controlled experiment which went wrong. The reactor overheated causing a meltdown of
the core. Two explosions blew the top off the reactor building releasing clouds of deadly
radioactive material in the atmosphere for over 10 days. The people of Chernobyl were exposed to
radioactivity 100 times greater than the Hiroshima bomb. The people of the world and Northern
Europe were greeted with clouds of radioactive material being blown northward through the sky.
Seventy percent of the radiation is estimated to have fallen on Belarus and 10 years later babies
are sill being born with no arms, no eyes, or only stumps for limbs.
Food in local areas was banned and considered contaminated. The disaster continued to affect the agriculture for years to come.
The radiation also affected wild plants and animals around Chernobyl. Pine forests soon died, cattails grew three heads, and wild animals declined in number. But in the coming years, as the short-lived radionuclides decayed and the longer-lived contaminants settled deep into the soil, the wildlife rebounded. Human abandonment also made habitat available for birds, deer, rodents, wolves, boar and other animals. These populations appear to be increasing despite the extraordinarily high mutation rates caused by contamination in the food chain and by one of the highest background radiation levels in the world.
The first thing that had to be done was the burying of the reactor in a cement tomb and sealing
off the area. Since the reactor was still giving of heat and would continue to do so, the tomb
had to be equipped with a cooling system that could operate for decades. The main way that they
clean the site is by continuously flushing the area with water. The water absorbs the radiation
and it is then filtered to take out the radioactive particles. Also the structure around the
reactor must be cleaned. The walls of the structures are covered with a radioactive material that
must be cleaned off using special machines. This cement tomb was called the sarcophagus.
the sarcophagus------------------------before the accident----------------------at time of accident
Chernobyl was a one of the biggest nuclear disasters of our time. Taking the lives of many, even if they were not recognized for it. This disaster has effected the lives of so many people: forcing them to abandon their homes, villages and their lives as they knew it. It left scars on their lives inflicting deep pain not only to their generation but also those of their children who are being born with defects. It has imprinted our lives and made us realize how unsafe technology really can be even though it promises safer regulations. People from Chernobyl and surrounding areas were not regestered as being affected from the radiation so their cancers and diseases that mysteriously appear are not compensated. They are not considered part of the thirty one who died immediatly of raditation nor the thousands who died or derived illnesses from helping with the clean up. The citizens are simply the forgotten ghosts of Chernobyl.
