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Introduction
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Introduction (cont.)
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Intro (cont.)
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Chernobyl Explosion (cont.)
The Soviet Union did not tell local residents about the explosion until 2 P.M. on April 27th, about 36 hours later. Residents are “temporarily” evacuated from their homes. This temporary evacuation becomes permanent when there is a radiation zone set up around Chernobyl in the weeks following. -
Chernobyl Explosion
At approximately 1:24 A.M., the first explosion of the nuclear reactor occurs. It blows the roof off with a fireball before radiation begins flowing out of the plant. Fires begin to start everywhere, and the plant is now in ultimate chaos. As firefighters begin to arrive, they are not warned of the radiation and wear no protective clothing. Many of the firefighters ended up dead and the ones that did survive ultimately suffered from radiation poisoning. The photo shows the destroyed reactor (5). -
Translation of Letter From Andrei Serdyuk
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Translation of Letter From Andrei Serdyuk (2/2)
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Letter From Andrei Serdyuk
This letter is written by Andrei Serdyuk, who is the Deputy Chief of the Ukrainian CP CC's Department of Science and Educational Institutions, to another official with updates on the Chernobyl situation. This letter talks about the evacuations, the radiation, agriculture, and medical service. (6) -
Letter From Andrei Serdyuk (cont.)
Some things to note in this letter: 1. In the top left corner it says secret. This speaks to how much the Soviet Union tried to cover up the situation. There are 144 people sick with radiation sickness in Moscow. There are 270 sick in the cities of Kiev, Chernovtsy, Ivankov, and Polessky. 3. “The decontamination of part of the equipment, people's clothing, and their washing was not done at the moment of the evacuation.” -
Aftermath (cont.)
The man cleaning up the poisoned fish is dressed in a mask and protective clothing. A lot of speculation can be made from this picture, but I see a man volunteering to help clean an area, possibly his home, where the air is filled with elements that can and will kill you. That is something that takes courage, and volunteers like this man provide a light in the darkness during tragedies like this explosion. -
Aftermath
The clean up in the following months was tedious and never-ending. This photo shows the collection of fish that died and washed ashore after the radiation exposure. In the background the reactor can be seen. This was an artificial lake built for the purpose of keeping the turbines within the reactor cool. It was noted that these fish were much larger than observed before the explosion. The radiation had mutated them before they had died, just as it did with many other animals (8). -
A Broken Environment (cont.)
That is a dangerous substance for countries to be experimenting with, and for the Soviet Union to not take every single safety precaution to prevent this from happening is insane. If procedures were followed, both in the design of the reactor and during its use, this catastrophe may have never occurred. Nuclear reactors should undergo some of the strictest protocols to prevent accidents like these from destroying the environment for decades at a time. -
A Broken Environment
This photo is another example of the harmful effects of the radiation from the explosion (9). Many scientists noted that after the explosion many plants suffered from gigantism, a disease that results in advanced growth, meaning that the plants were far larger than normal. These plants were ultimately wiped out by natural selection, but it is fascinating to think about the power that radiation has. Radiation is able to alter genetic codes simply by exposure. -
Endnotes
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Endnotes (cont.)
