“I'll never go back to work in the nuclear field… I'll never go back to the reactors”
Post-Disaster
Your Geiger counter is still reporting high levels of radiation. Welcome to the last phase of the tour – Discover the attempts to reduce the spread of radiation and the after–effects resulting from the nuclear disaster. After dropping 5 000 tons of material on the fire, the fire was put out 14 days after the disaster.
The liquidators
Robots were brought in from Germany to clean up the radioactive rubble strewn across the site; but the site was so contaminated with radiation that the robots experienced interference, and were unable to function. As a result, 800 000 humans were brought in as a substitute. These humans were known as liquidators. The radiation level was so high that no liquidator could work for longer than 90 seconds at a time.
Radioactive trees and soil were buried in large concrete tombs and vehicles used in the clean up were abandoned in a large vehicle grave.
[Left] Liquidators removing rubble from the Chernobyl plant
[Right] Vehicles used in the clean up laid to rest in this vehicle grave
The sarcophagus
To prevent further contamination, a large concrete shell was built around the reactor. This is known as a sarcophagus — Latin for “stone coffin” — and took around 7 months to construct. Built in a hurry, corners were cut and it is now showing signs of collapsing. A second shelter has been proposed — a 8–9 year project costing an estimated $1.1 billion New Zealand dollars and has an estimated lifespan of 100 years.
Photos of the sarcophagus which entombs the damaged reactor
The effects on health
There have been at least 1 800 thyroid cancer cases of children who were between 0–14 years at the time of the disaster. Other health defects include premature births, mentally ill children and children with birth defects. Additionally, many were also psychologically affected, turning to drinking and suicide.
Environmental impact
Besides the effects on humans, the Chernobyl disaster also dramatically affected the environment with 150 000 km2 of land contaminated with radioactive material. Mutations in both plants and animals were evident — Leaves changed shape and some animals were born with deformities. Despite this, rare species of moose, birds, beavers, wolves and boars have returned in the absence of humans.
Radioactive and mutated apple and mutated calf in Chernobyl
Chernobyl today
The radiation levels have since receded at the Chernobyl power plant and it is possible to arrange day tours of the cities surrounding the Chernobyl plant. The villages and towns remain uninhabited by humans and it is evident nature is taking over many cities and villages. The lack of building and infrastructure maintenance has resulted in foliage growing on buildings and through roads and paths.
A lesson learnt
A hard lesson was learnt on the 26th of April 1986. In the following years, there was a heavier focus on nuclear safety and the safety design of the Soviet designed RMBK reactors (which was used in the Chernobyl power plant) was reviewed and amended. This disaster allowed for scientists to investigate the effects of radioactive pollution and the safest, most efficient clean-up procedure following a nuclear disaster — but most importantly, how to prevent such a disaster from every occuring again.
A classroom and cultural centre square consumed by nature
The end of the tour
This marks the end of the tour. I hope you have found it intriguing learning about the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. To the right is an interesting video (22 MB) by Carl Montgomery, a tourist from Australia who visited Chernobyl recently in 2006.
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Short video by Carl Montgomery about his visit to Chernobyl