"God! Why is this stinking, creeping fog here in my forest! Why? After all, we are 145 kilometers from Chernobyl directly! Dear God, why do we suffer so much?! After all, in my region, my Polissya, there are places rich in berries and mushrooms, the famous Polissya cranberries. And suddenly - everything is poisoned, ”- my friend Lyuda wrote in an essay 9 years after the biggest technological disaster of the 20th century - an accident at Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
Holidays in the area with the right to resettlement
We have known Lyuda since childhood, which I spent with my grandmother, and by the fate of fate, it is this beautiful picturesque corner - the village of Glushkovichi, Gomel Region - became a zone with the right to resettlement, where the land is contaminated with caesium-137 from 5 to 15 Curies per square kilometer at allowable rate up to 1 Curie. People got the right, but they didn’t want to leave their native places: after all, radiation is a poison without color and smell, but you shudder from its consequences ...
I heard more about Chernobyl than all my Grodno peers. AT kindergarten, during the measurement of radiation levels, was the leader. But how could you give up an unforgettable childhood: your favorite boiled corn, which your grandmother picked at 6 in the morning to have time to cook for breakfast, bike rides to the lake or river with friends, Indian cinema in the club, playing rubber bands and Cossack robbers. And what are the stars in Glushkovichi - looks like you can get your hands on it! Only sometimes, picking berries in the forest, - you should have seen how many blueberries are in Polissya! - met a terrifying inscription: “Forbidden zone! Grazing, picking berries, mushrooms is strictly prohibited! Elevated radioactive zone!
I realized that radiation is evil a few years after the accident. Chernobyl, like lightning, “hit” my family: my cousin Alena, who, along with her mother, father, three sisters and brother, had to leave her native Novoselki, Khoinitsky district (50 km from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant) and move to Minsk in the status of “victim of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, thyroid cancer was discovered ... Fortunately, the operation was successful and the disease receded, but the scar on the neck always reminds dire consequences disasters.
3 million people died because of the accident?
The explosion of the fourth power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on the night of April 26, 1986 for millions of people divided life into before and after the Catastrophe. The radioactive cloud circled the Earth at least twice before dissolving for centuries, leaving traces all over the Northern Hemisphere.
- Belarus is the most affected country, but 50% of dangerous radionuclides fell out of its borders. 400 million people received significant exposure, 5 million, of which 800 thousand children, live where they should not. But the World Health Organization (WHO) and the IAEA are afraid to speak the truth. In 1986, a lot was unclear: they made reckless promises and said that everything would not be so terrible. Now we can say: scary, unacceptably scary, and the end of this horror story is not visible: the consequences will expand even more, and I don’t know what will come of it. We are entering the era of the children of Chernobyl: 7 generations of people will suffer from the consequences of the disaster, - told the President of the Center for Environmental Policy of Russia, Professor, Doctor biological sciences Alexey Yablokov on the international conference In Minsk.
According to the scientist, who published the 6th edition of the book “Chernobyl: the consequences of the Catastrophe for man and nature” a month ago, the real number of victims is hidden from the public.
- The official report of the IAEA and WHO says that due to the Chernobyl accident, an additional 9,000 people died of cancer, our figures are 50,000 deaths. Research scientists have shown that the total additional mortality worldwide in the 20 years after Chernobyl amounted to one million people. After 1986, the number of miscarriages increased, and this is another two million unborn - that's the scale of the victims of the Chernobyl disaster! Therefore, they are silent about this: there is an atomic lobby, which does not benefit from the consequences being investigated and presented, - Alexei Yablokov says
Grodno region is almost not polluted
Compared with the Glushkoviches, Grodno seemed completely safe place in Belarus. Here, no one talked about radiation, and the children did not go to Canada, Germany and even Japan for treatment, like the victims of Chernobyl. The Grodno region is indeed considered one of the most unpolluted regions of Belarus.
In 1986, 23% of the territory of Belarus was contaminated with cesium-137 above 1 Curie per square kilometer. AT Grodno region the most "volatile" radionuclide with an unacceptable density of contamination "donkey" in three districts: Novogrudok, Ivyevsky and Dyatlovsky.
- In the region, 84 settlements with periodic radiation monitoring were registered, where the density of cesium-137 contamination is from 1 to 5 Curie per square kilometer, including in the Novogrudok district - 12, Ivyevsky - 50, Dyatlovsky - 22, - says the head of the radiation hygiene department of the Grodno Center for Hygiene, Epidemiology and public health Alexander Razmakhnin.
5.2% of the forest lands of the Grodno region are located in the zone of radioactive contamination. The distribution of cesium-137 isotopes had a patchy character, which is clearly seen on the maps.
What to expect from radionuclides
Meanwhile, the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster seems to bring good news - the half-life of "volatile" cesium has ended, which means that the territories should be cleaner, but ...
- The complete decay of caesium-137 lasts 300 years. With physical point now this dose-forming radionuclide has become two times less. It seems like the danger should decrease, but this did not happen. Why? There are fewer radionuclides, they sink into the soil, where they are “grabbed and pulled out” by plant roots. And outside, people who have lost their fear gather mushrooms, berries, and graze cows in these territories. It turns out a paradoxical thing: there is less cesium, and the internal exposure of the inhabitants who eat these products is greater. Chernobyl has not gone away, it is next to us and sometimes becomes angrier than it was! There are still miracles ahead: there is still plutonium, which is now “resting” in the exclusion zone (half-life is 24,000 years), but when it decays, it turns into americium-241, and this is the same strong and “mobile” radiation emitter. Areas that were contaminated with plutonium in 1986 will be 4 times larger by 2056 because plutonium will turn into americium, - He speaks Alexey Yablokov.
The consequences of the "iodine" strike
"Iodine strike", which took place from May to July 1896 in Belarus, caused an increase in cancer thyroid gland(RSHCHZ). The disease is officially recognized as the main medical consequence of the Chernobyl disaster. More than 50% of all cases of thyroid cancer in the group of 0-18 years old in the 20 years after the accident occurred in children who were under 5 years old at the time of the "iodine shock". According to official figures, the number of people with cancer (who were under 18 at the time of the disaster) increased 200-fold between 1989 and 2005.
In addition, according to the data of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Belarus before the disaster (1985), 90% of children were classified as "practically healthy". By 2000, the number of such children was less than 20%, and in the heavily polluted territory of the Gomel region - 10%.
According to official statistics, the number of disabled children increased by 4.7 times between 1990 and 2002.
Numbers
According to the Department for the Elimination of Consequences of the Chernobyl Disaster, 1,142,000 Belarusians, including 260,000 children, live in the zone radioactive contamination cesium-137 from 1 to 15 curies per square kilometer. 1800 people remain to live in areas with subsequent resettlement, with levels of cesium pollution from 15 to 40 Ci/km2. Residents themselves did not want to move to safer areas.
After the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on April 26, 1986, a 30-kilometer exclusion zone was created around the plant. Although a positive trend is emerging (in 2010, the Narodichi district of the Zhytomyr region was excluded from the list of closed territories), the consequences of the disaster still affect people's lives.
INVISIBLE TERRIBLE ENEMY
The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which occurred on April 26, 1986, was an unprecedented event in the history of nuclear energy. However, the scale of the disaster was not obvious in the first hours after the incident: there was no data on the release of radiation, and all forces were thrown to extinguish the fire.
The decision to build a nuclear power plant four kilometers from the village of Kopachi in the Chernobyl region of the Ukrainian SSR was approved by the Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR of June 29, 1966. The Chernobyl nuclear power plant (originally the Central Ukrainian nuclear power plant) was supposed to provide electricity to the entire Central Energy Region, which included 27 regions Ukrainian SSR and Rostov region RSFSR.
The choice of a site for the construction of the future nuclear power plant was, in particular, due to the fact that the areas receiving electricity had to be located within a radius of 350-450 km from the station. In addition, specialists from the Teploelektroproekt Institute of the USSR Ministry of Energy and the Kyiv Design Bureau Energosetproekt concluded that the conditions at the selected site made it possible to establish uninterrupted water supply to the nuclear power plant and build transport infrastructure. In addition, the lands near the village of Kopachi were recognized as unproductive in terms of economic use, which minimized the economic losses of the region.
The Chernobyl nuclear power plant was built in several stages. The construction of the first stage was completed in 1977, the launch of the first and second power units took place in 1978. The second stage was ready by 1983. The construction of the third stage was started in 1981, but was never completed.
Even after it started construction works, February 4, 1970, three kilometers from the nuclear power plant, the city of Pripyat was founded, intended for workers and employees of the future station.
The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which became one of the most severe in its consequences man-made disasters in the history of mankind, occurred on April 26, 1986 at 01:23. At that moment, during the testing of the eighth turbogenerator, the fourth power unit exploded. Its structure was completely destroyed. As the examination later revealed, the explosion occurred as a result of an uncontrolled increase in the power of the reactor.
Fire crews were the first to arrive on the scene. Having neither information about the destruction, nor data on radiation measurements, firefighters set about extinguishing the fire at the fourth reactor. Already an hour and a half later, the first victims began to appear with symptoms of severe radiation exposure.
At first, the residents of the surrounding area were not informed about the incident and were not given any recommendations in connection with the possible release of radiation. The first message about the accident appeared in the Soviet media only on April 27, 36 hours after the accident. Within a radius of 10 km around the explosion site, a temporary evacuation of residents was announced, this also applied to the city of Pripyat. Later, the evacuation zone was expanded to a 30-kilometer radius. Then it was about the fact that people would be able to return to their homes in a few days, it was not allowed to take personal belongings with them.
In the first days after the accident, the most affected northern regions Kyiv and Zhitomir regions, Gomel region of Belarus and Bryansk region. Later, the wind carried the radiation cloud to more distant territories, as a result of which polluting elements in the form of gases, aerosols and fuel particles settled in, and in other states.
Work on liquidation of the consequences of the accident proceeded at a record pace. Already by November 1986, a concrete shelter, also called a sarcophagus, was erected over the destroyed fourth power unit.
Despite the strong radiation contamination in the area of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, already on October 1, 1986, the first power unit of the station was re-launched, on November 5 of the same year, the second power unit. December 4, 1987 earned the third power unit of the nuclear power plant. Only on December 15, 2000, the nuclear power plant stopped generating electricity.
ECHOES OF A TRAGEDY
Nearly 30 years after the Chernobyl accident, experts still cannot give comprehensive answers to many questions on which the future of nuclear energy and the well-being of mankind depend.
Until now, experts have not come to unanimous conclusions about what exactly led to the development emergency at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. According to one version, the station personnel, who took direct involvement in tests of the eighth turbogenerator and violated the work regulations. According to another version, the station employees, by their actions, only exacerbated the problem, which was based on design features reactors that did not comply with nuclear safety rules, and an undeveloped system for monitoring the operation of nuclear power plants.
To this day, there are inaccurate data on how many people died or were injured in the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. This is because the link between radiation exposure and health problems is not always obvious, and the effects of infection can be long-term and affect the genetic level.
As a direct result of the explosion of the fourth reactor of the station, three people died. Approximately 600 people from among the employees of the nuclear power plant and firefighters were exposed to radiation, 28 people died shortly after the accident due to the development of acute radiation sickness. It is assumed that only on the territory of modern Belarus, Russia and Ukraine, more than 8 million people were exposed to radiation.
Since 1986, a zone of alienated radiation-dangerous territory has been established within a radius of 30 km around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. It is under constant guard of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, to cross its borders you need to obtain a special permit. In addition, visitors must be accompanied by a guide; movement through the contaminated area is possible only along a pre-approved route. The removal of any items outside the exclusion zone is prohibited by law; at the exit from the protected area, the clothes and personal belongings of visitors are checked using a dosimeter. However, the restrictions do not stop the so-called stalkers - illegal tourists who prefer to explore the exclusion zone on their own.
The Chernobyl nuclear power plant still poses a danger. This is connected, among other things, with the beginning of the destruction of the old sarcophagus at the site of the fourth power unit, which can lead to a radiation leak. In February 2013, the collapse of the roof and ceilings of the sarcophagus was registered. A new protective structure is currently being erected over the first sarcophagus. It is planned to be completed in 2015-2016.
The issues of curbing the spread of radiation are currently being handled by the State Special Enterprise "Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant", which was founded on April 25, 2001. Its main tasks are the disposal radioactive waste, monitoring radiation background in the field of nuclear power plants and the construction of a new, more reliable sarcophagus over the fourth power unit. The organization is also taking measures to ensure that radiation particles do not get into water bodies, including the Kiev reservoir.
Several nature reserves are located in the exclusion zone, among them is the Polessky State Radiation and Ecological Reserve, located within the most affected areas of the Gomel region of Belarus. It was created in 1988, primarily to study the impact of radiation contamination on the environment, as well as on the development of flora and fauna. However, this reserve is valuable not only as a platform for research: the world wildlife practically isolated from external environment, which gives animals, including rare species, a chance to survive, and biologists to study them in natural conditions.
ATTRACTION
Chernobyl:
■ St. Elijah's Church (first mentioned in the 16th century).
■ Castle of the time of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (mid-XV century)
Pripyat:
■ Main square.
■ Ferris wheel in the city park.
Natural:
■ Polessky State Radiation and Ecological Reserve.
■ national park"Pripyatsky".
■ Red Forest (near Chernobyl).
■ Tree-cross (Chernobyl).
■ The name of the city of Chernobyl comes from Chernobyl - a type of wormwood. In the Revelations of John the Theologian, latest book New Testament, which is also called the "Apocalypse", there are such lines: "The third angel blew, and fell from heaven big star burning like a lamp, and fell on a third of the rivers and on springs of water. The name of this star is "wormwood"; and a third of the waters became wormwood, and many of the people died from the waters, because they became bitter” (Rev. 8; 10-11). After the tragedy in Chernobyl began to spread various interpretations these words about the Second Coming of Christ and the Last Judgment. But religious scholars have clarified: in the Bible, “wormwood” means a comet, which in ancient times was considered a harbinger of trouble.
■ Despite the evacuation and the commencement of work to eliminate the consequences of the accident, Soviet authorities they were still trying to minimize panic among the population, so the traditional May Day demonstrations were not cancelled. As a result, people who were unaware of the true extent of the disaster received an additional dose of radiation.
■ The first mention of Chernobyl in Russian chronicles dates back to 1193.
■ The so-called Red Forest, located in close proximity to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, got its nickname because after the explosion of the fourth power unit, it took on a huge dose of radiation exposure - about 8,000-10,000 rads. As a result, all the trees died and turned brown. The forest was later destroyed and is now being restored. naturally.
■ In 2013, Chernobyl was included in the list of the most polluted cities according to the American non-profit research organization - the Blacksmith Institute.
■ The self-settlers who returned permanently to the exclusion zone are mostly elderly people who preferred their own houses to those provided by the state.
Most of them are engaged in housekeeping and gathering.
■ Currently, the Pripyat River is the main source of radionuclide leakage outside the exclusion zone.
■ Pripyat was the ninth atomograd, as it was customary to call the villages of power engineers at nuclear power plants in the USSR.
The terrible catastrophe in Chernobyl became an unprecedented event in the historical chronicle of nuclear energy. In the first days after the accident, it was not possible to assess the real scale of the incident, and only some time later, within a radius of 30 km, the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was created. What has happened and is still happening closed territory? The world is full of various rumors, some of which are the fruit of an inflamed fantasy, and some are the true truth. And far from always the most obvious and realistic things turn out to be reality. After all, we are talking about Chernobyl - one of the most dangerous and mysterious territories of Ukraine.
History of Chernobyl construction
A plot of land 4 km from the village of Kopachi and 15 km from the city of Chernobyl in 1967 was chosen for the construction of a new nuclear power plant designed to compensate for the energy shortage in the Central Energy Region. The future station was named Chernobyl.
The first 4 power units were built and put into operation by 1983, in 1981 the construction of power units 5 and 6 began, which lasted until the infamous 1986. Near the station, a town of power engineers arose in a few years - Pripyat.
The first accident covered the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1982 - after a scheduled repair, an explosion occurred at the 1st power unit. The consequences of the breakdown were eliminated within three months, after which additional security measures were introduced to prevent similar cases in future.
But, apparently, fate decided to finish what it started, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was not supposed to work. So on the night of April 25-26, 1986 Another explosion thundered at the 4th power unit. This time, the incident turned into a catastrophe on a global scale. No one can still say for sure what exactly caused the explosion of the reactor, which led to thousands of broken destinies, twisted lives and premature deaths. The catastrophe, Chernobyl, the exclusion zone - the history of this incident is controversial to this day, although the time of the accident itself is set to within seconds.
A few minutes before the explosion of the 4th power unit
On the night of April 25-26, 1986, an experimental test of the 8th turbogenerator was scheduled. The experiment started at 1:23:10 on April 26, and after 30 seconds, a powerful explosion thundered as a result of pressure drop.
Chernobyl accident
Unit 4 was engulfed in flames, firefighters managed to completely extinguish the fire by 5 o'clock in the morning. And a few hours later it became known how powerful the emission of radiation into the environment had been. A couple of weeks later, the authorities decided to cover the destroyed power unit with a concrete sarcophagus, but it was too late. The radioactive cloud spread over a fairly large distance.
The Chernobyl disaster brought great misfortune: the exclusion zone, created shortly after the event, banned Free access to vast territory belonging to Ukraine and Belarus.
The area of the Chernobyl exclusion zone
Within a radius of 30 kilometers from the epicenter of the accident - abandonment and silence. It was these territories that the Soviet authorities considered dangerous for permanent residence of people. All residents of the exclusion zone were evacuated to other settlements. Several more zones were additionally defined in the restricted area:
- a special zone, which was directly occupied by the NPP itself and the construction site of power units 5 and 6;
- zone 10 km;
- zone 30 km.
The borders of the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant were surrounded by a fence, installing warning signs about an increased level of radiation. Ukrainian lands who fell into the forbidden territory - directly Pripyat, the village of Severovka, Zhytomyr region, villages Kyiv region Novoshepelevichi, Polesskoe, Vilcha, Yanov, Kopachi.
The village of Kopachi is located at a distance of 3800 meters from the 4th power unit. It was so badly damaged by radioactive substances that the authorities decided to physically destroy it. The most massive rural buildings were destroyed and buried underground. Previously prosperous Kopachi were simply wiped off the face of the earth. At present, there are not even self-settlers here.
The accident also affected a large area of Belarusian lands. A significant part of the Gomel region fell under the ban, about 90 settlements fell into the radius of the exclusion zone and were abandoned by local residents.
Mutants of Chernobyl
The territories abandoned by people were soon chosen by wild animals. And people, in turn, launched into lengthy discussions about monsters, in which radiation turned the entire animal world of the exclusion zone. There were rumors of mice with five legs, three-eyed hares, glowing boars, and many other fantastic transformations. Some rumors were reinforced by others, multiplied, spread and gained new fans. It got to the point that some "storytellers" spread rumors about the existence of a museum of mutant animals in the closed area. Of course, no one managed to find this amazing museum. Yes, and with fantastic animals turned out to be a complete bummer.
Animals in the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant are indeed exposed to radiation. The radioactive vapors are deposited on plants that some species feed on. The exclusion zone is inhabited by wolves, foxes, bears, wild boars, hares, otters, lynxes, deer, badgers, the bats. Their organisms successfully cope with pollution and increased radioactive background. Therefore, involuntarily restricted area has become something of a reserve for many species of rare animals living on the territory of Ukraine.
And yet, there were mutants in the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. This term can be applied to plants. Radiation has become a kind of fertilizer for the flora, and in the first years after the accident, the size of the plants was amazing. Both wild and commercial crops grew huge. The forest 2 km from the nuclear power plant was particularly affected. The trees are the only ones that couldn't escape the radioactive explosion, so they completely absorbed all the fumes and turned red. The red forest could turn into an even more terrible tragedy if it caught fire. Fortunately, this did not happen.
The Red Forest is the most dangerous forest on the planet, and at the same time, the most resistant. Radiation, as it were, preserved it, slowing down everything natural processes. So, the Red Forest plunges into some parallel reality where the measure of everything is eternity.
Residents of the Chernobyl exclusion zone
After the accident, only the station workers and rescuers remained on the territory of the exclusion zone, eliminating the consequences of the accident. Everything civilian population was evacuated. But years passed, and a significant number of people returned to their homes in the exclusion zone, despite the prohibitions of the law. These desperate guys began to be called self-settlers. Back in 1986, the number of inhabitants of the Chernobyl exclusion zone numbered 1,200 people. What is most interesting, many of them were already in retirement age and lived longer than those who left the radioactive zone.
Now the number of self-settlers in Ukraine does not exceed 200 people. All of them are dispersed over 11 settlements located in the exclusion zone. In Belarus, the stronghold of the inhabitants of the Chernobyl exclusion zone is the village of Zaelitsa, an academic town in the Mogilev region.
Basically, self-settlers are elderly people who could not come to terms with the loss of their home and all property acquired overwork. They returned to the infected dwellings to live out their short lives. Since there is no economy and any infrastructure in the exclusion zone, people living in the Chernobyl exclusion zone are engaged in household farming, gathering, and sometimes hunting. In general, they were engaged in their usual kind of activity in their native walls. So no radiation is terrible. This is how life goes in the Chernobyl exclusion zone.
Chernobyl exclusion zone today
The Chernobyl nuclear power plant finally stopped working only in 2000. Since then, the exclusion zone has become very quiet and gloomy. The abandoned cities of the village cause chills on the skin and a desire to run away from here as far as possible. But there are also brave daredevils for whom the dead zone is the abode of exciting adventures. Despite all the physical and legal prohibitions, stalkers-adventurers constantly explore the abandoned settlements of the zone, and find a lot of interesting things there.
Today there is even special direction in tourism - Pripyat and the vicinity of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Excursions in dead city arouse great curiosity not only among the inhabitants of Ukraine, but also among guests from abroad. Tours to Chernobyl last up to 5 days - this is how much one person is officially allowed to stay in the contaminated area. But usually hikes are limited to one day. A group led by experienced guides walks along a specially designed route that does not cause harm to health.
When to visit
| May | june | july | aug | sep | oct | but I | dec | Jan | Feb | mar | Apr | |
| Max/Min temperature | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chance of precipitation |
Virtual tour of Pripyat
And for those curious who do not dare to get acquainted with Pripyat with their own eyes, there is virtual walk in the Chernobyl exclusion zone - exciting and certainly absolutely safe!
Chernobyl exclusion zone: satellite map
For those who are still not afraid to go on a trip, it will be very useful detailed map exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. It marks the boundaries of the 30-kilometer zone, indicating settlements, station buildings and other local attractions. With such a guide, it is not scary to get lost.
As a result, no nuclear explosion(the cause of the accident was steam explosion) of the reactor of the 4th block of the Chernobyl NPP, fuel elements containing nuclear fuel (uranium-235) and radioactive fission products accumulated during the operation of the reactor (up to 3 years) (hundreds of radionuclides, including long-lived ones) were damaged and depressurized. The release of radioactive materials from the emergency unit of the NPP into the atmosphere consisted of gases, aerosols and fine particles of nuclear fuel. In addition, the ejection lasted a very long time; it was a process extended over time, consisting of several stages.
At the first stage (during the first hours), dispersed fuel was ejected from the destroyed reactor. At the second stage - from April 26 to May 2, 1986. - the emission power has decreased due to the measures taken to stop the combustion of graphite and filter the emission. At the suggestion of physicists, many hundreds of tons of boron, dolomite, sand, clay and lead compounds were dropped into the reactor shaft, this layer of loose mass intensively adsorbed aerosol particles. At the same time, these measures could lead to an increase in the temperature in the reactor and contribute to the release of volatile substances (in particular, cesium isotopes) into the environment. This is a hypothesis, but it was precisely on these days (May 2-5) that a rapid increase in the output of fission products from the reactor and a predominant removal of volatile components, in particular, iodine, were observed. The last, fourth stage, which occurred after May 6, is characterized by a rapid decrease in emissions as a result of specially taken measures, which ultimately made it possible to lower the fuel temperature by filling the reactor with materials that form refractory compounds with fission products.
Radioactive contamination of the natural environment as a result of the accident was determined by the dynamics radioactive emissions and meteorological conditions.
Due to the bizarre pattern of precipitation during the movement of the radioactive cloud, the contamination of the soil and food turned out to be extremely uneven. As a result, three main pollution centers were formed: the Central, Bryansk-Belarusian and the focus in the area of Kaluga, Tula and Orel (Fig. 1).
Figure 1. Radioactive contamination of the area with caesium-137 after the Chernobyl disaster (as of 1995).
Significant pollution of the territory outside former USSR occurred only in some regions of the European continent. AT southern hemisphere fallout of radioactivity was not detected.
In 1997, a multi-year European Community project to create an atlas of cesium pollution in Europe was completed after Chernobyl accident. According to estimates made within the framework of this project, the territories of 17 European countries with a total area of 207.5 thousand km 2 were contaminated with cesium with a pollution density of more than 1 Ci/km 2 (37 kBq/m 2) (Table 1).
Table 1. Total pollution European countries 137Cs from the Chernobyl accident.
| Countries | Area, thousand km 2 | Chernobyl fallout | |||
| countries | territories with pollution over 1 Ci/km2 | PBq | kCi | % of total deposition in Europe | |
| Austria | 84 | 11,08 | 0,6 | 42,0 | 2,5 |
| Belarus | 210 | 43,50 | 15,0 | 400,0 | 23,4 |
| United Kingdom | 240 | 0,16 | 0,53 | 14,0 | 0,8 |
| Germany | 350 | 0,32 | 1,2 | 32,0 | 1,9 |
| Greece | 130 | 1,24 | 0,69 | 19,0 | 1,1 |
| Italy | 280 | 1,35 | 0,57 | 15,0 | 0,9 |
| Norway | 320 | 7,18 | 2,0 | 53,0 | 3,1 |
| Poland | 310 | 0,52 | 0,4 | 11,0 | 0,6 |
| Russia ( European part) | 3800 | 59,30 | 19,0 | 520,0 | 29,7 |
| Romania | 240 | 1,20 | 1,5 | 41,0 | 2,3 |
| Slovakia | 49 | 0,02 | 0,18 | 4,7 | 0,3 |
| Slovenia | 20 | 0,61 | 0,33 | 8,9 | 0,5 |
| Ukraine | 600 | 37,63 | 12,0 | 310,0 | 18,8 |
| Finland | 340 | 19,0 | 3,1 | 83,0 | 4,8 |
| Czech Republic | 79 | 0,21 | 0,34 | 9,3 | 0,5 |
| Switzerland | 41 | 0,73 | 0,27 | 7,3 | 0,4 |
| Sweden | 450 | 23,44 | 2,9 | 79,0 | 4,5 |
| Europe as a whole | 9700 | 207,5 | 64,0 | 1700,0 | 100,0 |
| The whole world | 77,0 | 2100,0 | |||
Data on radiation contamination of the territory of Russia as a result of the Chernobyl accident are presented in Table 2.
Table 2.
Radiological hazard of Chernobyl radionuclides
The most dangerous at the time of the accident and for the first time after it in atmospheric air contaminated areas are 131I (Radioactive iodine accumulated extensively in milk, resulting in significant thyroid doses to those who drank it, especially children in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Elevated Levels radioactive iodine in milk has also been observed in some other parts of Europe where dairy herds were kept outdoors. The half-life of 131I is 8 days.) and 239Pu, they have the highest relative hazard index. This is followed by the remaining isotopes of plutonium, 241Am, 242Cm, 137Ce, and 106Ru (decades after the accident). The greatest danger in natural waters represent 131I (in the first weeks and months after the accident) and a group of long-lived radionuclides of cesium, strontium and ruthenium.
Plutonium-239. It is dangerous only when inhaled. As a result of deepening processes, the possibility of wind uplift and transfer of radionuclides has decreased by several orders of magnitude and will continue to decrease. Therefore, Chernobyl plutonium will be present in the environment for an infinitely long time (the half-life of plutonium-239 is 24.4 thousand years), but its ecological role will be close to zero.
Cesium-137. This radionuclide is absorbed by plants and animals. His presence in food chains will steadily decrease due to the processes of physical decay, penetration to a depth inaccessible to plant roots, and chemical binding by soil minerals. The half-life of Chernobyl cesium will be about 30 years. It should be noted that this does not apply to the behavior of cesium in the forest litter, where the situation is to some extent conserved. The decrease in pollution of mushrooms, wild berries and game is still almost imperceptible - it is only 2-3% per year. Cesium isotopes are actively involved in metabolism and compete with K ions.
Strontium-90. It is somewhat more mobile than cesium, with a half-life of strontium of about 29 years. Strontium is poorly involved in metabolic reactions, accumulates in bones, and has low toxicity.
Americium-241 (the decay product of plutonium-241 - the emitter) is the only radionuclide in the zone of contamination from the Chernobyl accident, the concentration of which is increasing and will reach maximum values in 50-70 years, when its concentration on the earth's surface will increase by almost ten times.
Check if there is a nuclear power plant, a plant or an atomic research institute, a storage facility for radioactive waste or nuclear missiles near you.
Nuclear power plants
There are currently 10 nuclear power plants operating in Russia and two more under construction (Baltic NPP in Kaliningrad region and floating nuclear power plant "Akademik Lomonosov" in Chukotka). You can read more about them on the official website of Rosenergoatom.
In the same time, nuclear power plants in the space of the former USSR cannot be considered numerous. As of 2017, there are 191 nuclear power plants in operation worldwide, including 60 in the US, 58 in the European Union and Switzerland, and 21 in China and India. In close proximity to the Russian Far East 16 Japanese and 6 South Korean nuclear power plants operate. The entire list of existing, under construction and closed nuclear power plants, indicating their exact location and specifications can be found on Wikipedia.
Factories and scientific research institutes of nuclear subjects
Radiation-hazardous objects (RHO), in addition to nuclear power plants, are enterprises and scientific organizations nuclear industry and shipyards specializing in the nuclear fleet.
Official information on ROO in the regions of Russia is available on the website of Roshydromet, as well as in the yearbook "Radiation Situation in Russia and Neighboring States" on the website of NPO Typhoon.
radioactive waste
Radioactive waste of low and average activity are formed in industry, as well as in scientific and medical organizations countrywide.
In Russia, Rosatom's subsidiaries RosRAO and Radon (in the Central Region) are engaged in their collection, transportation, processing and storage.
In addition, RosRAO is engaged in the disposal of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel from decommissioned nuclear submarines and ships of the Navy, as well as the environmental rehabilitation of contaminated areas and radiation hazardous facilities (such as the former uranium processing plant in Kirovo-Chepetsk).
Information about their work in each region can be found in environmental reports published on the websites of Rosatom, branches of RosRAO, and the Radon enterprise.
Military nuclear facilities
Among military nuclear facilities, nuclear submarines seem to be the most environmentally hazardous.
Nuclear submarines (NS) are so called because they operate on atomic energy, due to which the engines of the boat are driven. Some of the nuclear submarines are also carriers of missiles with nuclear warheads. However, major accidents on nuclear submarines known from open sources were associated with the operation of reactors or with other causes (collision, fire, etc.), and not with nuclear warheads.
Nuclear power plants also available on some surface ships Navy, such as the nuclear cruiser Peter the Great. They also pose a certain environmental risk.
Information on the locations of nuclear submarines and nuclear ships of the Navy is shown on the map according to open sources.
The second type of military nuclear facilities are the subdivisions of the Strategic Missile Forces armed with ballistic nuclear missiles. cases radiation accidents associated with nuclear weapons in open sources not found. The current location of the Strategic Missile Forces formations is shown on the map according to the information of the Ministry of Defense.
There are no storage points for nuclear warheads (rocket warheads and air bombs) on the map, which can also pose an environmental threat.
nuclear explosions
In 1949-1990, an extensive program of 715 nuclear explosions for military and industrial purposes was implemented in the USSR.
Atmospheric nuclear testing
From 1949 to 1962 The USSR carried out 214 tests in the atmosphere, including 32 on the ground (with the highest pollution environment), 177 air, 1 high-altitude (at an altitude of more than 7 km) and 4 space.
In 1963, the USSR and the USA signed an agreement to ban nuclear testing in air, water and space.
Semipalatinsk test site (Kazakhstan)— place of testing of the first Soviet nuclear bomb in 1949 and the first Soviet prototype thermonuclear bombs s with a capacity of 1.6 Mt in 1957 (it was also the largest test in the history of the test site). In total, 116 atmospheric tests were carried out here, including 30 ground and 86 air tests.
Polygon on Novaya Zemlya- the site of an unprecedented series of super-powerful explosions in 1958 and 1961-1962. A total of 85 charges were tested, including the most powerful in world history - the "Tsar bomb" with a capacity of 50 Mt (1961). For comparison, the power of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima did not exceed 20 kt. In addition, in the Chernaya Bay of the Novaya Zemlya test site, damaging factors nuclear explosion on naval facilities. For this, in 1955-1962. 1 ground, 2 surface and 3 underwater tests were carried out.
Missile test polygon "Kapustin Yar" in Astrakhan region- active landfill Russian army. In 1957-1962 5 air, 1 high-altitude and 4 space rocket tests were carried out here. Max Power air explosions was 40 kt, high-altitude and space - 300 kt. From here, in 1956, a rocket with a nuclear charge of 0.3 kt was launched, which fell and exploded in the Karakum near the city of Aralsk.
On the Totsk training ground in 1954, military exercises were held, during which an atomic bomb with a power of 40 kt was dropped. After the explosion military units it was necessary to "take" the objects that had been bombed.
Apart from the USSR, only China carried out nuclear tests in the atmosphere in Eurasia. For this, the Lobnor test site was used in the north-west of the country, approximately at the longitude of Novosibirsk. AT total in 1964-1980 China has carried out 22 ground and air tests, including thermonuclear explosions up to 4 Mt.
Underground nuclear explosions
The USSR carried out underground nuclear explosions from 1961 to 1990. Initially, they were aimed at developing nuclear weapons in connection with the ban on testing in the atmosphere. Since 1967, the creation of nuclear explosive technologies for industrial purposes also began.
In total, out of 496 underground explosions, 340 were carried out at the Semipalatinsk test site and 39 at Novaya Zemlya. Tests on Novaya Zemlya in 1964-1975. were distinguished by high power, including a record one (about 4 Mt) underground explosion in 1973. After 1976, the power did not exceed 150 kt. The last nuclear explosion at the Semipalatinsk test site was carried out in 1989, and at Novaya Zemlya in 1990.
Polygon "Azgir" in Kazakhstan (near the Russian city of Orenburg) was used for testing industrial technologies. With the help of nuclear explosions, cavities were created here in the layers of rock salt, and during repeated explosions they accumulated radioactive isotopes. A total of 17 explosions with a power of up to 100 kt were carried out.
Outside the landfills in 1965-1988 100 underground nuclear explosions were performed for industrial purposes, including 80 in Russia, 15 in Kazakhstan, 2 each in Uzbekistan and Ukraine, and 1 in Turkmenistan. Their goal was deep seismic sounding to search for minerals, the creation of underground cavities for storage natural gas and industrial waste, the intensification of oil and gas production, the movement of large areas of soil for the construction of canals and dams, extinguishing gas fountains.
Other countries. China carried out 23 underground nuclear explosions at the Lop Nor test site in 1969-1996, India - 6 explosions in 1974 and 1998, Pakistan - 6 explosions in 1998, North Korea - 5 explosions in 2006-2016.
The US, UK, and France have conducted all of their testing outside of Eurasia.
Literature
Many data on nuclear explosions in the USSR are open.
Official information about the power, purpose and geography of each explosion was published in 2000 in the book of the team of authors of the Ministry of Atomic Energy of Russia "Nuclear Tests of the USSR". It also contains the history and description of the Semipalatinsk and Novaya Zemlya test sites, the first tests of nuclear and thermonuclear bombs, the Tsar Bomba test, a nuclear explosion at the Totsk test site, and other data.
A detailed description of the test site on Novaya Zemlya and the test program on it can be found in the article "Review of Soviet nuclear tests on Novaya Zemlya in 1955-1990", and their environmental impact- in the book "
List of atomic objects compiled in 1998 by the Itogi magazine, on the site Kulichki.com.
Estimated location of various objects on interactive maps
