The Effects of the Chernobyl Accident on International Actions Concerni

The Effects of the Chernobyl Accident on International Actions Concerning Nuclear Power Early in the morning of April 27, 1986, the world experienced its largest nuclear disaster ever (Gould 40). While violating safety protocol during a test, Reactor 4 at the Chernobyl power plant was placed in a severely unstable state, and in a matter of seconds the reactor output shot up to 120 times the rated output (Flavin 8). The resulting steam explosion tossed aside the reactor’s 1,000 ton concrete covering and released radioactive particles up to one and a half miles into the sky (Gould 38). The explosion and resulting fires caused 31 immediate deaths and over a thousand injuries, including radiation poisoning (Flavin 5). After the accident more than 135,000 people were evacuated from their Ukrainian homes, but the major fallout occurred outside of the Soviet Union’s borders. Smaller radioactive particles were carried in the atmosphere until they returned to earth via precipitation (Gould 43). The Soviets quickly seeded clouds to prevent rainfall over their own land, so most of the radioactivity burdened Western Europe, Scandinavia, and the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans (Flavin 12). This truly international disaster had far reaching effects; some of these were on health, the environment, social standards, and politics. As the radiation settled over Europe, it had many effects. Since the Soviets did not alert anyone, Sweden, and to a lesser extent Poland, were the first nations to detect the radioactive cloud (Gould 40-41). By May 3 it had made its way all the way to Northern Scotland, and was also moving down into Eastern Europe (39). As radioactive particles dropped to the Earth’s surface, they were utilized by living orga... ... 1987. Gould, Peter. Fire in the Rain: The Democratic Consequences of Chernobyl. The Johns Hopkins University Press: Baltimore, 1990. Herbert, Douglas. â€Å"Disputed Czech Nuclear Plant Counts Down to Launch.† September 21, 2000. last accessed 5/9/04 at http://edition.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/europe/09/21/czech.temelin/ http://www.cphpost.dk/get/55328.html last accessed 5/9/04 http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16161/story.htm last accessed 5/9/04 http://www.spacedaily.com/news/nuclear-civil-01c.html last accessed 5/9/04 http://www.vanderbilt.edu/radsafe/9702/msg00015.html last accessed 5/9/04 Lungescu, Oana. â€Å"EU to Fund Chernobyl Replacements.† September 26, 2000. last accessed 5/9/04 at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/913125.stm Segerstà ¥hl, Boris (Ed.). Chernobyl: A Policy Response Study. Springer-Verlag: New York, 1991.