Chernobyl: Design. Denial. Fallout.Episode 121:47
The Name the Ruins Still Carry
Inside two nations' restricted landscapes, Chernobyl endures as a place, a disputed health legacy, and a warning about secrecy.
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Transcript
An explosion and fire destroyed the reactor building in history's worst nuclear accident.
Technicians had lost control of one reactor during a low-power safety test.
The graphite fire continued inside the ruined reactor.
A later assessment found radiation in the reactor hall above lethal levels.
People still can't live in the exclusion zone.
Ukraine's exclusion zone covers about 1,000 square miles around the plant.
Belarusian Polesie State Radioecological Reserve: 835 square miles.
Pripyat was a company town, abandoned after the accident.
Pripyat's 49,000 residents were all gone within a day and a half.
The record says about 600,000 liquidators helped with cleanup.
Officials provided protective clothing and repeated radiation safety checks.
About 5 million residents near the 19-mile, or 30-kilometer, exclusion zone faced prolonged exposure.
Radioactive iodine concentrated in thyroids, putting children at special risk.
By 2005, exposed children had about 4,000 thyroid cancer cases.
About 150 liquidators and plant workers were treated for acute radiation sickness. 28 died soon after.
The accident caused widespread radioactive contamination and concern.
Psychological effects came from exposure fears, fear for children, mistrust of authorities, and forced evacuation.
The child grips the suitcase handle beside a stopped wall clock.
Chernobyl names the accident, Chornobyl the town today.
The accident exposed flaws in the Soviet political apparatus.
Soviet authorities delayed admitting the disaster and minimized domestic media coverage…
Sources
- Introduction - Chernobyl Nuclear Accident, Chornobyl, Ukraine: A Resource Guide - Research Guides at Library of Congressguides.loc.govsecondary
- Chernobyl Before It Was CHERNOBYL! – The Text Messagetext-message.blogs.archives.govsecondary
- Historical Documents - Office of the Historianhistory.state.govprimary
- The Chernobyl Accident 20 Years On: An Assessment of the Health Consequences and the International Response - PMCpmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.govsecondary
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