An analysis of the situation in which people live in areas contaminated with radiation does not cause optimism. Scientists assure that the system of ideas about space and time is deformed in these people. Numerous difficulties that arise in the process of socialization make it impossible to objectively see the situation. Radiation is to blame. We can`t see it because radiation is odorless. There is no salvation from it, at least now. And since it eludes us in every sense, it can only be represented symbolically. For example, as an invisible creature which we can`t see or hear.
Modern maps of the regions affected by the accident show large “zones of radiation contamination”. Within their limits, it is prohibited to engage in any agricultural activity. Maps are definitely a necessary thing. But in practice things are somewhat different. In fact, radionuclides spread across the territory non-uniformly, forming numerous spots, like “leopard skin”.
On the one hand, such “hot spots” may cover several kilometers. On the other hand, only a few square meters, located, for example, in a well of a private courtyard or in a garden. Therefore, any border indicated on the map becomes absurd in the realities of life. There is no secret for residents living in a high-risk area. In fact, they`re walking on the edge of a knife. In practice, they have a life that is only formally different from any other.
The Chernobyl disaster is not a trivial accident. It contains signs of a real disaster.
The world after Chernobyl has changed. The relationship with the development of science and technology dictated the nature of the Chernobyl disaster at that time. We still live in an era of unceasing growth of scientific and technological potential. It is based on broad knowledge and development of the external forces of nature. At one time, its evolution led humanity to nuclear tests. Today, the spectrum has expanded with genetic tests, with the manipulation of living things. The new world lives by references to the recommendations of operational science, in particular technology.
Hence, the emerging disasters are largely technological in nature. The rapidly gaining momentum in the nuclear industry appeared before the world not only as an industry with inexhaustible opportunities. It taught a lesson to those who believed that nuclear power was completely devoid of catastrophic factors.
There were only 2 dosimeters at the time of the Chernobyl accident
The Chernobyl disaster. Radiation. Radionuclides … How much anxiety these words have brought into our lives! The lack of reliable knowledge about the level of radiation contamination of territories located in the risk zone was terrifying. It instilled fear in people, provoked the creation of myths about hundreds of born mutant children. But it was not the myths that frightened us so much as the lack of reliable information about the real picture of the catastrophe that took place, in particular the radiation situation.
At the time of the Chernobyl accident there were only 2 dosimeters, each for 1000 Roentgens. However, as a result of the accident, one was destroyed, and the other was not working after turning on. All other dosimeters had a limit of 0.001 G / s. The workers could determine the maximum radiation level of 3.6 G / h. However, the actual radiation levels exceeded this by 5600 times. After the accident, the radiation level in some places was at of 5.6 G / sec, that is, about 20,000 R / hour. A lethal dose is 500 Roentgens in 5 hours. That is, unprotected workers could receive a lethal dose of radiation in just a couple of minutes in some places.
Approximately 1,000 people received critical doses of radiation. They were near the reactor at the time of the explosion. In addition, they directly paticipated in emergency work in the first hours and days of the tragedy. The exact doses are unknown for obvious reasons. They were instantly classified.
In any case, there is no secret that these people “got the most from radiation”. The level of their exposure was the highest among those who took part in the liquidation of the consequences of the accident or suffered from it. The liquidators who received limited doses later were a little more fortunate. The limit in 1986 was 250 mSv, in subsequent years 50 mSv. Various services carried out measurements of the received doses for liquidators. The reliability of the data obtained is different. The falsification of data on radiation exposure among military personnel is indicative.
The trouble hid everywhere: in the soil, in the water, in the air, in food
Immediately after the accident, no one was warned about the deadly reaction of the body to the use of foodstuffs contaminated with radioactive iodine. Villagers ate just such products as homemade milk, chicken eggs in the first days after the accident.
Iodine initially accumulated in the thyroid gland. Then, there were irreversible tragic consequences for the whole organism. The consequences were not so dangerous for the residents of Pripyat. They were provided with preparations containing iodine. The government didn`t carry out such prevention in other districts. We should note that for the population of villages in the 30-kilometer zone, which were evacuated later, the level of internal exposure was 4 times higher than the external one.
Everyone decides independently whether believe it or not the official statistics. However, it says that only 134 cases of acute radiation sickness were registered among people working at the fourth power unit. Is it a lot or a little? As for the largest man-made accident on earth, it`s enough. Especially, if you imagine in what agony these people had to live out their last days, no one doubted that they were doomed. In most cases, radiation burns of the skin caused by β-radiation complicated radiation sickness.
28 have people died of radiation sickness during 1986. Two more people died directly in the accident for reasons unrelated to radiation. During 1987-2004, another 19 people died of the category of acutely exposed. Some people speculate that radiation sickness didn`t necessarily cause their death.
For comparison, the inhabitants of some regions of the Earth with an increased natural background, for example, in Brazil, India, Iran and China, receive radiation doses equal to about 100-200 mSv over 20 years.
Years have passed since the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The pain does not subside. Anxiety does not leave people bound by the sorrowful time of the nuclear apocalypse.