21 Amazing Facts About The Chernobyl Nuclear Accident
In this publication we list the 10 most polluted places on the planet and of course Chernobyl is among them. The region was, after all, the scene of the largest nuclear accident of all time, which took place on April 26, 1986, after the operators of the Ukrainian nuclear power plant conducted an unsuccessful reactor experiment 4.
Just to give you an idea, the amount of radioactive material released in the Chernobyl explosion was at least 100 times greater than the material released in the Hiroshima and Nagasaki explosions during the end of World War II. Here are some more ominous curiosities about Chernobyl's terrible story:
1 - The Chernobyl crash is the only one to hit level 7 on the International Nuclear Event Scale, making it the biggest man-made crash in history.
2 - To contain the situation, about 800 thousand people took risks and ended up exposing themselves to radiation. Of these people, 25, 000 died and 70, 000 had severe sequelae.
3 - Of those 25, 000 people who died, 20% committed suicide.
4 - According to Greenpeace, the accident resulted in cancer deaths of 93, 000 people worldwide.
5 - Many people eventually returned to the infected region with the intention of receiving government benefits.
6 - There are plans to use the regions around the accident for activities involving studies on radioactive waste and the interference of this material in natural areas.
7 - It is estimated that more than 5 million people live in regions considered contaminated by the accident.
8 - The region eventually became a wildlife sanctuary, housing populations of wolves, deer, beavers, eagles and various other animals.
9 - All renovated Chernobyl residences today have a plaque named after their owners.
10 - After the nuclear accident, the forest of the region stopped being green and became reddish.
11 - The physical and psychological health of people affected by the nuclear accident is still the largest public health problem in the world today.
12 - Pregnant women who were in the area of the accident were advised to have abortions, so that their children were not born with serious problems of malformation.
Fortunately, the number of deaths from cancer or other health problems caused by the accident was lower than expected.
14 - Belarus had 70% of its territory contaminated due to the Chernobyl nuclear accident.
15 - According to the NRC, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 28 of the Chernobyl plant workers died within four months of the accident.
16 - According to Greenpeace, at least 60, 000 cases of thyroid cancer were related to the accident.
17 - Of all radioactive material of the accident, 97% remains in place.
18 - According to the Chernobyl Forum commission, an additional 9, 000 people are still expected to die of cancer from radiation exposure.
Two hundred tons of radioactive material is still in Chernobyl.
20 - Chernobyl's last reactor was shut down just 14 years ago.
21 - Experts say the region will take at least another 100 years before it is considered free of radiation pollution.
