Under Chernobyl’s shadow

Jul 15, 2009 21:20

Under Chernobyl’s shadow

Jpost.com By RUTH EGLASH, REPORTING FROM PRIPYAT, UKRAINE “……………..Just two kilometers from the Chernobyl nuclear power station, Pripyat – once home to some 48,000 people working at the nearby plant – was evacuated forever in less than three hours when Reactor No. 4 exploded, filling the air with deadly radioactive fallout.

Within 24 hours of the explosion on April 26, 1986, the entire city was emptied, with residents being told to take only essentials. No one has returned to live here since.

Although eerily empty, Pripyat still remains a symbol of one of the worst man-made ecological disasters in history and the repercussions of Chernobyl, both medically and environmentally, still resonate strongly not just for former residents but for the Ukrainian people in general.

A report released by Greenpeace on the 20th anniversary of the accident, with new data based on cancer statistics in neighboring Belarus, estimated that approximately 270,000 cancers and 93,000 fatal cancers in the area were caused by Chernobyl. Additionally, demographic data from the previous 15 years showed that 60,000 people died in Russia as a result of the fallout and the total death toll for Ukraine and Belarus could reach another 140,000 indirectly.

Radiation from the accident has also had ongoing effects on survivors, including damage to immune and endocrine systems, accelerated aging, cardiovascular and blood illnesses, psychological problems, chromosomal aberrations and an increase in fetal deformities.

Despite these horrific aftereffects and even as many Ukrainians still come to terms with what happened, officials in Kiev are actively seeking to expand the country’s nuclear energy capabilities, even if it comes at the risk of another Chernobyl.

The move to enhance nuclear energy, which can power the country’s large cast iron and steel industries, as well as individual homes, is justified today, say officials, because of the growing tensions between Ukraine and Russia.

July 16, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | environment, Ukraine | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive