In their quest for superiority, governments around the world have played with dangerous
forces that have not only put at risk the lives of their enemies but those of entire
humanity.
Such treacherous forces have included formidable nuclear weapons.
But major world powers have not just shown an interest in the destructive potential of
highly radioactive materials such as uranium.
The increasing demand for energy, which has not only become higher but has overwhelmed
humanity, has placed the possibility of using such elements as a powerful source of energy
on the table.
However, there are latent dangers which accompany the use of nuclear power.
Today, we put on our anti-radiation suits to explore the devastating consequences of
the Chornobyl catastrophe and the destruction it left in its wake.
Welcome to Copernicus’ Galaxy.
26th of April 1986.
The greatest nuclear disaster in history.
When playing with such powerful and volatile elements, there is little room for even the
slightest of mistakes since any failure comes with a high price to pay.
As Stan Lee aptly said, “With great power comes great responsibility”.
On that fateful night in 1986, the negligence of the power plant night shift workers proved
to be fatal.
While conducting a test to check whether the reactor would cool in the event of a simultaneous
loss of external power and major coolant leak, the uranium-based fuel inside the reactor
began to overheat.
This led to a series of explosions which emitted large toxic clouds and released radioactive
contaminants which affected other parts of the USSR and Europe.
The USSR, faced with an ideological and political war as well as an arms race against the United
States, tried to hide what was happening both from its citizens and the world but with little
success.
Approximately 57 of the 190 tons of nuclear power held by the Soviet Union in the Chornobyl
power plant were dispersed into the atmosphere.
Ultimately reaching 13 Western and Central European countries where an increase in the
quantity of radioactivity was noted, raising suspicion.
36 hours after the disaster had begun and alarmed by the rapid spread of information,
the USSR decided to officially acknowledge the accident on the 28th of April.
Pripyat, which had been built to house the workers of the power plant and was the closest
town to the disaster, had up until that moment evacuated around 50,000 citizens.
However, being unaware many did not flee immediately and were exposed to radiation levels 400 times
higher than those reported in Hiroshima.
In a matter of a few weeks, 300,000 people had been evacuated from their homes, never
to return.
An exclusion zone of 30 kilometers around the reactor was established and simultaneously
600,000 people, including firefighters, scientists, miners and soldiers armed with anti-radioactivity
suits, arrived to do clean-up work to prevent a second disaster.
This team were called “liquidators” and was in charge of cooling the reactors by pumping
liquid nitrogen through special tunnels.
Tunnels which had been previously excavated and emptied of tons of earth, lead, sand and
clay to suffocate the flames that remained burning for 10 days and remove the radioactive
debris from the vicinity of the reactor.
About 150, 000 square kilometers were contaminated, covering part of Southern Belarus, the Russian
region of Briansk and northern Ukraine.
This contamination led to many deaths, illnesses and deformities.
The exact number remains unknown as the Soviet Union officially announced 31 deceased, withholding
the actual figures.
However, it is estimated that there were at least 9,000 casualties including those exposed
to high and low levels of radiation and those who were at risk of developing some types
of diseases.
36 years after the Chornobyl catastrophe, it is still anticipated that the area surrounding
the abandoned nuclear plant will be uninhabitable for at least 20,000 more years.
This is attributed to the high levels of radiation that still prevail.
The clean-up is actually scheduled to continue until at least 2065.
The horrendous mutations in animals and humans.
Unfortunately, being exposed to such high levels of radiation or being bitten by a radioactive
spider doesn’t give you special powers like in a science fiction comic book.
In reality, radioactive isotopes damage or break DNA molecule links, hindering their
ability to replicate.
In many cases, this results in death or mutations that cause respiratory diseases and even malignant
tumors.
Further to this, people’s ability to reproduce is affected as pregnancies become non-viable
or fetuses are stillborn.
Sadly, some babies are born with horrendous birth defects that affect them throughout
their often-short lifespan.
Within a wide radius, humans, animals and plants were severely affected.
People who were exposed began to present diseases that proved fatal due to the poor health system
of the Soviet Union and the high cost of the treatments required.
However, the worst effects would be evident in future generations.
The number of babies born with birth defects soared to over 200% without taking into consideration
the possible unreported cases.
The children of those affected by radiation had the misfortune of carrying deformities
and heart conditions which were difficult to treat due to the lack of medication.
Such health problems were further aggravated by the deplorable living conditions they were
forced to live in, including areas that still had high levels of radiation.
As for the animals affected by the Chornobyl disaster, there was an increase in the number
of offspring with deformities.
Between 1989 and 1990 at least 400 deformed animals had been brought into this world that
only managed to live for a few hours.
The deformities they presented ranged from crooked or extra limbs and bicephalic as well
as facial deformities.
Most of all, cows and pigs presented health problems due to the radiation they had been
exposed to.
Even becoming carriers of radiation as they produced radioactive milk.
In general, in the first 6 months after the accident, the fertility of all the species
in the area dropped drastically followed by the reproduction of underdeveloped life with
smaller brains and poor nervous systems which added to the list of genetic abnormalities.
Ironically, various animals decided to inhabit the areas surrounding Chornobyl, in spite
of the difficulties that they were presented with.
Despite being faced with mutations and health problems, some species were even able to increase
their populations.
Within the kilometers of Chornobyl’s forbidden territory, horses, wolves, swans, moose, turtles,
deer, foxes, and other animals can be found.
Amongst them, a large population of birds stands out reminding us that not even radiation
is as harmful to nature as humans.
Unfortunately, Chornobyl’s lakes are still polluted due to the radiation that has settled
in their depths and the plants that absorb the radioisotopes which keep their dwellers
in a perpetual cycle of genetic mutations.
The Chornobyl sarcophagus: the largest world’s largest mobile structure
After the explosion of Chornobyl’s reactor number 4, the “liquidators” began efforts
to extinguish the flames and cool down the remaining reactors.
This took 10 days of work, but there was still a problem to solve since tons of radioactive
fuel had remained exposed.
Continuously contaminating the environment.
Measures had to be taken by the Soviet Union to obstruct such poison from further causing
damage.
As a solution, the USSR decided to encapsulate all of the contaminated areas with a structure
composed of 410,000 cubic meters of concrete and 7,300 tons of steel which they named the
“Sarcophagus”.
The parts of this structure were constructed miles away from the power plant later to be
installed with cranes.
This was a difficult task, taking 206 days to complete and which claimed the lives of
thousands of liquidators.
Workers who had risked their lives for the greater good.
Nevertheless, this structure had an expiration date.
The Sarcophagus was only intended to contain all the radiation for a maximum of 30 years.
So, time was pressing.
After the collapse of the USSR, the design of Soviet reactors was thoroughly studied
to find a definitive solution.
Almost immediately, Ukraine launched a contest to find a sound proposal that would make Chornobyl
a safe place again.
The winner was a French consortium named Novarka who proposed enclosing the entire area and
the old sarcophagus under a new larger and more robust structure that would guarantee
to be standing for at least 100 years.
This new structure was named The New Secure Confinement or NCS.
However, it was not until 1997 that the leaders of the G7, an intergovernmental political
forum made up of Germany, Canada, the United States, France, Italy, Japan, and the United
Kingdom, agreed to contribute 300 million dollars towards its construction.
A construction which would begin a whole decade later.
Building such a large structure already posed a huge challenge, as huge as its size.
But what would be really difficult was to do it all without putting the health of the
workers at risk.
The radiation levels were around 10,000 roentgens per hour was is 20 times the lethal dose for
a living being.
To avoid such peril, the sections of the new “sarcophagus” were constructed and assembled
in Italy.
They were then transported via 18 cargo ships and 2,500 trucks to Ukraine.
Once they reached the area, the gigantic structure of almost 31,000 tons was lifted 300 meters
from the site of the accident.
This “sarcophagus”, which resembles a large metal shed, is so large that it can
completely cover the Statue of Liberty.
Its dimensions exceed those of the Notre Dame Cathedral and even if 10,000 workers pushed
it at the same time it would be impossible to move it even a millimeter.
In light of this, the great task of moving it was entrusted to 4 clamping rails that
pushed and pulled the arches at the same time to join them and roll them from the construction
site over the reactor.
The transport required millimetric precision and care to maintain optimal conditions.
Thus, preventing anything from malfunctioning, since any error would have to be repaired
before reaching the reactor.
Otherwise fixing it would be impossible.
In November 2016, 30 years after the Chornobyl disaster, the ‘tomb’ that was meant to
protect the radioactive ruins of Chornobyl for at least a century was finally completed
and in its place.
Life 35 years after the disaster
Supposing the house in which you lived all your life, the streets you walked daily, the
parks, convenience stores, and the entire city you roamed, ceased to be inhabitable
overnight.
Imagine you were forced to cruelly leave it all behind and abandon it.
Would you return despite the difficulties you would face living in an uninhabited city?
Would that house or city mean that much to you?
Chornobyl was drained of life in a matter of a few days.
It went from being home to 14,000 residents to 0.
Over the years, Chornobyl has become a living example of what a post-apocalyptic city would
look like.
Little by little the flora and fauna have reclaimed the deserted area but some have
never forgotten their homes.
Paradoxically, a few people who used to live in the cities and towns near the nuclear plant
decided to ignore authorities and return to the exclusion zone at their own risk.
Remarkably, some of these people have managed to live amid the radiation.
Even harvesting their food in the contaminated soil.
Today, these men and women are over 70 years old.
But unfortunately, many have died in recent years due to their age.
Among those who decided to settle in the abandoned land of Chornobyl is Elena Buntova, a biologist
who initially came to the exclusion zone to study the effects of radiation on wildlife.
While doing so Buntova met her husband, Sergei Lapiha, a photographer who was working on
creating a photographic record of the number 4 reactor facility.
Both have special permission from the Ukrainian government to live in Chornobyl and have done
so for 30 years despite how tough and risky it is.
Currently, there are another 7,000 people who come to work in the area for a few days.
These include security guards, firefighters, scientists and workers who maintain the infrastructure
of the place.
Others commute by train to continue with the work of dismantling the reactor, which will
not be completed at least before 2065.
The city of Pripyat attracts thousands of tourists every year.
From the very beginning, there were illegal tours offered, but over time some areas have
become suitable for tourism within a time limit and with precautions such as a radiation
measurement device.
At least 3 checks are conducted during the day to ensure that the levels of radioisotopes
visitors absorb are safe.
Interestingly, the number of travelers interested in such dark tourism is large and as a result,
there are daily tours.
The cost of these tours varies depending on their duration.
The maximum duration one can book is 3 days which costs 319 dollars.
It includes lodging in dormitories in the city of Chornobyl, food, and transportation
to the exclusion areas.
These areas include the control room of reactor 4 which was opened for tourism just a few
years ago.
2 days cost 249 dollars and the simplest of the options, with fewer locations to visit,
129 dollars.
Nevertheless, the risk is not zero.
For the last 35 years the WHO has been in charge of investigating the relationship between
various diseases and radiation exposure.
Its findings have suggested that, as of 2016, 11,000 children and teenagers had developed
thyroid-related conditions due to consuming radioactive milk.
Similarly, the WHO found that people exposed to high levels of radiation in the area had
developed conditions such as leukemia and cataracts.
None of us will certainly live to see the day when any trace of the Chornobyl disaster
is erased.
What other mutations will be found?
Or how many “sarcophagi” will have to be constructed over reactor number 4?
If any answers are found for this and many other questions, we will be there to tell
you all about them.
In Copernicus’s Galaxy!