The Chernobyl Disaster

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As of today, Chernobyl still deals with health effects that were caused by too much radiation. “Radiation is a harmful effect produced on body tissues by exposure to radioactive substance” (Radiation Sickness). There is no treatment for any type of radiation exposure, but people can still survive after high levels of exposure. Over the past 28 years, many residents of Chernobyl have been dying from radiation they received on April 26, 1986. Pregnant women and children were affected more than men who were exposed to radiation from the nuclear accident. “During 1992-2000, in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine, about 4000 cases of thyroid cancer were diagnosed in children and adolescents (0-18 years), of which about 3000 occurred in the age group of 0-14 years” (World-Nuclear). Pregnant women and their unborn children who were exposed to radiation were dealing with premature deliveries, stillbirths, early neonatal mortality, infections, and diseases. They were influenced the most by radiation from Chernobyl disaster. Many health effects are still very apparent even 28 years after the nuclear meltdown in Chernobyl, Ukraine. In the twenty-eight years since the Chernobyl disaster, its impact continues to be evident in the increased rates of cancer, shorter lifespans, and the ongoing quarantine of the area. There are many cancer cases that were caused by the meltdown that are undetectable. “The main consequence of the Chernobyl accident is thyroid cancer in children, some of whom were not yet born at the time of the accident” (Thyroid Cancer Effect in Children). The thyroid produces hormones that helps regulate your heart rate, your blood pressure, your body’s temperature, and help maintain your weight. The thyroid is a gland that is located ... ... middle of paper ... ...s (a unit of weight that is equal to 1,000 kilograms). “Once the enormous shelter is completed and slid over the reactor building on rails, expected in 2015, workers can begin disassembling the reactor and disposing the hundreds of tons of radioactive material inside” (NBC News). After the structure is built, there will be remote controlled cranes that will expand from the roof to dismantle the sarcophagus (the cover they built in the first 6 months of the disaster) and robots that will remove the remaining materials of the disaster. “There are always hurdles, there are always surprises. Whenever we dig here we run into stuff—old cranes, Caterpillars or pieces of [nuclear] fuel” (Dodd, Containing Chernobyl: The Mission to Diffuse the World’s Worst Nuclear Disaster Site). Everyone is trying to put the pieces together and help out with the NSC as quickly as possible.

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