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Fallout from Chernobyl

Fallout from Chernobyl. 400 million people exposed in 20 countries. Chernobyl’s political fallout. Stimulated Gorbachev’s glasnost (openness) Stimulated nationalism in Ukraine, Belarus, and other republics that lost clean-up workers. Growth of environmental opposition

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Fallout from Chernobyl

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  1. Fallout from Chernobyl

  2. 400 million people exposed in 20 countries

  3. Chernobyl’s political fallout • Stimulated Gorbachev’s glasnost (openness) • Stimulated nationalism in Ukraine, Belarus, and other republics that lost clean-up workers. • Growth of environmental opposition • Questioning of the heart of technocratic power • Soviet leaders were engineers, not lawyers • USSR collapsed within 5 years.

  4. Radiation and Health • Health effects as a result of radiation exposure: -increased likelihood of cancer -birth defects including long limbs, brain damage, conjoined stillborn twins -reduced immunity -genetic damage

  5. 8,000 deaths in 14 years 3.5 million sick, one/third of them children

  6. My grandmother, by Luda

  7. Death of my life, by Marina

  8. Chernobyl is war, by Irena

  9. Beauty and the beast, by Helena

  10. Nothing escapes radiation, by Irena

  11. Chernobyl, our hell, by Eugenia

  12. Self-portrait, by Natasha

  13. “It Can’t Happen Here” • U.S. reaction to Chernobyl, 1986 • Blamed on Communism, graphite reactor • Also Soviet reaction to Three-Mile Island, 1979 • Blamed on Capitalism, pressurized-water reactor • No technology 100% safe • Three-Mile Island bubble almost burst

  14. Three-Mile Island, PA 1979

  15. Health around TMI • In 1979, hundreds of people reported nausea, vomiting, hair loss, and skin rashes. Many pets were reported dead or showed signs of radiation • Lung cancer, and leukemia rates increased 2 to 10 times in areas within 10 miles downwind • Farmers received severe monetary losses due to deformities in livestock and crops after the disaster that are still occurring today.

  16. Plants near TMI -lack of chlorophyll -deformed leaf patterns -thick, flat, hollow stems -missing reproductive parts -abnormally large TMI dandelion leaf at right

  17. Animals Nearby TMI • Many insects disappeared for years. • Bumble bees, carpenter bees, certain type caterpillars, or daddy-long-leg spiders • Pheasants and hop toads have disappeared.

  18. Nuclear reaction • Chain reaction occurs when a Uranium atom splits • Different reactions • Atomic Bomb in a split second • Nuclear Power Reactor more controlled, cannot explode like a bomb

  19. History of nuclear power 1938– Scientists study Uranium nucleus 1941 – Manhattan Project begins 1942 – Controlled nuclear chain reaction 1945 – U.S. uses two atomic bombs on Japan 1949 – Soviets develop atomic bomb 1952 – U.S. tests hydrogen bomb 1955 – First U.S. nuclear submarine

  20. “Atoms for Peace” Program to justify nuclear technology Proposals for power, canal-building, exports First commercial power plant, Illinois 1960

  21. Economic advantages • The energy in one pound of highly enriched Uranium is comparable to that of one million gallons of gasoline. • One million times as much energy in one pound of Uranium as in one pound of coal.

  22. Emissions Free • Nuclear energy annually prevents • 5.1 million tons of sulfur • 2.4 million tons of nitrogen oxide • 164 metric tons of carbon • Nuclear often pitted against fossil fuels • Some coal contains radioactivity • Nuclear plants have released low-level radiation

  23. Early knowledge of risks • 1964 Atomic Energy Commission report on possible reactor accident • 45,000 dead • 100,000 injured • $17 billion in damages • Area the size of Pennsylvania contaminated

  24. States with nuclear power plant(s)

  25. Nuclear power around the globe • 17% of world’s electricity from nuclear power • U.S. about 20% (2nd largest source) • 431 nuclear plants in 31 countries • 103 of them in the U.S. • Built none since 1970s (Wisconsin as leader). • U.S. firms have exported nukes. • Push from Bush/Cheney for new nukes.

  26. Countries Generating Most Nuclear Power

  27. Nuclear fuel cycle • Uranium mining and milling • Conversion and enrichment • Fuel rod fabrication • POWER REACTOR • Reprocessing, or • Radioactive waste disposal • Low-level in commercial facilities • High level at plants or underground repository

  28. Front end: Uranium mining and milling

  29. Uranium tailingsand radon gas Deaths of Navajominers since 1950s

  30. Uranium enrichment • U-235 • Fissionable at 3% • Weapons grade at 90% • U-238 • More stable • Plutonium-239 • Created from U-238; highly radioactive

  31. Radioactivity of plutonium Life span of least 240,000 years Last Ice Age glaciation was 10,000 years ago Neanderthal Man died out 30,000 years ago

  32. Risks of enrichmentand fuel fabrication • Largest industrial users of water, electricity • Paducah, KY, Oak Ridge, TN, Portsmouth, OH • Cancers and leukemia among workers • Fires and mass exposure. • Karen Silkwood at Oklahoma fabrication plant. • Risk of theft of bomb material.

  33. Nuclear Reactor Process • 3% enriched Uranium pellets formed into rods, which are formed into bundles • Bundles submerged in water coolant inside pressure vessel, with control rods. • Bundles must be SUPERCRITICAL; will overheat and melt if no control rods.Reaction converts water to steam, which powers steam turbine

  34. Technology depends on operators

  35. Other reactor accidents(besides TMI and Chernobyl) • 1952 Chalk River, Ontario • Partial core meltdown • 1957 Windscale, England • Graphite reactor fire contaminates 200 square miles. • 1975 Browns Ferry, Alabama • Plant caught fire • 1976 Lubmin, East Germany • Near meltdown of reactor core . • 1999 Tokaimura, Japan • Nuclear fuel plant spewed high levels of radioactive gas

  36. United States

  37. Risk of terrorism(new challenge to industry) 9/11 jet passed near Indian Point

  38. Nuclear Reactor Structure • Reactor’s pressure vessel typically housed in 8” of steel • 36” concrete shielding • 45” steel reinforced concrete

  39. Breeder reactor “Breeds” plutonium as it operates Uses liquid sodium metal instead of water for coolant • Could explode if in contact with air or water • 1966 Fermi, Michigan • Partial meltdown nearly causes evacuation of Detroit • 1973 Shevchenko, Russia • Breeder caught fire and exploded • Controversial proposals in Europe, U.S.

  40. Reprocessing • Separates reusable fuel from waste • Large amounts of radioactivity released • 1960s West Valley, NY • Radiation leaked into Lake Ontario • 1970s La Hague, France • Released plutonium plumes into air

  41. Back end: Radioactive wastes • Low-level wastes in commercial facilities • Spent fuel in pools or “dry casks” by plants • Nuclear lab wastes • Hanford wastes leaked radiation into Columbia River • High-level underground repository • Yucca Mountain in Nevada to 2037 • Wolf River Batholith in Wisconsin after 2037? • Risks of cracks in bedrock, water seepage

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