Chernobyl disaster: Difference between revisions

The [[ionizing radiation]] levels in the worst-hit areas of the reactor building have been estimated to be 5.6&nbsp;[[roentgen (unit)|roentgens]] per second (R/s), equivalent to more than 20,000&nbsp;roentgens per hour. A lethal dose is around 500&nbsp;roentgens (~5&nbsp;[[Gray (unit)|Gray (Gy)]] in modern radiation units) over five hours, so in some areas, unprotected workers received fatal doses in less than a minute. However, a [[dosimeter]] capable of measuring up to 1,000&nbsp;R/s was buried in the rubble of a collapsed part of the building, and another one failed when turned on. Most remaining dosimeters had limits of 0.001&nbsp;R/s and therefore read "off scale". Thus, the reactor crew could ascertain only that the radiation levels were somewhere above 0.001&nbsp;R/s (3.6&nbsp;R/h), while the true levels were much higher in some areas.<ref name="MedvedevZ"/>{{rp|42–50}}

 

 

=== Evacuation ===

Rain was deliberately [[Cloud seeding|seeded]] over {{convert|10,000|km2|sqmi}} Belarus by the [[Soviet Air Force]] to remove radioactive particles from clouds heading toward highly populated areas. Heavy, black-coloured rain fell on the city of [[Gomel]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1549366/How-we-made-the-Chernobyl-rain.html |title=How we made the Chernobyl rain |last=Gray |first=Richard |date=22 April 2007 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=27 November 2009 |location=London |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091118194620/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1549366/How-we-made-the-Chernobyl-rain.html |archive-date=18 November 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref> Reports from Soviet and Western scientists indicate that Belarussian SSR received about 60% of the contamination that fell on the former Soviet Union. However, the 2006 TORCH report stated that up to half of the volatile particles had actually landed outside the former USSR area currently making up of Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. An unconnected large area in [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]] south of [[Bryansk]] was also contaminated, as were parts of northwestern [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Ukrainian SSR]]. Studies in surrounding countries indicate that more than one million people could have been affected by radiation.<ref name="WNA-Chernobyl">{{cite web |url=http://world-nuclear.org/info/Safety-and-Security/Safety-of-Plants/Chernobyl-Accident/ |title=Chernobyl Accident 1986 |date=April 2015 |website=[[World Nuclear Association]] |access-date=21 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150420143903/http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/safety-and-security/safety-of-plants/chernobyl-accident/ |archive-date=20 April 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref>

 

 

In Western Europe, precautionary measures taken in response to the radiation included banning the importation of certain foods. In France officials stated that the Chernobyl accident had no adverse effects.<ref name="FrenchCom">[[:fr:Conséquences de la catastrophe de Tchernobyl en France]]</ref>{{full short|date=May 2019}}