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→Post-acute, long-term impact: Added cancer info; will add a section on subclinical impacts next (unless someone beats me to it) |
Better source for predicted deaths. The actual report link has been claimed by link rot, but this information is extremely widespread and can be tracked down elsewhere later. |
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Following the reactor explosion, which killed two engineers and severely burned two more, a massive emergency operation to put out the fire, stabilize the reactor, and clean up the ejected radioactive material began. During the immediate emergency response, 237 workers were hospitalized, of which 134 exhibited symptoms of [[acute radiation syndrome]]. Among those hospitalized, 28 died within the following three months, all of whom were hospitalized for ARS. In the following 10 years,14 more workers (9 who had been hospitalized with ARS) died of various causes mostly unrelated to radiation exposure.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last=Wagemaker |first=G. |last2=Guskova |first2=A.K. |last3=Bebeshko |first3=V.G. |last4=Griffiths |first4=N.M. |last5=Krishenko |first5=N.A. |date=1996 |title=CLINICALLY OBSERVED EFFECTS IN INDIVIDUALS EXPOSED TO RADIATION AS A RESULT OF THE CHERNOBYL ACCIDENT |journal=One Decade After Chernobyl: Summing up the Consequences of the Accident, Proceedings of an International Conference, Vienna. |pages=173-198}}</ref>
Chernobyl's health effects to the general population are uncertain. An excess of 15 childhood [[thyroid cancer]] deaths were documented {{as of|2011|lc=y}}.<ref name=WHO2012>{{cite web |url=https://www.who.int/ionizing_radiation/chernobyl/20110423_FAQs_Chernobyl.pdf |title=Chernobyl 25th anniversary – Frequently Asked Questions |date=23 April 2011 |website=World Health Organization |access-date=14 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120417011209/http://www.who.int/ionizing_radiation/chernobyl/20110423_FAQs_Chernobyl.pdf |archive-date=17 April 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="who.int">{{cite web |url=https://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2005/pr38/en/ |title=Chernobyl: the true scale of the accident |date=5 September 2005 |website=World Health Organization |access-date=8 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180225095828/http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2005/pr38/en/ |archive-date=25 February 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation|A United Nations committee]] found that to date fewer than 100 deaths have resulted from the fallout.<ref>{{cite web |title=UNSCEAR assessments of the Chernobyl accident |url=http://www.unscear.org/unscear/en/chernobyl.html |website=www.unscear.org |access-date=13 September 2007 |archive-date=13 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513235907/http://www.unscear.org/unscear/en/chernobyl.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Determining the total eventual number of [[Deaths due to the Chernobyl disaster|exposure related deaths]] is uncertain based on the [[linear no-threshold]] model, a contested statistical model.<ref name=pmid17407581>{{cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Jim T |title=Are passive smoking, air pollution and obesity a greater mortality risk than major radiation incidents? |journal=BMC Public Health |date=3 April 2007 |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=49 |doi=10.1186/1471-2458-7-49 |pmid=17407581 |pmc=1851009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rahu |first1=Mati |title=Health effects of the Chernobyl accident: fears, rumours and the truth |journal=European Journal of Cancer |date=February 2003 |volume=39 |issue=3 |pages=295–299 |doi=10.1016/S0959-8049(02)00764-5 |pmid=12565980 }}</ref> Model predictions of the eventual total death toll in the coming decades vary. The most
Following the disaster, Pripyat was replaced by the new purpose built city of [[Slavutych]]. The USSR built the protective [[Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant sarcophagus]] by December 1986. It reduced the spread of [[radioactive contamination]] from the wreckage and protected it from weathering. It also provided [[radiological protection]] for the crews of the undamaged reactors at the site, which were restarted in late 1986 and 1987. However, this containment structure was only intended to last for 30 years, and required considerable reinforcement in the early 2000s. The Shelter was supplemented in 2017 by the [[Chernobyl New Safe Confinement]] which was constructed around the old structure. This larger enclosure aims to enable the removal of both the sarcophagus and the reactor debris while containing the radioactive materials inside. Clean-up is scheduled for completion by 2065.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/56391/|title=Chernobyl nuclear power plant site to be cleared by 2065|newspaper=Kyiv Post|date=3 January 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121005150746/http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/chornobyl-nuclear-power-plant-site-to-be-cleared-b-56391.html|archive-date=5 October 2012 }}</ref>
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