Chernobyl 1986 Basic
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Reading Guide
On April 26, 1986, a sudden surge of power during a reactor systems test destroyed Unit 4 of the nuclear power station at Chernobyl, Ukraine, in the former Soviet Union. The accident and the fire that followed released massive amounts of radioactive material into the environment (U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission). After the accident, Soviet officials closed off the area within 30 kilometers (18 miles) of the plant, except for persons with official business at the plant and those people evaluating and dealing with the consequences of the accident and operating the undamaged reactors. The Soviet (and later on, Russian) government evacuated about 115,000 people from the most heavily contaminated areas in 1986, and another 220,000 people in subsequent years (United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation).
Material
Many websites discuss the Chernobyl disaster, including government, international, and research sites:
- U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission - Backgrounder on Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Accident
- United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation - The Chernobyl accident
- International Atomic Energy Agency - Chernobyl’s Legacy: Health, Environmental and Socio-Economic Impacts and Recommendations to the Governments of Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine
- World Health Organization - 1986-2016: CHERNOBYL at 30
- European Bank - Chernobyl: a site transformed
- Kashcheev, V.V., et al. Incidence and mortality of solid cancer among emergency workers of the Chernobyl accident: assessment of radiation risks for the follow-up period of 1992-2009. Radiat Environ Biophys. 2015 Mar;54(1):13-23. doi: 10.1007/s00411-014-0572-3. Epub 2014 Oct 15. PMID: 25315643.
Moreover, several scientists simulated the dispersion and deposition of the radioactive cloud:
- IRSN - The Chernobyl Plume : Modelling atmospheric dispersion of caesium-137 across Europe following the Chernobyl accident
- Hass, H., et al.: Simulation of the Chernobyl radioactive cloud over Europe using the EURAD model, Atmos. Environm., in press, 1990.
- Wheeler, D.A., Atmospheric dispersal and deposition of radioactive material from Chernobyl, Atmospheric Environment (1967), Volume 22, Issue 5, 1988, Pages 853-863, ISSN 0004-6981, https://doi.org/10.1016/0004-6981(88)90262-4.
- Gudiksen, P.H., T.F. Harvey, R. Lange. Chernobyl source term, atmospheric dispersion, and dose estimation. Health Phys. 1989 Nov;57(5):697-706. doi: 10.1097/00004032-198911000-00001. PMID: 2592202.
- Pudykiewicz, J. (1989), Simulation of the Chernobyl dispersion with a 3‐D hemispheric tracer model. Tellus B, 41B: 391-412. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0889.1989.tb00317.x
- Raes, F., et al., Radioactivity measurements in air over Europe after the Chernobyl accident, Atmospheric Environment. Part A. General Topics, Volume 24, Issue 4, 1990, Pages 909-916, ISSN 0960-1686, https://doi.org/10.1016/0960-1686(90)90293-V.
- Suh, K., et al., Numerical simulation for a long-range dispersion of a pollutant using Chernobyl data, Mathematical and Computer Modelling, Volume 49, Issues 1–2, 2009, Pages 337-343, ISSN 0895-7177, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mcm.2008.01.008.
Guide prepared by P. Zannetti (2/2021). For corrections or expansions please contact us.