Dreadful Toll on Liquidators
After the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, around 800,000 civil and military personnel were called upon to deal with the consequences. They were known as the Liquidators.
Most of these individuals were part of the former Soviet Union. They were coerced to work for a certain medically reasonable time; however, thousands of them volunteered to extend their participation. This lengthened their exposure to the life-threatening hazards of cleaning up the radiation and poisonous materials used to contain the destroyed reactor building. According to the Vyacheslav Grishin of the Chernobyl Union, 25,000 Russian liquidators died and 70,000 were disabled. Ukraine workers had similar numbers. In Belarus, 10,000 died and 25,000 were disabled. This totals to 60,000 deaths and 165,000 disabled.
Most of these individuals were part of the former Soviet Union. They were coerced to work for a certain medically reasonable time; however, thousands of them volunteered to extend their participation. This lengthened their exposure to the life-threatening hazards of cleaning up the radiation and poisonous materials used to contain the destroyed reactor building. According to the Vyacheslav Grishin of the Chernobyl Union, 25,000 Russian liquidators died and 70,000 were disabled. Ukraine workers had similar numbers. In Belarus, 10,000 died and 25,000 were disabled. This totals to 60,000 deaths and 165,000 disabled.
Almost all of these liquidators were killed or disabled because of the high doses of radiation they were exposed to. There were a few accidental casualties, such as explosions and wokers falling off of buildings. However, most of it was from the large quantities of radioactive substances, which consisted mostly of caesium-137 and iodine-131. The doses that the civilians were exposed to averaged around 100 millisieverts (mSv). Compare this number to the doses of a common radiation source, a mammogram, which has 0.30 mSv per procedure. Some 20,000 of them even received about 250 mSv and a few received 500 mSv. The highest doses were exposed to about a thousand on-site workers and emergency liquidators that worked on the first day of the accident.
The liquidators were not provided with protective gear. They simply tried to protect themselves from the radiation by covering their equipment and themselves with sheets of lead. For example, they covered their helicopter seat and their armored vehicle with lead. Sheets of lead were stacked around and under the seats inside the vehicle, making the small space even smaller. In addition, the extra weight significantly affected fuel consumption and burnt the brake pads.
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Diseases from the Accident
One of the diseases that the workers suffered from was acute radiation sickness (ARS). The Chernobyl disaster resulted in about 1/3 of the cases of ARS reported worldwide. This disease occurred among the plant employees and liquidators. The evacuated and other exposed general populations were not affected by ARS. The main contributor to the 28 short term deaths was bone marrow failure. At least 19 workers died due to an infection from large area beta burns. Many of them that suffered from ARS had as little as 2 weeks before they passed away. The radiation causes cellular degradation due to damage to DNA and other molecular structures within the cells. This destruction negatively affects the cells’ ability to divide normally, causing the symptoms of ARS. These symptoms can begin within 1-2 hours, and even last for a few months. The kind of symptom depends on the amount of radiation exposure. Smaller doses causes gastrointestinal effects, like nausea and vomiting, and falling blood counts, like infection and bleeding. Larger doses result in neurological effects and even rapid death. To treat ARS, blood transfusions and antibiotics are used. But for more severe symptoms, bone marrow transfusions are required.
Even though ARS only affected the immediate workers, many innocent people were still exposed to high doses of radiation, causing them to suffer from other diseases. While the liquidators were exposed to 100 mSv and higher, evacuees received about 33 mSv and higher. In addition, the radiation contaminated the surrounding environment, animals, and crops. Many children and adolescents suffered from thyroid cancer due to the ingestion of milk contaminated with radioactive iodine. Iodine-131 was deposited in pastures eaten by cows, causing an increase in iodine concentrations in their milk. This means that younger children were affected the most because the drink more milk than others, further meaning that they developed thyroid cancer during their lifetime.
This graph shows the number of people who suffered from thyroid cancer from 1986-2004 due to the Chernobyl disaster. The blue area of each column represents the number of children ages 0-14 that have thyroid cancer. The pink part of the column represents the number of children ages 15-18. The graph shows that younger children suffered from thyroid cancer more. It is devastating to think that these children grew up as the thyroid cancer tumors developed in their bodies.
There are four different phases of how the body is slowly broken down by the radioactive substances. The first phase is the first two weeks of exposure, where the human skin is burnt from the gamma rays. The second phase is around the third to eight week of exposure. Here, hair loss occurs, diarrhea is experienced, and white blood cell levels decrease causing the body’s immune system to weaken. After about three months, the body moves on to the third phase. Pain from the burns and trauma slightly decrease; however, psychosomatic disorders start to develop. Psychosomatic disorder is when mental factors, such as stress and anxiety from a traumatic event, causes or worsens physical discomfort. Lastly, the fourth phase is how one feels at the present time. Exposure to radiation can have long lasting effects, such as different types of cancer, mental disabilities, or even birth defects due to the disabilities being passed down to the child during pregnancy.
This link will take you to the 60 minutes video called "Nuclear Meltdown: A refresher on Chernobyl." This video outlines the long term health effects of Chernobyl and the "sarcophagus" solution.
1) "Chernobyl Nuclear Accident." Scientific Facts on the. Green Facts Scientific Board, n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2014. <http://www.greenfacts.org/en/chernobyl/>.
2) Fusco, Paul. Chernobyl Legacy. N.p., 2010. Web. 1 Dec. 2014.
3) Mettler, F.A., Guskova, A.K., Gusev, I. "Health effects in those with acute radiation sickness from the Chernobyl accident." Health Phys. 93.5 (2007): 462-69. Print.
4) "Radiation Doses in Perspective." U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. N.p., Sept. 2013. Web. 1 Dec. 2014.
5) Shapiro, Alla. "Radiation Injuries after the Chernobyl Accident: Management, Outcome, and Lessons Learned." Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences (2013).
6) “The Effects of the Accident on Human Health." Chernobyl Children's Project. N.p., 2010. Web. 1 Dec. 2014.
2) Fusco, Paul. Chernobyl Legacy. N.p., 2010. Web. 1 Dec. 2014.
3) Mettler, F.A., Guskova, A.K., Gusev, I. "Health effects in those with acute radiation sickness from the Chernobyl accident." Health Phys. 93.5 (2007): 462-69. Print.
4) "Radiation Doses in Perspective." U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. N.p., Sept. 2013. Web. 1 Dec. 2014.
5) Shapiro, Alla. "Radiation Injuries after the Chernobyl Accident: Management, Outcome, and Lessons Learned." Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences (2013).
6) “The Effects of the Accident on Human Health." Chernobyl Children's Project. N.p., 2010. Web. 1 Dec. 2014.