Chernobyl 2 Essay, Research Paper

The Chernobyl disaster began in the early morning hours of

April 25, 1986 when a shift operating the nuclear reactor

exploded showering radioactive debris from the power

nuclear plant in the northern Ukraine over most of eastern

Europe. This radioactivity was hundreds of times more

powerful than the atomic bombings at Nagasaki and

Hiroshima. The explosion left the surrounding area looking

like a ghost town. People rushed to get themselves and their

families to safety. It left in its aftermath an estimated

32,000 dead.

Chernobyl left something else besides it s radioactivity,

many illnesses that will plague the people of this area

forever. Scientist have dubbed one syndrome the Chernobyl

AIDS . It has been estimated to have effected some 30,000

in the area. The syndrome, which is said to decrease the

number of natural killer cells in the blood, can cause an

increase in the chance of getting leukemia and malignant

tumors as well as severe forms of cardiac conditions and

pneumonia. The people of the Ukraine have also seen a sharp

increase in the number of cases of thyroid cancer. The

number has grown from 5 cases a year to an outstanding 43

cases since the accident at Chernobyl. Many of the male

workers at Chernobyl have been found to have sexual and

reproductive disorders and the number of complicated

pregnancies among women continues to grow.

Not only did Chernobyl leave behind many illness, but

also a huge financial burden on a country already diseased by

poverty. This is cited as an accident but is really much more.

The clean up to this disaster will take another estimated 30

years and many of the long term effects will not be known

until it is too late to stop them. The Chernobyl disaster is

one that could have and should have been prevented.

Instead of cutting cost we should do it right the first time to

make sure nothing like this happens again.