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UN: Consequences Remain Decades After Chernobyl Disaster:
The United Nations says persistent and serious long-term consequences remain more than 30 years after the explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine.
The world body is marking International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day on April 26, the 34th anniversary of the accident that spread a radioactive cloud over large parts of Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia.
Chernobyl: How did the world's worst nuclear accident happen?:
Efforts to downplay the scale of the disaster began within government itself — infamously exemplified by the Soviet foreign affairs minister's attempt to allay a more senior official's concern for residents' health with the assertion that they were celebrating weddings, gardening, and "fishing in the Pripyat River".
Three days later, the alarm was raised by Sweden, where the radiation was picked up at a nuclear plant.
The Soviet Union denied that an incident had occurred, but with Denmark, Finland and Norway also voicing concerns shortly afterwards, it eventually became impossible to hide the accident from the international community.
However, Moscow continued to downplay the true scale of the catastrophe, failing to tell even its own citizens to stay indoors and allowing the capital's May Day parade to go ahead a week later. The ensuing secrecy surrounding the handling of the disaster in the years that followed, and the reluctance to warn citizens of the scale of the danger they continued to face, means the true toll is continually being revised.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by canopic jug on Tuesday April 28 2020, @03:11PM (3 children)
Except that the Chernobyl core itself is still smoking hot [stanford.edu] and the only thing keeping it from mixing with surface water and covering much of northern Europe in radioactive fallout is that crumbling sarcophagus. The melted core is so radioactive that near exposure is fatal acquired in about 300 seconds. So there will be plenty to spread if it steams.
The core also needs to be protected from underneath too because if it were to burn down to the water table [mcgill.ca], you can kiss northern Europe goodbye as it'll go up in steam and other particles. Fortunately, it is consider very unlikely to burn deeper.
Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 28 2020, @03:52PM (2 children)
Your links don't support your hyperbole about Northern Europe.
(Score: 2) by canopic jug on Tuesday April 28 2020, @07:16PM
They do, but conditionally. The core is unlikely to burn deeper into the ground as things currently stant. If it were do go deeper, like originally expected, the effects would be severe.
Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 28 2020, @09:35PM
Actually, it would burn clear through to China. To Wuhan, I believe.