Contamination from the Chernobyl disaster was not evenly spread across the surrounding countryside but scattered irregularly depending on weather conditions. Reports from Soviet and Western scientists indicate that Belarus received about 60% of the contamination that fell on the former Soviet Union.
However, the releases affected large areas of Europe to some degree. Over 200 000 km2, of which 71% are in the three most affected countries (Belarus, Russia and Ukraine) were contaminated with caesium-137, which has a 30-year half-life.
That cohort is still at potential risk of late consequences such as cancer and other diseases and their health will be followed closely. The Chernobyl accident also resulted in widespread radioactive contamination in areas of Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine inhabited by several million people.
Nuclear physicist Vassili Nesterenko declared that the blast would have had a force of 3-5 megatons leaving much of Europe uninhabitable for hundreds of thousands of years.
After the Chernobyl reactor accident areas outside the former Soviet Union especially in Central Europe, South East Europe and parts of Scandinavia were affected by the reactor accident. To date, there is no evidence that the reactor accident has caused adverse health effects due to radiation in Germany.
It was the worst nuclear accident in history and its reverberations have reached all the way to Australia. A power surge at the plant led to explosions, and a meltdown, which spewed massive amounts of radiation into the atmosphere. The immediate aftermath saw 31 people die and more than 300,000 more displaced.
Based on the official reports, nearly 8,400,000 people in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine were exposed to the radiation, which is more than the population of Austria. About 155,000 sq. km of territories in the three countries were contaminated, which is almost half of the total territory of Italy.
The radioactive substance cesium-137 takes many years to break down with an estimated half-life of 30 years. It still exists in the earth in the areas affected by the Chernobyl accident, including large parts of Norway and Sweden.
6. How large an area was affected by the radioactive fallout? Some 150,000 square kilometres in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine are contaminated and stretch northward of the plant site as far as 500 kilometres.
Contrary to reports that the three divers died of radiation sickness as a result of their action, all three survived.
There are types of radiation where human bodies could retain radioactive particles and remain radioactive over time, but this is not the type that was seen at Chernobyl. After gamma radiation has passed through the body, the person is no longer radioactive and can't expose other people.
German regions were exposed to this cloud of radioactive fallout dependent on the rainfall during the critical period when the contaminated cloud was hanging over Germany. The highest level of fallout went to Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg in the south, as well as parts of former East Germany.
The Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan remains the most radioactive place on Earth, even nine years after a tsunami caused reactor meltdowns, leading to discussions about dumping radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean.
Reports from Soviet and Western scientists indicate that Belarus received about 60% of the contamination that fell on the former Soviet Union. A large area in Russia south of Bryansk was also contaminated, as were parts of northwestern Ukraine.
How Long Will It Take For Ground Radiation To Break Down? On average, the response to when Chernobyl and, by extension, Pripyat, will be habitable again is about 20,000 years.
More than 30 years on, scientists estimate the zone around the former plant will not be habitable for up to 20,000 years. The disaster took place near the city of Chernobyl in the former USSR, which invested heavily in nuclear power after World War II.
The official death toll directly attributed to Chernobyl that is recognized by the international community is just 31 people with the UN saying it could be 50. However, hundreds of thousands of “liquidators” were sent in to put out the fire at the nuclear power plant and clean up the Chernobyl site afterwards.
Radioactive contamination from the Chernobyl meltdown spread over 40% of Europe (including Austria, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Romania, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, France, Greece, Iceland, Slovenia) and wide territories in Asia (including Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Emirates, China), northern Africa, and ...
Yes. People do not need to stop drinking milk because of concerns about radiation at these low levels. The levels of Iodine-131 found in milk are extremely low, and many times less than the FDA intervention level.
Also the wind direction meant that less radioactivity was deposited over Western Europe than was potentially possible. It is concluded that the Chernobyl accident could have been much worse with 200 to 400 times the radiation consequences. This would have had severe social consequences as well.
The collective dose, i.e. the sum of all individual doses, has been estimated to be about 1500 man-Sievert for the first year after Chernobyl and 5000-7000 man-Sievert for a 50-year period. Using a risk factor of 0.02 fatal cancers per man-Sievert the Chernobyl fallout over Sweden might cause 100-200 fatal cancers.
For the survivors of a nuclear war, this lingering radiation hazard could represent a grave threat for as long as 1 to 5 years after the attack. Predictions of the amount and levels of the radioactive fallout are difficult because of several factors.
On April 26, 1986, Chernobyl's reactor number four melted down as a result of human error, releasing vast quantities of radioactive particles and gases into the surrounding landscape – 400 times more radioactivity to the environment than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
Interested in nuclear science? ANSTO is home to Australia's only nuclear reactor OPAL in Lucas Heights, Sydney.