Fallout from Chernobyl

400 million people exposed in 20 countries

Chernobyl’s political fallout Stimulated Gorbachev’s glasnost (openness) Stimulated nationalism in Ukraine, Belarus, and other republics that lost clean-up workers. Growth of environmental opposition

Radiation and Health Health effects as a result of radiation exposure: -increased likelihood of cancer -birth defects including long limbs, brain damage, conjoined stillborn twins -reduced immunity -genetic damage

3.5 million sick, one/third of them children 8,000 deaths in 14 years

“It Can’t Happen Here” U.S. reaction to Chernobyl, 1986 –Blamed on Communism, graphite reactor Also Soviet reaction to Three-Mile Island, 1979 –Blamed on Capitalism, pressurized-water reactor No technology 100% safe –Three-Mile Island bubble almost burst

Three-Mile Island, PA 1979

Health around TMI In 1979, hundreds of people reported nausea, vomiting, hair loss, and skin rashes. Many pets were reported dead or showed signs of radiation Lung cancer, and leukemia rates increased 2 to 10 times in areas within 10 miles downwind Farmers received severe monetary losses due to deformities in livestock and crops after the disaster that are still occurring today.

Plants near TMI -lack of chlorophyll -deformed leaf patterns -thick, flat, hollow stems -missing reproductive parts -abnormally large TMI dandelion leaf at right

Animals Nearby TMI Many insects disappeared for years. –Bumble bees, carpenter bees, certain type caterpillars, or daddy-long-leg spiders –Pheasants and hop toads have disappeared.

Technology depends on operators

Other reactor accidents (besides TMI and Chernobyl) 1952 Chalk River, Ontario –Partial core meltdown 1957 Windscale, England –Graphite reactor fire contaminates 200 square miles Browns Ferry, Alabama –Plant caught fire 1976 Lubmin, East Germany –Near meltdown of reactor core Tokaimura, Japan –Nuclear fuel plant spewed high levels of radioactive gas

Back end: Radioactive wastes Low-level wastes in commercial facilities Spent fuel in pools or “dry casks” by plants Nuclear lab wastes –Hanford wastes leaked radiation into Columbia River High-level underground repository –Yucca Mountain in Nevada to 2037 –Wolf River Batholith in Wisconsin after 2037? –Risks of cracks in bedrock, water seepage

Yucca Mountain

Transportation risks Uranium oxide spills Fuel rod spills (WI 1981) Radioactive waste risks

“Mobile Chernobyl” to Yucca Mtn.

Kyshtym waste disaster, 1957 –Explosion at Soviet weapons factory forces evacuation of over 10,000 people in Ural Mts. –Area size of Rhode Island still uninhabited; thousands of cancers reported Orphans

Radioactive Waste Recycling Disposal of radioactive waste from nuclear power plants and weapons facilities by recycling it into household products. In 1996, 15,000 tons of metal were received by the Association of Radioactive Metal Recyclers. Much was recycled into products without consumer knowledge. Depleted Uranium munitions for military.

Nuclear energy has no typical pollutants or greenhouse gasses Nuclear waste contains high levels of radioactive waste, which are active for hundreds of thousands of years. The controversy around nuclear energy stems from all parts of the nuclear chain. Summary