The Effects of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Accident Essay

Introduction

Chernobyl nuclear accident was an incident that took place in Chernobyl in Ukraine on April 26, 1986. The accident took place in a nuclear plant when large quantities of radioactive materials were accidentally released into the environment. The accident occurred due to the defective Soviet reactor design as well as the incompetence of the workers in the plant. All these occurred at a time when the plant staff engaged in an experiment to test the effectiveness of the electrical control system. The experiment resulted in the release of radioactive substances since the operators mistakenly-allowed the reactors, that had design defects then, to reach low-power and unstable levels. The deadly accident that resulted caused adverse short-term and long-term effects on the health of the residents as well as the local economy. This essay will assess the impacts of the Chernobyl nuclear accident in Ukraine.

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Economic Effects due to the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant Accident

The Chernobyl accident negatively affected Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia at the time as well as after the incident. The accident led to the loss of power from the plant which changed the industries as well as local businesses in Belarus and Ukraine (Samet 4). Due to the accident, a significant portion of the land in Ukraine could not be used for agriculture and forests were also abandoned due to the risk of genetic mutation due to absorption of radioactive elements into the plants and animals in the area. The government also incurred more expenses on research to be able to establish safe ways of producing food through agriculture in the affected areas. The government of Ukraine has continued to provide benefit payments to millions of the victims in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus to a tune of 5% of the Ukrainian annual budget and 6% of Belarus budget (Amadeo). The European Bank also has pumped billion euros to reconstruct the seal for the reactor to prevent further leakage (Samet 11). At the time, Ukraine was the food basket for the Soviet Union, and the accident changed agricultural production in the area because most consumers in Europe avoided Ukraine agricultural products due to the fear that they could be contaminated. After the incident, many people required healthcare attention to treat the radiation, and the government was affected by providing care.

Adverse Health Effects due to the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant Accident

The first health impact of the accident is that it resulted in the loss of human lives. Within the first few weeks, a total of 30 people had died because of their exposure to the reactants. These were mainly the plant workers who had been directly involved in the rescue operations. The number of dead victims increased to over 100 people as time progressed immediately after that. Although the exact of deaths is still subject to a debate, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that between 1990 and 2004, the accident led to a total of 10,000 to 200,000 deaths in Belarus, Ukraine and the Russia Federation (Tronko et al. 1587). This is a clear indication that the eruption of the accident was disastrous because, if it were not for it, such deaths would not have occurred.

The second way through which the accident impacted on the people's health is that it led to the rise in the levels of diseases. The release of radio-active gases led to the outbreak of thyroid cancer especially to the people who were exposed to the gases at a young age. Researchers arrived at that conclusion because scientific evidence only linked the children to thyroid cancer (Reiners et al. 107). On the other hand, the adults who came into contact with the harmful gases contracted leukemia and cataract. These are the diseases which mainly affected the workers who were operating at the plant (Adelaide et al. 9444). The disorders later spread to many people, particularly in Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia Federation. WHO estimates that the effects of such diseases have not ended because they will continue to wreak havoc on the international community many years to come. Another health impact of the accident impacted on health is that it led to the outbreak of mental illness. According to a series of researches which were conducted, it was established that the occurrence of the accident caused a lot of psychological distress to the people. A large number of people reportedly suffered from anxiety, depression, stress, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The reason why this has been happening is that the accident not only caused diseases, but also led to the interruption of economic activities, increased levels of poverty, loss of loved ones, and relocation of people to new environments (Tronko et al. 1586). Mental illness following the incident has been severe amongst survivors, and it has been associated with reckless behaviors such as drug abuse and poor health.

Environmental Effects due to the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant Accident

Radioactive materials are very harmful to the environment, and immediate effects can be felt within a 30 kilometers radius at the time of the accident. Today, there are many anomalies in plants and animals in the exclusion zone and beyond the protected zones. In Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia, an area of 200,000 kilometers squared was contaminated by the accident with the areas that were raining at the time being affected the most. Heavy radioactive materials such as strontium and plutonium were deposited within the surrounding area of the accident and has made the area unusable for any agricultural activity. Plants and animals contamination was inevitable, and following the accident, both agricultural plants and animals in the surrounding towns and countries were adversely affected because plants and grazing animals absorbed radioactive elements.

The incidence in Chernobyl negatively-impacted the health of plants and animals. Research has revealed that the release of radioactive gases into the environment affected the health of plants and animals which are living around the contaminated areas (Nakamura et al. 631), DNA tests proved that plants like pine, as well as other animals which came into contact with the gases, indicated that the exposure had impaired their nervous system, cognitive capabilities, and brain sizes. At the same time, they demonstrated other problems such as abnormalities and even high mortality rates.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Chernobyl accident remains one of the deadliest nuclear accidents in the history of humankind and continues to affect millions in Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. Apart from the destruction of the ecosystem around the site of the accident and the surrounding areas the incident has adversely affected the health of the people and increased government spending on care and benefits. The accident has been proven to be responsible for the rise in the prevalence of cancer, mental illness, leukemia, and cataract in the immediate population of the affected areas. Economic impacts of the accident continue to be felt even today with the recent construction of the seal around the nuclear plant costing the European Bank billions of euros.

Works Cited

Amadeo, Kimberly. "Chernobyl's Cost: 30 Years Later." The Balance, 11 Apr. 2018, www.thebalance.com/chernobyl-nuclear-power-plant-disaster-economic-impact-3306335.

Lerebours, Adelaide, et al. "Impact of environmental radiation on the health and reproductive status of fish from Chernobyl." Environmental science & technology 52.16 (2018): 9442-9450.

Nakamura, Asako J., et al. "The causal relationship between DNA damage induction in bovine lymphocytes and the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident." Radiation research 187.5 (2017): 630-636.

Reiners, Christoph, et al. "Results of Treatment in Children and Adolescents With Differentiated Thyroid Carcinoma Not Exposed and Exposed to Radiation From the Chernobyl Accident." Thyroid Cancer and Nuclear Accidents: Long-Term Aftereffects of Chernobyl and Fukushima. 2017. 109-119.

Samet, Jonathan M. The Financial Costs of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Disaster. Diss. Keck School of Medicine, 2016.

Tronko, Mykola, et al. "Thyroid neoplasia risk is increased nearly 30 years after the Chernobyl accident." International journal of cancer 141.8 (2017): 1585-1588.