Chernobyl Power Plant Accident

Paper Summary:

The paper describes the 1986 accident at the nuclear power station in Chernobyl, Ukraine and the effects caused by the radiation release. The paper discusses the many cases of thyroid cancer by residents exposed as children and the effects to workers that eventually culminated in four thousand radiation-related cancer deaths. The paper then looks at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) response.

From the Paper:

"An accident occurred on April 26, 1986 at Unit 4 of the nuclear power station located in Chernobyl, Ukraine, in the former USSR. It is reported to have been caused by a sudden surge of power that destroyed the reactor releasing massive amounts of radioactive material into the atmosphere. Both boron and sand were poured from the air onto the reactor in order to stop the fire and prevent any further significant release of the material. A temporary "sarcophagus" was created to entomb the damaged unit. Actions to reduce contamination in and around the site included cutting down and burying one square mile of a nearby pine forest. Immediately after the incident occurred, access within an eighteen-mile radius was closed off except for those individuals with official access for evaluation purposes and others who were responsible for managing the other undamaged units (U.S. NRC)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• UNSCEAR. "Annex J: Exposures and Effects of the Chernobyl Accident." United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation. 2000. UNSCEAR. 18 Nov 2007 <http://www.unscear.org/docs/reports/annexj.pdf>.
• U.S. NRC, "Backgrounder on Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Accident." Electronic Reading Room: Fact Sheets. 20 Feb 2007. United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 18 Nov 2007 <http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/chernobyl-bg.html>.

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• Research Paper # 144915 : "The Chernobyl Nuclear Incident"

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