Chernobly
Effects of the Chernobyl Catastrophe
-Literature ReviewDr. med. Alex Rosen
Heinrich-Heine University Clinic
Düsseldorf, Germany
January of 2006
I.)
Introduction
The Meltdown
On Saturday, April 26th, 1986 at 1:23 am, Block 4 of the nuclear power plant at Chernobyl exploded. The plant was located approximately 100 km north of the Ukrainian capital Kiev, near the border with Belarus. 180,000 kilograms of highly radioactive material is inside the reactor at the time - an amount equal to 1,000 Hiroshima bombs. About
1019 Bq of radioactive material – consisting of at least 200 different radioactive isotopes - was set loose into the atmosphere, 50 to 80% of this being 131Iodine.12 This nuclear fallout contaminated 23% of the state of Belarus, some parts of Russia and Ukraine, as well as regions of Poland, the Czech Republic, Scandinavia and southern
Germany. 36 hours after the meltdown, highly increased doses of atmospheric radioactivity were measured in
Germany, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and even as far as Scandinavia. Due to rain and wind currents, 70% of radioactivity came down in Belarus, most of it in the regions of Gomel and Mogilev, 15% in Ukraine and Russia and the other 15% dispersed over the rest of the world. Most of Europe receives additional radiation and even as far as
North America, a significant rise in the daily intake of radiation can be noted. A 30% increase in child mortality was registered in May and June of 1986 in New Jersey, while southern Germany measured a 70% rise. 3
80-90% of the radiation dose received by the inhabitants of the affected areas was and is internal, due to the oral intake of contaminated food, especially home produced milk, wild fruits and mushrooms. The contamination through inhalation was important in early days, when high iodine concentration was present in the air. The highest doses were absorbed by the clean-up workers (liquidators) and the inhabitants of the most contaminated
-Literature ReviewDr. med. Alex Rosen
Heinrich-Heine University Clinic
Düsseldorf, Germany
January of 2006
I.)
Introduction
The Meltdown
On Saturday, April 26th, 1986 at 1:23 am, Block 4 of the nuclear power plant at Chernobyl exploded. The plant was located approximately 100 km north of the Ukrainian capital Kiev, near the border with Belarus. 180,000 kilograms of highly radioactive material is inside the reactor at the time - an amount equal to 1,000 Hiroshima bombs. About
1019 Bq of radioactive material – consisting of at least 200 different radioactive isotopes - was set loose into the atmosphere, 50 to 80% of this being 131Iodine.12 This nuclear fallout contaminated 23% of the state of Belarus, some parts of Russia and Ukraine, as well as regions of Poland, the Czech Republic, Scandinavia and southern
Germany. 36 hours after the meltdown, highly increased doses of atmospheric radioactivity were measured in
Germany, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and even as far as Scandinavia. Due to rain and wind currents, 70% of radioactivity came down in Belarus, most of it in the regions of Gomel and Mogilev, 15% in Ukraine and Russia and the other 15% dispersed over the rest of the world. Most of Europe receives additional radiation and even as far as
North America, a significant rise in the daily intake of radiation can be noted. A 30% increase in child mortality was registered in May and June of 1986 in New Jersey, while southern Germany measured a 70% rise. 3
80-90% of the radiation dose received by the inhabitants of the affected areas was and is internal, due to the oral intake of contaminated food, especially home produced milk, wild fruits and mushrooms. The contamination through inhalation was important in early days, when high iodine concentration was present in the air. The highest doses were absorbed by the clean-up workers (liquidators) and the inhabitants of the most contaminated
References: et al, 1990 Güvenc et al, 1993 Mocan et al, 1990 Scherb et al, 1999, 2000, 2003 Kruslin et al, 1998 Dolk et al, 1999 Körblein, 2003 Ulstein et al, 1990 Ericson, Kallen, 1994 Ramsay et al, 1991 Scherb, Weigelt, 2003 Moumdjiev et al, 1992 Körblein, Küchenhoff, 1997 Scherb et al, 2000, 2003 Sperling et al, 1987, 1991 Lüning et al, 1989 Grosche et al, 1997 Scherb et al, 1999, 2000, 2003 Körblein 2003, 2004 Scherb, Weigelt, 2003 Körblein, 2003 Zieglowski, Hemprich, 1999 Sperling et al, 1991, 1994 Non-cancer diseases related to radiation 2003). Cortical Atrophy was found in MRI scans in 57 of 98 Liquidators (Bomko, 2005). A significant increase in vestibular vertigo was found by Trinus and Zabolotny in 1997 (Kiev)