Is Chernobyl a threat to us 36 years after the catastrophe? «Radiation like in the center of Warsaw»

On April 26, we celebrate the anniversary of the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The topic of the potential threat related to this object has returned in recent weeks due to Our Country’s aggression in Ukraine and the temporary presence of troops in Chernobyl. – There is no need to worry – says prof. dr hab. Eng. Jan Składzień from the Department of Heat Flow and Nuclear Power at the Department of Thermal Technology of the Silesian University of Technology. – Some time ago, specialists from the National Center for Nuclear Research in Świerk found that the radiation at the power plant is like natural radiation in the center of Warsaw, around the Palace of Culture – the expert explains.

1. On April 26, 1986 there was a disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. As a result, the radioactive cloud spread across Europe
2. This cloud passed over Poland without any special threats, the rainfall in greater concentration took place outside our borders – says prof. Jan Składzień, expert on nuclear power plants
3. According to prof. Storage facilities, currently the power plant does not pose a threat to our country
4. The recent occupation of the power plant by soldiers was primarily psychological. “The s could not do anything wrong there,” says the expert
5. You can find more such stories on the Onet homepage.

Adrian Dąbek, Medonet: The explosion at the Chernobyl power plant took place exactly 36 years ago. Was there a real threat in Poland then?

Prof. Jan Składzień: Clouds containing radioactive substances went up into the atmosphere and they flew in different directions depending on the direction of the winds. There was a lot of rainfall in Scandinavia. The Swedes were probably the first to realize that something was wrong. As far as I know, this cloud passed over Poland without any special threats, the rainfall in greater concentration took place outside our borders. Of course, something appeared, mainly it was cesium, dangerous, among others because it has a long half-life. Because iodine breaks down pretty quickly. But the threat was rather small. This operation with Lugol’s solution was a bit over the top.

Recently, Lugol’s fluid has been massively bought up again due to the situation in Ukraine.

It is completely unnecessary, because the Chernobyl power plant has been completely closed and the process of its decommissioning is underway. Even in the forest, a special, beautiful-looking town of Sławutycz has been built from scratch, and there are several thousand people living there, dismantling the remains of the power plant.

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Of course, after the explosion, three more reactors were in operation, there were more problems, some fire and finally it was decided to eliminate them, especially since the Union decided to help in the construction of a replacement power plant in Zaporizhia. At Chernobyl, the fuel from the three remaining reactors has been completely removed, the dismantling process is underway, and a gigantic landfill has been built in the forest. These tanks are concrete, properly secured, so extensive that not only substances directly related to the reactors are stored there, but also devices that contribute to fire extinguishing. The Ukrainians approached it really solidly. Fuel is not there.

In the nuclear power industry, the principle is that the supplier of fuel is obliged to collect it after use, along with all waste.

So Chernobyl is not a threat to us?

Not for us. In contrast, this latest confusion was probably – because none of us can guess what is going on in post-Soviet minds – to create a psychological effect. It is known that in Poland we are very vigilant when it comes to nuclear accidents, so why should we not be scared. Perhaps they also wanted to check what it all looks like on the spot, how it has been managed.

But if the s were stubborn and really wanted to do something, what could they possibly create a real threat?

In fact, there is nothing they could do. Maybe there are some remains not yet collected, but they do not pose a serious threat. After all, in the immediate vicinity of the power plant, people began to quietly settle down illegally and live for themselves. And in the city of Chernobyl normal life continues, there are hotels and nothing unusual is happening.

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And this information from a few weeks ago that several buses took soldiers with radiation sickness to the hospital?

These soldiers could be slightly irradiated if they walked in the woods and ended up in a place where there was still uncollected waste. But it is unlikely. When I was in Chernobyl, they showed us how to go and warned us not to enter certain places in the forest.

In fact, for this to affect our health, it is probably not enough to walk once.

When I was there, there were also specialists from the National Center for Nuclear Research in Świerk who specialize in measuring radiation intensity. They then stated that the radiation in the power plant area is like natural radiation in the center of Warsaw, around the Palace of Culture. Inside, near this former reactor, the radiation was slightly increased compared to the natural one – three or four times. That is, it was as high as the norms in nuclear power plants allow for operation.

In Poland, there are groups of people who regularly visit the Chernobyl area. Will it not affect their health after many years?

I was once at an event like this. Now it is on a massive scale, but it was started by Sergei Akulinin, a turbine operator from the power plant at that time, working in the adjacent block. After the explosion at the power plant, he took part in extinguishing the fire, was strongly irradiated and as the one who received a near-lethal dose, he was under special protection, he had a special pension and qualifications in the health service. After a few years, it turned out that he did not intend to die, on the contrary – he was quite healthy. So, all these privileges were taken away from him, but he had already sent his family back a long way, and was left destitute as well. And because he was a smart man, he set up a private travel agency and began organizing trips to Chernobyl. He made a deal “on his own health”. At first he was devastated by the whole story, severed ties with his family, and now he is very active.

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How does radiation sickness affect the body?

Janie, I’m a medical specialist, but the radiation damages organs. There are three basic types of radiation that are very different: alpha, beta, and gamma. There was a case that Putin’s people poisoned a former spy in London. They introduced a radioactive substance into his body, which does not harm the outside, because it does not pass through the human skin. Only after it penetrates inside the body, it causes gradual wasting. Radiation destroys internal organs.

But this radiation around Chernobyl is rather harmless. The radiation that occurs in hard coal mines is even more harmful. Radon gas is present there, which is released from the micro-substances in the coal. And this is one of the reasons why digging should be highly ventilated. In Chernobyl, substances that can cause serious health effects have long been grounded, contained in the ground or in a landfill.

And can the Zaporozhye power plant be dangerous from our point of view?

This is a completely different kind of power plant. There were a different type of reactors in Chernobyl, 11 of which are currently in operation – near Smolensk, Kursk and St. Petersburg, plus four somewhere in Siberia. They were produced on the basis of reactors used to produce the plutonium used to build the atomic bomb. They had gigantic amounts of graphite, 2. tons each. And this graphite reacted with water as a result of a failure and rupture of water pipes, hydrogen was formed, it went up, there was high temperature, and there was a purely chemical hydrogen explosion.

In Zaporizhia there are reactors without graphite, cooled with water. They are relatively new, although they are already about 30 years old and in their case it is impossible for them to be damaged in a similar way. But there is some danger. They are similar to those at Fukushima, and similar to those at Harrisburg, where the accident occurred in 1979. It was the first dangerous situation at civilian nuclear power facilities.

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The most serious threat is the melting of the inside of the reactor. If the reactor is shut down, some radioactive decay processes still take place and the reactor heats up for a while. In Fukushima, such pellets of the resulting fuel melted with a temperature of up to 3 degrees Celsius were created. steps and they began to melt the foundations, but fortunately only to a small extent. If this radioactive pellet, weighing several dozen tons, reached the ground after melting the reactor foundations, then a tragedy would occur.

Now the reactor covers are designed in such a way that they should withstand a bomber strike from a great height. To do any damage to the Zaporozhye power plant, some penetration bombs would be needed. I suspect that this power plant was also about a psychological effect.

The threat was something else. It is a gigantic power plant, it has a nominal capacity of almost 6 MW. For comparison, the largest Polish power plant, in Bełchatów, has approximately 000 MW. And when such a large power plant is suddenly shut down, it is a tragedy for a nationwide grid, for the entire country. The so-called blackout, the network goes down, everything goes down. This is not only a power cut, but also a grid destruction. Restarting this network is a complicated matter.

And how can we protect ourselves from the increase in radiation. The National Atomic Energy Agency regularly publishes data on this subject. And what can we do when these indicators increase?

Wait for the wind to come. There’s really nothing to be done. As for Lugol’s solution, there are now special iodine tablets. Iodine is radioactive in a way that is not particularly harmful, but it is absorbed by the thyroid gland. And in children, overabsorption can cause some damage.

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And the radiation sickness itself proceeds very differently. Several people may be standing by a reactor that is getting out of control and each will react differently. This was the case in Yugoslavia some 70 years ago. Several people died and a few survived. It all depends on individual immunity. I think so, because I’m not a medic.

Several years ago, the Japanese, whom we admire so much for the organization, produced fuel for an experimental reactor. They were probably in too much of a rush, because they had packed too much of this fuel, that is chemical radioactive material. There was a chain reaction that stopped on its own. But the staff watched this with curiosity. As a result, some of them died, but not all.

It is always so effectively shown in the movies. Most often, blisters appear on the skin, and then it’s over.

Because it’s a burn. Some types of radiation are associated with increased temperature, with the release of heat. And the human body doesn’t like it being too warm inside. And the radiation itself also destroys various tissues, including the skin.

Also read:

1. They know they are dying. How do I talk to cancer patients?
2. The situation in Chernobyl. The increase in radiation is the result of the movement of heavy equipment
3. Do we have a cancer epidemic after the Chernobyl outbreak?