Chernobyl: The Rest Of The Story

By Edward A. Warman

Chernobyl: The Rest of the Story

This book is intended to serve as a fact-based sourcebook on the Chernobyl disaster. It covers the accident, its causes and effects – especially the radiological consequences, including the health effects, and the international assistance to enclose the radioactive remains in a safe state. Above all else, it provides reliable information and data for both the specialist and layperson alike.

Special attention is devoted to the health effects, which were dramatized in the recent made for TV miniseries' Chernobyl', and likely dominate most people's knowledge of the disaster. A significant part addresses the fate of the 'Liquidators' who cleaned up the mess. Considerable information and data are included on what was released in the accident and what remains (what is referred to as the Fuel Containing Material) that needs to be kept safely for a very long time.

It is comprised of a compendium of excerpts from cited authoritative published reports and journal articles, quoted without alteration, and brief summaries of the development and implementation of the Shelter Implementation Plan leading to the New safe Confinement.

Some informed perspectives and editorial observations are included based on a quarter century personal involvement in the international community response to Chernobyl's challenges.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fulton Books, Inc.
• Release date: Aug 10, 2021
• ISBN: 9781649520159

Book preview

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Chernobyl

—the Rest of the Story

A Compendium of Information

and Informed Perspectives

A factual summary of a world-class disaster: thirty-five years on.

Edward A. Warman

Editor

Copyright © 2021 Edward A. Warman

All rights reserved

First Edition

Fulton Books, Inc.

Meadville, PA

Published by Fulton Books 2021

ISBN 978-1-64952-014-2 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64952-015-9 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

To all of Chernobyl’s victims, especially the firefighters

who battled the unknown.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Introduction

Chernobyl

Health Effects

The Accident and Initial Response

The Sarcophagus Was a Temporary Solution

A Longer-Term Solution

Location, Russian Reactors, and Accident Description

Evacuation and Massive Cleanup (Including Photo Story)

Summary of the Accident and the Aftermath

Causes of the Accident

The Accident Source Term (What was Released)

The Sarcophagus and Fuel Containing Material (FCM)

Radiation Levels in and around the Sarcophagus

Dispersion, Deposition, and Health Effects

Dramatic Difference in Impact on the Sami people and the US

The Chernobyl Forum: Twenty Years of Experience

UN Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation

Compendium of Selected Documents

Document 1: OECD Nuclear Energy Agency, Chernobyl ten years on —Radiological and Health Impact’

Document 2: Design Features and Reasons for the Accident

Document 3: A Nuclear Jet—Explanation of the Two Explosions

Document 4: Fuel Containing Material (FCM)

Document 5: Estimated Dose Rates from Analysis of Satellite Images of Tree Damage

Shelter Implementation Plan and New Safe Confinement

Final Thoughts and Personal Remarks

figures1fig2fig3

Foreword

Whether you have your own memories of the Chernobyl disaster or just watched the very popular recent made-for-TV miniseries Chernobyl, this book provides the rest of the story as Paul Harvey—a popular radio personality of the time—would have said.

The miniseries was very well done and captured the human tragedy. However, it concluded with coverage of the 1987 Soviet trial of the operators with a closing statement essentially to the effect that the accident was the operators’ fault, but the design was safe. Arguably, that was not the case. Design shortcomings and related safety procedure inadequacies were significant factors.

The accident, its causes, and its effects are discussed in the following pages, along with the thirty-five-year history since. Taken together, the information constitutes the rest of the story.

This book is intended to inform the reader of many aspects of the Chernobyl disaster by providing a compendium of information, data, and views—intended to be readable by specialists and laypersons alike. It includes descriptions of the reactor and the site, various aspects of the accident and its aftermath, the dispersion and deposition of radioactive material far and wide, and the health effects observed over the past three decades. The major impact its fallout had on the Sami people, living in upper Scandinavia, also is summarized. The role of the liquidators, who cleaned up the mess, is discussed, and the enclosure of the unit is covered in some detail.

The 2006 Chernobyl Forum, discussed in later chapters, noted:

Main Impact on Individuals

The mental health impact of Chernobyl is the largest public health problem unleashed by the accident to date.

Unfortunately, reliable information about the accident and the resulting dispersion of radioactive material was initially unavailable to the affected people in what was then the Soviet Union and remained inadequate for years following the accident. This failure and delay led to widespread distrust of official information and the mistaken attribution of many ill health conditions to radiation exposure.

Claims have been made that tens or even hundreds of thousands of persons have died as a result of the accident. Those claims are highly exaggerated.

This, and other documents, including journal articles and reports, are summarized in this compendium, along with other publicly accessible cited documents, which have not been altered. The referenced documents range from about twenty to over a hundred pages. Some documents are briefly cited in chapters 1 and 2 and are more completely noted in chapters 3 and 4. The Shelter Implementation Plan and New Safe Confinement are summarized in chapter 5. Some personal remarks are in chapter 6.

Chapter 1

Introduction

Chernobyl

The world has never faced a situation quite like the Chernobyl accident and hopefully never will again. In the thirty-five years since the nuclear reactor at Unit 4 of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (ChNPP) in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic exploded on April 26, 1986, much has transpired and much has been learned and experienced in all kinds of fields. Thirty-one brave souls died, and very painful suffering was endured by those closely involved. The whole world experienced a good scare. Numerous books, articles, and technical papers have been written on the subject.

Now, as the popular US radio commentator of yesteryear, Paul Harvey, would have said, it is time for the rest of the story—as told from an informed personal perspective. Figure 1 depicts the damaged unit as viewed from the northwest. The ventilation stack shown serviced Unit 4 and the adjacent Unit 3, which continued operating at full power for another four hours. Nearby Units 1 and 2 were operated at full power for twenty-four hours, as the accident progressed, apparently before being allowed to go offline by the dispatchers in Kiev.

Fig. 1. Damaged RBMK reactor—Chernobyl Unit 4 (ChNPP photo)

It is not possible to address all the aspects of this event. However, an attempt is made here to cover much of the story and compile a brief compendium of information and data, combined with some informed personal perspectives. Most of which are based on the knowledge and understanding gained from a personal involvement, off and on, since April 1986.

At the time, despite having thirty years experience in nuclear engineering, I knew very little about Soviet reactors and had never heard of Chernobyl. All that changed over the next thirty years, with fifteen of it in retirement since 1998 as a member of the International Advisory Group (IAG) to the Chernobyl Shelter Fund (CSF) administered by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

In 1986, the cold war was very much on, and the former USSR was a very secretive place. It pretty much only conversed with the free world, though the auspices of United Nations organizations, such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the World Health Organization. Many westerners believed we may never have learned about the accident if the radioactivity released had not been carried well beyond Soviet borders. In fact, the first indication that all was not well came from a nuclear power plant in Sweden, where a worker triggered a portal radiation monitor—the only problem was that he was entering the plant, not exiting it. The plant immediately recognized that there was a radiation problem, but it was coming in from outside their plant. Soon, sensitive radiation-monitoring equipment over much of Europe started reading unusual radioactivity measurements. The cat was out of the bag, and the Soviets announced the accident to the world.

The Soviets had their hands full bringing the situation under control at the still-burning Unit 4, evacuating people and performing heroic mitigation measures. Measuring the airborne and deposited radioactivity within their territory was a major undertaking involving hundreds of radiation monitors and personnel, including some in helicopters and airplanes (see figures 2 and 3). The biggest and most hazardous effort by far was by the firefighters and the so-called liquidators brought in to mitigate the consequences and clean up the radioactive mess. Once the accident was controlled, work was initiated on containing the damaged unit.

There was a tremendous appetite for information all over the world. The Soviets answered with a large August 25–29 international meeting at the IAEA in Vienna. (Ref. 1)

In a monumental feat, the damaged unit was enclosed in a shelter, known as the Sarcophagus, in time for the meeting. It was completed in November 1986.

Fig. 2. Graphite Fire burning for days (ChNPP photo)

A summary by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) International Nuclear Safety Advisory Group (INSAG), published as INSAG-1, follows (Ref. 2):

On 26 April 1986 at 01:23 an accident occurred at the fourth unit of Chernobyl nuclear power station in Ukraine, Soviet Union, which resulted in the destruction of the reactor core and part of the building in which it was housed. Large amounts of the radioactive materials in the reactor core were released from the building into the surrounding environment. Hot materials expelled in the event started fires which complicated the situation and lifted more radioactive materials high into the air. Courageous action by Soviet response teams starting immediately and acting over the next few days effectively reduced this additional release of radioactive materials. Thirty-one members of the plant operating personnel and the emergency response teams gave their lives to stop the releases and to mitigate the consequences of the accident.

Fig. 3. Airborne radiation monitoring (ChNPP photo)

One feature that has been an issue for years has been the availability of reliable information and data. Information and data are major parts of this book, provided through excerpts of documents, which range in length to over a hundred pages each. So it is not possible to capture much of the