Chernobyl Nuclear Incident

Chernobyl Nuclear Incident

Glenn F. Simmons

Devry University

410- Contemporary History

Thesis

The paper aims to provide an international perspective on the consequences of the Chernobyl accident versus the future development of the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. It describes the major international initiatives that were undertaken over the years in order to quantify the consequences of the Chernobyl accident, and also analyzes the impact of the accident on the development of nuclear energy taking account of the perception of its consequences. The paper revisits the historical saga flowing since the fateful explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Ukraine 27 years ago. It looks at some of the misunderstandings about the consequences of the accident and explores the worldwide nuclear stagnation that followed Chernobyl, surveying the negative public reaction and also the possibilities of a nuclear revival. It finally searches for a way forward, concluding that an effective international nuclear safety regime is urgently needed with the purpose of preventing catastrophes like Chernobyl from occurring and also that the Chernobyl consequences need to be readdressed properly. The paper concludes with an appeal to the radiation protection community to resolve once and for all the difficult issues of attributing health effects to low-level radiation exposure.

The accident at the Chernobyl NPP (nuclear power plant) was the most serious ever to have occurred in the history of nuclear energy. The consumption of contaminated food in affected areas was a significant source of radiation for the population. A wide range of different countermeasures have been used to reduce exposure of people and to mitigate the consequences of the Chernobyl accident for agriculture in affected regions in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. This paper for the first time summarizes key data on countermeasure application...