Justine Neill

Mr. Newman
English 101: Rhetoric
8 October 2014
The Nuclear Tourist
When you hear the word nuclear radiation , what do you think of? Most people think of
invisible rays that can severely harm you. But should you go near radiation? In National
Geographics October 2014 issue, George Johnson writes an article called The Nuclear Tourist
that is about his experience going to the abandoned town of Chernobyl that was destroyed when
a nuclear reactor exploded in 1986. Now more than a decade later tourists are being allowed on
the site. Should people be allowed there? Johnson explains there is still radiation at Chernobyl
but not enough to kill you. Johnson successfully argues using ethos and pathos that tourism at
Chernobyl is a good idea by using a creepy tone and through images why it is okay to now go to
Chernobyl.
To begin the article Johnson gives a scary fact They say that five sieverts of radiation is
enough to kill you, so I was curious to see the reading on my Russian-made dosimeter as our tour
van passed into the exclusion zone showing how vulnerable the human body actually is and
how easy something as terrifying and serious as radiation could exterminate you. Johnson
experienced the abandoned blast zone from a first hand point of view. He explains how driving
into Chernobyl I glanced at my meter: 0.19 microsieverts per houra fraction of a millionth of
a single sievert, a measure of radiation exposure, which isnt even close to 5 sieverts, since the
actual horrific explosion the radiation has diminished significantly.

Johnson goes on throughout the article to give the readers somewhat of a history of what
unbelievably horrific things that happened just years before at Chernobyl. He tells about
abandoned dolls left behind in the chaos of evacuating the city all eerily quiet now. But in the
21st century we hold a special awe for the aftermath of nuclear destruction. people are stunned
and curious about Chernobyl and its past destruction. Johnson also explains how no one ever
knew that the splitting of an atom would have such an incredible impact on the world, forever
changing the way wars are fought, and the way we now use nuclear energy.
The author makes a valid point spikes of 3.5 microsieverts per hour as we flew 40,000
feet over Greenland, cosmic rays penetrating the plane and passengers. Johnson says because
when in the plane there is more radiation admitted through the humans that in Chernobyl now a
days. He is urging that the plane ride just to even get to the town that is filled with death.
Chernobyl is no longer infected with as much radiation as there once was, and is now safe to
enter to witness first hand the ghostly town filled still to this day and forever with death and
destruction.

Fig.1 shows one of the abandoned houses in a village in Chernobyl, a lot of people left in a
rush and left belongings, such as dolls, behind in the chaos.
Photo credit to Gerd Ludwig.

Work Cited

Johnson, George. "The Nuclear Tourist." National Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 7
Oct. 2014.