UEN002 – Energy and Environment

• 3 Credits
• 30 Marks – MST
• 50 Marks – End Sem.
• 20 Marks – Sessional (Quizzes/assignments/group presentations)
 Chernobyl nuclear disaster

• Chernobyl took place on April 26, 1986, in the former Soviet

Union. It was the result of a flawed reactor design trained and
inadequate personnel.
• The technicians allowed the power in the fourth reactor to fall
to low levels as part of a controlled experiment which went
wrong. As a result, the reactor overheated and caused a
meltdown of the core.
• The steam explosion and fire released about five percent of
the radioactive reactor core into the atmosphere and downwind
into the surrounding area. The clouds of deadly radioactive
material stayed in the atmosphere for over 10 days.
Where is Chernobyl?

3
Reactor Plant Scenario

1. As the reaction occurs, the uranium fuel becomes hot

2. The water pumped through the core in pressure tubes removes the
heat from the fuel
3. The water is then boiled into steam
4. The steam turns the turbines
5. The water is then cooled
6. Then the process repeats
 Chernobyl ..consequence
• The people of Chernobyl were exposed to radioactivity 100 times greater than the
Hiroshima bomb, killing thirty people immediately.
• The clouds of radioactive material spread globally and 70% of the radiation is estimated
to have fallen on Belarus. Ten years later babies are still being born with no arms, no
eyes, or only stumps for limbs.
• The accident has victimized over 15 million people in some way and cost over 60 billion
dollars in health care. More than 600,000 people involved with the cleanup are now dead
or sick.
 Chernobyl ..consequence
• An estimated 20 million Soviets were exposed to radioactivity, resulting in as many as
5,000 deaths. The accident may yet cause up to 300,000 deaths, ultimately claiming
more victims than did WWII.
• In the former Soviet republics of Belarus, Ukraine and Russia there was twice the
normal rate of birth defects among those living in the vicinity of the plant.
• Thyroid glands of more than 150,000 people were "seriously affected" by doses of
radioactive iodine.
• 800,000 children are at risk of contracting leukemia.
• Even the U.S. felt the effects as demonstrated by a small excess mortality in May
1986.
 Chernobyl …environmental effects
• The radioactive fallout was detected all over the world, from Finland to South Africa. Two
million acres of land in Belarus and Ukraine, including 20% of Belarus’ farmland, could not
be exploited and one-fifth (1/5) of the republic of Belarus' more than 10 million people
have to be moved from areas contaminated by radiation, including 27 cities and more
than 2,600 villages.
• $26 billion was allotted for the resettlement of the 200,000 people still living in the
irradiated areas and it may end up costing $400 billion.
• It will take up to 200 years before the effects of Chernobyl are no longer felt in the affected
areas.
Human Errors
• Isolation of the emergency core cooling system
• Unsafe amount of control rods withdrawn
• Connection of the four main cooling pumps to
the right and left of the system
 Summary of Facts
• April 26, 1986:
• Chernobyl nuclear power plant
• Operator errors cause a reactor explosion
• Explosion releases 190 tons of radioactive gasses into the
atmosphere
• Fire starts that lasts 10 days
• People:
• 7 million lived in contaminated areas; 3 million were children
• Wind:
• Carries radiation far distances
 Direct Casualties
• 5.5 million people still live in contaminated areas
• 31 people died in 3 months of radiation poisoning
• 134 emergency workers suffered from acute radiation
sickness
• 25,000 rescue workers died since then of diseases caused by
radiation
• Cancer afflicts many others
• Increased birth defects, miscarriages, and stillbirths
 Indirect Casualties
• By the year 2000 there were 1800 case of
thyroid cancer in children

• High number of suicide and violent death

among Firemen, policemen, and other
recovery workers
Thanks