Effects of the Chernobyl Catastrophe

On Saturday, April 26th, 1986 at 1:23 am, Block 4 of the nuclear power plant at Chernobyl exploded. The plant was located approximately 100 km north of the Ukrainian capital Kiev, near the border with Belarus. 180,000 kilograms of highly radioactive material is inside the reactor at the time an amount equal to 1,000 Hiroshima bombs. About 1019 Bq of radioactive material – consisting of at least 200 different radioactive isotopes was set loose into the atmosphere, 50 to 80% of this being 131Iodine.12 This nuclear fallout contaminated 23% of the state of Belarus, some parts of Russia and Ukraine, as well as regions of Poland, the Czech Republic, Scandinavia and southern Germany. 36 hours after the meltdown, highly increased doses of atmospheric radioactivity were measured in Germany, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and even as far as Scandinavia. Due to rain and wind currents, 70% of radioactivity came down in Belarus, most of it in the regions of Gomel and Mogilev, 15% in Ukraine and Russia and the other 15% dispersed over the rest of the world. Most of Europe receives additional radiation and even as far as North America, a significant rise in the daily intake of radiation can be noted. A 30% increase in child mortality was registered in May and June of 1986 in New Jersey, while southern Germany measured a 70% rise. 3