When Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, is followed by about two hours north, the postcard of a 1986 Soviet Union becomes more alive . “You move and you’re seeing fewer cars, few people, older buildings and abandoned. Then you stay with long roads, woods and suddenly they tell you you’re around Chernobyl, in some small towns stagnating and uninhabited, where nature plazas, temples, buildings and history devoured them. ”
Read here: the disaster showed the decline of Soviet life
so remember ‘Ogmias’ a Spanish lawyer who under that pseudonym, which prefers to keep by demands of his work, travels and writes on travel blogs on extreme places, although sometimes it reproach.
in April 2013, convinced that this shameful humanity is aware, ever he repeated, was in the area, the same as in the early hours of April 26, 1986 was the scene of the worst nuclear accident in history, when testing power in the reactor 4 of the Chernobyl plant generated an explosion, forced the evacuation of 116,000 people and caused hundreds of subsequent deaths from exposure to radioactive material: While the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) speaks of 4,000 deaths, Greenpeace says only in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine the accident caused about 200,000 . between 1990 and 2004
See here: Chernobyl: 30 years after the tragedy
30 years ago nobody thought possible return. However, in Chernobyl and nearby places a project cleaning is advanced at a cost of 2,300 million dollars three decades later has allowed, with some suspicion, organize tours of the disaster, as did ‘Ogmias’.
“all the time, the guides tell you that if you follow the rules, and not touch, eat or drink anything, your health will not be at risk,” said the blogger to El Colombiano, adding that before leaving Ukraine consulted with the Nuclear Safety Council of Spain he said that if that country is a member of the International Organization of Atomic Energy, the authorities should be clear if there is a danger of visiting the area.
Dominik Orfanus created in 2009 Chernobyl Wel, a travel agency specializing in tours of the nuclear power plant and the abandoned villages visits, including hotel stays up for two days, exhibitions historians and testimonies of victims of the accident.
the Slovak entrepreneur made it clear to El Colombiano that the guides take visitors on routes where previously measured the radiation level, where it is proven that there decontamination and where they have calculated how long can expose a person without compromising their welfare.
Similarly, the guides take Geigers, some instruments for measuring in real time the radioactivity higher in near the point where it was the reactor 4 and in Pripyat, the so-called ‘ghost town’, built in 1970 by the Soviet Union to hold that could create a “perfect” and where they lived the workers of the plant.
“city in Pripyat hits you see that everything that could be found in everyday life is completely destroyed there. You can see a neoclassical temple, an amusement park, a nursery with toys, a supermarket, theaters, all as almost over by weeds and neglect, “recounts Orfanus, for whom the end, the fact that the impact zone still live about 700 people, which although they are constantly reviewed by the government, can carry a life-lets you “thrill” to those who visit:
“suddenly, you realize that what is really important to you, as the place in which you live, is fragile and vulnerable to any tragedy. But it would be better if the Colombians see with their own eyes, so they are welcome. “
The impact never ends
While most the five million people living in areas contaminated by the disaster exposure to radioactivity does not exceed the recommended limits areas, about 100,000, mostly from Ukraine, Belarus and Russia still receiving high doses and are susceptible to disease.
Jaya Mohan, an official of the Committee of the United Nations for the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR, its acronym in English) explains that since the accident there has been a substantial increase in the incidence of thyroid cancer among people exposed . In large part, he says that group consumed milk during the first months after the accident, milk had been contaminated with radioactive iodine. “Before 2005, we saw more than 6,000 types of thyroid cancer only among under 18 who were at the time of the disaster,” said the expert COLOMBIAN.
However, Mohan warns that it is necessary careful epidemiological analysis to analyze other factors to properly conclude on that trend. The same considers Jonathan Cobb, of the World Nuclear Association, for whom the psychological effects of the accident and the subsequent evacuation were “much more harmful than the effects of radiation doses received,” and notes that since the disaster, many plants and animals like wild horses, wild boar and wolves, they have increased their reproduction. “Although this is mainly due to the absence of people in the region of influence, shows us that we can not yet conclude positively or negatively about radiation,” he explained.
In a mid-point of the debate is Frank Boulton, founder of the Medical Campaign against Nuclear Weapons and specialist who has studied dozens of patients with leukemia, possibly related to Chernobyl radiation and other exposures to this material. His conclusion, he told this means is that it has been impossible to confirm from science a real relationship between cancer and nuclear radiation, beyond 1% incidence found among several workers stations.
for it is precisely the various opinions that have hindered consensus and, therefore, take more drastic measures.
what is clear to him is that “no nuclear energy is the only way avoid these accidents, “and warns that energy source is increasingly obsolete with the consolidation of new sources such as wind and solar power.
from Chernobyl to Fukushima
thirty years ago, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster ended the myth of “safe nuclear power”, and five years ago, on March 11, 2011, is became clear that mankind has not learned the lesson when the same thing happened in Fukushima, Japan.
“These two disasters exemplify the enormous human suffering, health effects that occur across generations, and destruction the environment caused by the nuclear chain over the past 70 years. From uranium mining, energy production and arms, every part of the industry, causing immeasurable damage must be stopped now, “explained Barbara Hövener, the Berlin-based Federation of Global Physics by Prevention of Nuclear War.
from other side argues Joonhong Ahn, professor of Nuclear Engineering at the University of California. “At Chernobyl, the accident was caused by poor design of the nuclear reactor and its improper and illegal operation, poor engineering and neglect of safety at the most fundamental level. These can it be the results of the culture of the former Soviet socialism, “he said.
However, on the case of Fukushima, the expert told El Colombiano that the reactors were well designed and operated reliably . Rather, it was external causes, tsunami and not the earthquake, causing.
“The waves cleaned all the necessary cooling system and led to the disaster. Perhaps the error was not imagine that a catastrophe with these dimensions in the right place could happen, “he said.
So, for Ahn no reason to think that we must stop using nuclear energy .
“If we weigh the risks, we see that fossil fuels will inevitably lead to global warming. Instead, humanity is able to develop technologies and science to minimize damage from nuclear. It’s about a challenge that we must take, “he said.
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