Part III. Industrial disasters Chapter 1. Radioactive Catastrophe Key words and terms:

Radioactivity Nuclear power plant Confine Affect Cleanup Containment building Entombment Expel Core

Exposure Coveralls Encase Decommission Meltdown Reactor, reactor core Spread Prompt

Protective clothing Investigation Safety regulations Release Emission Aftermath Casualty Rip apart Safety features

Text 10. Chernobyl

1. The worst accident ever to occur at a nuclear power plant took place at the Chernobyl plant in the former Soviet Union on April 26, 1986, when one or possibly two explosions ripped a nuclear reactor apart and expelled large quantities of radioactive material into the atmosphere.

The effects of this accident were not confined to the area immediately surrounding the power plant: in the atmosphere radiation quickly spread across large portions of the Northern Hemisphere. The Chernobyl accident affected and will continue to affect many nations, especially the former Soviet Union and the countries of Northern Europe.

2. The first task the Soviets faced after the accident was to contain the fire that had broken out after the explosion and prevent it from spreading to other reactors at the power plant. Local fire fighters, many of whom later died from exposure to the high levels of radiation, battled courageously to contain the fire. In addition, 116,000 people who lived within a 30-kilometre (18.5 mile) radius around the plant had to be quickly evacuated and resettled. Ultimately, more than 300,000 people were forced to resettle as a result of the accident.

Once the danger from the explosion and fire had passed, the radioactivity at the power station had to be cleaned up and contained so that it would not spread. Dressed in protective clothing, workers were transported to the site in radiation-proof vehicles. And initially the radioactivity was so high that they could stay in the area for only a few minutes at a time. After the initial cleanup, the damaged reactor building was encased in 300,000 tons of concrete. Then the surrounding countryside had to be decontaminated: highly radioactive soil was removed, and buildings and roads were scrubbed down.

3. Although as much cleanup as can be done in the immediate vicinity of Chernobyl is largely accomplished, the people in Belarus and the Ukraine, the areas immediately adjacent to Chernobyl, faced many long-term problems. Twenty percent of the farmland and 15 percent of the forests of Belarus are so contaminated that they cannot be used for more than a century. Loss of agricultural production is one of the largest costs of the Chernobyl accident for the local economy.

Inhabitants in many areas of Belarus and the Ukraine still cannot drink the water or consume locally produced milk, meat, fruits, or vegetables. Mothers cannot nurse their babies because their milk is contaminated by radioactivity. Hundreds of children are in hospitals, dying from leukemia (cancer of white cells in the blood and bone marrow). The health of approximately 350,000 Ukrainians is being constantly monitored.

4. In the investigation that ensued after the accident, it became apparent that there had been two fundamental causes. First, the design of the nuclear reactor was flawed - the reactor was not housed in a containment building and was extremely unstable at low power. This type of reactor, called a RBMK reactor, is not used commercially in either North America or Europe because nuclear engineers consider it too unsafe. The former Soviet Union still has a number of RBMK reactors in operation.

Second, many of the Chernobyl plant operators lacked scientific or technical understanding of the plant they were operating. As a result of the disaster at Chernobyl, the Soviet Union developed a retraining programme for operators at all the nuclear power plants in the country. In addition, safety features were added to existing reactors.

5. One of the disquieting consequences of Chernobyl was the lack of predictability of the course taken by spreading radiation. Chernobyl's radiation cloud dumped radioactive fallout over some areas of Europe and Asia, leaving other areas relatively untouched. This unevenness makes it difficult to plan emergency responses for future nuclear accidents.

6. The health effects of the accident at Chernobyl will be monitored for many years. Although only 31 people initially died from exposure to radiation (according to the official death count), it is estimated that as many as 24,000 people received dangerous doses of radiation. But a citizens' group called Chernobyl Union says it has proof that between 5,000 and 7,000 workers who participated in the cleanup have died. An increase in mental retardation in new-borns has been noticed not only in the former Soviet Union but also in parts of Europe; this was expected, because a similar pattern emerged in Japan after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II. An increase in cancer deaths directly attributable to Chernobyl is also expected, with 50,000 to 75,000 deaths projected. Psychological injuries to those living under the cloud of Chernobyl are also being assessed.

7. The world has learnt much from this nuclear disaster. Most countries are taking nuclear power more seriously, hoping to prevent more accidents. Safety features that are commonplace in North American and European reactors are being incorporated into new nuclear power plants around the world. In addition, nuclear engineers learnt a great deal from the cleanup and entombment of Chernobyl; this knowledge will be useful in the decommissioning of power plants. For example, remote-controlled bulldozers and robots were relatively ineffective in the cleanup process because their electronics failed, probably as a result of exposure to high levels of radiation. Doctors learnt more about effective treatment of people who had been exposed to massive doses of radiation. In the years to come, health researchers will learn more about relationship between cancer and radiation as they follow the health of the thousands who were exposed to radiation from Chernobyl. Also, the area within a 10-kilometre radius around Chernobyl has been designated an ecological reserve that will be left to recover on its own. The only people allowed inside will be scientists who study the effects of high levels of radiation on plants and animals and monitor the environment's recovery.

Exercise 1. This text is divided into seven parts. Choose the best title to each part from those given below.

A) Unpredictability of fallout

B) Long term problems arose in the contaminated regions

C) Conclusions made by governments, scientists, engineers and doctors after the accident

D) The impact of the Chernobyl accident

E) Health deterioration of exposed population

F) The heroic work of fire-fighters and cleanup workers

G) Two fundamental causes of the accident

Exercise 2. Match the English words with their translation:

I. 1) protect 2) protection 3) protective

а) защитный b) защищать с) защита

II. 1) safely 2) save 3) safety

а) безопасность b) без риска с) спасать

III. 1) explosion 2) explode 3) exploder

а) взрывать b) взрыватель с) взрыв

IV. 1) emerge а) возникающий

2) emergence b) чрезвычайная ситуация

3) emergency с) проявление

4) emergent d) появляться

V. 1) radiation 2) radiate 3) radioactive 4) radioactivity

а) радиоактивность b) излучение с) излучать d) радиоактивный

VI. 1) nature 2) natural 3) naturally

а) естественно b) природный с) природа

Exercise 3. Match the terms in column A with their definitions in column B:

A

B

aftermath consume spread meltdown prevent inhabitant

a) affect more and more people and a larger area b) one of the people who live in a particular place c) stop something from happening d) use, eat or drink something e) the period of time after a war, storm, or accident when people are still dealing with the results f) a very dangerous situation in which the material in a nuclear reactor melts and burns through its container and radioactivity escapes