Chernobyl record : the definitive history of the Chernobyl catastrophe

1 Radiation Doses and Effects 1 1.1 Radiation quantities and their units of measurement 1 1.2 Radiation effects 5 2 Nuclear Reactors 12 2.1 Chain reaction 12 2.2 Reactor operation 13 2.3 RBMK-1000 nuclear power units at Chernobyl 15 2.4 Measures to improve the safety of RBMK plants 25 3 Explosion 27 3.1 Eyewitness accounts 27 3.2 Causes of the accident 32 3.3 Countdown by seconds and minutes 33 3.4 Damage to the power plant 39 3.5 Extinguishing the fire 45 3.6 Initial reports of the accident 45 4 Radionuclide Releases 50 4.1 Release sequence and composition 51 4.2 Atmospheric transport 53 4.3 Releases and exposed population groups 53 4.4 Residual activity in the global environment after 70 years 55 4.5 Chernobyl deposition compared to background deposition 55 4.6 Comparison with Hiroshima and Nagasaki 57 4.7 Comparison with Three Mile Island 59 4.8 Comparison with nuclear weapons testing in the atmosphere 60 vii viii Contents 4.9 Comparison with the Techa river area 64 4.10 Comparison with Tokaimura 69 5 Early Medical Response and Follow-up of Patients with Acute Radiation Syndrome 73 5.1 The first physician to arrive at the power plant after the accident 73 5.2 Medical examinations 75 5.3 Iodine prophylaxis against thyroid cancer 77 5.4 Acute radiation syndrome initial diagnosis 79 5.5 Follow-up of patients with acute radiation syndrome 79 5.6 Transplantation of bone marrow and embryonic liver cells 90 5.7 Case histories 93 5.8 Medical centre in Chernobyl town 94 5.9 Liquidator certificates for benefit entitlements 95 6 Evacuation and Resettlement 103 6.1 Evacuation zones and populations 103 6.2 Pripyat 107 6.3 Evacuation of livestock 108 6.4 Resettlement 110 6.5 Returnees 111 6.6 Radiation phobia 113 7 Sarcophagus 118 7.1 Meteorological, geological and seismic conditions of the site 118 7.2 Cooling slab to prevent contamination of the ground water 119 7.3 Construction of the Sarcophagus 120 7.4 Status of the nuclear fuel 126 8 Nuclear Power Past and Future 134 8.1 Before Chernobyl 134 8.2 After Chernobyl 136 8.3 Future of the Chernobyl nuclear power station including the Sarcophagus 143 8.4 Major radiation accidents 1945–99 147 9 Dose Measurement and Estimation Methods 153 9.1 Military personnel doses 153 9.2 Group dose and itinerary dose 155 9.3 Thyroid and whole-body dosimetry 155 9.4 Electron paramagnetic resonance dosimetry with tooth enamel158 9.5 Dosimetry based on chromosome aberrations 164 Contents ix 10 Population Doses 170 10.1 Natural and man-made background radiation 171 10.2 First year dose estimates in European countries other than the USSR 174 10.3 Collective effective doses for populations in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia 175 11 Contamination in Farming, Milk, Wild Animals and Fish 181 11.1 Exposure pathway 181 11.2 Evaluation of dose from ingestion of food 183 11.3 131I contamination in milk 183 11.4 Contamination in wild animals and fish 184 11.5 Temporary permissible food contamination levels in USSR 187 11.6 International recommendations for intervention levels 190 12 Decontamination 193 12.1 Decontamination sequence for the NPP area 194 12.2 Turbine hall roof 194 12.3 Radioactive waste disposal 195 12.4 Forests 196 12.5 Monitoring and decontamination of transport 198 12.6 Work of the chemical forces 198 12.7 Major problems 199 12.8 Post-accident studies on decontamination strategies 199 13 Water Contamination 203 13.1 Countermeasures 203 13.2 Contamination levels 204 14 Ground Contamination 207 14.1 137Cs contamination 209 14.2 90Sr contamination 212 14.3 239Pu and 240Pu contamination 213 14.4 Exclusion zone area of the Ukraine 213 15 Psychological Illness 225 15.1 Liquidators 225 15.2 Residents in contaminated territories 227 15.3 Atomic bomb survivors 232 16 Other Non-Malignant Diseases and Conditions 235 16.1 Atomic bomb survivors 235 16.2 Brain damage in utero and mental retardation 237 16.3 Reproductive health patterns 238 16.4 Haematological diseases 241 x Contents 16.5 Thyroid diseases 243 16.6 Ocular disease 245 17 Cancer Risk Specification 249 17.1 Absolute risk 250 17.2 Relative risk and excess relative risk 250 17.3 Attributable fraction 251 17.4 Mortality ratio 251 17.5 Confidence interval and confidence limits 252 17.6 Prediction modelling 253 17.7 How does radiation cause cancer? 256 18 Cancer 260 18.1 Incidence and mortality 260 18.2 Thyroid cancer 262 18.3 Leukaemia and other cancers 278 19 The Legasov Testament 287 19.1 My duty is to tell about this. . . 289 19.2 Defenceless Victor—Margarita Legasov’s title of her reminiscences 303 20 Under the Star of Chernobyl 307 20.1 Origin of the names Polissya and Chernobyl 307 20.2 History 308 20.3 Culture 310 Glossary 322 References 332 Index 360