On April 25, 1986 in the city of Chernobyl in the Soviet Union, Dr. Valentin Belokon was just getting back to his office from tending to a person that had an asthma attack, when he saw two explosions at the nuclear power plant. When he was informed by his paramedical assistant that there had been an explosion that released massive amounts of radiation, he immediately sent two ambulances to the site, with him in pursuit. When Dr. Belokon arrived at the site, an eighteen-year-old man was brought to him with a very severe headache. The young man kept vomiting and he had nausea. Other people came to Dr. Belokon with similar symptoms, along with others like dryness and a blocked throat. Many of them were also beginning to act in a very strange manner. They would lose their ability to speak and would be confused and disoriented. All of these people were suffering from radiation sickness caused by their exposure radiation.1
Many of the people that had experienced the radiation first-hand were hospitalized and were being treated for radiation sickness.2 The numbers of those affected dramatically increased in the following months, as it was estimated that 600,000 people were exposed to the radiation. Victims were sent to different areas, due to the high number of people that needed to be examined and treated. Those that showed no sign of medical issues were sent home and asked to come back the following day for a follow-up examination. Patients that were sick, however, remained in the hospital and were seen by “the best scientific and medical specialists of the country, from specialized clinics in Moscow and other cities.”3 The patients stayed for months in the hospital, such as Dr. Belokon himself, who was discharged in the fall of 1986. Many of them were permanently damaged and affected by the radiation.4
The biggest problem that arose from the absorption of the radiation, apart from the radiation sickness, was that those who were exposed would pass on the health problems that the radiation caused to generations to come. The rates of cancer would surely rise in later years, especially thyroid cancer, as the thyroid would absorb much of the radiation.5 Other problems that would arise would be immune system deficiencies, cardiovascular diseases, and deformities in the children of those who were exposed to the high amounts of radiation. These health problems would arise due to the fact that the massive amounts of radiation absorbed ultimately changes the genetic structure of those that were affected and their offspring.6 The estimated number of deaths that would be caused from the indirect exposure of the radiation was set to approximately 4,000.7
Chernobyl was one of the biggest radiation disaster that has occurred in history. Thousands of people were affected by the biological and internal problems that the radiation caused. Many people are still being treated for cancers and other illnesses that can be traced back to the explosion. There were also many deaths that were caused throughout due to the nuclear power plant accident that occurred in the city of Chernobyl.
- Zhores A. Medvedev, The Legacy of Chernobyl (New York: W.W. Norton 1990), 132-133. ↵
- Zhores A. Medvedev, The Legacy of Chernobyl (New York: W.W. Norton 1990), 136. ↵
- Mikhail Gorbachev, “Vital speeches of the Day,” June 26,1986. ↵
- Zhores A. Medvedev, The Legacy of Chernobyl (New York: W.W. Norton 1990), 136. ↵
- Adriana Petryna, Life Exposed: Biological Citizens After Chernobyl ( New Jersey: Princeton University Press 2003), 1-2. ↵
- Aleksandra Fucic, “Follow up studies on genome damage in children after Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident,” Archives of Toxicology 9, no.9 (June 2016): 2147-2155. ↵
- Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 2017, s.v. “Chernobyl.” ↵
56 comments
Rebekah Esquivel
I find it shocking how something that occurred in 1986 can still have effects on people today. Chernobyl was not only a devastating explosion because of the radiation that was released but also all of the lives that were affected due to the explosion. People died, were harmed with lifelong defects, and even passed these defects onto their children. People have had to live with the consequences of this explosion until this day. This explosion made the number of cancer rise in that area and i’m sure it still affects people in that area today as well. This is why there are protocols and ways of preventing explosions like this today in hope to prevent such tragedies from happening again.
Dayna Valdez
The Chernobyl event had such a huge impact on so many people and generations after that. I never really knew exactly just how many people were actually affected by the explosion. Just the article is an example that goes to show how disastrous exposure to radiation can be. The picture of the child who was affected by the explosion is a great image of how devastating the event was.
Thomas Fraire
Nuclarwarefare has honestly had no positive effects on society. It’s just caused tragedy among so many people and frankly is a shame these weapons were created. Seeing that child and the impact it had on him is tragic and heartbreaking, seeing how negatively it is our hurting our society. This article was extremely well written, and although it was a gloomy topic, I enjoyed it.
Clarissa Bustamante
This article was very informative to the reader. I always never that radiation could cause a lot of harm to health issues. It is unbelievable how many problems were brought upon and how serious they were. It is scary to think that an explosion like this could happen again because there still is nuclear plants. I never realized that 600,000 people were affected from this radiation explosion; that is a very large amount. Overall thus article was very interesting and well written.
Lisa Varela
This article was filled with lots of facts! I knew that exposure to radiation can cause serious health issues, however, I had no idea that the problems were so many and so serious. No wonder there is always such a precaution when it comes to radiation exposure. The fact that someone who was exposed to radiation can pass it down to their offspring is scary, not only are they effected but also future generations. I did not know that exposure to radiation changes ones genetic make up is terrifying! Great article!
Gabriela Serrato
This is one of many subjects that I have been wanting to learn more about, so thank you for taking a dive into this subject. It is so scary and unbelievable the way these people were effected because it seems like a horror movie. I have heard other things about this topic, but I am sure there are just cruel rumors about people that still reside there. It is sad that the people effected are still being talked about in ways that are harmful. Especially because these people did nothing to so this to themselves, they are victims.
Valeria Hernandez
Briana Myers talks about one of the most tragic man-made disasters in human history. The Nuclear disaster of Chernobly was a sad and painful event in Russian history. The article is informative regarding the primary and secondary consequences of Nuclear exposure. She provides readers about the DNA damage people acquire and other illnesses. However, I wish the author would have included more information about the cause of the explosion.
Samman Tyata
Great article. I really liked the way how you have shaped you article. It was interesting to read that an estimated of 600,000 people were exposed to the radiation. Moreover, it’s upsetting to read that people not only suffered from radiation sickness, but also passed on the health problems to the future generation. Furthermore, I got to know about Chernobyl through you article which was something new for me. To sum it up, it was an informative article.
Alejandra Mendez
I had never heard of this Chernobyl disaster, but it is very saddening. I can’t imagine having to witness the explosions happen like Dr. Belokon did and then have to see the people affected by the explosions as well. It is also very sad to know that even if those in the explosion did not die of their injuries or health issues, they more than likely passed on those health issues to their children which would then pass it on to their children and so on. I would imagine that some affected probably chose to not have children at all due to the risk of them having health complications because of the exposure to the radiation in the explosion.
Benjamin Voy
What a horrific incident. I was obviously aware of what happened on April 25th however I was not aware of the actual number of affected people and didn’t realise it was so many. Its awful that so many generations were effected several years after the actual incident itself. A very well written article that captures the occurrence well.