A documentary account of the Chernobyl disaster of April 1986, this is based on interviews with many of the participants. Shcherbak considers Chernobyl to be the most important event in the USSR since World War II and felt compelled to go and live there and interview those involved.
A Chernobyl survivor and the New York Times bestselling author of The Gates of Europe "mercilessly chronicles the absurdities of the Soviet system" in this "vividly empathetic" account of the worst nuclear accident in history (Wall Street Journal). On the morning of April 26, 1986, Europe witnessed the worst nuclear disaster in history: the explosion of a reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Soviet Ukraine. Dozens died of radiation poisoning, fallout contaminated half the continent, and thousands fell ill. In Chernobyl, Serhii Plokhy draws on new sources to tell the dramatic stories of the firefighters, scientists, and soldiers who heroically extinguished the nuclear inferno. He lays bare the flaws of the Soviet nuclear industry, tracing the disaster to the authoritarian character of the Communist party rule, the regime's control over scientific information, and its emphasis on economic development over all else. Today, the risk of another Chernobyl looms in the mismanagement of nuclear power in the developing world. A moving and definitive account, Chernobyl is also an urgent call to action.
An examination of the causes and consequences of the explosion at the nuclear power plant at Chernobyl, looking at the events which led up to the accident, the lessons for the future of the industry and featuring first-hand accounts by survivors, rescue workers and eye witnesses.
Five main objectives were assigned to the EC/CIS scientific collaborative programme: improvement of the knowledge of the relationship between doses and radiation-induced health effects; updating of the arrangements for off-site emergency management response (shot- and medium term)in the even of a future nuclear accident; assisting the relevant CIS Ministries alleviate the consequences of the Chernobyl accident, in particular in the field of restoration of contaminated territories; elaboration of a scientific basis to definite the content of Community assistance programmes; updating of the local technical infrastructure, and implementation of a large programme of exchange of scientists between both Communities. The topics addressed during the Conference mainly reflect the content of the joint collaborative programme: environmental transfer and decontamination, risk assessment and management, health related issues including dosimetry. The main aims of the Conference are to present the major achievements of the joint EC/CIS collaborative research programme (1992-1995) of the consequences of the Chernobyl accident, and to promote an objective evaluation of them by the international...
Describes the incidents and possible causes connected with such nuclear accidents as Chernobyl, Windscale, and Three Mile Island.
Describes the events and aftermath of the 1986 nuclear reactor explosion in Chernobyl and discusses its long term effects and the future implications for nuclear power plants.
Chernousenko's "Chernobyl" is a first-hand account of the events and facts surrounding this global disaster: The first part of the book includes an absoring account of what happened at Chernobyl nuclear power station on April 26, 1986, as well as a review of the rectification measures taken so far. The author re-analyzes the causes of the accident, confronting us with startling details about critical design faults in the (RBMK) reactors of the Chernobyl type. - The second part deals with the long-range and long-term effects of the catastrophe on man and environment, including a wealth of yet unpublished data along with proposals for future action. - Physicist Vladimir Chernousenko is eminently qualified to write on this topic: In 1986 he was appointed representative of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences in Chernobyl and the "Zone". He worked in the so-called Special Zone (10-km radius around the reactor) where he received large radiation doses. He was co-author of the internal Government Report for President Gorbachev and the Supreme Soviet. Until 1991 he was scientificdirector of the 30-km exclusion zone. - This book is a vital step towards establishing the truth about the causes...
The nuclear accident at Chernobyl on April 26, 1986 had a heavy impact on life, health, and the environment. It caused agony to people in the Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia and anxiety far away from these countries. The economic losses and social dislocation were severe in a region already under strain. It is now possible to make more accurate assess
Winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize 2018 'An insightful and important book, that often reads like a good thriller, and that exposes the danger of mixing powerful technology with irresponsible politics' - Yuval Noah Harari, author of Sapiens 'As moving as it is painstakingly researched. . . a cracking read' - Viv Groskop, Observer The gripping story of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, from an acclaimed historian and writer On the morning of 26 April 1986 Europe witnessed the worst nuclear disaster in history: the explosion of a reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Soviet Ukraine. The outburst put the world on the brink of nuclear annihilation. In the end, less than five percent of the reactor's fuel escaped, but that was enough to contaminate over half of Europe with radioactive fallout. In Chernobyl, Serhii Plokhy recreates these events in all of their drama, telling the stories of the firefighters, scientists, engineers, workers, soldiers, and policemen who found themselves caught in a nuclear Armageddon and succeeded in doing the seemingly impossible: extinguishing the nuclear inferno and putting the reactor to sleep. While it is clear that the immediate cause of the...
The International Chernobyl Project was launched in 1990 at the request of the Government of the USSR to assess the environmental and health situation in the areas of the Soviet Union contaminated by the Chernobyl accident and to evaluate the measures taken by the authorities to safeguard the health of the population still living in these areas. Some 200 scientists from 25 countries and 7 international and regional organizations participated in this Project. An International Advisory Committee was set up to oversee the Project and approve its conclusions and recommendations. Almost 50 missions to the USSR were carried out in order to obtain the best available information and to make an independent assessment of the situation. The results of the International Chernobyl Project are presented in two main documents: The full Technical Report, which contains, in addition to the conclusions and recommendations of the Project, all the relevant methodologies and the data upon which they are based, and the Overview, which gives a summary of the methodologies presented in the Technical Report together with the conclusions and recommendations. While the Technical Report is intended for the...