Radiation and Environment

Radiation Ecology- Radiation ecology is the phenomenon of study of effects of radiation on organisms.
Radioactivity- Radioactivity is the phenomenon of spontaneous emission of , and - rays by the naturally occurring elements like Uranium, Polonium, Radium, etc.
These elements constantly undergo spontaneous change with the emission of, and - rays. The term radioactivity was coined by Madam Curie in the year 1896 A.D.
Specific Background:
•  And - rays were discovered by Henri Becquerel.
• -rays were discovered by P.Villiard in 1900.
• X-rays were discovered by W. Roentgen in 1895.
• Thorium was discovered by Schmitt in 1898.
• Henry Becquerel in 1895 took up the study of phosphorescent element Uranium i.e. Potassium-Uranium Sulphate.
International Organization working in the field of Radiation:
▪ International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP).
Chernobyl Disaster
On April 26, 1986 a series of explosion in one of the reactors in a nuclear power plant in Ukraine (Northern part of the Soviet Union) blew the massive roof off the reactor building and flew radioactive debris and dust high into the atmosphere. A huge radioactive cloud spread over much of the Belarus, Russia, Ukraine and other parts of Europe and vertically encircled the planet.
The consequences of this disaster according to UN studies caused by poor reactor design and human error:
• By the year 2000, an estimated 8,000 people had died prematurely from radiation-related diseases because of the accident. The Ukrainian Health Ministry says that 125,000 people had died and 3.5 million people have become ill because of the accident.
• Almost 400,000 people had to leave their homes; most were not evacuated until at least 10 days after the accident.
• Some 160,000 Sq. Km. about the size of state of Florida of the former Soviet Union remains highly contaminated with radioactivity.
• Despite the danger between 100,000 & 200,000 people either illegally remained or has returned to live inside this highly radioactive zone.
• More than half a million people were exposed to dangerous levels of radioactivity. About 2,000 people have been diagnosed with thyroid cancer and 8,000-10,000 additional thyroid cancer cases are expected between 2000 & 2010.
• The total cost of the accident will reach at least $358 billion many times more than the value of all the nuclear electricity ever generated in the former Soviet Union.
The environmental refugees evacuated from the Chernobyl region had to leave their professions behind and say good-bye to-(I) lush green wheat fields and blossoming apple trees, (II) Land their families had farmed for generations, (III) Cows and goats that would be shot because the grass they ate was radioactive(IV) their radioactivity poisoned cats and dogs. They will not be able to return without exposing themselves to potentially harmful doses of ionizing radiation. In 2002 after 16 years of the accident-the Chernobyl power plant remains one of the most dangerous places on the Earth.
Chernobyl taught us that a major nuclear accident anywhere is a nuclear accident everywhere.