1986: Like in every morning, I was awakened by my parents to get ready for school in late April 1986. The news were on the radio, and the newspaper spread over the kitchen table. Even at that age, I was able to read very well, although relatively slowly. In spite of objections, I was sent off to school, although I'd rather stay at home to catch up with these new words "nuclear reactor" and "radiation".
At the Forsmark NPP, Uppland, Sweden, they'd registered abnormal readings of radiation. Personnel went through the usual control as they signed off for the day, but the alarm set off. They were asked to double check, but with the same results. 600 were evacuated from Forsmark, but only shortly after, the alert was aborted.
The initial suspicion was that -most likely- Soviet Russia, or even the U.S, were testing nuclear missiles on an atmospheric level, but soon enough, analysists at Forsmark could determine that these increased levels of radiation was neither due to that, nor any malfunctions of their own power plant. The key was Caesium 137. In order to determine where this came from, there was a charting of the winds, coming from the south-east, and thus Poland was the first country to be contacted by Swedish authorities. Poland had no nuclear power plants, so the search continued.
Shortly after the query, the Soviet Union admitted an accident in Ukraine.
Sweden received approximately 5%, a relatively light amount, of the Caesium downfall which was due to the winds
concentrated to the northern areas of Jämtland, Västerbotten and Västernorrland, but also the regions of Uppland and Gästrikland were contaminated. As Ceasium 137 has a half life of 30 years, after which beta decay transforms it to the short lived Barium isotope 137m, the risks to inhabitants and environments of mentioned areas is close to non existent today. Scandal media have been looking for evidence to confirm a higher rate of cancer cases in Sweden since the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, but the truth is that such a thing cannot be confirmed because the downfall reaching Sweden and the amount of it, was never in any direct way harmful to humans
In other places, and from many different aspects, Chernobyl has, 25 years later, still only just begun with a drastic raise of thyroid cancer frequency of Ukraine and Belarus, an unidentified number of birth defective children and the risks of Reactor 4; those still remaining, and those of the future.
At the Forsmark NPP, Uppland, Sweden, they'd registered abnormal readings of radiation. Personnel went through the usual control as they signed off for the day, but the alarm set off. They were asked to double check, but with the same results. 600 were evacuated from Forsmark, but only shortly after, the alert was aborted.
The initial suspicion was that -most likely- Soviet Russia, or even the U.S, were testing nuclear missiles on an atmospheric level, but soon enough, analysists at Forsmark could determine that these increased levels of radiation was neither due to that, nor any malfunctions of their own power plant. The key was Caesium 137. In order to determine where this came from, there was a charting of the winds, coming from the south-east, and thus Poland was the first country to be contacted by Swedish authorities. Poland had no nuclear power plants, so the search continued.
Shortly after the query, the Soviet Union admitted an accident in Ukraine.
Sweden received approximately 5%, a relatively light amount, of the Caesium downfall which was due to the winds
concentrated to the northern areas of Jämtland, Västerbotten and Västernorrland, but also the regions of Uppland and Gästrikland were contaminated. As Ceasium 137 has a half life of 30 years, after which beta decay transforms it to the short lived Barium isotope 137m, the risks to inhabitants and environments of mentioned areas is close to non existent today. Scandal media have been looking for evidence to confirm a higher rate of cancer cases in Sweden since the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, but the truth is that such a thing cannot be confirmed because the downfall reaching Sweden and the amount of it, was never in any direct way harmful to humansIn other places, and from many different aspects, Chernobyl has, 25 years later, still only just begun with a drastic raise of thyroid cancer frequency of Ukraine and Belarus, an unidentified number of birth defective children and the risks of Reactor 4; those still remaining, and those of the future.
A journey to the Chernobyl Zone added further to the insight of the role of relevance that the disaster at Chernobyl still plays and will continue to play for a long time ahead, but these days the full story is rarely told. Returning to home after the Chernobyl expedition, I was inspired to continue working on the subject; using new knowledge to proceed with my research, put it on display and make it available for the public.
On a local level, my plan is to create an exhibition trying to cover as many aspects of Chernobyl as possible. These are short term plans that will be put into action in the immediate future and I've created this blog for reports and to display my work in process. I hope you will follow it with interest.
On a local level, my plan is to create an exhibition trying to cover as many aspects of Chernobyl as possible. These are short term plans that will be put into action in the immediate future and I've created this blog for reports and to display my work in process. I hope you will follow it with interest.
thank you for making this blog. i have a big interest in the chernobyl disaster and came upon your blog. it is interesting to read and it is written in a very captivating way. you have put a lot of work in it! great job and thanks once again for sharing it!
SvaraRadera