Chernobyl does anyone remember it?

[Pete999]

Just been watching the attempts to contain the Radio Active fallout from Chernobyl, I was in Moscow when it expoded, and can recall the monitoring of all foodstuffs coming into where I worked, worrying to say the least, as all or most of our food came from Finnland. I often wonder it the accident caused my illnesses, but not to worry sheyet happens, anyone else got any experiences of this disaster?

 

[SparkyChick]

I remember it, I think I was studying for my GCSEs at the time.

I was in Moscow in 1995/96 and we were told even then to avoid things like mushrooms because they apparently absorb radiation quite well.

 

[davesparks]

I don’t remember it happening as I was only two weeks old at the time, but I remember studying it at school and am still quite interested in the subject.

They have recently completed the new containment over reactor 4, but as far as I know there is still no plan in place to do anything with it.

You can book tours of the Chernobyl site if you fancy a holiday there, just don’t forget the lead underpants!

 

[littlespark]

My wife swears her grandmothers rose bushes died off that year... and she contracted luekemia.
She didn't live in Russia though. Scotland

 

[Pete999]

I was in Moscow when it went up, and can recall having all our food monitored, trouble was the Ivans kept it secret for Days to save face, typical enclosed society, fed on BS and kept in the dark, bit like our Government when you analyze it isn't it?

 

[Deleted account]

My wife swears her grandmothers rose bushes died off that year... and she contracted luekemia.
She didn't live in Russia though. Scotland

I nearly put a smiley face for funny, but thought it may have been a bit tasteless if it wasnt a joke.

 

[Pete999]

I nearly put a smiley face for funny, but thought it may have been a bit tasteless if it wasnt a joke.

Not really funny Pete, we still don't know the effects of radiation, and what sicknesses it causes I wouldn't discard anything, too close for comfort for me .

 

[Octopus]

I seem to remember some of the fall out affected parts of the UK ..

 

[Pete999]

I seem to remember some of the fall out affected parts of the UK ..

Not much

 

[Squid]

Not much

375 British Farms/Farmers where affected as the land was tainted nit sure the amount now in this day and age, did the Ruskies pay compensation to anyone?

Shame the wind didn't carry all the radiation inland to Russia........

 

[Octopus]

This is quite an eye opener if true:

 

[nunthe wiser]

I’ve read in the past about the radiation being detected on hills up my way. Always wondered about it getting past on through the food chain. There always seems to be poor kids born with various diseases, this persons got cancer that ones got leukaemia. It makes you bloody wonder.

 

[camerabloke]

Makes me worry cuz I was in Moscow when it went meltdown

 

[Pete999]

Makes me worry cuz I was in Moscow when it went meltdown

Now that's a councidence, so were me and yer Mum.

 

[buzzlightyear]

I see some times the kids from Ukraine( Chornobyl) ,on holiday at a place where bright lights are shown every year .and its not the north star .what a shame .the generosity of uk.

 

[camerabloke]

Weird that eh?

 

[buzzlightyear]

Now that's a councidence, so were me and yer Mum.

could you not think that you taken kiddiewinks with you Pete.

 

[camerabloke]

What do u mean buzz

 

[Adam W]

I was still at primary school at the time and although I heard it mentioned nobody bothered to explain to me what was going on.
I have played Fallout 3, Fallout 4 and Fallout New Vegas though.

 

[Gavin John Hyde]

An ex girlfriend was from Moldova. Her parents moved there from belarus before the collapse of the soviet union.
Belarus had it bad from the fall out. My ex's cousins would regularly go to moldova for a few weeks each year as the time away from the home town across the border from ukraine would do wonders for there health apparently. As the radiation is still above normal and there is a abnormal rate of bone and birth deformities in there town in belarus. Polina my ex said her parents told her about it and they were kept in the dark for weeks before learning the truth. Apparently in belarus the authorites slaughtered loads of live stock and food was hard to come by amd had to be shipped in from further afield as most of the stuff growing in belarus and ukraine was too contaminated. It really led to bad poverty that was hidden from the west. her dad decided to seek a job in Moldova in a steel wire factory. He got the job and thats when they left ukraine with my ex born in moldova in 92. Polinas dad use to say though that it wasnt chernobyl that they worried about now but asbestos that most of the soviet high rises in chisinau were full of.

 

[buzzlightyear]

Makes me worry cuz I was in Moscow when it went meltdown

Now that's a councidence, so were me and yer Mum.

What do u mean buzz

no kin then

 

[FatAlan]

My old man loved it as we had loads of cheap Welsh lamb. Always wondered why I glow in the dark

 

[Darkwood]

You want to try VR tour of Prypyat if you cannot go to the real thing, it is extremely disturbing seeing a ghost town taken back by nature.

 

[SparkyChick]

You want to try VR tour of Prypyat if you cannot go to the real thing, it is extremely disturbing seeing a ghost town taken back by nature.

Agree with that, I've watched loads of videos about it on YouTube. Wouldn't like to get dumped there on a dark night.

 

[buzzlightyear]

You want to try VR tour of Prypyat if you cannot go to the real thing, it is extremely disturbing seeing a ghost town taken back by nature.

didn't
Jeremy mouth o mighty Clarkson do a stint their for top crunch gears !

 

[pirate]

I visited Loch Buie on the Isle of Mull a couple of years later, and it was clear that some fallout had had an effect there on the livestock and the ground-cover.

 

[Kamikaze]

For anybody that is remotely interested!
Since the 1st atomic test at Alamogordo in New Mexico, there have been more than 2000 other tests. There have been over 200 small to large accidents at nuclear facilities since we have started tinkering with the atom. Currently there are more than 400 nuclear reactors in operation around the world. Not counting the ones floating around in space powering satellites etc. 65 new ones are under construction and another 165 in the planning stages.

Radiation is different from things like poison in that it does not accumulate within the body. What determines your odds of survival from radiation poisoning is primarily your livers ability to break down the poison. The reason not everyone dies at the same dose is because of the variations of each person's body. As the dosage is increased the odds of surviving becomes smaller and smaller until you reach the limit of what the body can process. At a certain point you will have a dosage that no human can survive. Most low dosed ionization radiation poisoning presents itself in the form of cataracts in the eyes, smaller brains, malformation of sperm or complete sterility. So if your best buddy down below is rotted away at an alarming rate, you now know why.

Now, with radiation it's not a matter of health, but purely an exercise of luck. Alpha, beta, and gamma radiation all damage the body in the same way. When a particle or a wave collides with your DNA in such a way that the cell can not survive or it disrupts sequencing then that will cause cancer. We're exposed to the cosmic background radiation every day and each individual particle/wave of radiation in your everyday life is no more or less dangerous than the radiation from a nuclear bomb. Imagine you're laying on a football field and someone in the stands is blindly throwing needles onto the field. It's unlikely that the needles will hit you, and even less likely that the needles would kill you. However if you have say 100000 people each throwing needles onto the field it becomes much more likely that you will get hit by one and likewise more likely that one of the needles will hit you in such a way as to be fatal. Because this is a matter of luck and not a matter of health there is no hypothetical limit to the number of needles that can be thrown onto the field, or the amount radiation a person can survive. Your odds of survival may be infinitesimally small, but there will never be a point where the odds of dying are exactly 100%. Caveat to that being the point where the radiation itself imparts so much energy into your body that you are physically torn apart or burn up. But if you're ever in that position there are probably a dozen or so other things which would have already killed you, so I wouldn't worry about it.

And just as a little side note. The technology for the MRI scanner was developed at CERN, and uses radioactive material that comes straight out of nuclear facilities. And if they weren’t using it inside the scanner at the hospitals, it would be deemed nuclear waste.

 

[haptism]

To survive radiation fallout in the event of a nuclear attack, all you need is a door and a bucket !

 

[Richard Burns]

And just as a little side note. The technology for the MRI scanner was developed at CERN, and uses radioactive material that comes straight out of nuclear facilities. And if they weren’t using it inside the scanner at the hospitals, it would be deemed nuclear waste.

I would agree with the statistically affective nature of ionising radiation.

However MRI scanners use a technology adapted from a chemical analysis technique, Nuclear magnetic resonance, this is the application of high power magnetic fields and an oscillating radio frequency to affect the energy state of the spin of protons, what part of this contains nuclear material?
An MRI scan does not emit or use ionising radiation as part of the measurements.

 

[Darkwood]

Just following on from Kamikaze's post .. Radiation poisoning is actually an oxymoron as he goes on to explain, to add to his post and the points he made - when our bodies cells divide and multiply they do so with an inbuilt timer for there own demise IE a death switch, this ensures the coded sequence is kept as good as it can be and genetic errors in the dividing are not continuously repeated - radiation is a double whammy as it can damage the genetic code and also switch off the natural kill switch of cells which leads to many annoying or life threatening issues.
Cancer is just that and is caused by several factors from the solar radiation (skin cancer often a result), environmental factors, chemical/toxin exposure through to good old genetic flaws passed down to you.
Many people see cancer as some form of disease they catch but it is more so there own bodies genetic code been damaged and replicating the damage until it is either stopped or leads to ones demise.

 

[Pete999]

Just following on from Kamikaze's post .. Radiation poisoning is actually an oxymoron as he goes on to explain, to add to his post and the points he made - when our bodies cells divide and multiply they do so with an inbuilt timer for there own demise IE a death switch, this ensures the coded sequence is kept as good as it can be and genetic errors in the dividing are not continuously repeated - radiation is a double whammy as it can damage the genetic code and also switch off the natural kill switch of cells which leads to many annoying or life threatening issues.
Cancer is just that and is caused by several factors from the solar radiation (skin cancer often a result), environmental factors, chemical/toxin exposure through to good old genetic flaws passed down to you.
Many people see cancer as some form of disease they catch but it is more so there own bodies genetic code been damaged and replicating the damage until it is either stopped or leads to ones demise.

Thanks for that interesting lecture DW lol

 

[Darkwood]

Woke up early pete, was bored just occupying my time before I jumped up and went to work... yep! sliding off topic I guess.

 

[Pete999]

Woke up early pete, was bored just occupying my time before I jumped up and went to work... yep! sliding off topic I guess.

Are you boasting ? jumped up, I have to be prised up, either that or the fear of peeing myself, the bed has a better glue than that Gorilla stuff they flog in the DIY outlets.

 

[ruston]

Not an expert by any stretch but one of the cancers I had was viral.
5% of the population have this virus but they do not know what triggers it to become cancerous.

 

[elsparko]

nevermind chernobyl, who remembers fukishima? the almost unsolvable disaster

 

[Pete999]

nevermind chernobyl, who remembers fukishima? the almost unsolvable disaster

Chernobyl may not be as disasterous as Fukishima, but it was misery for thousands of people, and still is to this day, so please don't dimiss it so lightly.

 

[elsparko]

Chernobyl may not be as disasterous as Fukishima, but it was misery for thousands of people, and still is to this day, so please don't dimiss it so lightly.

i still remember videos of farmers having to scrape the soil off their land and stuff, im not saying it wasnt a disaster, but it was contained relatively quickly, fukishima is a whole different beast though, reactors built on the shoreline of a tsunami risk area, what could go wrong went wrong, were never going to recover those reactor cores that are slowly making their way through the earths crust

the millions of gallons of sea water contaminated then stored in towers that leak heavily into the ocean , some of the waste water is pumped directly into the sea

we know enough about radiation to know that this is not beneficial for any living being, have a look at a documentary about the wildlife post chernobyl

 

[elsparko]

someone should point all the scrap metal thieves to all the metal sitting around in pripyat? a fortune to be made there shirley, first one to the elephants foot wins!

 

[Kamikaze]

What part of this contains nuclear material?
An MRI scan does not emit or use ionising radiation as part of the measurements.

I haven’t got a Scooby Doo. A scientist friend once upon a time told me that and I’ve never had a reason to doubt her. I’m more than happy to reclassify my comment from “True” to “Probably True” until I’ve had a chance to check out that statement. I still see her from time to time, so if I remember, I will ask her for more information. I’ve been in the CERN archives but this was fruitless. The research is probably stored under some other name.

 

[Squid]

I visited Loch Buie on the Isle of Mull a couple of years later, and it was clear that some fallout had had an effect there on the livestock and the ground-cover.

Must have been a radiation leak in the 17th century, looking at the locals.........

 

[Deleted member 104825]

The Trawsfyndd nuclear plant in Anglesey had the leak alarms go off and all hell broke loose as they dropped the boron rods to shut down the reactor, took a while after the reactor was cold to realise it was an external sensor and not them!.
Sheep were kept on the hills solely to harvest the fallout for many, many years and finally disposed of as radioactive waste.

 

[Squid]

Many people see cancer as some form of disease they catch but it is more so there own bodies genetic code been damaged and replicating the damage until it is either stopped or leads to ones demise.

Dr Paul Clayton's book Health Defence is an interesting read and talk about Flavonoids etc etc.

 

[pirate]

My parents retired to the Clyde coast, near Faslane. The MOD, after repeated requests, published a local area map, showing the likely fallout area in the event of an "incident"...the thick black line weaved in and out, basically tracing the outside walls of all the houses and other buildings in the vicinity..basically saying all would be fine if you stayed indoors!
For those of you who remember the late, great Warren Zevon...
"I'm putting tinfoil up on the windows.
Laying down in the dark to dream
I don't wanna see their faces
I don't wanna hear them scream..."

For those who would like to know, the track is called "Splendid Isolation"

and for those who want to listen further, have a good laugh at
"Porcelain Monkey" and your life may be enriched, in a small way!

 

[grantr37]

.

 

[Wilko]

For those of you who remember the late, great Warren Zevon...
"I'm putting tinfoil up on the windows.
Laying down in the dark to dream
I don't wanna see their faces
I don't wanna hear them scream..."
For those who would like to know, the track is called "Splendid Isolation" and for those who want to listen further, have a good laugh at
"Porcelain Monkey" and your life may be enriched, in a small way!

Hi Pirate - yes another WZ fan here. As an old Cold Warrier his L,G&M track always held special interest for me. Not to mention Thompson guns.

 

[Darkwood]

@grantr37 - You wouldn't be a green activist by any chance?

I ask because of the way you present your message here, although I don't disagree with the core of what you say, there are many unsubstantiated claims and statements in your post.

You clearly have a personal interest in this but with it you seem to have adopted some conspiracy theory, if indeed there are so called hundreds of accidents (assuming dangerous to the environment and health) and you end up getting bumped off for whistle-blowing hence we don't hear about it then has can you corroborate this claim and why didn't Wiki-leaks expose any off these claims?
You suggest what happened in Chernobyl is no longer mentioned and been buried, this is far from the truth, it has ongoing active cleanup regularly reported on, it was across the news last year with the installation of the biggest ever shell manoeuvered over it, Prypyat has had decades of extensive clean-up it is now low enough risk that it has tourist tours, it has had several documentaries made on it and is even now the focus of the new VR technology like I mentioned earlier, how is any of this trying to hide or forget the problem?
Nuclear power is a stepping stone to what could one day be unlimited energy with clean nuclear fusion, the technologies that is fueling this comes from many areas of science including what we learn from Nuclear Fission plants, the accidents, the leaks the successes and failures are all a contributing factor to building better and safer technologies, you cannot skip over all this and expect the same end result. The biggest and most concerning risk to health from radiation pollution is from coal fired power stations that release far more radiation into the atmosphere then any Nuclear power plant and up to 100x more pollution into the local surroundings than any nuclear plant, and that is on top of the gasses they release choking the atmosphere.

 

[Squid]

Yep, I remember it,

 

[Moley]

I'm suprised no one has mentioned why you can't wear 'y-front' underwear in Russia - Chernobyl fallout.

 

[pirate]

SWD, isn't that an pld TV advert for Ready-Brek?

 

[Squid]

SWD, isn't that an pld TV advert for Ready-Brek?

Sush......