The Effects of the Chernobyl Accident on International Actions Concerning Nuclear Power
Early in the morning of April 27, 1986, the world experienced its largest nuclear disaster ever (Gould 40). While violating safety protocol during a test, Reactor 4 at the Chernobyl power plant was placed in a severely unstable state, and in a matter of seconds the reactor output shot up to 120 times the rated output (Flavin 8). The resulting steam explosion tossed aside the reactor’s 1,000 ton concrete covering and released radioactive particles up to one and a half miles into the sky (Gould 38). The explosion and resulting fires caused 31 immediate deaths and over a thousand injuries, including radiation poisoning (Flavin 5). After the accident more than 135,000 people were evacuated from their Ukrainian homes, but the major fallout occurred outside of the Soviet Union’s borders. Smaller radioactive particles were carried in the atmosphere until they returned to earth via precipitation (Gould 43). The Soviets quickly seeded clouds to prevent rainfall over their own land, so most of the radioactivity burdened Western Europe, Scandinavia, and the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans (Flavin 12). This truly international disaster had far reaching effects; some of these were on health, the environment, social standards, and politics.
As the radiation settled over Europe, it had many effects. Since the Soviets did not alert anyone, Sweden, and to a lesser extent Poland, were the first nations to detect the radioactive cloud (Gould 40-41). By May 3 it had made its way all the way to Northern Scotland, and was also moving down into Eastern Europe (39). As radioactive particles dropped to the Earth’s surface, they were utilized by living orga...
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Chernobyl (chĬrnō´byēl) is the uninhibited city in north Ukraine, near the Belarus boundary, on the Pripyat River. Ten miles to the north, in the town of Pripyat, is the Chernobyl nuclear powerstation, site of the worst nuclear reactor disaster in history ("Chernobyl", Columbia Encyclopedia). To specify, On April 26, 1986, Unit Four of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor exploded in Ukraine, injuring human immune systems and the genetic structure of cells, contaminating soils and waterways. Nearly 7 tons of irradiated reactor fuel was released into the environment—roughly 340 million curies. Included in the release were radioactive elements with a half-life of 16 million years. Yet, we humans cannot defe...
Wal-Mart business model hinges on a simply notion, to provide product and service to customers when and where they want them. This way of thinking defines the company as an innovator, searching for ways that will not only perpetuate their firm grasp on the retail industry, but also provide their consumers with low-cost options for products and supplies. The Wal-Marts supply chain is a global dynasty, it is known for being effective and efficient, technologically advanced, and logistically sound. These principles are some of the reasons Wal-mart is regarded as the top supply chain in the retail industry. They have distribution center located in a multitude of countries, this practice lends itself to have their products closer to the consumers, which allows the warehouse center to turn its total inventories over 8 times per year (Saporito, 2013). The supply chain is very successful at ensuring the lines of communication work properly throughout the entire network. Having suppliers that understand and communicate throughout each segment chain and share data are strategies Wal-Mart uses to manage its chain. To achieve this, Wal-Mart has its inventory replenishment at the center o...
Chernobyl was the greatest nuclear disaster of the 20th century. On April 26th, 1986, one of four nuclear reactors located in the Soviet Union melted down and contaminated a vast area of Eastern Europe. The meltdown, a result of human error, lapsed safety precautions, and lack of a containment vessel, was barely contained by dropping sand and releasing huge amounts of deadly radioactive isotopes into the atmosphere. The resulting contamination killed or injured hundreds of thousands of people and devastated the environment. The affects of this accident are still being felt today and will be felt for generations to come.
Wal-Mart employs three basic beliefs which are respect for the individual, service to their customers, and striving for excellence (Hayden, 2002, p. 2). Wal-Mart’s corporate management strategy involves selling high quality and brand name products at the lowest price possible. In order to keep low prices, the company reduces costs by the use of advanced electronic technology and warehousing. It also negotiates deals for merchandise directly from manufacturers, eliminating the middleman. Wal-Mart’s new slogan is “save money, live better” (Wal-Mart Stores, n.d., p. 1). According to the company’s website, “saving money is a means of helping our customers live better. By offering the best possible prices on the products our customers need, we can help them afford a little something extra” (Wal-Mart Stores, n.d., p. 1). For each strategy that Wal-Mart promotes in flyer ads or television commercials, they measure the return on investment from these promotional strategies. If a strategy does not have a return on investment of a certain percentage in sales, those strategies are revamped or discarded. Backward expansion strategy is another key to Wal-Mart’s success. Unlike other retail stores, Wal-Mart opens their stores in a small town first before entering into metropolitan areas. “Wal-Mart spreads out like molasses from its Arkansas base by constructing new stores strategically located near distribution hubs and smaller towns, rather than leapfrogging across the nation like the other retailers” (Harper, 2004, p. 2).
In conclusion, the Chernobyl disaster was immensely destructive and the impacts will continue affecting the European population for hundreds of years to come. These impacts are seen changing the lives of humans and animals in the contaminated zone. By utilizing various primary and secondary sources it is evident that the Chernobyl catastrophe in 1986 is most definitely significant. Unfortunately, radioactive waste can be hard to control and dispose of making it overwhelmingly powerful and widespread. Overall, Chernobyl has created a lasting legacy of how dangerous nuclear power is. (Chemistry in Context)
March 1994. Smirnov, Yuri, and Vladislav Zubok. “Nuclear Weapons after Stalin’s Death: Moscow enters the H-Bomb Age.” Cold War International History Project.
Since the 7th grade, I have been a huge fan of the famous French-inspired realist and expressionist, Edvard Munch. His work is so full of passion and pain as well as shock and sadness. By gazing into the gloriously deep world of emotion he created, art lovers both young and old are amazed and drawn in.
The two paintings under discussion are by two famous artists of the 20th Century. They are Edvard Munch and Francis Bacon. Their paintings are based on the era of expressionism, where most painters were breaking from impressionism, which was embraced by the paintings of the 19th Century (Carl 47). Impressionism was based on paintings that only touched on the superficial objects, and not going in depth to explain the emotions around the paintings. Edvard Munch and Francis Bacon embraced expressionism to express subjective emotions, not just the objective part.
However, for most individuals, the most attractive factor is that Columbia University successfully provides quality experiences for its students in various aspects, especially through Fu Foundation.
"Ten years after Chernobyl: What do we really know?." International Atomic Energy Agency. International Atomic Energy Agency, n.d. Web. 31 Mar 2011.
In 2011 there is a city in Japan called Fukushima that had a nuclear meltdown and it was tragic, but there are people living there now 4 years later. Today there is no one that lives in Chernobyl the population is 0, however Fukushima's population is 283,145 and it still has radiation. This tells us that the Chernobyl meltdown was far more disastrous than the Fukushima meltdown. Chernobyl at this time was part of the Soviet Union which means it was part of a communist state. If you live in a communist state that means that it was more keep secret from the world. So when the meltdown happened there the world knew that it happened but they didn't know how bad it was and how bad it was for the
Hooks, B 2003, 'Teaching and Living in Hope', Teaching Community, Routledge, New York and London, pp. 1-12
As Russia has industrialized in an attempt to compete for power and wealth, they have exploited an enormous amount of their natural resources. As a result, Russia is now dealing with a degrading environment, infrastructure issues and the various repercussions of their pollution. One major issue that Russia is dealing with is the nuclear damage from the Chernobyl nuclear reaction explosion. This explosion occurred in 1986 and has caused devastation, which continues to impact Russia’s environment almost 30 years later (Nurlybaev, & Maslyaev, 2011). The Chernobyl nuclear accident occurred in Ukraine and caused large quantities of radioactive particles spread over Russia. While this explosion was an accident, it affected over 500,000 people and continues to cause radiation and health problems today (2011). This explosion has impacted and contaminated some of Russia’s natural resources and will continue to do so until Russia begins to find a way to impose more environmentally friendly practices.
Haley, David S., Jr. The Coming Age of Solar Energy. New York: Harper & Low, 2004. Print.