Explain the causes, impacts and responses to one major global pollution incident.

(10) There have been only two events to date which rate a level 7 on the International Nuclear Scale. One was Fukushima in Japan and the other is Chernobyl in the Ukraine. The Chernobyl incident, which occurred on 26th April 1986, was a major pollution occurrence, which affected more than one nation and spread across a whole continent. Chernobyl is in Northern Ukraine, 10 miles from Belarus and 80 Miles from the capital Kiev. The plant was constructed in the 1970s when the Ukraine was still part of the Soviet Union. On 26th April reactor #4 was undergoing testing which caused the power to fall too low. This led to a rise in xenon-135. Workers then shut down the coolant pumps, which caused a rapid increase in heat resulting in steam being released. An explosion then occurred and a graphite fire raged. The construction of the reactor was poor and up to 30% of the material was released. The immediate impact involved the death of 28 people, mostly firefighters known as liquidators. A further 203 were hospitalized. The North Westerly winds, which blew from the Black Sea (see map which I would annotate if I had hand written this!), carried the radioactive clouds across many parts of Europe. At first the Soviet Union denied that any radiation was leaking but measurements across Scandinavia confirmed massive increases in fallout. Since 1986 an estimated 8,000 20,000 liquidators have died 20% of these committing suicide. In total 300,000 600,000 liquidators were involved in the cleanup 30Km around the plant in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone CEZ (which today is 19miles). The impact upon neighboring Belarus was probably most severe as 70% of the fallout was here. Belarus had to evacuate 130,000 people from 20% of the land and a further 2.5 million were affected. One week after the incident 10km was evacuated from Pripyat, this increased to 30km two days later. Across Europe as the winds spread the radiation, rainfall brought it into contact with soil, which animals then ingested. In Wales and

Northern Ireland spring lamb was inedible having a further impact upon the livelihood of hill farmers in the UK as well as customer confidence. In Belarus 25% of the farmland is still contaminated and wild animal populations have also been effected too. As the CEZ was hastily implemented animals inside this area have been left mostly unaffected by human contact and the impact upon these animals is still unknown. There is some documented evidence however that some animals are thriving within the CEZ such as Moose, Wolves, Wild hose, Otters, Lynx, Boar and Bears, whilst animals associated with humans have decreased such as pigeons, mice and rats. Many rare plants have too seen an increase. The response initial to deny what happened after the explosion was critical because if the government had provided potassium iodine to the children then many of them may not have died from cancer related diseases. Immediately after the event, liquidators poured 5000 tons of sand onto the reactor. Whole towns were abandoned and farm animals and people relocated outside the CEZ. Belarus doctors noted that there has been a 100% increase in leukemia whilst 1000% increase in suicides in the containment area. Children are particularly affected as they have weaker immune systems and special holidays are arranged to take the children to areas where radiation is at its lowest so giving their bodies a chance to recover. Belarus and the Ukraine spend a lot of their budget towards medical facilities diverting funds from other necessary areas. The plant remains closed today and radiation is still a big problem. Local newspapers print radiation levels and public awareness through government restrictions and recommendations means that they know the dangers, however many have become accustomed to the dangers and dont always practice what they should.
Essay plan Pollution event must have effected more than one country Origins Global impacts Responses Temporal short term/long-term, present/future Spatial global, regional, household

Good map