We must not forget the Chernobyl disaster. What has remained from Chernobyl is waste and it is also becoming a European challenge for the future of nuclear energy. I'm not sure if it is absolutely necessary to come up with new studies. Research studies are necessary. In our energy-scarce, post-peak oil world, the alternative to reactors is mass starvation. 25 years after the catastrophe, we are well aware that its long-term consequences are still being experienced. We've come to Ukraine's Institute of Clinical Radiology. Today it still treats children with problems linked to the 1986 nuclear disaster. They are the children of 'Chernobyl's children', a new generation growing up weak and unhealthy because their immune systems do not respond. Children who live near the restricted area also come here. Among the children who live in the contaminated areas and who always eat local produce, therefore ingesting caesium, diseases of the digestive tract constitute one of the main problems. The old problems are now joined by a new threat. The old sarcophagus, built in 1986 to contain the radiation from the plant, shows signs of wear: Cracks and fissures that rain and snowmelt seep through. The international community is working against the clock to build a new protective shield. Behind me is the arch structure that will cover Chernobyl's regrettably famous reactor 4. 26 years after the tragedy the world is still footing the bill. The cost of this huge project, of which the EU is the principal donor, is estimated to be almost a billion euros. It's an altogether complex construction as it is being built in a contaminated area and requires rigorous safety measures. But at last, the project's first phase has been completed. The new cover is already 22 metres high. Raising such a structure has never been done before. So we were all a little... I wouldn't say worried but we were all anxious to see that everything we had planned on paper worked and indeed it is going to work very well. The new cover's aim is to prevent the fuel and radioactive dust that is found inside the sarcophagus being able to escape into the atmosphere or filter down into the groundwater, which in the long term could lead to contaminated rivers. The entire fuel inventory of Chernobyl is still within the old sarcophagus. This structure will insulate the sarcophagus from the environment and provide all the necessary tools to carry out the waste-management operations and the disassembly of the sarcophagus over the years to come. An area as large as Luxembourg was lost following the Chernobyl accident. This is the exclusion zone, the restricted area. Here lies the ghost town of Pripyat, evacuated after the accident. But it wasn't the only loss. Ukraine has paid a big price for the Chernobyl accident. It amounts to around 200 billion dollars in financial losses over the first two years, more than half a million people who died from disease, children who are still ill today and areas where it's not possible to grow any healthy crops to eat. Nikolay worked at the plant and was one of the liquidators who took part in the work to stop the disaster. He shows us the file which lists the 30 illnesses he is suffering from as a result of the radiation. Today he is an anti-nuclear activist. I'm trying to do everything to correct my mistake as a person who chose to carry out an activity which brought danger to society. I mean I worked with nuclear energy and that turned out to be dangerous. Contrary to what you may imagine, Ukraine does not have a strong anti-nuclear movement. In a difficult economic environment, everyday existence is a struggle.
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| News & Politics | Upload TimePublished on 14 Jan 2013 |
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