Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station Accident Research Articles

НОВІ ВИКЛИКИ ВИМУШЕНОЇ ВНУТРІШНЬОЇ ТА ТРУДОВОЇ МІГРАЦІЇ В УКРАЇНІ

The paper provides insights into the scale, intensity, the major trends and forms of internal and labour migration which has become an integral and critical attribute of social realia of modern Ukrainian society. The key factors affecting the settings and nature of forced internal and labor migration in Ukraine in 2014–2017 have been identified along with its essential vectors in the context of increased competition in the labor market, military actions in the Donbas region and the economic crisis. The study reveals the effects from forced internal labor migration on the national employment policy and explores the changes in the demand for qualified professionals. It is specified that forced internal and labor migration in Ukraine over 2014–2017 is the most large-scale internal migration since the Chernobyl nuclear power station accident in 1986. According to the Ministry of social policy of Ukraine, there were about 1.5 million of internally displaced persons (IDPs) registered in March 2018. Despite the ongoing war, occupation and life hazard, the number of registered internally displaced persons has decreased in the past two years. However, the government and public organizations mark permanent and increasingly intensified bilateral migration. The key factors affecting the forced migration process are the following: the complexity of gender and age ratio: there is a significant prevalence of women – 62% of IDPs, about 24% of IDPs are able-bodied adults (among them 70% are women), 59% of IDPs are pensioners, 13% children and 4% of people with disabilities. Another specific factor is unemployment – by the beginning of 2018 up to 60% of migrants were unemployed against 30% in 2015. According to the International organization for migration data, as of March 2018, the unemployment rate of IDPs amounted to 48%, with 70% of able-bodied IDPs have higher education. It is demonstrated that about 3% of Ukrainians refer to internally displaced persons which makes the largest group of IDPs in Europe. However, in the last two years the number of registered IDPs and people who apply for social assistance is reduced. A range of unresolved issues in the area of legal social protection of forced migration and the need for a theoretical understanding of the legal social processes in the modern realia of social protection of refugees and internally displaced persons have been discussed, emphasis is put on a dramatic increase in the number of legislative and other normative legal acts, the prolonged absence of the vital laws regulating social and legal protection of refugees and internally displaced persons.

Can we examine safety culture in accident investigations, or should we?

Considerable attention has been paid to safety culture since the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power station accident. Researchers have studied it and companies and regulators have applied it to enhance safety. However, few research studies have been conducted that establish a link between safety culture and operational or process safety and methods used to assess safety culture, primarily questionnaires, have been criticized on methodological grounds. One way to enhance system safety is through applying the lessons of investigations of accidents of process safety to remediate organizational shortcomings identified in the investigation. Rather than attempting to assess safety culture directly, examining company actions and decisions directly after an accident can allow investigators to make inferences about safety culture at the time of the accident. This study suggests a method to directly examine the role of organizations in accidents by identifying the nature of organizational errors and describing the logic that can link these errors to accident causation. The application of this method in several accident investigations is described.

Ultrasonography survey and thyroid cancer in the Fukushima Prefecture

Thyroid cancer is one of the major health concerns after the accident in the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power station (NPS). Currently, ultrasonography surveys are being performed for persons residing in the Fukushima Prefecture at the time of the accident with an age of up to 18 years. Here, the expected thyroid cancer prevalence in the Fukushima Prefecture is assessed based on an ultrasonography survey of Ukrainians, who were exposed at an age of up to 18 years to 131I released during the Chernobyl NPS accident, and on differences in equipment and study protocol in the two surveys. Radiation risk of thyroid cancer incidence among survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and preliminary estimates of thyroid dose due to the Fukushima accident were used for the prediction of baseline and radiation-related thyroid cancer risks. We estimate a prevalence of thyroid cancer of 0.027 % (95 % CI 0.010 %; 0.050 %) for the first screening campaign in the Fukushima Prefecture. Compared with the incidence rate in Japan in 2007, the ultrasonography survey is predicted to increase baseline thyroid cancer incidence by a factor of 7.4 (95 % CI 0.95; 17.3). Under the condition of continued screening, thyroid cancer during the first fifty years after the accident is predicted to be detected for about 2 % of the screened population. The prediction of radiation-related thyroid cancer in the most exposed fraction (a few ten thousand persons) of the screened population of the Fukushima Prefecture has a large uncertainty with the best estimates of the average risk of 0.1–0.3 %, depending on average dose.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00411-013-0508-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The Clinical Picture of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Its Treatment in Different Types of Traumatic Exposures

The effects of different extreme events were studied in relation to two types of stress - combat (military) stress and stress imposed by the Chernobyl nuclear power station accident. Totals of 30 combatants and 33 clean-up workers were investigated and treated. The characteristics of the initial stage of stress reactions and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were assessed in terms of the major diagnostic criteria in each group. The overall conclusions were: that the responses to different stresses involved the development of similar pathological states, including all the main symptoms of PTSD. However, these were accompanied by significant phenomenological differences at the level of syndromes depending on the nature of the stressors (traumatic events). This report provides detailed assessment of the questions of the complex treatment of patients using psychotherapy and medications, as well as approaches to rehabilitation and social support.

If the unlikely becomes likely: Medical response to nuclear accidents

On the anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear power station accident, the authors look at how public concern is increasing regarding the health consequences of radiation exposure—such concern, the authors write, is not shaped largely by fear of another Chernobyl, but by the potential use of nuclear weapons, improvised nuclear devices, or stolen conventional radiation sources by rogue states like North Korea and Iran and by terrorists groups like Al Qaeda. The authors, leaders of the US–Soviet medical team that responded to Chernobyl, write about their experience treating the Chernobyl victims and what lessons can be applied to future government strategies. The United States has the medical capacity to respond to a nuclear event like Chernobyl, the authors write, but an adequate medical response to a catastrophic nuclear event would be impossible. Dealing effectively with a nuclear disaster requires diverse strategies including policy decisions, public education, and, as a last resort, medical preparedness and interventions.

E11 Predicated health consequences of the Chernobyl nuclear power station accident 1986–2065

E11 Predicated health consequences of the Chernobyl nuclear power station accident 1986–2065

Thyroid consequences of the Chernobyl nuclear power station accident on the Turkish population.

The Chernobyl accident caused widespread effects across Europe and huge areas were radiocontaminated. The major impact of the accident on human health was a sharp increase in childhood thyroid carcinoma and autoimmune thyroid diseases in exposed populations. The thyroidal effects of the Chernobyl accident have been investigated in most European countries, except Turkey. The aim of the current study was therefore to determine the thyroidal consequences of the Chernobyl nuclear power station accident in a selected Turkish population. This study was designed as a sectional, area study, between October 2000 and March 2001, in two different regions of Turkey. According to the data of the Turkish Atomic Energy Authority, the eastern part of the Black Sea region was the most radiocontaminated area in Turkey at the time of Chernobyl accident, while Middle Anatolia was not seriously affected. Thus, Rize city, which is located in the eastern Black Sea region, served as a study area, and 970 adolescents, living in this region, comprised our study group (group R). On the other hand, Beypazari, which is located in Middle Anatolia, was chosen as the control region, and 710 adolescents living in this location were enrolled into the study as controls (group B). During the study, thyroid ultrasounds were performed in all subjects and thyroid volumes were calculated. World Health Organization and International Council for Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders criteria were used for the determination of goiter. Thyroid fine-needle aspiration biopsy with ultrasound guidance was performed when a nodule was detected. Blood samples for thyroid function tests and thyroid autoantibodies, and urine samples for urinary iodine excretion were collected from all subjects. Thyroid function tests were similar in both groups, but thyroid volumes were found to be higher in group B (13.93+/-5.04 vs 17.66+/-5.58 ml; P<0.001). The prevalence of goiter was found to be 28.25% in group R and 61.95% in group B (P<0.001). Thyroid nodules were determined in 6.28% of subjects in group R and 4.22% of subjects in group B (P=0.065). No malignant lesions were found in either of the regions. Although the percentage of autoantibody-positive subjects did not differ between groups (21.25% in group R vs 18.72% in group B), the mean anti-thyroglobulin level was found to be higher in group R (63.25+/-378.60 vs 51.97+/-333.32 IU/ml; P<0.001) and the mean anti-thyroid peroxidase level was higher in group B (24.14+/-219.09 vs 48.82+/-568.50 IU/ml; P<0.001). The iodine status of the selected regions was found to be significantly different (median urinary iodine excretion was 131 microg/l in Rize and 54 microg/l in Beypazari). Although there was a slight increase in nodule prevalence and thyroid antibody-positive subjects in the study group, it is hard to conclude that Turkey was affected by the Chernobyl accident. These results, at least the significant differences with regard to the prevalence of goiters between groups, may reflect the different iodine status of the selected regions.

283. Different schemes of B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) treatment in population affected by the Chernobyl accident consequences

The aim of the study was to evaluate different schemes of B-CLL therapy in population affected by the Chernobyl nuclear power station accident consequences. The 32 patients with B-CLL were treated in Hematological Department of Research Centre for Radiation Medicine in postaccidental period from 1990 to 2003. 16 men aged 42–74 years with B-CLL were studied. The absorbed dose of ionizing radiation varied from 2.8 to 12 cSv but was defined not for all persons. The treatment was started from 1 to 10 months after B-CLL diagnosis. Before B-CLL treatment the most patients had total increase of lymphatic nodes, splenomegaly, hepatomegaly, toxicopaty syndroms, high frequency of infections complications, severe anemia, thrombocytopenia, hemolytic syndrome, leukocytosis. The monoclonal population of B – lymphocytic was present in bone marrow (BM) in the typical variant of B-CLL. Diffused lymphoid infiltration, forming spots of BM necrosis with moderate resorbtion, fragmentation, lysis was found on hystology of BM threpanobioptat in all patients. B-CLL in clean-up workers of the Chernobyl accident consequences is characterized by rapid progression of the disease, and diffusion defeat of BM. It has been established that the most effective programe of treatment is the combination of fludarabine with cyclophosphamide. The complete and partial remission was achieved in 11 out of 14 cases. The treatment scheme (COP, CHOP, leukerane with prednisolone) did not led to complete remission. Our results of B-CLL treatment showed the high effectiveness of fludarabine-based therapy.

チェルノブイリ事故から１０年 健康影響評価に関わる日本の国際研究協力

チェルノブイリ事故から１０年 健康影響評価に関わる日本の国際研究協力

Fallout Radioactivity in Soil and Food Samples in the Uikraine

To estimate the level and distribution of fallout attributable to the 26 April 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power station accident in the Ukraine, we sampled several kinds of substances at Korosten, Zhitomir and at Katyuzhanka, Vishgorod, Kiev in the Ukraine, and measured the radioactivity of 137Cs, 134Cs, 90Sr, 129I, 238Pu, 239,240Pu, and the density of 127I (stable). The substances investigated were soil, dry milk, wheat, rye, drinking water, and mushrooms. Except for the mushrooms collected, which were sampled at Katyuzhanka, Vishgorod, and at Kiev, all substances were at Korosten, Zhitomir. The activity of 137Cs, 134Cs, 90Sr, 238Pu, and 239,240Pu were all higher in soil and mushrooms than in the other four substances. The activity of 137Cs was 960 and 1,210 Bq kg-1 in the two soil samples and 6,110 Bq kg-1 in the mushrooms. The activity of 134Cs was approximately 15% of 137Cs in the two soil samples while < 3% of 137Cs in the mushrooms. The activity concentration level of 90Sr as compared to 137Cs concentration was 15-31% in food samples other than mushrooms but only 1.9% in mushrooms and 1.4 and 1.2% in the two soil samples. The radioactivity ratios, 238Pu: 239,240Pu and 239,240Pu: 137Cs, suggested that the proportion of cesium radioisotopes and 239,240Pu in the soil attributable to the Chernobyl accident was approximately 100% and 10-20%, respectively, while approximately 100% of 239,240Pu in the mushrooms was attributable to the accident. The activity of 129I was small but the ratio of 129I: 127I in the two soil samples was 4.3 x 10(-8) and 1.0 x 10(-7), which is approximately 10 times larger than that in the global fallout. These results suggest that the areas where the soil was sampled are iodine-deficient and were contaminated slightly by the Chernobyl accident.

The Efficacy of Citric Acid Mycelium in the Prevention of Uptake and the Removal of Caesium137 in Sheep

The Chernobyl nuclear power station accident in April 1986, resulted in widespread deposition of radionuclides across Europe and the Former Soviet Union. The radionuclides 1-131, Cs-134 and Cs-137 are of particular concern as a potential health hazard due to their accumulation in the plant-animal-human food chain.Due to the long half life of Cs-137 (30 years), contaminated regions will take several years to return to evels prior to the accident.

Mixing between oxic and anoxic waters of the Black Sea as traced by Chernobyl cesium isotopes

The Chernobyl nuclear power station accident in 1986 released readily measureable quantities of fallout 134Cs and 137Cs to Black Sea surface waters. This pulse-like input of tracers can be used to follow the physical mixing of the surface oxic waters, now labeled with the Chernobyl tracers, and the deeper anoxic waters, which were initially Chernobyl free. By 1988, there is clear evidence of Chernobyl Cs penetration below the oxic/anoxic interface at deep water stations in the western and eastern basins of the Black Sea. This rapid penetration of surface waters across the pycnocline cannot be explained by vertical mixing processes alone. Data from profiles at the mouth of the Bosporus suggest that significant ventilation of intermediate depths can occur as the outflowing Black Sea waters are entrained with the inflowing Mediterranean waters, forming a sub-surface water mass which is recognized by its surface water characteristics, i.e. initially a relatively high oxygen content and Chernobyl Cs signal. The lateral propagation of this signal along isopycnals into the basin interior would provide a rapid and effective mechanism for ventilating intermediate depths of the Black Sea. This process could also account for the lateral injection of resuspended margin sediments into the basin interior. The temperature and salinity data suggest that the entrainment process occurs at depths of 50–80 m, mixing waters from the Cold Intermediate Layer with the incoming, denser Mediterranean waters.

Environmental risks of power generation from fossil fuels and nuclear facilities

The nuclear power industry, when considered via statistical arguments, is far less dangerous than the average ‘man in the street’ in the UK perceives it to be. To support this assertion, an elementary analysis of the risk factors associated with commonplace hazards (e.g. road accidents and smoking) is presented. The radiological risks resulting from the Chernobyl nuclear power station accident, even in the most badly affected areas of the UK and at the times of highest intensity, were much less than those due to natural background radiation. Radioactive elements occur naturally in coal and are released as a result of combustion into the UK environment via flue gases and ash in significantly greater amounts than those from nuclear power stations.

Chernobyl radionuclides in a Black Sea sediment trap.

The Chernobyl nuclear power station accident released large quantities of vaporized radionuclides, and, to a lesser extent, mechanically released small (less than 1-10 micron) aerosol particles. The total release of radioactivity is estimated to be out of the order of 1-2 x 10(18) Bq (3-5 x 10(7) Ci) not allowing for releases of the xenon and krypton gases. The 137Cs releases of 3.8 x 10(16) Bq from Chernobyl can be compared to 1.3 x 10(18) Bq 137Cs released due to atmospheric nuclear weapons testing. Chernobyl-derived radionuclides can be used as transient tracers to study physical and biogeochemical processes. Initial measurements of fallout Chernobyl radionuclides from a time-series sediment trap at 1,071 m during June-September 1986 in the southern Black Sea are presented. The specific activities of 137Cs, 144Ce and 106Ru in the trap samples (0.5-2, 4-12 and 6-13 Bq g-1) are independent of the particle flux while their relative activities reflect their rates of scavenging in the order Ce greater than Ru greater than Cs.