Radiation Pollution

FAMOUS INCIDENCES OF

RADIATION POLLUTION:-

RADIATION POLLUTION:

•“any form of ionizing or non-ionizing

radiation that results from human activities”

SOURCES OF RADIATION POLLUTION:

• Nuclear explosions and detonations of nuclear weapons .

• Defense weapon production .

• Nuclear waste handling and disposal .

• Mining .• Nuclear accidents .

CYCLE OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS:

1.Chernobyl: Russian nuclear power plant explosion

• On april 26,1986.• flawed Soviet reactor design as well

as mistakes made by the untrained operators of the plant

• An uncontrolled build-up of heat - meltdown of the reactor core -combustion of graphite moderator material .

• released more than 50 million Curies of radioactivity.

• More than 50,000 people exposed to high dose of radiation.

The Reactor After the Explosion

After the explosion, most of the plant is still standing. Some might think from this picture that the disaster wasn’t all that bad, but what makes the Chernobyl disaster the worst in history is the sheer volume of radioactive materials that where spewed across the continents.

Radiations emitted:

plutonium Cancers and blood disorders

Cesium 137 Absorbed by muscles

Iodine 131

Thyroid cancer

Strontium 90

leukaemia

AFTERMATHS:• Stillbirths, miscarriages,

infant mortality• Thyroid cancer • Psychological diseases

correlate with levels of radioactive pollution

• Cataracts being a common disease

• Urogenital illnesses• Diseases of cardiovascular

system and blood• Dental diseases in

children

Children of ChernobylA father holding his son

before radiotherapy

A child with a scar from brain surgery

an orphan

Mentally handicapped children in abandoned

houses.

Chernobyl Memorials

A memorial to the firefighters who died after trying to stop the fires that

engulfed the plant. They weren’t even told there was

radioactivity.

A memorial to all of those who died at Chernobyl

2.The gulf war :-• In August 1990 Iraqi

forces invaded Kuwait, starting the Gulf War in which an allegiance of 34 nations worldwide was involved.

• Radiations emitted from oil spills in Persian gulf.

• Casualities were from 35000 to 60000

AFTERMATH:

Gulf war syndrome

•Chronic fatigue

•Aching muscles

•Skin rashes •Memo

ry loss

•miscarriages

•Birth defects

3.The love canal chemical waste dump:

• In 1920 Hooker Chemical had turned an area in Niagara Falls into a municipal and chemical disposal site.

• In 1953 the site was filled and relatively modern methods were applied to cover it.

• Blocks of homes and a school were built and the neighbourhood was named Love Canal.

AFTERMATH:

Toxic carcinogenic TCDD

Continous illness

Birth defects

Skin irritant

narcosis

Respiratory distress

Renal damage

4.Bhopal: the Union Carbide gas leak

• December 3, 1984 a poisonous gas cloud escaped from the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide factory.

• The cloud contained 15 metric tons of methyl isocyanate, covering an area of more than 30 square miles .

AFTERMATH:

•OEDEMA •CHRONIC DISEASES

•NERVOUS SYSTEM FAILURE

•LIVER AND KIDNEY DISEASES

•CANCER

6.THREE MILE ISLAND:• The accident at

Three Mile Island in 1979 .

• caused by a combination of equipment failure and the inability of plant operators to understand the reactor's condition.

• Uranium emitted in atmosphere.

AFTERMATH:

• Radiation form of iodine.• Affects thyroid gland.• Children have much

smaller thyroid gland.• More energy per gram =

higher dose.• Milk is the main route of

contamination.

Iodine - 131

INCREASE IN INFANT DEATH hypothyroidi

sm

METALLIC TASTE

HAIR LOSS ERYTHEM

A

7.FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR PLANT:• 11 MARCH,2011.2:46 M.9.0 Giant

Earthquake hit the North East part of Japan• Fukushima nuclear power plant was

damaged by the Tsunami• 8,649 dead • 13,262 missing • 350,000+ evacuees

Fukusima

radiation pollution•Chernobyl happened during the atomic fission,

• Fukushima shutdown its atomic fission immediately.Meltdown hasn’t happened at Fukushima yet. It is NOT similar to Chernobyl

•More like Three Mile Island accident–Loss of Coolant Accident, LOCA–Still in dangerous condition but under control–Residents were exposed to 0.01-1mSv

8.Seveso: Italian dioxin crisis

• On July 10, 1976 an explosion occurred in a TCP reactor in the chemical company in Meda, Italy.

• A toxic cloud escaped into the atmosphere containing high concentrations of TCDD, a highly toxic form of dioxin. 

AFTERMATH OF RADIATION POLLUTION:

• chloracne

•Thyroid malfunctioning

•Genetic impairments

•Sensitivity of immune system