Home Random Page


CATEGORIES:

BiologyChemistryConstructionCultureEcologyEconomyElectronicsFinanceGeographyHistoryInformaticsLawMathematicsMechanicsMedicineOtherPedagogyPhilosophyPhysicsPolicyPsychologySociologySportTourism






Text 1. Three Mile Island

The nuclear power station accident at Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania, USA on 28 March 1979 was the first acknowledged large-scale nuclear disaster.

The accident began with the failing of water-cooling system. After this, things began to go wrong. The four operators on duty had to make split-second decisions based on inadequate information. A crucial warning light was covered by a paper tag. Another apparently failed to operate. They were faced with events that were outside their normal training or experience. Within three hours, radiation from the damaged fuel was “shining” – beaming through the 8-inch steel walls of the reactor vessel and the 4-foot-thick walls of the containment building.

After the alarm was sounded, increasing numbers of nuclear experts were rushed to Three Mile Island. The scientists’ helplessness in the face of the threatened catastrophe became apparent to the governmental and media representatives who were following the situation closely.

The people living around the plant were badly affected by the disaster. More than twenty anti-nuclear groups sprang up, and vigorously opposed the reopening of the other nuclear unit at the plant. It eventually did reopen, however, in October 1985. During its first month of operation, the plant suffered two leaks of radioactive gas.

The death rate among elderly Americans surged in the three years after the incident. Evidence from official US health statistics showed an additional 50.000 to 130.000 deaths, mainly in surrounding states. It was alleged that there might have been a connection between low-level radiation release and suppression of immune system.

Text 2. Chernobyl

The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power station in the Ukraine on 26 April 1986 has been described as the worst-ever disaster in the world. A sequence of operational errors resulted in an explosion that blew the roof off reactor ¹ 4, hurling radioactive debris into the air, and starting an enormous fire. Radioactive clouds trailed from the stricken plant, polluting more than 20 countries up to 2.000 km away. It is difficult to project the number of deaths from the accident, as estimates vary from a few thousand to hundreds of thousands of people: what can be said with certainty is that Chernobyl-related deaths will continue to occur for the next 50 years. In September 1986, the USSR calculated the cost of disaster to the Soviet economy at $2 billion; by 1988, the projected cost had increased to $14 billion. The eventual total cost over the years may be as high as $200 billion.

The Chernobyl plant was one of the best in the country, with efficient operational staff. It contained safety features not found in certain Western installations, including substantial steel and concrete containment walls round the reactor; modern control equipment, including sensors and measuring equipment made in Western Germany.

According to the detailed analysis presented by the USSR to the International Atomic Energy Authority in August 1986, human error was largely responsible for the Chernobyl accident.



There were immediate casualties. It two days about 300 patients were sent to Moscow hospitals. Doctors had to divide the patients into three groups: those who were going to die, those who might live with treatment, and those who did not need immediate care. The middle group received priority attention, but surgeons needed to operate cautiously, as the affected people had absorbed so much radiation that internal organs, blood and urine had become radioactive. Within 10 days 130.000 people were evacuated.

At the plant itself the first task was to stop the fire spreading to the other units. This was achieved by the extraordinary heroism on the part of the firefighters, working in the areas they knew to be radioactive. Many died as a result. More will perish from long-term effects of radiation exposure. Only on the 10th day, the radioactive release was stopped.

Scientists predict that during the next 50 years there would be up to 60.000 extra cancer-related deaths, 1.000 birth defects and 5.000 cases of genetic abnormality as a result of the Chernobyl accident, with about 40% of the deaths occurring in Russia and some countries of the former USSR. Other contaminated European countries will also suffer.

Specialists agree that another Chernobyl-type disaster is inevitable while present technology is operated by humans. Every reactor design has advantages and disadvantages compared to the others. The lesson of Chernobyl is that all nuclear reactors contain within themselves the capacity for enormous environmental disaster.

Exercise 8.8

Render the following text in English.


Date: 2016-01-14; view: 594


<== previous page | next page ==>
NONRENEWABLE FOSSIL FUELS | Los orígenes
doclecture.net - lectures - 2014-2024 year. Copyright infringement or personal data (0.007 sec.)