The nuclear era began with the barbaric bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But mankind has nevertheless learned to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, and now a large number of nuclear power plants have been built in the world. Accidents at nuclear facilities do not happen very often, but they cause great alarm among ordinary people. This is especially true for Japanese citizens.
Lighthouse scandal
In August 1945, the United States of America dropped two nuclear bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Thus, they initiated the great nuclear race. The USSR - a former ally, and now enemy number 1 - actively joined in it. For this purpose, a city was built with the romantic name Chelyabinsk-40. Lavrenty Pavlovich Beria himself was put in charge of the project. Everyone - engineers, scientists, technicians - spoke of Beria with great respect, because he was rooting with all his heart for the success of the project, tried to delve into all the details and always came to the rescue in a difficult situation., In June 1948, the first nuclear reactor, codenamed A -1 reached its design capacity, which was a great achievement, since the order to build the reactor was issued only in April 1945. But since 1949, a radiochemical plant has been operating in Chelyabinsk-40,which produced weapons-grade plutonium called "Mayak". Thus, everything necessary for the implementation of the project to create an atomic bomb was ready. But, thank God, in addition to the military, peaceful use of nuclear energy was found, and the plant also began to supply fuel for nuclear power plants.
It was a time when people took a simpler life and radioactive waste was poured into the nearest river, and the factory chimney filled the entire neighborhood with its unique aroma. In addition, conversations about the danger of nuclear radiation were strictly prohibited at the enterprise, and employees worked without proper protection. Such behavior of officials, in principle, can be explained by the fact that then the phenomenon of radiation and its effects on the body had not yet been properly studied, and the terms and plans were burning. Subsequently, many of the pioneers in the development of the nuclear industry experienced serious health problems. Soon they began to think seriously about safety. Filters were installed on the pipe, improved protection was developed for the employees, and the waste began to be poured into the endless lake Karachay, which was then mothballed. Since the 50s, especially high-level waste was buried in special containers, which were a steel cylinder in a concrete jacket. A pit was first dug under such a "cylinder", into which a container with a substance was lowered and another meter of turf was poured on top. According to the calculations of the engineers, such a system could not fail. The tanks were securely and firmly fixed.
But on September 29, 1957, one of the containers exploded. Two neighboring ones rushed after, and windows were knocked out in buildings within a radius of 3 kilometers. But this turned out to be only a small fraction of the damage caused. A huge cloud of radioactive elements soared up 1-2 kilometers. According to the calculations of scientists who studied the consequences of the disaster, up to 20 million curies had accumulated in it. However, the worst thing was in the composition of the radioactive release. Its main element was cesium-137, which has a half-life of 30 years. This means that the radioactive contamination of the area will last longer and with more serious consequences. For comparison, in the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the main element was iodine-131, the half-life of which is 8 days. The radioactive cloud from the exploded cisterns spread over 300 kilometers in length and 5-10 kilometers in width and was named the East Ural Radioactive Trail (EURT). Alas, the authorities were silent about the catastrophe for many years, and the local residents, meanwhile, were sick and dying of bone marrow cancer, since radioactive cesium affects this area of the human body especially strongly. The accident ranked 6th out of 7 possible on the international scale of nuclear events. But you need to be aware that this incident occurred at the dawn of the atomic era. Time passed, technologies developed, and protection against failures also improved, but still it could not always cope with the mighty forces of nature.and the locals, meanwhile, were sick and dying of bone marrow cancer, since radioactive cesium affects this area of the human body especially strongly. The accident ranked 6th out of 7 possible on the international scale of nuclear events. But you need to be aware that this incident occurred at the dawn of the atomic era. Time passed, technologies developed, and protection against failures also improved, but still it could not always cope with the mighty forces of nature.and the locals, meanwhile, were sick and dying of bone marrow cancer, since radioactive cesium affects this area of the human body especially strongly. The accident ranked 6th out of 7 possible on the international scale of nuclear events. But you need to be aware that this incident occurred at the dawn of the atomic era. Time passed, technologies developed, and protection against failures also improved, but still it could not always cope with the mighty forces of nature.but still she could not always cope with the powerful forces of nature.but still she could not always cope with the powerful forces of nature.
Nature versus man
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One of the most terrible events of the 21st century took place in a country that has already suffered from the consequences of nuclear explosions. In March 2011, a powerful earthquake struck Japan. It was followed by a tsunami wave that claimed the lives of a large number of people and caused a catastrophe on a scale no less significant than the Chernobyl accident.
The Fukushima 1 nuclear power plant had state-of-the-art failure protection, a variety of diesel generators in case of blackouts, and a highly professional staff. But before the riot of the elements, and all of the above could not resist. The earthquake deprived the station of current. However, the power of diesel generators turned out to be enough to operate autonomously for some time. But, alas, the wave caused by the earthquake exceeded the height of the dam, a very considerable one. Water flooded critical facilities of the station and disrupted the operation of backup generators. The power plant was de-energized. Left without power, the plant staff found that the special instructions did not say anything about a complete power outage and the failure of all equipment with critical sensors. For this reason, the station management could not receive any reliable information about the technical condition of the facility and systems that are especially important for the functioning of the system. Everyone was frightened by the fact that together with the measuring equipment, the pumps, which removed heat from the reactor, were also de-energized. Over the next few days, it was possible to partially restore the power supply to the station and, after cooling, drown out the overheated power units. However, the heroic work of the liquidators of the disaster could not prevent two explosions in the power units, as a result of which radioactive substances were released, and the station had to be mothballed, and the population of the surrounding cities and villages in the amount of 150,000 people was evacuated. The accident at Fukushima-1 received the 7th number on the scale of nuclear events. This accident shows that even advanced technology cannot resist nature. But how to bewhen a catastrophe occurs through the fault of ordinary bungling and lack of state control, and the whole situation resembles a bad anecdote with a bad ending? …
Buckets and high technology (Accident at the Tokaimura nuclear facility)
On September 30, 1999, a fire broke out near the village of Tokai at a small Japanese factory. True, this little plant, as it turned out, belonged to a company engaged in nuclear technology, and the fire threatened to release dangerous radioactive elements. The incident was so serious in terms of possible consequences that it was reported even in our, Russian, news, and journalists were interested in the question: will Russia provide assistance to Japan in eliminating the disaster? And the speech, in fact, was about this. The JCO facility handled uranium processing. The Japanese took untreated uranium, carried out a number of now routine technological procedures with it, and the resulting product was sold to nuclear power plants as fuel or just blanks for fuel. While the factory complied with the regulations established by the state,only dealt with low-enriched uranium and followed the same technological procedures, everything was fine. The company worked with profit.
However, then things did not go according to plan. Without notifying government agencies, the Japanese company changed the uranium purification procedure. What did this mean in practice? Previously, hazardous uranium compounds were mixed with acid in a special tank and then fed into a special sump, but now these complex operations were carried out by three employees manually, in stainless steel buckets. Three men with buckets! High technology, future, isn't it ?! And it would be okay, but then the company decided to go to a new level and start processing more highly enriched uranium, which it had no right to do. Even more surprising is the way in which the country, having learned on itself what radiation and uncontrolled atom is, related to the supervision of the nuclear industry. Due to the small size of the enterprise, the inspector visited him twice a year,Moreover, these visits fell on those periods when the plant was standing and the installations were not working. This could sooner or later lead to a catastrophe. And led.
When again one of the employees manually poured the dangerous mixture into the sump, he saw a flash of blue glow. The anecdote ended there. Both the employee and his partner, who was standing nearby, felt a sudden attack of nausea. They rushed away from the sump and raised the alarm.
The chain reaction that began in the sump was suppressed for 20 hours with water and boric acid. 27 workers received small doses of radiation, and the population was evacuated from nearby houses. An insignificant amount of radioactive elements appeared in the air, which did not require the eviction of residents of the surrounding settlements for a long time. The accident was given the 4th degree on the international scale of nuclear events. The perpetrators of this incident were punished, but the most tragic fate was the fate of those three "men with buckets."
Two of them died from burns and other damage to the body. For the life of the third, doctors fought for a long time, complex operations were carried out, and his life was nevertheless saved, but his damaged health cannot be returned.
The first two cases described in this article can still be somehow justified.
The first happened at the dawn of the atomic era, when mankind was still little familiar with the consequences of radiation contamination and methods of safety and prevention. The second happened as a result of extraordinary circumstances, when no high technologies help.
And there the workers of the station showed themselves to be heroes: if not for them, the consequences would have been much more serious. But there is no excuse for what happened near the village of Tokay.
Now we know how dangerous uncontrolled nuclear forces are and what the consequences of radioactive radiation are. In these matters, negligence and carelessness are crimes. It must always be remembered that the atom is not a tamed animal, but a bloodthirsty predator, only temporarily placed in a cage.
Magazine: Historical Truth No. 2. Author: Daniil Kabakov