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Liquidator (Chernobyl)
Encyclopedia
Chernobyl disaster
The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine , which was under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities in Moscow...
on the site of the event. According to the WHO
Who
Who may refer to:* Who , an English-language pronoun* who , a Unix command* Who?, one of the Five Ws in journalism- Art and entertainment :* Who? , a 1958 novel by Algis Budrys...
, 240,000 recovery workers were called upon in 1986 and 1987 and special certificates were given to 600,000, recognizing them as liquidators.
Scope of the appellation
- Personnel of the reactors
- Yuri Korneev, Boris Stolyarchuk and Alexander Yuvchenko are the last surviving members of the Reactor No. 4 shift that was on duty at the moment of the catastrophe. Anatoly DyatlovAnatoly DyatlovAnatoly Stepanovich Dyatlov was the vice chief engineer of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, and the supervisor of the fatal experiment which resulted in the Chernobyl disaster....
, who was in charge of the safety experiment at Reactor No. 4, died in 1995 of a heart attack.
- Yuri Korneev, Boris Stolyarchuk and Alexander Yuvchenko are the last surviving members of the Reactor No. 4 shift that was on duty at the moment of the catastrophe. Anatoly Dyatlov
- The approximately 40 firefighters who were among the first to deal with the catastrophe
- A 300-person brigade of Civil DefenseCivil defenseCivil defense, civil defence or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state from military attack. It uses the principles of emergency operations: prevention, mitigation, preparation, response, or emergency evacuation, and recovery...
from Kiev who buried the contaminated soil - Medical personnel
- Various workers and military who performed deactivation and clean-up of the area
- Construction workers who constructed the sarcophagusChernobyl Nuclear Power Plant sarcophagusThe Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant sarcophagus or stone coffin is a massive concrete envelope surrounding the nuclear reactor unit 4 of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. It is designed to halt the release of radiation into the atmosphere following the Chernobyl disaster on April 26, 1986 and encase...
over the exploded reactor No. 4 - Internal TroopsInternal TroopsThe Internal Troops, full name Internal Troops of the Ministry for Internal Affairs ; alternatively translated as "Interior " is a paramilitary gendarmerie-like force in the now-defunct Soviet Union and its successor countries, particularly, in Russia, Ukraine, Georgia and Azerbaijan...
who ensured secure access to the complex - Transport workers
- A team of coal miners, who used their expertise to pump out the contaminated water to prevent its entrance into groundwaterGroundwaterGroundwater is water located beneath the ground surface in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water. The depth at which soil pore spaces or fractures and voids in rock...
- Nikolai MelnikNikolai MelnikNikolai Melnik is a former Soviet pilot known for placing radiation sensors at the Chernobyl's Nuclear Power Plant, Reactor 4, after the 1986 explosion. For his work, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union....
, Hero of the Soviet UnionHero of the Soviet UnionThe title Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society.-Overview:...
, a helicopter pilot who placed radiation sensors on the reactor
Between 1986 and 1992, it is thought between 600,000 and one million people participated in works around Chernobyl and were exposed to some level of radiation
Radiation
In physics, radiation is a process in which energetic particles or energetic waves travel through a medium or space. There are two distinct types of radiation; ionizing and non-ionizing...
. Because of the dissolution of the USSR in the 1990s, evaluations about liquidators' health are difficult, since they come from various countries (mostly Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, but also other former Soviet republics). Furthermore, the government of Russia has never been keen on giving the true figures for the disaster, or even on making serious estimates. However, according to a study by Belarusian physicians, rate of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
s among this population is about four times greater than the rest of the population. All the figures quoted by various agencies are controversial — see the main article, Chernobyl disaster
Chernobyl disaster
The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine , which was under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities in Moscow...
for more on this.
Note that the World Health Organization states that "poverty, 'lifestyle' diseases now rampant in the former Soviet Union and mental health problems pose a far greater threat to local communities than does radiation exposure."
- In April 1994, a commemoration text from the Ukrainian embassy in Belgium counted 25,000 dead among the liquidators since 1986.
- According to Georgy Lepnin, a Belarusian physician who worked on reactor #4, "approximately 100,000 liquidators are now dead", of a total number of one million workers.
- According to Vyacheslav Grishin of the Chernobyl Union, the main organization of liquidators, "25,000 of the Russian liquidators are dead and 70,000 disabled, about the same in Ukraine, and 10,000 dead in Belarus and 25,000 disabled", which makes a total of 60,000 dead (10% of the 600 000, liquidators) and 165,000 disabled.
- A UNSCEAR report places the total confirmed deaths from radiation at 64 as of 2008.
- Estimates of the number of deaths potentially resulting from the accident vary enormously: the World Health OrganizationWorld Health OrganizationThe World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
(WHO) suggest it could reach 4,000:
- A total of up to 4000 people could eventually die of radiation exposure from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (NPP) accident nearly 20 years ago, an international team of more than 100 scientists has concluded.
- As of mid-2005, however, fewer than 50 deaths had been directly attributed to radiation from the disaster, almost all being highly exposed rescue workers, many who died within months of the accident but others who died as late as 2004.
20 years after
The 20th anniversary of the catastrophe was marked by a series of events and developments.The liquidators held a rally in Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
to complain about deteriorated compensation and medical support. Similar rallies were held in many other cities of the former Soviet Union.
On April 25, 2006, a monument to Hero of the Soviet Union
Hero of the Soviet Union
The title Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society.-Overview:...
Leonid Telyatnikov
Leonid Telyatnikov
Leonid Petrovich Telyatnikov was the head of the fire department at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and led the team of firefighters to the fire at reactor number 4 which became the Chernobyl disaster...
, who was among the very first liquidators, was inaugurated in the Baikove Cemetery in Kiev.
On the occasion of the 20th anniversary the charity
Charitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
Children of Chernobyl delivered their 32nd delivery of $1.7 million worth of medical supplies to Kiev.
The liquidators who reside in Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
(some 4,200 as reported in 2006, 3,140 as of 2011) may hope for the introduction of an Estonian law for their relief after the meeting of their representatives with President of Estonia on April 26, 2006. It turns out that by the Estonian laws, the state may provide help and relief only to citizens, who are "legal descendants" of the citizens of 1918–1940 Republic of Estonia. At the same time, Russia, Belarus and Ukraine do not provide any relief to the liquidators residing abroad. The problem is tied to the fact that Chernobyl veterans are classified under the Estonian Persons Repressed by Occupying Powers Act. As of 2011 the issue has not yet been resolved.
A number of liquidators residing in Khabarovsk
Khabarovsk
Khabarovsk is the largest city and the administrative center of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia. It is located some from the Chinese border. It is the second largest city in the Russian Far East, after Vladivostok. The city became the administrative center of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia...
who were in military service were denied a certain compensation for loss of health on grounds that they were not salaried workers, but rather under military order. They have to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is a supra-national court established by the European Convention on Human Rights and hears complaints that a contracting state has violated the human rights enshrined in the Convention and its protocols. Complaints can be brought by individuals or...
.
See also
- List of Chernobyl-related articles
- Fukushima 50Fukushima 50Fukushima 50 is the alias given by the media to a group of employees at the crippled Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. Following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, a related series of nuclear accidents resulted in a serious fire at the plant's unit 4 on 15 March 2011, these 50 employees...
a similar group of workers in Japan in 2011