Exposure to radiation is a part of everyday life. Just going outside exposes you to low levels of ionizing radiation from the sun, and you can't even eat some foods without 'exposure' to radiation (albeit in tiny quantities).
But you should probably thank your lucky stars that you don't live anywhere near any of these most radioactive places on the planet.
And so, without further ado, here are some of the world's most radioactive places. The following list is in no particular order and is not exhaustive.
1. Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Plant, Japan is one of the world's most radioactive places
When a 9.1 magnitude earthquake caused a tsunami in 2011, it overwhelmed the existing safety features of the Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Plant and caused the worst nuclear power plant disaster since Chernobyl.
Although the plant did survive the initial earthquake, the resulting tsunami was more than twice as powerful as the plant was designed to tolerate. This event caused the plant's seawater pumps — designed to keep the reactors cool during the shutdown — to fail.
This led to the plant's three reactors leaking radioactive material as well as spillovers of the plant's contaminated wastewater — all escaping into the Pacific Ocean.
The nuclear plant was completely shut down, but massive amounts of radioactive waste still spilled into the environment. It is estimated that it will take four decades to completely decommission the power plant.
2. Chernobyl, Pripyat, Ukraine is also pretty radiated
In April of 1986 one of the worst, and most famous, catastrophic nuclear power plant accidents shocked the world. The event occurred during a late-night safety test at the plant that was meant to simulate a station power-failure.
This led to the actual deactivation of the plant's actual safety systems, leading to a massive steam explosion and an open-air graphite fire. The fire sent plumes of radioactive materials high into the atmosphere, creating dangerous fallout across the USSR and parts of Europe.
It is estimated that over five million people in the former USSR alone were exposed to radiation, and there have been higher than normal rates of some cancers and other diseases in this group, on top of the high death rates in those charged with cleaning up the site. Today the site immediately surrounding the former plant remains one of the most radioactive places in the world.
3. The Polygon, Semiplataninsk, Kazakhstan is another radiation polluted area
You might not have heard of this one, but it is one of the most radioactive places in the world. The Polygon was used by the Soviet Union as one of their main nuclear weapon testing sites during the Cold War.
It has been estimated that around 450 nuclear tests occurred here between 1949 and 1989. The full impact of radiation exposure on nearby residents was hidden for many years by Soviet authorities and has only come to light since the test site closed in 1991.
4. Another radiation zone to avoid is the Hanford Site, Washington, USA
The Hanford Site in Washington, USA is another of the world's most radioactive places in the world. During the Cold War, it was the United States' main Plutonium production facility for their nuclear weapon arsenal.
Plutonium for around 60,000 nuclear weapons was produced here, including the batch used in the "Fat Man" bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki in 1945. Although decommissioned, it still holds around 60% of the high-level radioactive waste (by volume), it's currently managed by the US Department of Energy.
The vast majority of the production waste has been buried underground, but large areas of groundwater have since become contaminated.
5. The Siberian Chemical Combine, Seversk, Russia is another place with high levels of radiation
The Siberian Chemical Combine is a nuclear production facility in Seversk, Russia. It was one of the production facilities used to produce weapon-grade nuclear products for the Soviet nuclear weapons program.
After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the facility stopped production of Plutonium and highly enriched Uranium, and is today a major site for the storage and handling of weapons-grade nuclear materials.
Today, the facility supplies Russia's low-enriched uranium fuel needs and enriches reprocessed uranium for foreign customers. It is also one of the largest sites for the storage of low and intermediate level nuclear wastes stored via deep-well injection.
6. Zapadnyi Mining and Chemical Combine, Mailuu-Suu, Kyrgyzstan
Mailuu-Suu in Kyrgyzstan, unlike other sites on this list, was neither a nuclear testing facility, production facility, or power station, but rather a rich source of uranium.
Throughout the Cold War, a large mining operation was set up by the Soviet Union, and large amounts of Uranium ore were excavated from the area. Heavily contaminated waste mining products were buried around the excavated areas, but significant amounts were left above ground.
The region is also prone to seismic activity, and any disruption of the containment could expose the material or cause some of the waste to seep into rivers, contaminating water used by hundreds of thousands of people.
For more details please watch the video below-
No comments:
Post a Comment