| Comments | "Some people still live within the zone having refused to leave or returned..."
Sean, - Это полураспад твоих 2-х башен еще 600 лет длиться будет. У нас иначе... Поиграй в Сталкер...
H-Vost (h-vost@ukr.net) | Some people still live within the zone having refused to leave or returned. Mainly older people.
There is also a new city in the area, Slavutych, built for people still working at then remaining 3 reactors at Chernobyl, and those working on the maintenance of the destroyed Reactor 4.
Other than that the whole area is becoming a sort of nature reserve, wildlife is flourishing but at unknown cost to the animals' genetic integrity. People do venture in the area as the zone is safe for short visits.
As for radioactive materials having different lifespans, it depends on what type of isotope (atom classification) is involved. Also, radioactivity in radio-isotopes decays on a half-life basis, that means that after a half-life has lapsed, the level of radioactivity is reduced by half of what it had been at the beginning of that time.
The emission of radioactivity occurs as the radio-isotope decays to become a chemically stable isotope, in laymans terms, a non-radioactive substance.
Today, the main problems are caused by Strontium 90, and Caesium 137, the latter I understand being the bigger problems especially in Belarus. There is also a much smaller level of plutonium.
Both of these substances Caesium 137 and Strontium 90 have half lives of approx 30 years. So in June 2016, radioactivity caused by both substances will be half of what it was in June 1986.
An interesting piece of trivia:
When the Caesium 137 decays, it will become Barium 137, which is chemically stable, Strontium 90 will become Yttrium 90, another radioactive substance but with a half life of just 2.67 days, which in turn will become Zirconium 90 which aslo chemically stable.
However, there is so much (Caesium 137 by far the most) that it will take the passage of several Cs137 half lives for all the areas affected to be safe. This has been estimated to be at least 600 years possibly 900.
Sean (sean_w.techie@yahoo.com) | Does anyone or anything ever venture wihin the so called 30 mile exclusion zone around chernobyl and why does certain types of radioactive material have such a long lifespan.
george (freejafa1@hotmail.com) | | | | Add comment | |
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