It will be 20,000 years before Chernobyl is a safe place to live again;
When people talk about Chernobyl it means two things. Firstly, it’s a city in Northern Ukraine — an Eastern European country bordering Russia. Ukraine is nicknamed, the, ‘bread basket of Europe’ because its rich, black soils help farmers grow many grain and oil crops to sell right around the world.
However, nowadays when people talk about Chernobyl, they tend to mean the nuclear disaster which happened there in April 1986, at a time when Ukraine was part of the USSR (the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics). A sequence of mistakes made at the city’s nuclear power station, led to two explosions which sent huge, deadly waves of radiation into the city. Thirty two people were killed straight away, though many more died later on as the poison was swept far and wide by the winds.
The people of Chernobyl were told to leave their homes and the entire area was sealed off. The woods close to the plant were called the Red Forest because all the trees turned bright red and died. It will be a staggering 20,000 years before Chernobyl is a safe place to live again; today it is largely a ghost town. However, somewhat strangely, the area is now thriving with wolves, deer, beavers, eagles and bears.
What is Nuclear energy?
It’s a type of energy used to make electricity in power stations, from an element called uranium. There are good and bad sides to using nuclear energy. At present, it’s the most reliable way to make big amounts of energy and it is kinder to Mother Nature than burning coal or natural gas. But concern about radiation leaks means that containing nuclear waste safely, is an expensive, tricky process. Nuclear energy has also been used to make weapons and bombs, though on the other side of the coin, nuclear medicine can help people with serious illnesses.
The future of energy…
This is a hot topic! At the moment, nuclear power is a non-renewable energy which means it will eventually run out. But there are "green", renewable energy sources such as wind power, solar power or hydro power which can be harnessed to make electricity. Can you think of any other energy sources? What might their benefits or drawbacks be?
By Deborah L. Caine (Whyzz writer)
Sources:
https://www/brittannica.com/event/Chernobyl-disaster
http://www.livescience.com/39961-chernobyl.html
http://science.howstuffworks.com/nuclear-power4.htm
http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/pros-and-cons-of-nuclear-energy.php
Up for discussion
What are the different ways in which our energy consumption is a threat to people & planet?
What could be solutions to minimize those risks?
In your opinion is Nuclear power good or bad?