South Bend, May 1, 1986
Shrouded in Secrecy
The countries in the West react disturbed and with indignation to the way the Soviet Union is keeping the lid on the nuclear accident at Chernobyl. No accurate measurements or data on the present state of the fire are made available. Nor is it possible to find out whether the nuclear fire has been brought under control, or whether radioactive rays are still penetrating the atmosphere. The West depends on the measurements in Sweden where radioactivity has increased tenfold to draw conclusions on how intensive the radioactive emissions in Chernobyl really are. The radioactive cloud has now also spread over Poland and Russia to Siberia. Here in the United States, there is apprehension that the radioactivity could in reduced form drift over Alaska as far as Washington state and Nevada.
May 24, 1986
The Repercussions
Only from letters from relatives and acquaintances as well as from newspaper clips was it possible to learn how much the repercussions of Chernobyl affected the everyday life of people in Austria and the Federal Republic. Above all, it was the radioactive contamination of the soil that led to protective measures. People were advised against eating dairy products of all kinds. Especially affected are high-alpine and glacier regions in the Eastern Alps, which otherwise are preferred recreational areas. Eating fresh-collected mushrooms is out of the question. Also, the stock of game is considered contaminated. What should agriculture do, which suffers most from the repercussions? Ways of behavior have developed of which nobody up to now has thought of. Should one mow the lawn? or, fill up the swimming pool with water? In any case, people were cautioned against letting children play outdoors in sandpits.
Addendum
[The repercussions of the accident in the nuclear power plant at Chernobyl of April 1986 were thoroughly examined in the years that followed. The International Atomic Energy Agency (lAEA) in Vienna submitted a 4-part report on the matter in 1991. As it was established later on, 31 persons were instantly killed by the explosion. Nearly 600,000 soldiers who were on duty for the clean-up operation remained exposed to higher levels of radiation. By 1990, a million people still lived in a contaminated environment, which on the long term could lead to cancerous diseases. According to estimates by the Ukrainian government, about 8,000 casualties can be attributed to the catastrophe of Chernobyl. The destroyed reactor was temporarily covered with a thick casing of concrete. However, as the power supply of the Ukraine depended on Chernobyl, the two reactors that were still running remained in operation. Urged by the international community, especially by the United States, the government of the Ukraine agreed in 1994 to close the plant. The nuclear power plant at Chernobyl was shut down for good on December 15, 2000.]