A report on the air quality of the most radioactive place on our planet. Chernobyl is a city in northern Ukraine, near the border with Belarus. It is best known for the catastrophic nuclear accident that occurred at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in April 1986. The accident, which was caused by a failure in the plant's safety systems, released a large amount of radioactive material into the atmosphere, resulting in the evacuation of over 100,000 people and the deaths of several plant workers and emergency responders.

1. Air Quality Report Amritanshu Raj
pc :Openstreet map API.
Air quality issues and solution:
Chernobyl
─
A report on the air quality of most radioactive place on our planet.

2. 1
Overview
Chernobyl is a city in northern Ukraine, near the border with Belarus. It is best known for
the catastrophic nuclear accident that occurred at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in
April 1986. The accident, which was caused by a failure in the plant's safety systems,
released a large amount of radioactive material into the atmosphere, resulting in the
evacuation of over 100,000 people and the deaths of several plant workers and
emergency responders.
The Chernobyl disaster is considered one of the worst nuclear accidents in history. It
resulted in a significant release of radiation, which caused numerous health problems
for those who were exposed to it. In the years following the accident, a "sarcophagus"
was built around the damaged reactor to contain the radioactive material, and a large
exclusion zone was established around the plant to prevent people from entering the
area.
Air pollution sources
1. The Chernobyl disaster resulted in a significant release of radioactive material
into the atmosphere mainly as aerosol and particulate matter, which formed a
cloud that drifted over parts of Europe. The cloud was carried by the wind and
spread radioactive particles over a wide area, affecting countries such as
Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia, as well as parts of Scandinavia and Western
Europe.
2. The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986 released radioactive
substances – including iodine, caesium, strontium, and plutonium – into the
atmosphere. All 4 are dangerous for human health and can cause cancer if
inhaled excessively or minutely but for prolonged times.
3. The particulate matter settled in the nearby forests where any disturbance like
forest fire causes the radioactive to increase in the atmosphere.

3. 2
4. Due to the absence of humans in the city, the forest tree leaves pile for the whole
year and in summers frequent fire incidents bring the air quality down of
Chernobyl and nearby areas.
5. seasonal forest fires, which typically occur in spring and summer, can release
radiation trapped in the upper layers of soil around the nuclear site. Lyman said
that tree roots have also taken up radioactive cesium, which could “get liberated
in a plume of smoke from the fires.
A forest fire in the Chernobyl exclusion zone being photographed from an aircraft.
pc : The Washington Post.
6. Pollen can cause allergic reactions in some people, while air pollution can have a
range of harmful effects on health, including respiratory and cardiovascular
problems. Pollens bring down the air quality of Chernobyl specially in the spring
season when a spike in radioactivity in air is also observed.

4. 3
Consequences
1. Air-borne particles from the compromised Soviet Reactor 4 have significantly
undermined air quality and life expectancy across Europe, making the disaster in
Ukraine the largest air pollution disaster in modern history.
2. A 10km ring of forest around Chernobyl was killed by acute radiant poisoning
carried on the air. Known as the Red Forest, the trees were bulldozed and buried
along with animal carcasses in these forests.
3. The risk projections suggest that by now Chernobyl may have caused about
1,000 cases of thyroid cancer and 4,000 cases of other cancers in Europe,
representing about 0.01% of all incident cancers since the accident. (This is just
one source exposure i.e air).
4. The 1986 Chernobyl disaster sent clouds of nuclear material across much of
Europe making air quality hazardous across Europe from Belarus to Sweden.
5. According to Swiss monitor IQAir, Kiev had the highest level of air contamination
of major world cities, ahead of Hangzhou, Chongqing and Shanghai in China in
April 2020 due to forest fires in Chernobyl.

5. 4
6. Radiation levels near the Chernobyl nuclear reactor spiked to 16 times above the
normal level as two fires tear through the irradiated forests around the infamous
facility in 2020.
Forest fire in chernobyl exclusion zone (PC: NY Times)
Smog in Kiev due to wildfires in Chernobyl (PC:Reuters)

6. 5
Solutions
1. A New Safe Confinement is 108 metres high and 162 metres long, and has a
span of 257 metres and a lifetime of a minimum of 100 years has been
operationalised in 2017. The arch-shaped structure weighs some 36,000 tonnes.
It will contain radiation and radioactive particles to directly mix into the
atmosphere.
The new confinement building for chernobyl. Pic credit: BBC
2. Composting the organic content getting accumulated in the Chernobyl forest
fires can also help reduce incidents of wildfires.
3. Controlled forest fires can be used to control the spread of uncontrolled wildfires.
Controlled—or prescribed—burns combined with ecological thinning are a proven
way to restore Oregon's dry forests. By managing the natural process of fire on
the landscape, instead of preventing it, we can improve habitats for native plants
and animals and reduce the risk of out-of-control wildfires.

7. 6
4. Introducing new species of plants which do not shade leaves in springs and do
not produce pollen can also be used as an alternative. As the invasive species
will replace the natural contaminated forests more vulnerable to wildfires.
Sources
Chernobyl's Legacy: Health, Environmental and Socia-Economic Impacts and
Recommendations to the Governments of Belarus, Russ
1986-2016: CHERNOBYL at 30
What HBO’s Chernobyl didn’t show you about air pollution | by Dyson on
Chernobyl: Radioactive air pollution released by massive forest fires, officials warn |
Euronews
Forest fires near Russian-held Chernobyl nuclear plant raise radiation fears, Ukraine
says - The Washington Post
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10.1086/688873
Environmental contamination and other consequences of the Chernobyl reactor
accident
Chernobyl forest fire triggers radiation spike around nuclear plant - National |
Globalnews.ca