Radi ati on Poll uti on and

its consequence
What is radiation?

Radiation term applied to the emission

and transmission of energy through
space or through a material medium
and also to the radiated energy itself.
Commonly radiation refers to the
electromagnetic spectrum, which, in
order of decreasing wavelength,
includes radio, microwave, infrared,
visible-light, ultraviolet, X-ray, and
gamma-ray emissions.
Radi ati on Poll uti on and
its consequence
Radioactive elements:
• Cobalt
• Uranium
• Plutonium, etc.
Radi ati on Poll uti on and
its consequence
• Depl eted Uraniu m ( DU )
hazard:
On 2 March 2003 some 6,000
people from Hiroshima gathered
on an empty space one
kilometer from ground zero,
where the first nuclear weapon
killed hundreds of thousands
and devastated the city, to form
a message with their bodies,
which read from the sky as NO
Radiation Pollution and its consequence
Radi ati on Poll uti on and
its consequence
• Gulf War and radiation Pollution:
In 1991, Depleted uranium munitions were
first deployed during the Gulf War. The US
continued to use DU weapons of mass
destruction in Bosnia 1995,
Yugoslavia/Serbia 1999 and Afghanistan
from October 2001.
 Gulf War and radiation
Pollution
Effects of this radiation:
According to IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency)
document GC(43)/INF/20 of 29 September 1999;
radiation effects or the impact of DU in Iraq is as
following.
• various forms of cancer
• early pregnancy abortion
• deformed babies
• in addition to the after effects which may damage
hereditary genes
• and future effects of radioactive waste resulting from
radioactive aerosols due to the bombardment
• This effect may be transferred to other regions in the
country due to natural phenomena
 Gulf War and radiation
Pollution
• Long-term studies focusing on developments in
the last 11 years by Dr. Jawad Al-Ali (Basra
Hospital) and Professor Prof Husam al-Jarmokly
(Baghdad University) showed a rapidly
increasing death toll in Iraq since 1991 due to
cancer and leukemia caused by US radiological
warfare.
 Radiation Pollution and its
consequence
• Human rights it’s consequence:
The Human Rights Commission / Sub 2 1996
session, declared that DU was already
banned DU, because it is incompatible with
existing humanitarian law and qualifies as a
Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD). The UN
body declared that DU weapons and
ammunition were illegal, banned their use,
and stated that use of DU weapons
constitutes a crime against humanity.
Human rights it’s
consequence
A 2002 study of the UNCHR-Sub 2 on
(E/CN.4/Sub.2/2002/38) concluded
that in light of humanitarian law
from all sources weapons are to be
considered banned if their use:
 Human rights it’s
consequence
(a) has indiscriminate effects (no
distinction between civilians and
belligerents);
(b) is out of proportion with the pursuit of
legitimate military objectives;
(c) adversely affects the environment in a
widespread, long term and severe
manner;
(d) causes superfluous injury and
unnecessary suffering
Nuclear testing
 Nuclear testing
Nuclear weapons tests are generally classified
as
• "atmospheric" (in or above the atmosphere
),
• "underground".
• "underwater".
Of these, underground testing contained in
deep shafts poses the least health risk in
terms of fallout. Atmospheric testing which
comes in contact with the ground or other
materials poses the highest risk.
Nuclear weapons have been tested by dropping
them from planes (an "airdrop"), from the
tops of towers, hoisted from balloons, on
barges at sea, attached to the bottom of
ships, and even shot into outer space by
 Nu clear t est ing
• The first atomic test was detonated by the
United States at the Trinity site on
July 16, 1945, with a yield approximately
equivalent to 20 kilotons.
• The first hydrogen bomb, code named "
Mike", was tested at the Enewetak atoll
in the Marshall Islands on November 1,
1952, also by the United States.
• The largest nuclear weapon ever tested
was the "Tsar Bomba" of the
Soviet Union at Novaya Zemlya, with
an estimated yield of around 50
megatons.
Image: Operation_Crossroads_Baker.jpg, (One nuclear tast)
Crater from the 1962 "Sedan" nuclear test as part of Operation Plowshare. The
104 kiloton blast displaced 12 million tons of earth and created a crater 320 feet
deep and 1,280 feet wide. (Look to the size of the roads in the bottom-right of
the picture, and the observation deck at the lower-right edge of the crater, for a
sense of scale
Nu clear p owe r plant
accid ent
1. Chern obyl A ccid ent:

Chernobyl in 1999: Human error was a major factor

 Cher
Event:
nob yl Acci de nt
At 01.23 hours on 26 April 1986, An accident was
held in Unit No. 4 of the Chernobyl Nuclear
power station.
Which causes the destruction of the reactor core
and sever damage to the reactor building.
There was a release of radioactive material
from the core over the subsequent 9 days. The
accident is now known to have occurred as a
result of a test which was being carried out by
the operators.
The manner, in which the test was conducted,
including the disabling of all the safety systems
provided to protect the plant, was the
immediate cause of the accident. However,
Cher nob yl Acci de nt
Duration of release:
Enormous efforts, not to mention courage, were
expended to contain the release of active
material to the atmosphere and to ground
waters. About 5000 tones of boron carbide,
dolomite, sand, clay and lead were dumped
on top of the reactor from helicopters. As a
result, by day 5 the emissions had fallen by
90%, but later rose again since the residual
power of the fuel heated the debris to over
2000ºC,
However, by the following day workers had
managed to cool the core and missions
virtually ceased. Even so, small detectable
traces were sensed in the atmosphere for at
One of the
reactor of
Chernobyl
Which is
still
working
Cher no byl A cci dent
Effects of radiation pollution:
The exact number of dead has never been
given, but it is estimated that five million
people were exposed to radiation in
Ukraine, Belarus and Russia.
• About 30 people were killed immediately
• thousands were evacuated from the
region.

Ukraine's Health Ministry estimates that

• 3.5 million people, over a third of them
children, have suffered illness as a result
of the contamination,
• and the incidence of some cancers is 10
times the national average.
 Chernobyl Acci dent
First Deputy Health Minister Olga Bobylyova said:
• "The health of people affected by the Chernobyl
accident is getting worse and worse every year.
She told a news conference that
• the death rate among workers exposed to
radiation while cleaning up Chernobyl has been
rising.
• that the death rate among the "liquidators" - as
the group is known - was higher than among
other people apparently because they are
ageing faster.
Ms Bobylyova also said most of the deaths were caused
by
• poor blood circulation,
• cancer,
• respiratory and digestive diseases and traumas.
Effects of radiation pollution
Effects of radiation pollution
Cleaning process
 Cleaning process

Cleaning process
 2. Mayak n ucle ar we apons p la nt
accid ent

On September 29, 1957, at 4:20 p.m., an

enormous explosion in a tank containing
highly radioactive waste occurred in the
Mayak nuclear weapons plant in the
southern Ural mountains of the Soviet
Union. The fallout plume spread
strontium-90 and other dangerous
radionuclide over about15,000 square
kilometers, which remain contaminated
to this day.
 Ma ya k nucle ar we apons p lant
accident
Effects:
• Food stores were closed, and more than
1,000 tons of food dumped.
• Farming was stopped for more than two
decades on about 150,000 acres.
• More than 10,000 people were relocated,
and their empty homes were torn down
and buried as radioactive waste.
• Yet, none of the residents were told why.
The Soviet government covered up the
accident, only acknowledging the
devastation in June 1989 as the Cold War
was ending.