The Despair of the Eastern European People.

Cece and Bill host the After Chernobyl Podcast, discussing the aftermath and effects of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. In 1989, a radiation-filled reactor exploded at the Chernobyl power plant in Ukraine. The explosion caused major problems in Europe, particularly in the town of Pripyat, where workers and their families lived. The USSR, which had influence over Ukraine, evacuated the 115,000 people in Pripyat in just two and a half hours, downplaying the extent of the radiation spill. The side effects of the disaster include thyroid cancer, radiation cancer, and radiation poisoning. Anyone who comes into contact with radiation can experience these effects. The symptoms of acute radiation syndrome (ARS) include vomiting, headaches, diarrhea, fever, and unconsciousness. After three weeks, complications like skin injuries and various disorders can occur. Tomorrow's episode will focus on the economic impact of Chernobyl. What's up guys, it's Cece and Bill, and you're listening to the After Chernobyl Podcast, where we talk about the aftermath and effects of Chernobyl socially, economically, and politically. Now, what is Chernobyl? Chernobyl is a nuclear power plant in the north of Ukraine, and back in 1989, on April 26th, a nuclear reactor, filled with radiation, exploded. We're not sure what the causes were, but it did cause massive problems within the Europe part, like the eastern part. There was a town outside of it called Pripyat, and it's where most of the workers and the families of workers stay, so they can get to Chernobyl super easily, and just do their jobs super quick. After Chernobyl occurred, the USSR, which is more commonly known as the Soviet Union, Ukraine was originally a satellite nation under the USSR, meaning the USSR had major influence over Ukraine. And the USSR migrated and evacuated all the people in Pripyat out of the town, because they were under the impression that there was a small radiation spill, and didn't fully tell them what the extent was. How many people were in Pripyat at the time? Do you remember? At the time, there was about 115,000 people that were evacuated in about two and a half hours. That's a lot of people in a little amount of time. It sure is, but they had to get them out quickly if they were able to hide the extent of what Chernobyl was. Now, with Chernobyl, there came a lot of other side effects. Do you mind telling us what some of those side effects were? Thyroid cancer is like the biggest one, and radiation cancer and radiation poisoning. Could this occur in anybody coming into radiation, or is it like a few select people? No, it's everyone that comes into contact with radiation. Nowadays, they use iodine prophylaxis to prevent thyroid cancer, but ARS, or acute radiation syndrome, is caused by radiation. The first part of it lasts for 48 hours. You can get one gray, which is the measurement of radiation, and it just causes vomiting. Four gray causes headaches. Six gray causes diarrhea. Six gray is fever. Eight gray is unconsciousness. After 48 hours to three weeks, you don't have any symptoms, and it's basically like you don't have ARS anymore. After the three weeks, you can't have death, or that's when most people get skin injuries, or anything more serious, such as various disorders. That seems like a lot, but we'll touch more on that tomorrow in the next episode covering economics. Thank you.