REVIEW: Chernobyl

Chernobyl (World Disasters)
Author: Don Nardo

This book contains information about the 1986 nuclear disaster near the city of Pripyat in Ukraine. The book is part of a series on disasters, their causes, aftermath and historical value. The information is presented for middle-grade students, but is an informative read for ages 10-adult. Background for the disaster includes the history of the USSR from the revolution to the communist era, the history of nuclear physics and nuclear power, and information on both fission and fusion. It makes for a very well rounded historical account of the disaster.

Written in 1990, just four years after the disaster, the book is obviously well-researched and written, but outdated. At first, the cause of the accident (which killed many and caused the permanent evacuation of more than 130,000 people from the region) was blamed on operator error. The book even states that the USSR "disciplined'' several managers from the plant who were making decisions during a testing situation that caused the Number 4 reactor at the Chernobyl plant to explode. In this case, disciplined meant prison sentences. Later on, in 1994 another study of the incident put the blame on the design of the nuclear plant. The safety measures and the plant itself were designed in ways that made the test they were running at the time of the incident very dangerous. When things went wrong, decisions the crew made to avert the disaster only made the problem worse. That updated information is, of course, not in this book.

What doesn't change, however, is the bravery of local firefighters, doctors and laborers who went into the disaster area to work, knowing the radiation would most likely kill them. Radiation poisoning sometimes kills quickly, but sometimes it is an agonizing death with bone marrow damage, intestinal and other organ damage and painful burns that get steadily worse over time. The passage of time also does not change the fact that Pripyat, Chernobyl and other area towns were evacuated. The residents were given no warning and no time to prepare....they were just forced to leave their homes. With nothing. Never to return. The land is poisoned. Their belongings were irradiated to dangerous levels. Can you even imagine that? Just imagine....you are sitting at home one day and hear an explosion, then shortly after, the government rounds up everyone onto thousands of buses and you are forced to leave everything behind. Everything. I can't imagine how scary, stressful and damaging it was for all of those people. I can't imagine the level of pain for families of workers left behind to try and stop the fire and explosions at the damaged plant. They were evacuated knowing their loved one(s) were working in the middle of an extremely dangerous disaster, and that they would most likely die.

I remember the news casts the day following the accident when information began to trickle out of the USSR and Europe regarding the accident. The USSR attempted to cover up the accident, but increased levels of radiation were detected over nearby countries in Europe. I remember the first news casts just said something along the lines of there being increased radiation pinpointed to an unknown nuclear incident most likely in Ukraine. Then later the USSR did announce bare bones information and accepted help from doctors and other experts from other countries.

There are still questions about the disaster, its causes and aftermath. More information has been released about the site through the decades since the accident and scientific teams have studied the effects of the radiation on the environment and animals in the region. The entire region is still very dangerous and a restricted zone, but that isn't mentioned in the book because it was written 28 years ago.

I would love to see an updated version of this book with all of the new information about the disaster and its effects, plus photos taken in the abandoned cities. I watched a documentary that followed a group of scientists gathering information from the water, soil and structures in pripyat. Radiation levels were still high enough that they could only remain in the area for a short amount of time and had to wear protective gear at all times.

Even though it is outdated after nearly 30 years, the book is an interesting account of the disaster. Many things have changed in the years since its publication, but the basics of the disaster and its effect on the people in the region remains the same. It gives concise information for kids curious about the incident and what might have caused it. With a little internet research that only took me a couple minutes, they would be able to find out the updated information. I think this book could still have classroom relevance in a science unit about nuclear power and radiation. As an adult, I found it interesting and well-researched.