- Email: [email protected]
Conclusion
Conclusion While writing this book, I had in mind to take advantage of a rule emerging from the principles of perceptual psychology that I once found in an instruction for the papers introduced for some scientific conference. It read more or less laconic in English: “Tell them what you are going to tell them, then tell them, then tell them what you have told them.” In Russian it actually looks longer. So, what was I going to tell? In the first place, my main attention was focused on the two sources of danger. The one is the most frightful and potentially very dangerous factor, namely, nuclear radiation. The other is the exposure of various chemical substances on the human body. In the second place, considerable emphasis has been placed on the effect of these factors in smaller doses. The point is that even the small doses of radiation as well as those of chemical substances are in fact the factors that steadily and independent of one’s wish affect all inhabitants of our environment. The potentially colossal destructive power of nuclear energy, in general, as well as nuclear radiation, in particular, has been successfully kept in check for many years now. Thanks to that, the relative harm for the whole of humanity, in spite of the wide use of nuclear radiation in science, medicine, power engineering, and in various fields of industry and agriculture has been rather negligible, so that the existing fears seem rather exaggerated. But along with it the various chemical substances that exist in nature quite in hand, as it were, and also those that are made artificially by technological processes, are causing substantial harm. The humanity of today, at the household level as well as at the level of the governmental and social solutions, significantly overestimate the fears of nuclear radiation and underestimates the dangers of different chemical substances for humans. I’d like to conclude with a short story. The Kemerovo University in Russia launched an expedition in 1996 to investigate the radiation situation to the north of the Kemerovo region in Siberia, mainly in the zone of underground nuclear explosion. Some experts were invited from Moscow and Saint-Petersburg to participate in it, with the author included. The underground nuclear explosion code-named “Quartz” took place on September 18, 1984. Officially, the aim of the explosion was the intratelluric seismic probe of the earth’s crust in order to look for structures promising for mineral exploration. That was the 649th test after the initial explosion of August 29, 1949, of a nuclear charge and the 112th intratelluric nuclear explosion within the program of “The Use of Nuclear Explosion Technology in the Interests of National Economy.” It was a so-called “peaceful” nuclear explosion. There were 124 such “peaceful” explosions, including 8 as group explosions, with an impressive number of charges; the total amount of 135 nuclear charges were exploded in wells, tunnels, and in a mine.
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The most part of those underground nuclear explosions were set off at considerable depth so that fission products did not outcrop and that they remain buried in the cavity of explosion. Such explosions are called “camouflage.” In some special cases, with socalled excavation explosions, which were set off for trenching, constructing canals, making reservoirs and cavities for storage of large amounts of wastes, to control emergency gas torches, the explosion cavity outcropped and the radioactive fission products got into the environment. These were set off during more than 10 such explosions. In some cases, the breakthrough of the radioactive substances onto the surface took place contrary to the initial plan because of incorrect consideration of the hydrogeological structure of the locality. In about 100 km from the town of Kemerovo on a clearing in a pine and cedar grove, which shrank back before a nice brook called Tyshtym, the gusher was hit. Into this gusher 557 m deep was located a nuclear charge with an approximate energy release equivalent to 10 kt of trotyl. Note that 10 kt of trotyl equivalent equals an energy of 4.184 × 1013 J ∼ 107 kW•hour, which corresponds to the annual energy consumption of a town with a population of up to 100,000. After the nuclear charge was located, the gusher was concreted. The nuclear explosion in Kemerovo region proved to be clean. Our measurements showed that on the surface, in the vicinity of the wellhead, there was no radioactivity that could exceed the natural background levels. The drilling rig was left as it was; it remained on its place above the epicenter of the explosion, looming like an alarming tower above the treetops, marking the explosion location from afar. Usually the drill operators, after completing the well dismantle and remove the rig. But the explosion in Kemerovo region was one of the last, and as other explosions were not planned in the vicinity, so the rig remained. To dismantle and to transport such a colossus might turn out more expensive than to construct a new one. There was nothing threatening and troublesome in the rig itself, but just one look from the distance at it loomed above the trees could unsettle anyone, suggesting that that was the epicenter of a nuclear explosion. Thus the radiophobia revealed itself, which even the experienced nuclear physicists could not escape. Of course, since the first nuclear bombardments of Japan and, especially, owing to the hot confrontation years of “the cold war,” the words “nuclear explosion” keeps on hiding a certain threat in itself. The news of the expedition and of our arrival was spreading very fast about the neighborhood and the whole stream of visitors kept coming to meet us. They were the officials of local enterprises, farmers, and reporters from the Kemerovo TV. All were preoccupied with the question: how do matters stand with the radiation? Is it safe to drink milk of the cows that are grazing in the neighborhood meadows, is it safe to eat the meat of those cows, is it safe to gather and eat the mushrooms growing in the surrounding woods? What if the crops from the fields in the vicinity are radioactive? All people were rather anxious about the probable radiation poisoning of the local woods, fields, meadows, and rivers. In his interview to a reporter of the Kemerovo TV, the author, standing in the clearing with the above-mentioned rig in the background, explained that all products from the neighborhood pastures, fields, and woods are quite safe for eating and drinking. And just on that occasion, answering the question of whether the local mushrooms are safe to eat, he pointed out: “A nonradioactive death-cup is immeasurably more poisonous than one kilogram of normal edible radioactive mushrooms.”
Conclusion 235
The most essential thing is to distinguish between “fear” and “danger.” Some phenomena may seem fearful but sometimes they prove to be not dangerous at all but, just the opposite, the really hazardous things may, at the same time, not seem so threatening. Thus, some people could be scared of black cats and of the number “13,” which have nothing to do with real danger. And those same people could drink low-grade drinks or smoke low-quality tobacco without bothering that those things could be really dangerous. So, I wish we all are well informed and be able to distinguish between the real and the seeming disaster. Every now and then, the author had to deal with situations where the majority of quite normal, mentally safe people were definitely suffering from radiophobia. The Greek word “phobos” means just “fear.” And the posterior derivation of it, that is “phobia,” has deepened its purport toward an “impulsive obsession with fear” or “unmotivated fear.” Added as a suffix to other words, the word acquires the meaning of various “phobias.” On the site www.phobia-fear-release.com, one can find a long list of several hundred different phobias, from a well known “claustrophobia” up to the quite exotic one, like “Paraskavedekatriaphobia,” which means “a fear of Friday, 13.” Only slightly shorter is the Wikipedia List of Phobias. Radiophobia is the one from those long lists. And one of the main goals of this book is to help people overcome it or, at least, to reduce the worries connected with it.
Professor Eduard Aluker (left), head of the expedition researching the radiation situation in the area of underground nuclear explosion in the Kemerovo region, and the author (right), both armed with dosimetric equipment, standing at the explosion epicenter. Summer, 1996.
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234 Fundamentals of Radiation and Chemical Safety
The most part of those underground nuclear explosions were set off at considerable depth so that fission products did not outcrop and that they remain buried in the cavity of explosion. Such explosions are called “camouflage.” In some special cases, with socalled excavation explosions, which were set off for trenching, constructing canals, making reservoirs and cavities for storage of large amounts of wastes, to control emergency gas torches, the explosion cavity outcropped and the radioactive fission products got into the environment. These were set off during more than 10 such explosions. In some cases, the breakthrough of the radioactive substances onto the surface took place contrary to the initial plan because of incorrect consideration of the hydrogeological structure of the locality. In about 100 km from the town of Kemerovo on a clearing in a pine and cedar grove, which shrank back before a nice brook called Tyshtym, the gusher was hit. Into this gusher 557 m deep was located a nuclear charge with an approximate energy release equivalent to 10 kt of trotyl. Note that 10 kt of trotyl equivalent equals an energy of 4.184 × 1013 J ∼ 107 kW•hour, which corresponds to the annual energy consumption of a town with a population of up to 100,000. After the nuclear charge was located, the gusher was concreted. The nuclear explosion in Kemerovo region proved to be clean. Our measurements showed that on the surface, in the vicinity of the wellhead, there was no radioactivity that could exceed the natural background levels. The drilling rig was left as it was; it remained on its place above the epicenter of the explosion, looming like an alarming tower above the treetops, marking the explosion location from afar. Usually the drill operators, after completing the well dismantle and remove the rig. But the explosion in Kemerovo region was one of the last, and as other explosions were not planned in the vicinity, so the rig remained. To dismantle and to transport such a colossus might turn out more expensive than to construct a new one. There was nothing threatening and troublesome in the rig itself, but just one look from the distance at it loomed above the trees could unsettle anyone, suggesting that that was the epicenter of a nuclear explosion. Thus the radiophobia revealed itself, which even the experienced nuclear physicists could not escape. Of course, since the first nuclear bombardments of Japan and, especially, owing to the hot confrontation years of “the cold war,” the words “nuclear explosion” keeps on hiding a certain threat in itself. The news of the expedition and of our arrival was spreading very fast about the neighborhood and the whole stream of visitors kept coming to meet us. They were the officials of local enterprises, farmers, and reporters from the Kemerovo TV. All were preoccupied with the question: how do matters stand with the radiation? Is it safe to drink milk of the cows that are grazing in the neighborhood meadows, is it safe to eat the meat of those cows, is it safe to gather and eat the mushrooms growing in the surrounding woods? What if the crops from the fields in the vicinity are radioactive? All people were rather anxious about the probable radiation poisoning of the local woods, fields, meadows, and rivers. In his interview to a reporter of the Kemerovo TV, the author, standing in the clearing with the above-mentioned rig in the background, explained that all products from the neighborhood pastures, fields, and woods are quite safe for eating and drinking. And just on that occasion, answering the question of whether the local mushrooms are safe to eat, he pointed out: “A nonradioactive death-cup is immeasurably more poisonous than one kilogram of normal edible radioactive mushrooms.”
Conclusion 235
The most essential thing is to distinguish between “fear” and “danger.” Some phenomena may seem fearful but sometimes they prove to be not dangerous at all but, just the opposite, the really hazardous things may, at the same time, not seem so threatening. Thus, some people could be scared of black cats and of the number “13,” which have nothing to do with real danger. And those same people could drink low-grade drinks or smoke low-quality tobacco without bothering that those things could be really dangerous. So, I wish we all are well informed and be able to distinguish between the real and the seeming disaster. Every now and then, the author had to deal with situations where the majority of quite normal, mentally safe people were definitely suffering from radiophobia. The Greek word “phobos” means just “fear.” And the posterior derivation of it, that is “phobia,” has deepened its purport toward an “impulsive obsession with fear” or “unmotivated fear.” Added as a suffix to other words, the word acquires the meaning of various “phobias.” On the site www.phobia-fear-release.com, one can find a long list of several hundred different phobias, from a well known “claustrophobia” up to the quite exotic one, like “Paraskavedekatriaphobia,” which means “a fear of Friday, 13.” Only slightly shorter is the Wikipedia List of Phobias. Radiophobia is the one from those long lists. And one of the main goals of this book is to help people overcome it or, at least, to reduce the worries connected with it.
Professor Eduard Aluker (left), head of the expedition researching the radiation situation in the area of underground nuclear explosion in the Kemerovo region, and the author (right), both armed with dosimetric equipment, standing at the explosion epicenter. Summer, 1996.