The Chernobyl accident and its consequences
- PMID:21345660
- DOI: 10.1016/j.clon.2011.01.502
The Chernobyl accident and its consequences
Abstract
The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was the worst industrial accident of the last century that involved radiation. The unprecedented release of multiple different radioisotopes led to radioactive contamination of large areas surrounding the accident site. The exposure of the residents of these areas was varied and therefore the consequences for health and radioecology could not be reliably estimated quickly. Even though some studies have now been ongoing for 25 years and have provided a better understanding of the situation, these are yet neither complete nor comprehensive enough to determine the long-term risk. A true assessment can only be provided after following the observed population for their natural lifespan. Here we review the technical aspects of the accident and provide relevant information on radioactive releases that resulted in exposure of this large population to radiation. A number of different groups of people were exposed to radiation: workers involved in the initial clean-up response, and members of the general population who were either evacuated from the settlements in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant vicinity shortly after the accident, or continued to live in the affected territories of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Through domestic efforts and extensive international co-operation, essential information on radiation dose and health status for this population has been collected. This has permitted the identification of high-risk groups and the use of more specialised means of collecting information, diagnosis, treatment and follow-up. Because radiation-associated thyroid cancer is one of the major health consequences of the Chernobyl accident, a particular emphasis is placed on this malignancy. The initial epidemiological studies are reviewed, as are the most significant studies and/or aid programmes in the three affected countries.
Copyright © 2011 The Royal College of Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Similar articles
- Thyroid cancer incidence among people living in areas contaminated by radiation from the Chernobyl accident.Ron E.Ron E.Health Phys. 2007 Nov;93(5):502-11. doi: 10.1097/01.HP.0000279018.93081.29.Health Phys. 2007.PMID:18049226Review.
- Third annual Warren K. Sinclair keynote address: retrospective analysis of impacts of the Chernobyl accident.Balonov M.Balonov M.Health Phys. 2007 Nov;93(5):383-409. doi: 10.1097/01.HP.0000282109.20364.37.Health Phys. 2007.PMID:18049216Review.
- A cohort study of thyroid cancer and other thyroid diseases after the chornobyl accident: thyroid cancer in Ukraine detected during first screening.Tronko MD, Howe GR, Bogdanova TI, Bouville AC, Epstein OV, Brill AB, Likhtarev IA, Fink DJ, Markov VV, Greenebaum E, Olijnyk VA, Masnyk IJ, Shpak VM, McConnell RJ, Tereshchenko VP, Robbins J, Zvinchuk OV, Zablotska LB, Hatch M, Luckyanov NK, Ron E, Thomas TL, Voillequé PG, Beebe GW.Tronko MD, et al.J Natl Cancer Inst. 2006 Jul 5;98(13):897-903. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djj244.J Natl Cancer Inst. 2006.PMID:16818853
- Risk of thyroid cancer after exposure to 131I in childhood.Cardis E, Kesminiene A, Ivanov V, Malakhova I, Shibata Y, Khrouch V, Drozdovitch V, Maceika E, Zvonova I, Vlassov O, Bouville A, Goulko G, Hoshi M, Abrosimov A, Anoshko J, Astakhova L, Chekin S, Demidchik E, Galanti R, Ito M, Korobova E, Lushnikov E, Maksioutov M, Masyakin V, Nerovnia A, Parshin V, Parshkov E, Piliptsevich N, Pinchera A, Polyakov S, Shabeka N, Suonio E, Tenet V, Tsyb A, Yamashita S, Williams D.Cardis E, et al.J Natl Cancer Inst. 2005 May 18;97(10):724-32. doi: 10.1093/jnci/dji129.J Natl Cancer Inst. 2005.PMID:15900042
- [Health effects of the Chernobyl disaster. Fifteen years afterwards].Zafra Anta MA, Amor Cabrera MA, Díaz Mier F, Cámara Moraño C.Zafra Anta MA, et al.An Esp Pediatr. 2002 Apr;56(4):324-33.An Esp Pediatr. 2002.PMID:11927076Spanish.
Cited by
- A novel transformer-based method for predicting air absorbed dose rates in nuclear radiation environmental monitoring.Cao Y, Liu Z, Niu Y, Liu X.Cao Y, et al.Heliyon. 2023 Sep 9;9(9):e19870. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19870. eCollection 2023 Sep.Heliyon. 2023.PMID:37809737Free PMC article.
- Adaptive radiation-induced epigenetic alterations mitigated by antioxidants.Bernal AJ, Dolinoy DC, Huang D, Skaar DA, Weinhouse C, Jirtle RL.Bernal AJ, et al.FASEB J. 2013 Feb;27(2):665-71. doi: 10.1096/fj.12-220350. Epub 2012 Nov 1.FASEB J. 2013.PMID:23118028Free PMC article.
- Chronic restraint-induced stress has little modifying effect on radiation hematopoietic toxicity in mice.Wang B, Tanaka K, Katsube T, Ninomiya Y, Vares G, Liu Q, Morita A, Nakajima T, Nenoi M.Wang B, et al.J Radiat Res. 2015 Sep;56(5):760-7. doi: 10.1093/jrr/rrv030. Epub 2015 Jun 4.J Radiat Res. 2015.PMID:26045492Free PMC article.
- p53 and RAD9, the DNA Damage Response, and Regulation of Transcription Networks.Lieberman HB, Panigrahi SK, Hopkins KM, Wang L, Broustas CG.Lieberman HB, et al.Radiat Res. 2017 Apr;187(4):424-432. doi: 10.1667/RR003CC.1. Epub 2017 Jan 31.Radiat Res. 2017.PMID:28140789Free PMC article.Review.
- Evaluation of the gamma-H2AX assay for radiation biodosimetry in a swine model.Moroni M, Maeda D, Whitnall MH, Bonner WM, Redon CE.Moroni M, et al.Int J Mol Sci. 2013 Jul 8;14(7):14119-35. doi: 10.3390/ijms140714119.Int J Mol Sci. 2013.PMID:23880859Free PMC article.
Publication types
MeSH terms
Related information
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Medical