The+Environmental+Effects+Caused+by+Chernobyl

=Effects on the Environment =



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 * 70% of the nuclear fallout went into Belarus, 6% went into the Ukraine, and only 0.6% remained in Russia.
 * Other countries contaminated were: large parts of Scandinavia, Poland and the Baltic States, as well as southern Germany, Switzerland, and northern France and Britain.
 * The land was contaminated with Cesium 137 and Strontium 90, which have long half lives and will remain in the earth for at least this century.
 * If the plain were Chernobyl was happened to become flooded, the radioactive soil there would wash into major nearby rivers, where millions of people in Russia get there water.
 * Where clean up operations were done, waste dumps were made. These are simply holes in the ground where the nuclear waste is dumped. The Russians, in some of these sites, didn't follow correct protocol, and the holes aren't deep enough. This, as a result, could lead to recontamination of the land.
 * Areas up to 300 km away was heavily contaminated with radiation
 * In Russia, where radiation levels were high, farmers were encouraged to graze and grow crops on the contaminated land, to experiment with different plants and animals. People were also allowed to pick berries and mushrooms from the Gomel forest, which was right next to the plant.
 * Far away in Great Britain, where little radiation was able to be detected, bans were placed on selling animals that had grazed on the contaminated land.
 * Plants - Plants with shallow roots were more effected by the radiation, as were plants in soil with little minerals.
 * Land - The land that was tilled every year seemed to show less radiation contamination than fields and meadows that are not plowed.
 * Rivers - Radiation settled to the bottom of rivers and other water sources, contaminating the water and animals that live in them. Despite tis, in Russia people still fish from these waters.
 * Animals - Animals that graze or eat from the contaminated land are then also poisoned. The people of Russia, needing things to eat, have no choice but also eat these radiated animals.