20 years on, Britain still feels the effects of Chernobyl

[struggle4progress]

By Catriona Davies
(Filed: 01/04/2006)

Before Emlyn Roberts, a North Wales sheep farmer, can take any of his lambs to market, he has to call in the government inspectors with their Geiger counters. They scan the animals for signs of radiation because the land they graze is still contaminated from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster which occurred 20 years ago this month. If the radiation levels are too high, the lambs cannot be sold for meat until they have spent time on other land.

Mr Roberts is one of 375 British farmers, with more than 200,000 sheep, whose land is still considered "dirty" and subject to restrictions brought in after radioactive rains brought contamination to Britain in 1986.

When the restrictions were established, farmers were told they would apply for only a few weeks, months at most. Twenty years later, many farmers have had to accept that their land could be affected for years to come.

Immediately after the world's worst nuclear reactor meltdown in Ukraine, almost 9,000 British farms were placed under restrictions. Now 95 per cent of the land has been cleared, but it still affects 355 farms in Wales, 11 in Scotland and nine in Cumbria. The land is monitored continually by the Food Standards Agency. <snip>

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/04/01/nfarm101.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/04/01/ixhome.html

[Kailassa]

1. And people here keep pushing the nuclear power agenda.

The farmers need to obtain a licence every time they want to move their sheep and call in Government inspectors to scan each animal before it can be sold. They are paid £1.30 compensation for each sheep scanned, the same as in 1986. ...

Rhodri Jones, 28, the fifth generation of his family to run the 650-acre Bryn Llech Uchaf farm in Llanuwchllyn, near Bala, keeps up to 700 sheep. More than half of the farm is on a mountain within the contaminated area. He said: "In 1986 we got £1.30 a head compensation, and it hasn't gone up in 20 years."

Glyn Roberts, 50, a father-of-five with a sheep farm in Padog, near Betws-y-Coed, said: "When the restrictions first started they said it would only last for six months, but 20 years later it is still here."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/04/01/nfarm101.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/04/01/ixhome.html




Memorial to the "Liquidators", those first on the scene, including plant workers, construction workers and local fire-fighters.
WHO estimates at least 50 members died of Acute Radiation Sickness.
Another 106 persons were reportedly treated for the same disease and survived.

[NNadir]

2. And where do you think the memorials to these folks will be built.

However, in lesser developed countries, thousands continue to die annually in coal mines. China in particular has the highest number of coal mining related deaths in the world, with official estimates of around 6,001 fatalities in 2004. Unofficial estimates place the figure much higher, at around 20,001 deaths. China also leads the world in the production and consumption of coal, though oil consumption is starting to overtake it..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_mining

You don't care?

Why am I not surprised?

[struggle4progress]

3. So you think Chernobyl saved Chinese coal miners lives?

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[struggle4progress]

5. I bet yer gettin lotsa thank-ya letters from coal miners for yer ..

.. tireless efforts on their behalf, isn't ya? They must be grateful worldwide for yer polemics.

Ya wanna help miners in coal exporting countries? Yer gonna hafta push for international sanctions for bad workin conditions. Pro-nuke noise ain't savin even one miner's life in the foreseeable future ...

[NNadir]

6. I'll bet you get lots of letters from the Ukraine thanking you as well.

Oh wait a second, the Ukraine was wiped out by Chernobyl, so they can't send you letters, as they're all dead.

I forgot.

This is why all three people who know about it, post here endlessly about the vast nuclear accident that depopulated Europe.

Most people, in fact, are aware of global climate change.

And yes, many people do write me to thank me, both publicly and privately, for my efforts. (I don't do what I do for praise, so much as I do it for my children, but I do appreciate what thanks I get.)

I am proud to link, hoping that the poster who offered it will not mind, to a public word of thanks from just a few days ago:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=4966524&mesg_id=4966576

[struggle4progress]

7. I eagerly await your glorious "Solidarity with Ukrainian miners" posts ..

.. as you follow the April 10 strike ...

[NNadir]

8. Why don't you do it for me?

I'd personally rather have them find another line of work, and to the extent they stay out of the mines, I'm secretly happy.

I'm sure they don't really want to lose their jobs, but there is a precedent for this sort of thing working out in the long run. The coal mine strikes in the UK in the last century lead to the closing of many coal mines in the UK. The UK nonetheless survived and undoubtedly many lives were saved when people found other work.

For instance, I'd like coal miners everywhere to have high paying relatively safe jobs building and running nuclear power plants, for example, or other less environmentally destructive activities. Construction jobs are dangerous, but nowhere near as dangerous as mining millions of tons of coal.

Since you think that the use of coal is perfectly fine and acceptable, why don't you work on trying to improve coal wages and working conditions? It's a great activity for someone who is easily distracted from reality.

I cannot do that. In my opinion, coal is not safe to mine, nor will it ever be so; it is not safe to use coal, nor will it ever be so, and there is no way to dispose of coal waste, nor will there ever be one. Therefore, although it will be painful for the miners, I think the industry should be shut.

I note that the Ukraine is adding new nuclear power, even though everyone in the country was killed by Chernobyl. In 2004 both the Khmelnitsky-2 and Rovno-4 reactors were added to the grid, presumably operated by ghosts. The Ukranian government is considering adding 11 new reactors in the next two and a half decades. If these reactors are built, it may be that the children of the miners will have construction jobs building this safer infrastructure.

[Kailassa]

9. Funny how some people think there are only 2 options.

I salute you as an honest, intelligent, caring poster.
Which is more acceptable than saying the opposite about certain other posters.