Manual for survival : an environmental history of the Chernobyl disaster

A chilling exposé of the international effort to minimize the health and environmental consequences of nuclear radiation in the wake of Chernobyl. Drawing on a decade of archival research and on- the- ground interviews in Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus, Kate Brown unveils the full breadth of Chernobyl’s devastation, extending far beyond the “zone.” Her findings make clear the irreversible impact of man- made radioactivity on every living thing: hauntingly, they force us not only to confront the untold legacy of decades of weapons- testing and other nuclear incidents, but to consider the dispersal and long-term impact of myriad manmade toxins. Exposing the truth about the health and environmental consequences of radiation exposure, Brown points to a future for which the survival manual has yet to be written. A chilling expos? of the international effort to minimize the health and environmental consequences of nuclear radiation in the wake of Chernobyl. Dear Comrades! Since the accident at the Chernobyl power plant, there has been a detailed analysis of the radioactivity of the food and territory of your population point. The results show that living and working in your village will cause no harm to adults or children. So began a pamphlet issued by the Ukrainian Ministry of Health?which, despite its optimistic beginnings, went on to warn its readers against consuming local milk, berries, or mushrooms, or going into the surrounding forest. This was only one of many misleading bureaucratic manuals that, with apparent good intentions, seriously underestimated the far-reaching consequences of the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe. After 1991, international organizations from the Red Cross to Greenpeace sought to help the victims, yet found themselves stymied by post-Soviet political circumstances they did not understand. International diplomats and scientists allied to the nuclear industry evaded or denied the fact of a wide-scale public health disaster caused by radiation exposure. Efforts to spin the story about Chernobyl were largely successful; the official death toll ranges between thirty-one and fifty-four people. In reality, radiation exposure from the disaster caused between 35,000 and 150,000 deaths in Ukraine alone. No major international study tallied the damage, leaving Japanese leaders to repeat many of the same mistakes after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011. Drawing on a decade of archival research and on-the-ground interviews in Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus, Kate Brown unveils the full breadth of the devastation and the whitewash that followed. Her findings make clear the irreversible impact of man-made radioactivity on every living thing; and hauntingly, they force us to confront the untold legacy of decades of weapons-testing and other nuclear incidents, and the fact that we are emerging into a future for which the survival manual has yet to be written "A chilling exposé of the international effort to minimize the health and environmental consequences of nuclear radiation in the wake of Chernobyl. Governments and journalists tell us that though Chernobyl was "the worst nuclear disaster in history," a reassuringly small number of people died (44), and nature recovered. Yet, drawing on a decade of fine-grained archival research and interviews in Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus, Kate Brown uncovers a much more disturbing story--one in which radioactive isotypes caused hundreds of thousands of casualties. Scores of Soviet scientists, bureaucrats, and civilians documented stunning increases in cases of birth defects, child mortality, cancers, and a multitude of prosaic diseases, which they linked to Chernobyl. Worried that this evidence would blow the lid on the effects of massive radiation release from weapons testing during the Cold War, international scientists and diplomats tried to bury or discredit it. A haunting revelation of how political exigencies shape responses to disaster, Manual for Survival makes clear the irreversible impact on every living thing not just from Chernobyl, but from eight decades of radiation from nuclear energy and weaponry."-- Provided by publisher "A chilling expose of the international effort to minimize the health and environmental consequences of nuclear radiation in the wake of Chernobyl. Governments and journalists tell us that though Chernobyl was "the worst nuclear disaster in history," a reassuringly small number of people died (44), and nature recovered. Yet, drawing on a decade of fine-grained archival research and interviews in Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus, Kate Brown uncovers a much more disturbing story--one in which radioactive isotypes caused hundreds of thousands of casualties. Scores of Soviet scientists, bureaucrats, and civilians documented stunning increases in cases of birth defects, child mortality, cancers, and a multitude of prosaic diseases, which they linked to Chernobyl. Worried that this evidence would blow the lid on the effects of massive radiation release from weapons testing during the Cold War, international scientists and diplomats tried to bury or discredit it. A haunting revelation of how political exigencies shape responses to disaster, Manual for Survival makes clear the irreversible impact on every living thing not just from Chernobyl, but from eight decades of radiation from nuclear energy and weaponry."-- Winner of the Reginald Zelnik Book Prize in History Winner of the Marshall D. Shulman Book Prize Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Nonfiction Finalist for the Ryszard Kapuscinski Award for Literary Reportage "A magisterial blend of historical research, investigative journalism, and poetic reportage...[A]n awe-inspiring journey." —Economist After the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986, international aid organizations sought to help the victims but were stymied by post-Soviet political roadblocks. Efforts to gain access to the site of catastrophic radiation damage were denied, and the residents of Chernobyl were given no answers as their lives hung in the balance. Drawing on a decade of archival research and on-the-ground interviews in Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus, Kate Brown unveils the full breadth of the devastation and the whitewash that followed. Her findings make clear the irreversible impact of man-made radioactivity on every living thing; and hauntingly, they force us to confront the untold legacy of decades of weapons-testing and other catastrophic nuclear incidents. Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Nonfiction Winner of the Reginald Zelnik Book Prize in History and the Marshall D. Shulman Book Prize "A magisterial blend of historical research, investigative journalism, and poetic reportage...[A]n awe-inspiring journey." #8212;Economist After the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986, international aid organizations sought to help the victims but were stymied by post-Soviet political roadblocks. Efforts to gain access to the site of catastrophic radiation damage were denied, and the residents of Chernobyl were given no answers as their lives hung in the balance. Drawing on a decade of archival research and on-the-ground interviews in Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus, Kate Brown unveils the full breadth of the devastation and the whitewash that followed. Her findings make clear the irreversible impact of man-made radioactivity on every living thing; and hauntingly, they force us to confront the untold legacy of decades of weapons-testing and other catastrophic nuclear incidents. Introduction: The Survivor’s Manual PART I // THE ACCIDENT Liquidators at Hospital No. 6 Evacuees Rainmakers Operators Ukrainians Physicists and Physicians PART II // HOT SURVIVAL Woolly Truths Clean Hides, Dirty Water Making Sausage of Disaster Farms into Factories PART III // MAN-MADE NATURE The Swamp Dweller The Great Chernobyl Acceleration PART IV // POST-APOCALYPSE POLITICS The Housekeeper KGB Suspicions PART V // MEDICAL MYSTERIES Primary Evidence Declassifying Disaster The Superpower Self-Help Initiative Belarusian Somnambulists The Great Awakening PART VI // SCIENCE ACROSS THE IRON CURTAIN Send for the Cavalry Marie Curie’s Fingerprint Foreign Experts In Search of Catastrophe Thyroid Cancer: The Canary in the Medical Mine The Butterfly Effect Looking for a Lost Town Greenpeace Red Shadow The Quiet Ukrainian PART VII // SURVIVAL ARTISTS The Pietà Bare Life Conclusion: Berry Picking into the Future Acknowledgments Note on Transliteration and Translation List of Archives and Interviews Notes Index After the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986, international aid organizations sought to help the victims but were stymied by post-Soviet political roadblocks. Efforts to gain access to the site of catastrophic radiation damage were denied, and the residents of Chernobyl were given no answers as their lives hung in the balance. Drawing on a decade of archival research and on-the-ground interviews in Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus, Kate Brown unveils the full breadth of the devastation and the whitewash that followed. Her findings make clear the irreversible impact of man-made radioactivity on every living thing; and hauntingly, they force us to confront the untold legacy of decades of weapons-testing and other catastrophic nuclear incidents. -- Provided by publisher