Page 2
Daily Nebraskan
Wednesday, April 30, 1986
News Digest
, qji
By The
Associated
Press
Nuclear reactor still burning
WASHINGTON (AP) U.S. intelligence sources reported that the Chernobyl nuclear reactor complex in the
Soviet I'kraine experienced a meltdown Saturday, was still billowing smoke Tuesday and threatened another
reactor at the same site.
Arms control administrator Kenneth Adelman, meanwhile, told Congress that Soviet claims of only two
deat hs were "frankly preposterous" and called the incident "the most catastrophic nuclear disaster in history."
He said temperatures reached as high as 4,000 degrees (Centigrade, or 7,232 degrees Fahrenheit) at the
graphite-cooled reactor and added, "The graphite is burning and will continue to burn for a good number of
days."
A ranking administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press that
officials evaluating recent intelligence "don't believe there was a nuclear explosion per se," at Chernobyl. "But
there was clearly a meltdown."
As of early Tuesday morning EDT. "smoke was st ill billowing from t he site. The roof had been blown off and
large portions of the walls (of the reactor building) had caved in." the source said. "And it seemed at the time
that (another) nuclear unit just, above it might still be in some danger."
The source said the U.S. government was convinced there had been a huge release of radiation, but that the
most serious radioactive fallout on the ground occurred within an area stretching out about 10 miles from the
plant.
This official also said the intelligence analysts were now convinced the accident occurred sometime
Saturday.
Reports reaching the State Department said Soviet authorities were hampered in thier efforts to put out the
fire because of the intense heat. They also were concerned that dousing the fire could create more radioactivity
than simply letting the reactor burn, according to a source who insisted on anonymity.
Adelman said those in the greatest risk are apparently the 2,000 inhabitants of a village built to house
workers at the nuclear facility and their families.
When told by a senator that the Soviet Union has claimed that only two people were killed by the accident, he
said that was "frankly preposterous in terms of an accident of this magnitude."
Northwest braces
for possible fallout
OLYMPIA, Wash. Gov. Booth Gardner met with
health officials and radiation monitoring was stepped
up Tuesday as Washington state prepared for the
weekend arrival of fallout from the Soviet nuclear
accident.
Experts said radioactivity from the power plant
disaster, expected to appear over the northwestern
United States as early as Saturday, would probably
pose no health threat in the United States, nor in the
Soviet Union outside the immediate area of the power
plant disaster.
Charlie Porter, director of the Eastern Environmental
Radiation Fa?ility in Montgomery, Ala., said fallout
detection stations in all 50 states will deliver data to
his agency, an arm of the federal Environmental
Protection Agency.
Porter said the EPA does not believe the cloud
would be dangerous. But he said there is no way to be
sure without knowing the scope of the Soviet accident.
Gardner met with officials from the state's health,
environment and emergency agencies to review steps
the state could take in the event abnormally high
radiation levels reach the northwest.
Filters on radiation monitors at the capital in
Olympia, at Spokane and at the Hanford nuclear
reservation in Eastern Washington were ordered
changed daily instead of the usual once a week,
officials said.
2 reported dead
in Soviet disaster
MOSCOW (AP) The Soviet Union struggled Tues
day to cope with one of history's gravest nuclear catas
trophes, appealing for foreign help to fight a reactor
fire and evacuating thousands of people from the impe
riled countryside.
In its first report on casualties, the Soviet govern
ment said the Ukrainian nuclear plant disaster killed
two people and injured an unspecified number of
others.
A radioactive cloud loosed by the accident shifted,
meanwhile, from Scandinavia back toward Central
Europe.
Poland ordered emergency measures, and European
political leaders angrily demanded that Moscow
explain why it did not quickly alert the rest of the
world to the disaster, an apparent reactor meltdown
believed to have occurred late last week.
"It shouldn't be that way in a modern society,"
declared Denmark's prime minister, Poul Schlueter.
Some called on the Soviets to shut down all their
nuclear plants until international inspections could be
carried out.
The Soviet government claimed the "radiation
situation" had been stabilized at the damaged Cher
nobyl plant, 450 miles southwest of Moscow. But Swed
ish officials said the Soviets had asked the Stockholm
government for information on combating nuclear
plant fires, indicating continuing serious problems.
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ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 1986 DAILY NEB3ASKAN
Nuclear Accident History
Here is a chronology of notable nuclear accidents worldwide.
Dec. 2, 1952: At Chalk River, Canada, an employee error leads to a million
gallons of radioactive water leaking inside an experimental nuclear reactor.
Took six months to clean up.
Oct. 7-10, 1957: At Windscale Pile, a plutonium production reactor north of
Liverpool, England, a fire leads to largest known accidental release of
radioactive materials. Government later attributes 39 cancer deaths to mishap.
1 957: A nuclear accident, probably at a weapons facility, occurred in the Ural
Mountains in the Soviet Union. Little information exists, but it is believed that
hundreds of square miles had to be evacuated.
May 23, 1958: A second accident at Chalk River sparked by an overheated fuel
rod leads to another long cleanup.
Jan. 3, 1961: A steam explosion at a military experimental reactor near Idaho
Falls, Idaho, kills three servicemen.
Oct. 5, 1966: At Enrico Fermi plant, an experimental breeder reactor near
Detroit, part of fuel core melts. No injuries, but radiation levels high inside the
plant. Plant was closed in 1972.
Oct. 17, 1969: At a reactor in Saint-Laurent, France, fuel loading error leads to
partial meltdown. No injuries and only small amount of radioactive material
escapes.
Nov. 19, 1971: Over 50,000 gallons of radioactive waste water flows into the
Mississippi River, when the waste storage space at the Northern States Power
Co.'s reactor in Monticello, Minn., overflows.
March 22, 1975: Worker using a candle to check for leaks at the Brown's Ferry
reactor in Decatur, Ala., causes a $150 million fire which lowers cooling water to
dangerous levels. No injuries or release of radioactivity.
March 28, 1979: Three Mile Island in Middletown, Pa., has partial meltdown
and some radioactivity is released into the atmosphere in what many consider
the nation's worst commercial nuclear mishap. Reactor is still being de
contaminated. Aug. .7, 1979: Accidental release of enriched uranium at atop-secret fuel plant
near Erwin, Tenn., exposes about 1,000 people to above normal doses of
radiation.
Feb. 11, 1981: At least eight workers exposed to radiation at Sequoyah I, a
Tennessee Valley Authority power plant, when over 100,000 gallons of
radioactive coolant leaks into the containment building.
April 19, 1984: Sequoyah I has second accident when superheated radioactive
water erupts during maintenance procedure. No injuries.
June 9, 1985: Davis Besse plant near Oak Harbor, Ohio, loses cooling water
supplies due to human and equipment error. Problem was caught in time to
prevent meltdown.
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NEED A JOB
THAT FITS AROUND
YOUR CLASS SCHEDULE?
A search is underway for a student to work in the
keystone Insurance Office at the University Health
Center.
The job requires a minimum of 10 hours per week.
If you feel you:
Are organized
Possess excellent communication skills
Are self-motivated
Have a flexible schedule
Enjoy working with people
Have the ability to think creatively
Please send a letter of application andor a resume
listing work experience to the University Health
Center, Room 209. Applications are due Monday,
May 5, 1986. If you have any questions please
contact Gary Wilkinson at 472-7400.
UNL does not discriminate in its academic, ad
missions or employment programs and abides by
all federal regulations pertaining to the same.
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