SOCIAL STUDIES

ASSIGNMENT
BY AMAAN AHMED
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES:

The term pollution means contamination of air, land or water by discharge or

emission of effluents or wastes or air pollutants or noise or other matter
which either directly or indirectly or in combination with other discharges or
substances alters unfavorably the chemical, physical, biological, thermal or
radiological or aesthetic properties of the air, land or water or which may, or
is likely to make the air, land or water unclean, noxious or impure or injurious,
disagreeable or detrimental to the health, safety, welfare or property of
persons or harmful to biodiversity.
CHERNOBYL DISASTER:
Chernobyl disaster, accident in 1986 at the Chernobyl nuclear
power station in the Soviet Union, the worst disaster in the history of nuclear
power generation. The Chernobyl power station was situated at the settlement
of Pripyat, 10 miles (16 km) northwest of the city of Chernobyl (Ukrainian:
Chornobyl) and 65 miles (104 km) north of Kyiv, Ukraine. The station consisted
of four reactors, each capable of producing 1,000 megawatts of electric power;
it had come online in 1977–83. These mistakes were compounded by others,
and at 1:23 am on April 26 the chain reaction in the core went out of control.
Several explosions triggered a large fireball and blew off the heavy steel and
concrete lid of the reactor
BHOPAL UNION CYNIDE ACCIDENT:
Thirty years ago, on the night of December 2, 1984, an accident at the
Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, released at least 30 tons of a
highly toxic gas called methyl isocyanate, as well as a number of other
poisonous gases. The pesticide plant was surrounded by shanty towns, leading
to more than 600,000 people being exposed to the deadly gas cloud that night.
The gases stayed low to the ground, causing victims throats and eyes to burn,
inducing nausea, and many deaths. Estimates of the death toll vary from as few
as 3,800 to as many as 16,000, but government figures now refer to an estimate
of 15,000 killed over the years
The accident was rated level 7 on the International Nuclear and Radiological
Event Scale, due to high radioactive releases over days 4 to 6, eventually a
total of some 940 PBq (I-131 eq). All four Fukushima Daiichi reactors were
written off due to damage in the accident – 2719 MWe net. After two weeks,
the three reactors (units 1-3) were stable with water addition and by July
they were being cooled with recycled water from the new treatment plant.
Official 'cold shutdown condition' was announced in mid-December. Apart
from cooling, the basic ongoing task was to prevent release of radioactive
materials, particularly in contaminated water leaked from the three units.
This task became newsworthy in August 2013. There have been no deaths or
cases of radiation sickness from the nuclear accident, but over 100,000
people were evacuated from their homes as a preventative measure.
Government nervousness has delayed the return of many.