Nature is supreme
CAMIL PARKHE
Wednesday, March 23, 2011 AT 07:59 PM (IST)
Tags: Chernobyl nuclear disaster, Japan quake, Japan tsunami, Jaitapur, Camil Parkhe
The news related to the nuclear radiation in Japan have revived my memories of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster which occurred during my visit to Russia and Bulgaria. The nuclear accident in April of 1986 at Chernobyl in Ukraine was kept a closely-guarded secret by the then USSR government. The communist nation was forced to acknowledge it only after some western nations reported sudden high discharges of radioactivity in the atmosphere. The accident, believed to be the most serious in the history of nuclear power, until last week's disaster in Japan, caused panic all over the world about the possible effects of the radiation. I, along with some Indian journalists, had arrived in Russia and later in Bulgaria for a completing a diploma course in journalism. Mikhail Gorbachev, who was then executive head of Soviet Russia, was yet to announce his glasnost (transparency) and perestroika movement of restructuring the political and economic systems of that country. So, it was not possible to know the exact number of casualties and damages caused by the Chernobyl nuclear mishap.
There were no English newspapers in Sofia where we were studying, and our translators would not dare to disclose what they had heard about the nuclear disaster. There were fears that we may not be able to fly back to Moscow en route to New Delhi and that we may have to take the alternative route of Rome. We were worried that we may already have been affected by the radiation. Our Bulgarian journalist teachers were tight lipped over the issue. It was then we really realised what Winston Churchill had meant when he coined the term 'iron curtain'.
Chernobyl nuclear incident was indeed an accident and the resultant radiation had long-term effects on thousands of people. The nuclear disaster in Japan has been caused by natural calamity of earthquake. While Chernobyl could have been averted, there was absolutely no way to prevent the earthquake which caused blasts at the Japanese nuclear reactors. The nuclear incidents in Japan have now raised question marks on the safety of various other nuclear plants, including the proposed Jaitapur project in Maharashtra, of the big dams and the high-rise constructions in the event of an massive earthquake. The Japan nuclear case has only once again underlined that we human beings are too small and too weak to resist or withstand the assaults of the nature, be it is an earthquake, tsunami or a flood.
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CAMIL PARKHE
Wednesday, March 23, 2011 AT 07:59 PM (IST)
Tags: Chernobyl nuclear disaster, Japan quake, Japan tsunami, Jaitapur, Camil Parkhe
The news related to the nuclear radiation in Japan have revived my memories of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster which occurred during my visit to Russia and Bulgaria. The nuclear accident in April of 1986 at Chernobyl in Ukraine was kept a closely-guarded secret by the then USSR government. The communist nation was forced to acknowledge it only after some western nations reported sudden high discharges of radioactivity in the atmosphere. The accident, believed to be the most serious in the history of nuclear power, until last week's disaster in Japan, caused panic all over the world about the possible effects of the radiation. I, along with some Indian journalists, had arrived in Russia and later in Bulgaria for a completing a diploma course in journalism. Mikhail Gorbachev, who was then executive head of Soviet Russia, was yet to announce his glasnost (transparency) and perestroika movement of restructuring the political and economic systems of that country. So, it was not possible to know the exact number of casualties and damages caused by the Chernobyl nuclear mishap.
There were no English newspapers in Sofia where we were studying, and our translators would not dare to disclose what they had heard about the nuclear disaster. There were fears that we may not be able to fly back to Moscow en route to New Delhi and that we may have to take the alternative route of Rome. We were worried that we may already have been affected by the radiation. Our Bulgarian journalist teachers were tight lipped over the issue. It was then we really realised what Winston Churchill had meant when he coined the term 'iron curtain'.
Chernobyl nuclear incident was indeed an accident and the resultant radiation had long-term effects on thousands of people. The nuclear disaster in Japan has been caused by natural calamity of earthquake. While Chernobyl could have been averted, there was absolutely no way to prevent the earthquake which caused blasts at the Japanese nuclear reactors. The nuclear incidents in Japan have now raised question marks on the safety of various other nuclear plants, including the proposed Jaitapur project in Maharashtra, of the big dams and the high-rise constructions in the event of an massive earthquake. The Japan nuclear case has only once again underlined that we human beings are too small and too weak to resist or withstand the assaults of the nature, be it is an earthquake, tsunami or a flood.
Join Sakaal Times on Facebook:
http://sakaaltimes.fbfollow.me/
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