Graph of the Day: Total Additional Radioactivity After the Chernobyl Release for Six Radionuclides

Total additional radioactivity (in petabequerels) in the global environment after the Chernobyl catastrophe: (1) Am-241, (2) Pu (239 + 240), (3) Pu-241, (4) Sr-90, (5) Cs-137, (6) I-131. Mulev, 2008 As a result of the catastrophe, 40% of Europe was contaminated with dangerous radioactivity. Asia and North America were also exposed to significant amounts of radioactive fallout. Contaminated countries include Austria, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Romania, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, France, Greece, Iceland, and Slovenia, as well as wide territories in Asia, including Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, The Emirates, China, and northern Africa. Nearly 400 million people lived in areas with radioactivity at a level exceeding 4 kBq/m2 (≥0.1 Ci/km2) during the period from April to July 1986. Belarus was especially heavily contaminated. Twenty-three years after the catastrophe nearly 5 million people, including some 1 million children, live in vast areas of Belarus, Ukraine, and European Russia where dangerous levels of radioactive contamination persist.

Chernobyl: Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment