Chernobyl (Perspectives on Modern World History)

Cover Page......Page 1
Title Page......Page 3
ISBN 073774555X......Page 4
Contents......Page 5
Foreword......Page 12
Introduction......Page 15
World Map......Page 21
CHAPTER 1 Historical Background on the Chernobyl Disaster......Page 23
1. The Chernobyl Disaster......Page 24
2. The Development of the Soviet Nuclear Industry......Page 31
3. Soviet Secrecy in the Face of Calamity......Page 47
4. The Soviet Myth of Safety......Page 54
5. An Economic Catastrophe......Page 67
CHAPTER 2 Controversies Surrounding the Chernobyl Disaster......Page 72
1. Initial Reports Show the Soviet Response to Chernobyl Was Successful Richard Wilson......Page 73
2. Radiation Exposure and Negative Health Outcomes Were Underreported and Underestimated......Page 81
3. Radiation Exposure from the Chernobyl Disaster Was Not as Severe as Expected......Page 93
4. Belarus Absorbed the Brunt of Chernobyl’s Radiation......Page 104
5. Which Country Suffered the Most from Chernobyl Is Unclear......Page 111
6. Russian and Belarusian Officials Continue to Minimize the Impact of Chernobyl......Page 117
7. The Chernobyl Disaster Was the Fatal Blow to the USSR......Page 124
8. Farming in the Contaminated Zones of Belarus......Page 130
9. Children Harmed by the Chernobyl Accident Should Be Helped at Home......Page 137
10. A Comparison of the Chernobyl and Three Mile Island Incidents......Page 143
11. The Chernobyl Disaster Shows That Nuclear Energy Is Inherently Unsafe......Page 151
12. Chernobyl Tourism......Page 158
CHAPTER 3 Personal Narratives......Page 164
1. A Control Room Worker Talks About the Accident and Life Afterwards......Page 165
2. A Liquidator’s Experience at Chernobyl......Page 172
3. Women and Children in Chernobyl......Page 183
4. Poems by a Pripyat Refugee......Page 195
5. An Irish Activist Working with “Chernobyl Orphans”......Page 200
6. A Chernobyl Tourist......Page 206
Glossary......Page 211
Chronology......Page 213
For Further Reading......Page 216
Index......Page 220