On April 26, 1986, due to many coincidences and operational errors, the reactor of Unit 4 of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded, resulting in one of the worst nuclear leaks in human history, that is, the Chernobyl nuclear accident.
Immediately after the accident, the former Soviet Union used sarcophagus to shut down Unit 4 and organize the rapid evacuation of local residents, and to this day, nearly 40 years have passed since the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which is still a forbidden area for humans, but animals have long been home there. On this issue, we must first dispel the misunderstanding that after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, there was not no one there, just no ordinary residents, and the staff still needed to work there.
There are four units at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, and Unit 4 was quickly shut down after the explosion in 1986, but the remaining three units are still working.
In 1991, five years after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Unit 2 caught fire and was forced to shut down because it could not be repaired. After another five years, in 1996, when Unit 1 was completely shut down, and in 2000, the last remaining Unit 3 was retired, and the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was completely ended. It can be seen that from the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant until 2000, 14 years of time required staff to continue to maintain the operation of the nuclear power plant, so Chernobyl has always been manned during this period.
Aren't these people working in Chernobyl afraid of radiation?
We do not have long-term radioactive dose data for the interior of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, but according to some data previously measured and published, the radioactive dose in the internal control room of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant should be maintained at more than 20 microsieverts per hour for a long time. 20 microsieverts an hour, calculated according to the 8 hours of work a day, that is 160 microsieverts, what is this concept? The International Commission on Radiological Protection has a recommended upper limit for the occupational exposure dose of radioactive personnel, that is, the average annual amount of 20 millisieverts for 5 consecutive years, 1 millisievert is equal to 1000 microsieverts, and it can be calculated that if the staff of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant work more than 125 days a year, the radiation dose will exceed the standard, and it is clear that working in Chernobyl is risky.
Obviously, the dose of radioactivity inside Chernobyl is higher than elsewhere, but in order to continue to operate the nuclear power plant, someone must work there, and as for the ordinary people, of course, it is safer to stay away from this place.
Since humans are not suitable for living there, why do animals think of it as a paradise? Different organisms for radiation tolerance is completely different, in nature, the worst radiation resistance should be fungi and algae, only 0.01 roentgen radiation can kill them, roentgen and we just said the relationship between microsievert is 1: 10000, that is to say, 10 millisievert equals 1 roentgen, 0.01 roentgen is 100 microsievert, which shows that the food is placed inside the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, It should be hairless.
It's important to note that it's not that the simpler the life form, the less resistant to radiation.
Insects are undoubtedly relatively simple and low-level life forms compared to mammals, but their radiation resistance is significantly better than mammals. The average person will inevitably die after receiving 600 roentgen radiation, and all mammals with strong radiation resistance energy, such as rats, can tolerate radiation up to 1000 roentgen, but this is insignificant compared with insects. Insects generally have strong radiation resistance, and parasitic wasps are obviously the best of them, and the study found that parasitic wasps did not die after receiving 180,000 roentgen irradiation, and it takes up to 350,000 roentgen to kill a ciliate.
Why are insects so resistant to radiation?
The inner principle is not yet fully understood, but one thing is clear, that is, the higher the oxygen concentration in the organism, the more sensitive to radiation, and insects have a unique respiratory system, neither by gills, nor by the lungs, but by the valves all over the body directly to send oxygen to various parts of the body, perhaps it is this unique way of breathing that improves the radiation resistance of insects, of course, this is by no means the only reason. In fact, the animals do not know how strong their radiation resistance is, and even do not know what radiation is, the reason why they can use Chernobyl as a paradise is mainly because they do not know the dangers there, they only know that there is no human interference, it is a safe pure land.