Chernobyl disaster - who was affected?

Question

My friend was living in Belarus, Russia during the time of the Chernobyl power plant disaster. He was about one years old at the time. He is now 23. He has no visual side effects of the disaster, is he at risk for cancer, unable to have children, etc. because of the chernobyl explosion?

Answer 1

The radiation cloud COVERED THE WORLD.. it took about 4 months... but radiation from Chernobyl is PRESENT in EVERY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD.. so the whole world was affected.

Answer 2

he need to go a good specialist doctor in radiation and made a deep exam.

Answer 3

How far is that from Cher?

ive seen videos lately of kids who were left in the area and how they look today.

there are kids severely deformed by radiation

Answer 4

There is no definite correct answer to this question.  There are a lot of variables.  Here is my opinion:

We know from the Fallout that the entire country (country now) of Belarus was extremely affected by the explosion.  One fifth of the country is now part of the Exclusion Zone.  According to the HBO documentary, Chernobyl Heart, the babies born in Minsk today are typically born only about 20-30% healthy.  Those that are, typically have problems within the first two years because of the radiation still blowing through there.  The whole key there is: radiation affects the very young the hardest.  

In this documentary, they also show many kids in the 16-25 year old range that are having surgeries either for Thyroid cancers (which are typically extremely slow growing) OR for Chernobyl heart, which is where exposure to radiation causes holes in the heart that need repaired with a simple patch.  

Another situation to consider is the fact that the Russian government didn't tell anyone about this until days later when the high levels of radiation had hit other countries in the north and they started reporting it.  The day before Russia went public was a national holiday called a "May Day" and millions of people were outside for parades that day exposed to everything and it rained in some areas to boot.  

The problem after they knew about (and still to this day) is that the winds blow through the Chernobyl region (with a reactor that is leaking radiation) and it predominantly blows through the Belarussian region.  It would have been that way too when your friend was there.  Another factor would be how long he was there after the explosion happened.  The first few years were the hardest amounts of radiation (although the levels now are still pretty bad).  If he was there for a month and then left it would be totally different than if he lived there until he was 6 or 7 and then moved away.  

My suggestion?  I think the fact that he is in good health at the present time is a great thing.  However, I still think at some point, he would want to make an appointment with a doctor and tell them what he was exposed to.  I would research the doctors too.  It will typically be an internist (a general MD with higher levels of schooling) and make sure it is someone who knows things about radiation and the region.  I live in a small town and we have a Russian internest who actually used to work with children from that area.  So, ask around, do your research on the internet.  There are doctors out there that understand that could check your friends levels and readings for those exposed to radiation and get a game plan together if something is wrong.  It is much easier to get those things corrected when caught earlier rather than later.  

Just my opinions here.  It doesn't mean they are right.  

Answer 5

The radioactive materials from Chernobyl were spread by air currents across the world. In particular countries in Scandinavia such as Finland and Sweden as well as Russia, Ukraine and surrounding countries had a notable increase of radioactivity, childhood defects.

Your friend was most definitely close enough to possibly be affected by Chernobyl. Belarus had extensive contamination.

Scientists measured an increase in radioactivity across mainly all of Europe and even as far away as Japan and North America.

Answer 6

We do not know exactly of course, but it is safe to say that anyone living in the vicinity of Chernobyl will have been affected by radiation. The further away , the less people would be affected. However , the radiation cloud gradually blew itself half way around the world, entering en-route the worlds` food chain. It entered the soil, the water supplies, the crops, the animals etc. as well as human beings in many countries far far away from Russia. Testament  to this, is the sharp increase in cases of cancers around the world.