Chernobyl

We had been searching for the genetic inheritance of Chernobyl for almost 40 years. A new study has just found it

by

For decades, one of the great unknowns of science after nuclear accidents like Chernobyl has been whether prolonged exposure to radiation leaves a genetic mark that can be passed on to offspring. And although until now I had not found anything relevant, advances in different genomics have begun to shed light on the fact that it is not as harmless as we thought for the different generations that are passing. New evidence. This is precisely what a team from the University of Bonn has pointed out when publishing an article in which they point out that they have found evidence of a “mutational signature” that passes between different generations in the children of men exposed to radiation after the Chernobyl disaster. How it was done. To reach this conclusion, the researchers analyzed the complete genomes of different groups to search for genetic material. Here, sequencing data from 130 children of Chernobyl liquidators, who received radiation exposure of up to 4080 mGy, were reanalyzed. Additionally, 110 children of former German military radar operators exposed to radiation up to 353 mGy were recruited. In order to compare the data, the control was a group of 1,275 children from families that did not have exposure to ionizing radiation. What was wanted? The easy thing here could be to look for generic mutations that are ‘common’, but the team focused on the mutations de novo grouped. These are nothing more than multiple new mutations in a very short segment of DNA, specifically within a range of 20 base pairs. The results. What they found here was that the rate of these clustered mutations is significantly higher in children of parents who have been exposed to radiation. Specifically, in the group of people from Chernobyl a rate of 2.65 mutations per offspring was observed and in the group of radar operators (who received less radiation) the average drops to 1.48 grouped mutations. In the control group, that is, those people who had not received any radiation, these mutations were 0.88, which serves as a basis to begin comparing and drawing conclusions. Interpretation. With all this data, the researchers point out that the number of these mutations increased proportionally to the radiation dose to which the father had been exposed. And to know why, we have to look at the reactive oxygen species (ROS) that are generated due to this radiation and that induce breaks in the DNA chain of humans. This is fundamental, because when this damage affects the germ cells in the sperm and the repair mechanisms are activated, different errors occur that accumulate mutations that end up being transmitted to the next generation. Its consequences. The fact of having a mutation in your DNA due to radiation does not mean that you will have offspring with three eyes, and here science indicates that the probability of these alterations triggering a genetic disease in your children is minimal. In fact, science points to a much more everyday risk factor such as the father’s age, since paternal aging naturally adds between 1 and 2 mutations. de novo isolated for each year of age at conception. Images | Jorge Fernandez Salas Dasha Urvachova In Xataka | We have been searching for radioactive “monsters” for decades. What we have found is a rapid evolution

the most radioactive point in Chernobyl

by

Under reactor 4 of the infamous Chernobyl plant horror is hidden. A huge mass of corium, a kind of already solidified radioactive lava, known as “elephant foot” because of its wrinkled shape. For years it has been known as the most radioactive point in Chernobyland therefore one of the most dangerous in the world. It turns out that there is another one even worse, its name is “The China Syndrome.” The chorio did not stop at the elephant’s foot First of all, let’s see what corio is. The Spanish Nuclear Society defines it as a “mass, melted or solidified, formed by nuclear fuel, structural or control materials and reaction products thereof, which is produced by the total or partial meltdown of the core of a reactor, as a consequence of an accident with loss of cooling.” While still burning, the Chernobyl chorium reached temperatures of 2,600 degrees, more than twice as much as volcanic lava which is usually between 850 and 1,200 degrees. After the accident, corium accumulated in room 305/2, which is located just below reactor 4. From here, some flowed to the east, which is where the famous “elephant’s foot” is located. This formation was discovered in 1986, about eight months after the accident, and the radiation it emitted at that time was 10,000 roentgens per hour. To put it in context, according to the United States nuclear commissionbetween 400 and 500 roentgen per hour are lethal for 50% of the population. The radiation of the elephant’s foot has decreased radically over the years. There is no data on current radiation, but in 1996 the radiation specialist Artur Korneyev took a selfie with her and he survived that exhibition for a long time, finally dying in 2022 at the age of 73. The corium is the red mass seen at the bottom. Image: Shredmash But the chorio did not stop there, it continued descending and went through the ground of this room. He continued to advance through the cooling piping system and came out through the steam ducts. This enormous mass is what among some Chernobyl fans It is known as “The China Syndrome”. China Syndrome It is a huge chorio mass that extends through the corridors of the steam distribution system. According to a fan who posted the story on Redditin 1997 the most radioactive part of this mass emitted 3,460 roentgens per hour, while the elephant’s foot emitted only about 700 roentgens at that time. We have not found data about current measurements, but we have references that indicate that the mass is much larger than the so-called elephant’s foot. The Reddit user ppitm He was the first to call this mass of corium this way and the name has become popular since then. But why that name? It is a concept that was coined by William K. Ergena German theoretical physicist and later popularized by Ralph Lapp, a physicist participating in the Manhattan Project, who mentioned it in an article about nuclear plumbing. ‘The China Syndrome’ It is a hyperbolic idea, as a warning, about what could happen if a nuclear reactor melts down and the resulting material ends up burning the concrete that contains it. The name comes from the idea (obviously exaggerated) that this mass could continue advancing for years, cross the Earth and end up in China. To better understand this exaggeration, it must be taken into account that Ergen’s report was published in 1967, when no fusion accident had yet occurred in a reactor. His prediction was that, in the worst case, a high-temperature mass would form that would sink into the earth and increase in size for approximately two years, potentially reaching 30 meters in diameter and that would persist for a decade. Thank goodness he was wrong. Cover image | Chernobyl ChernobylFacebook In Xataka | We already have the world’s first fast neutron nuclear reactor. We are going to use it for AI data centers

It is called “Flying Chernobyl” and it has been flying for 14 hours

by

Europe and the US decided cross again one of the red lines imposed by Russia since the beginning of its invasion of Ukraine. The “English way” had been activated with long range missiles Storm Shadows. Now, the public reappearance of the Russian program Burevestnik The same week in which talks between Moscow and Washington deteriorated cannot be an isolated or technical event, but rather a calculated move: the staging of a nuclear system with virtually unlimited range is a strategic message. A missile to go through everything. Putin and Gerasimov have described a 14,000 kilometer flight for about 15 hours on nuclear propulsion, claiming what in 2018 it was announced in response to two American decisions: the anti-missile armor after the withdrawal from the ABM Treaty and the expansion of NATO. The message is not only technical (“invincible” to present and future defenses due to unpredictable scope and trajectory). but doctrinal: Russia wants to reinstate the idea that no Western access denial architecture can be immune from nuclear risk. The repeated reference to the fact that “no one else has it” since categories and infrastructure for its deployment must already be planned suggests that Moscow wants the West to assume that this system should be treated as a strategic fact and not as a prototype. The nickname. The label “Flying Chernobyl”used by arms control experts, recalls the physical cost of the concept: the precedent of 2019 accident in Nyonoksa, with five scientists dead and radiation released, shows the price of pursuing infinite scope even at the risk of contaminating one’s own environment. Burevestnik as a bargaining chip. The demonstration coincides with a failed diplomatic back-and-forth: Trump went in days from announcing a summit in Budapest to cancel it due to “loss of time”. At the same time, the United States imposed sanctions to the two largest Russian oil companies and authorized Ukraine to carry out in-depth attacks against Russian energy infrastructure, a point in which Putin responded that any deep strike would have “very serious, if not overwhelming” retaliation. Media activation of the Burevestnik serves as a reminder that Russia maintains nuclear escalation letter just when the other (energy) is being eroded by primary and secondary sanctions. The figures illustrate what is at stake: if India or China limit imports of Russian crude oil due to sanctions, the Kremlin could lose between 1,600 and 7,400 million of dollars per month in income, a lever that makes the threat of a system that does not depend on maritime corridors or logistics chains more valuable. Screenshot of the launch of the Burevestnik 9M730 program in 2018 Nuclear signal. And while Russia exhibits nuclear test, Ukraine demonstrates conventional depth with swarms of drones that have forced Moscow airports to close and defenses to be saturated. Russia admitted shooting down 28 drones in one night but rarely detailing damage. The war in the rear It is already bidirectional: Moscow launches hundreds of drones and missiles on Kyiv, destroying homes and forcing Zelensky to claim more Patriotwhile Ukraine hurts the Russian economy by attacking refineries. The presentation of the Burevestnik between conventional bombings and energy sanctions, nuclear deterrence becomes an added layer to the cost game: its mere existence is intended to alter the West’s calculations of persistence more than offering immediate tactical utility on the battlefield. Multiple message. For Trump (who called Russia of “paper tiger” for not defeating Ukraine quickly) the test aims to restore symbolic parity: Even with mediocre conventional performance, Russia remembers that on the nuclear frontier maintains qualitative advantage declared. For the West, the lesson is that Moscow can tie arms control negotiations to concessions in the Ukrainian theater. Within the regime, Putin reframes himself as a leader who delivers “weapons without analogue” even under sanction. The fact that Dmitriev, special envoy, will communicate the details The trial in Washington suggests that the missile is used directly as an instrument of diplomatic signaling as well as as a doctrinal response. Return to deterrence. The affirmation of invulnerability of the Burevestnik coincides with the closing windows of conventional impunity: air defense in Ukraine demonstrated that penetrating A2/AD layers without supremacy is extremely costly and that long-range warfare with drones and smart missiles is reducing the “safe” zones of the Russian rear. Faced with this erosion, Moscow “jumps layers” remembering that can recover margin of coercion with the radiological-nuclear terror: the missile does not lower a meter of mud on the front, but it degrades the Western expectation that a war of attrition can be prolonged without strategic risk. A physical test. If you also want, the essay of the Burevestnik comes as an integrated response to three pressure lines simultaneous: energy sanctions that strain tax revenue, deep attacks Ukrainians who pierce the perception of internal invulnerability and the evaporation of a short way of negotiation with Washington after the cancellation of Budapest. The deliberate choice of the moment, the choreography with uniformsthe propaganda echo of “unparalleled weapon” and the diplomatic leak to the United States indicate that the objective was not to prove physics, or “not only”, but also to induce a belief: to reinstall in the minds of adversaries and allies the possibility of a jump nuclear step if the West persists in prolonging conventional attrition against Russia. Image | YouTube In Xataka | The war in Ukraine was a drone war. Now it is a war of drones that are not actually combat drones In Xataka | In 1970 the USSR secretly developed kryptonite for nuclear warheads: now it sounds like a general rehearsal is imminent

We had been asking us for years why Chernobyl wild boar were so radioactive. The answer was not in the accident

by

Almost four decades after the accident of the nuclear power plant located in Prypiat, Chernobil animals They continue generating fascination. These survivors in one of the most polluted regions in Europe They surprise us In many ways, but there is an enigmatic species in this place is that of wild boar. One of the most radioactive species of Chernobil. Solving the mystery. Have A new trackrevealed by a team of researchers, about these animals: we finally know why their radioactivity is greater than that of other species. The answer does not have so much to do with the nuclear accident in itself but with something that happened quite before. More radioactive? It is very little that we still know about Chernobil animals. One of the most curious enigmas was that of wild boars. To understand why we have to talk about one of the most polluting radioactive isotopes, the Cesio 137 (CS137). The semi -dear period of this isotope (the time in which half of the atoms we have of the material will have disintegrated) is just over 30 years. The concentration of cesium in the trophic chain should in principle even reduce to a greater extent since atoms tend to leak on the ground or be dragged by the water to the rivers. Going down. That is why the level of radioactivity in animals such as deer or roams has descended significantly in the area. Not only this situation has not occurred in the towns of Jabalís: its radiation levels have remained almost constant, that is, the descent is not even in line with which the semi -detail of the CS137 would imply. Is the “wild boar paradox” Nuclear tests and radioactive truffles. The response starts from Cesium 135. The team that resolved this mystery managed to focus not on radiation levels but in its origin. They found that it was this other Isotope of Cesium who was behind this phenomenon. The CS135 has a much longer half -grooming period, which explains why the reduction had been lower. This also makes it harder to detect the presence of CS135. As Explain the responsible team From the study, each type of nuclear incident has its own “signature”. It is estimated that 90% of CS137 present in Europe was released by the Chernobil accident, but this is not the case of CS135. The origin of this is 68% in the nuclear tests developed in the context of the Fíra war. The fair depth. The feeding of wild boars has also been one of the key factors when it comes to understanding the reason for their radiation levels. These animals feed on a type of truffle (Elaphomyces) that grows in the subsoil, at depths of between 20 and 40 centimeters. As we indicated before, part of the Radioactive Cesium He leaked year after year on the floor of the area. At the rate of a few millimeters a year, the Cesium (both the one from the nuclear tests and the accident) has been advancing towards these depths, contaminating these fungi, food source of the wild boars. From Chernobil to Bavaria. The study that clarified this mystery was carried out by analyzing a population of 48 wild boar in the state of Bavariasouth of Germany. The Analysis details They were published in the magazine Environmental Science & Technology. In the long term. The study results invite us to think that the situation will not change in the short term. That is, it is unlikely that the levels of radioactivity of wild boars begin to descend in the coming years until they are equal to those presented by other similar animals such as deer or roeans. The greatest radiation present in these animals has made the hunters resist their capture. This implies that the populations of these wild boars will go increasing. Perhaps their expansion through central Europe makes the radiation levels of these animals decline generation after generation but, from what we have seen, this process could still be extended for decades. In Xataka | Birds, wild boars and even a prehistoric clam: these are some of the species that returned from extinction In Xataka | Some Spanish scientists are recreating the cranobil accident in Seville. Objective: See how it affects biodiversity Image | Joachim Reddemann / Кирил урин *An earlier version of this article was published in July 2024

Chernobyl is full of radioactive dogs. It has nothing to do with the nuclear accident, according to a study

by

Behind him Chernobyl nuclear plant accidentthe areas close to the plant continue to be dangerous for humans. He reactor number four The Vladimir Ilyich Lenin plant exploded on April 26, 1986, releasing 500 times more radioactive material in northern Ukraine than was used in the Hiroshima bomb. It was a natural disaster that, little by little, became a paradise full of radioactive animals and plants. And it is because, beyond the few humans who work in maintenance tasks, the visits and those who installed the New Safe Sarcophagusthe animals roam freely. Among them, there are dogs, so many that they were baptized as “the Chernobyl puppies”. When the accident occurred, the dogs were abandoned, but in recent years, the population has skyrocketed and it is estimated that there are around a thousand dogs roaming freely. Petting one of these adorable little dogs is not a good idea due to their radioactive load, but a new study points out that the genetic differences of these dogs have nothing to do with a radiation-induced mutation. The radioactive dogs of Chernobyl Watching the video above, it seems impossible to resist the temptation of petting these puppies. The problem is that they have radioactive particles in their fur, but the incredible thing about this story is that they simply exist so close to the accident zone. The ionizing radiation It interacts in a curious way with the tissues of living beings: it breaks chemical bonds and modifies the structure of the chains of atoms. It is what causes animals to develop tumors, something that The plants adapted much better due to its particularities. Of that thousand of dogs wandering around Chernobyl302 have been under study for some time by the University of South Carolina or the National Human Genome Research Institute with the purpose of characterizing their genetic structure. The animals belong to three different populations that have lived inside the plant and at distances of between 10 and 15 kilometers from ‘ground zero’. Their research aims to help answer questions about how humans and other species can adapt to survive in such aggressive environments, and researchers are already getting some answers. The first thing is that it seems that these dogs are evolving at a different rate than dogs from neighboring areas. They have some distinctive genetic traits in their DNA that they have developed over the years and a few months ago they already they dropped that the radiation could have nothing to do with them. Now it is North Carolina State University and the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University who have shared a study in which they claim that they have been working with two populations of dogs, separated only by about 16 kilometershave different genetic traits. “We are trying to determine whether exposure to low levels of environmental toxins, such as radiation, lead, etc., over many years could explain some of these differences,” says Matthew Breen, one of the authors. What they did was start looking for differences at the chromosomal level, later in small intervals of the genome and, finally, differences in nucleotides. Reactor number 4 with its current sarcophagus The goal was to find abnormalities and evidence of DNA mutations in reproductive cells, which are passed from generation to generation. “It’s like using the zoom function on your phone’s camera to get more details: We start with a wide view of the subject and then zoom in,” says Breen. And the result is interesting, since it seems that radiation does not have much to do with the changes found: “We know that, for example, exposure to high doses of radiation can introduce instability from the chromosomal level down. Although this dog population is 30 or more generations removed from those present during the 1986 disaster, the mutations would likely still be detectable if they offered a survival advantage to those original dogs. But we found no evidence of that in these dogs.” The work follows its coursesince with what they have found, the researchers cannot rule out the role of selective pressure in explaining the differences between the two populations of dogs. “In human terms, this is like studying a population that is centuries away from the one that was present at the time of the disaster. It is possible that the dogs that survived long enough to reproduce already had genetic traits that increased their ability to survive and, perhaps, what there was was extreme ‘natural selection’ at the beginning,” says another of the authors, Megan Dillon. The researcher points out that it may be that, after this extreme pressure, the nuclear plant dogs were simply kept separate from the city’s population. “Investigating this path is a next step that we are working on,” he comments. Unavoidable disasters Another of the authors is Norman Kleiman, of the Columbia University School of Public Health. Keiman comments that “most people think of the Chernobyl nuclear accident as a radiological disaster in an abandoned corner of Ukraine, but the potential adverse health implications are much broader,” and this is due to many other toxins, such as heavy metals, lead dust, pesticides and asbestos. The curious thing is that most of these toxins were released into the environment during the decades of cleanup that followed and this is something that may also have had an influence on the living beings in the area. “Studying companion animals, like these dogs, gives us a window into the types of health risks that people may face.” “The importance of continuing to study the environmental health aspects of large-scale disasters like this cannot be overstated. It is certain that, given the increasingly technological and industrial nature of our societies, there will inevitably be other similar disasters in the future, and we need to understand the possible health risks and how to better protect people,” the researcher emphasizes. Thus, understanding these genetic variations in dogs is not only the answer to a scientific curiosity, but also something practical in order to better … Read more

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.