Yablokov Chernobyl book

Yablokov & Nesterenko: Contamination through Time and Space 17Figure 1.13. Contamination of Ukraine [Cs-137 (above) and Pu (below)] as a result ofthe Chernobyl catastrophe (National Report of Ukraine, 2006).time when most of the short-lived radionuclideshad decayed, was 50 × 10 6 Ci or 1.85 × 10 18Bq (Izrael, 1990, 1996). It was estimated that3–4% of the fuel from the moment of meltdown(i.e., from 190.3 tons) was blown out of the reactor,a serious underestimation. Emissions continuedafter May 6, with intensity decreasingover 10 days until the graphite lining of the reactorstopped burning. Emission of radioactivesubstances into the atmosphere was prolonged.UNSCEAR (2000) estimated that the total activityof ejected radionuclides was 1.2 × 10 19Bq, including 1.2–1.7× 10 18 Bq of I-131 and3.7 × 10 16 Bq of Cs-137.UNSCEAR reports (1988, 2000) containdata (comparable with emissions of I-131)about an enormous volume of emissions ofTe-132 (half-life 78 h and decaying into