Russia's invasion of Ukraine has continued since its first attack in late February 2022. It was recently reported that Russian troops stole radioactive material from the research lab at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), Sunday (10/4). The radioactive material at Chernobyl is said to be very dangerous and lethal to humans.
Ukrainian Energy Minister German Gulashchenko said Russian soldiers stole 133 highly radioactive substances when they entered the storage room of the Eco Center
"They dug up radiation-contaminated vacant land, took radioactive sand in bags for [their] stronghold, inhaled this [radioactive] dust," he said, in a statement on Facebook, Friday (8/4), after visiting the exclusive zone.
"A month after being exposed to such [radioactive], they can only live a maximum of one year. More precisely, not life, but slow death due to disease," he continued.
The Chernobyl nuclear power plant itself is the site of the worst nuclear disaster in the world, which occurred in April 1986. So, what are the dangers of radioactive materials for humans? Reporting from the US Environmental Protection Agency website, see the following explanation!
Dead Cell
Ionizing radiation has enough energy to affect atoms in living cells and damage their genetic material (DNA). Fortunately, the cells in the human body are very efficient at repairing this damage. However, if the damage is not repaired properly, cells can die or eventually become cancerous.
Exposure to high levels of radiation can cause acute health effects such as burns to the skin and acute radiation syndrome 'radiation sickness'. In addition, radiation can also cause long-term health effects such as cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Meanwhile, exposure to low levels of radiation encountered in the environment does not cause direct health effects. However, that doesn't mean it's harmless. It is a small contributor to the overall cancer risk.
Acute Radiation Syndrome
If you are exposed to very high radiation even for only a short time, it will cause symptoms such as nausea and vomiting within a few hours. Sometimes, however, it can result in death over the next few days or weeks. This is known as acute radiation syndrome otherwise known as "radiation sickness".
Acute radiation syndrome is caused by very high radiation exposure, i.e. more than 0.75 gray (75 rad), which is a measure of radiation absorption, over a short period of time, from minutes to hours.
This radiation level will be like getting radiation from 18,000 chest X-rays distributed throughout the body in a short time. Acute radiation syndrome is rare, and results from an extreme event such as a nuclear explosion or accidental handling or rupture of a highly radioactive source.
Cancer Risk
Exposure to low levels of radiation does not cause immediate health effects, but it can lead to a slightly increased lifetime risk of cancer. There are studies that track groups of people who have been exposed to radiation, including atomic bomb survivors and radiation industry workers.
These studies show that radiation exposure increases the likelihood of developing cancer, and the risk increases as the dose increases, i.e. the higher the dose, the greater the risk.
In contrast, the risk of cancer from radiation exposure decreases with a decrease in dose; the lower the dose, the lower the risk.
Approximately 99 percent of individuals will not develop cancer as a result of a single whole-body exposure of 100 millisieverts (10 rem), the stated effective dose, or lower.
The EPA itself sets a limit below 100 millisieverts (10 rem) to protect the US population, including sensitive groups such as children, from the increased risk of cancer from a lifetime of accumulated radiation doses.