If you have not watched the miniseries Chernobyl (HBO), what are you waiting for? It explains what happened when the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant became the worst man-made catastrophe in 1986, the causes of the accident, and the efforts of thousands of people to mitigate the problem. Chernobyl series is not focused on the dangers of nuclear industry, simply because nuclear is the safest source of energy we have. This is not a simple opinion, but a fact. More information here, here and here.

However “Chernobyl” gives a very realistic view of the dramatic human consequences of those affected by the accident, as well as the serious problems that scientists had to face because of the dangerous power of the “official truth”.

So let’s now focus on the 5 top “take home messages” from the Chernobyl series:

ONE – Environmental disasters (intentional or not) have long-lasting consequences. They can persist for years/decades in the best case scenario and centuries in the worst. They (will) affect water, air, soils, life and, of course, humans – some of them not even born yet.

TWO – Most environmental problems are not easy to remediate at all because they are extremely complex, involving an enormous number of variables. All the knowledge we have today is not enough to obtain single, quick fix solutions to limit their consequences.

Here I am not only talking about nuclear accidents. Others that can be equally or more devastating, like the release of industrial pollutants to the environment, chemical explosions, severe air pollution, mining accidents, chemical weapons, oil spills, tailings dam failures. A simple example: radioisotopes released during nuclear accidents transform to stable elements after some time. Some have a short half-life (e.g., Iodine-131, 8 days) while others have an extremely long half-life (e.g., Plutonium-239, 24 000 years; more information here). However, there are also non-radioactive contaminant elements released during accidents, e.g., lead, cadmium, arsenic… and many others which will be harmful –especially at high concentrations– forever because they are stable. Some info and examples here. Water, soils or air polluted with heavy metals, pesticides or hydrocarbons can cause reproductive problems, damage to the nervous system, kidney failure and cancer, among other problems. The fact that they are not radioactive does not mean that these substances are less harmful. Organics released during oil spills induce a variety of health problems, as well as mass mortality events within marine life. Some of the oil hydrocarbons are extremely toxic (e.g., polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) and bioaccumulate in the fish we eat.

THREE – Reversing or minimising the damage –whenever possible– is not free. It costs millions. It costs human lives. It takes time. Sometimes solutions are in fact “temporary patches” that contain the problem for a few months or years, but they do not solve the problem itself.

Image: the new “safe” $2billion confinement structure in Chernobyl that will prevent the release of contaminants. It should be stable for at least 100 years… but the radioactive material is still inside and is very dangerous. More pictures.