By Kang Hyun-kyung
Anger erupted at the then government of the Soviet Union after the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant’s reactor number four on April 26, 1986 sent the nearby city of Pripyat into unprecedented chaos, a former Korean envoy to Ukraine said Sunday.
But Park Ro-byug, ambassador for the Korea-U.S. nuclear cooperation agreement, said the worst nuclear disaster ever _ at the time _ did not stop the later independent Ukraine from pursuing nuclear energy, adding that he remained optimistic about the future of the South Korean nuclear industry.
“Although an adjustment period is inevitable, it is unlikely that fear of radioactivity from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plants will have a major impact on global demand for nuclear energy.”
Park, 55, went on to say that China and India, two fast-growing economies, will eventually look to nuclear power as an alternative energy source to achieve low-carbon green growth.
His remarks came amid the media spotlight on the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear accident.
Park, former ambassador to Ukraine (2008-2011), observed that Ukrainians’ growing distrust of the Soviet authorities at the time facilitated the collapse of the Soviet Union which came in 1991.
“Moscow tried to cover up the nuclear disaster and remained silent for a few days after the explosion,” the senior foreign ministry official told The Korea Times. “Families of high-ranking officials of the Communist Party were encouraged to go abroad. But Ukrainians didn’t know exactly what happened as they were not properly informed.”
Before it was dissolved, the Soviet Union was a diverse bloc with more than 100 ethnic groups. The majority were Russians (50.8 percent), followed by Ukrainians and Uzbeks.
The Soviet authorities pushed ahead with a massive Labor Day event on May 1 as scheduled by mobilizing citizens, amid the catastrophic radioactive consequences.
The wind blew from the southeast to northeast. Due to the direction, about 60 percent of the radioactive fallout headed toward Belarus and the border area between Russia and Ukraine were seriously contaminated. So were groundwater, fruit, vegetables, flora and fauna.
The way the Soviet authorities reacted to the accident in the incipient stages prompted a backlash from residents.
Discontent about the regime had deepened, but people living in a totalitarian state couldn’t think about staging protests or rallies against the government.
Five years after the catastrophic nuclear accident, Ukraine achieved independence when the Soviet Union dissolved.
Despite the nightmare that reportedly claimed nearly 1 million of lives from 1986 to 2004, the Ukrainian government didn’t give up on nuclear energy.
Park said nuclear power plants produce 48 percent of electricity in the country and therefore it had no option.
“Ukraine has no alternative energy source, except nuclear energy. It heavily relies on imports of oil and natural gas from Russia. This explains why Ukraine couldn’t suspend the operation of nuclear plants.”
Ukraine’s decision following Chernobyl is in stark contrast with that of the United States after a 1979 meltdown in Unit 2 of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.
The accident resulted in the release of up to 13 million curies of radioactive gases and nearly 20 curies of iodine-131. It was rated at level 5 on an international scale of severity of nuclear accidents.
The International Nuclear and Radiological Scale ranges from level 1 through 7. Level 1 indicates very little danger to the general population, while level 7 implies a major accident in which there has been a large release of radioactive material and widespread health and environmental effects.
Concerns over nuclear safety escalated after the accident, leading the U.S. government to suspend the construction of nuclear power plants for almost 30 years.
“The United States has a variety of energy sources such as oil and fossil fuels. But this was not the case of Ukraine,” Park said.
The former envoy also noted that the two societies have different social and environmental settings.
“In the United States, there has been a growing call for clean energy and environmentalists’ voices were heard in policymaking process. But the situation facing Ukraine at the time was very different,” he said.
The anniversary of Chernobyl has drawn fresh media attention because of the ongoing nuclear crisis at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plants.
The severity ratings of both nuclear disasters on an international scale are both 7.
The Japanese authorities initially rated the nuclear accident at level 4 but later elevated the rating to 7 in April.