Accidents, survival rate

Every country in the Northern Hemisphere contains soil that has tested positive for traces of radioactive deposits from the Chernobyl disaster. No one knows the final number of people who will die as a result of this accident. Scientists and doctors in the area have seen a drastic increase in thyroid cancer, mainly in people who were children or teens at the time of the accident. Fortunately, survival rates are high in the case of this type of cancer. Today, work continues to keep the Chernobyl plant from crumbling. Wild horses, boar, wolves, and birds have returned to the area and are thriving. 

Acute biological effects of the Chernobyl accident on local natural resources were documented by Sokolov et al. (1990). They concluded that the most sensitive ecosystems affected at Chernobyl were the soil fauna and pine forest communities and that the bulk of the terrestrial vertebrate community was not adversely affected by released ionizing radiation. Pine forests seemed to be the most sensitive ecosystem. One stand of 400 ha of Pirns silvestris died and probably received a dose of 80 to 100 Gy other stands experienced heavy mortality of 10- to 12-year-old trees and up to 95% necrotization of young shoots. These pines received an estimated dose of 8 to 10 Gy. Abnormal top shoots developed in some Pirns, and these probably received 3 to 4 Gy. In contrast, leafed trees such as birch, oak, and aspen in the Chernobyl Atomic Power Station zone survived undamaged, probably because they are about 10 times more radioresistant than pines. There was no increase in the mutation rate of the spiderwort, (Arabidopsis thaliana) a radiosensitive plant, suggesting that the dose rate was less than 0.05 Gy/h in the Chernobyl locale. 

It is a pretty town and perfectly civilized. By the way, in all American towns the electric car is the chief feature. There are overhead wires, and cars like our tram cars run at a prodigious rate, careless of life apparently, yet there are very few accidents. I suppose the fittest, i.e., those who don t get killed, survive. They are delightful as a form of motion and almost rival the bicycle. That creature, too, has penetrated everywhere, and is used even over the prairie (17). 

Liver injuries, particularly caused by weapons and accidents, have been known ever since the dawn of mankind. There are numerous reports dating from antiquity and later centuries of liver injuries and surgical attempts to heal them. About 1600, F. Hildanus reported an excision of a prolapsed part of the liver after trauma - the patient survived. In 1716 G. Berta succeeded in treating a prolapsed and severely injured liver in a madman who had cut open his belly with a knife. Laparotomy has been used since 1886 to manage liver injuries mortality rates were 60% (L. Edler, 1887), 81% (E Terrier, 1896) and 44% (B.T. Til-tun, 1905). 

These results indicate that the core could survive this severe accident if we had left some reserve control. Also, it is important to note that the rate of coolant flow has a significant effect on the time scale, that is, the time required to reach coolant temperature limits is lengthened when the flow is increased. This allows more time for the response of reserve control. 

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