Encounter Narrative
Approximately 8 months ago, the nuclear reactor at Sibirskaya suffered a meltdown. This is located close to the town of Seversk, Russia. Olek had been collecting interviews from the citizens who had to flee this town, and how the radiation affected them. Olek had been having these interviews with people who both evacuated Seversk, as well as people who have been suffering the long-term effects of radiation poisoning from other radiation events. His next task was to collect first-hand data himself from the exclusion zone surrounding Sibirskaya as far in as he could get that was deemed safe enough. His agency told him that him and his team would be provided with the highest protective gear possible and equipped with the most accurate radiation signaling equipment available. Whether he believed them or not would not present itself in his body for some years to come.
The hoops his agency had to go through to secure entry passes into this closed city, he was told, were numerous. He and his team would be given these passes for each of the city’s seven checkpoints in order to enter and evaluate the effect of the radiation on the nearby infrastructure, as well as the plants and any pets or animals left behind. More entry passes would be secured to enter the closer exclusion zone of Sibirskaya, which it was assumed would have much more obvious effects of radiation damage. The interviews with individuals affected by this event have already been documented, this excursion would be solely for scientific research on the effects of radiation of local flora, fauna, and infrastructure. |
Getting out of the truck at the entrance of this town, all of the guards were wearing heavy masks. Olek’s team had complete hazmat suits on, the brightest things in this landscape, their bright yellow causing the guards to look away. They looked the group over, checked the identification, the letters, and the passes before letting them through. The guards requested they leave the vehicle at the entrance and make any investigations of the town on foot. When the truck was needed to travel to Sibirskaya, the team could have it back to drive there. Olek figured it was so the guards could go through it, but there was nothing to find. This was not a political mission, there was nothing that would make the guards question their intentions.
Entering the town, it seemed as though everything was normal, just the lack of people. The town was clean, there were no toys from children left out, there were no cars left behind, the windows were not boarded up. The buildings were unaffected, and the trees had minimal damage. Scribbling in his notes, Olek noted the minimal crown death of some of the trees, specifically some of the pine trees that were present. The deciduous trees looked as though they had been entirely unaffected. Even though this area was in the exclusion zone, Olek’s Geiger counter buzzed in the background confirming that there was notable radiation present enough to cause damage to some organisms. He worried for his own safety, but his teammates seemed to be unphased. They each took a separate building to take notes before meeting back up. Some things emitted more radiation than others, which Olek took notes on, but there was minimal radiation emitted at all. There were no real animals left in the town, and the only visible effect on the flora was that it appeared to not grow at the same rate as areas further outside of town. The grass was a little shorter, a little less green.
The team met back up and compared notes, each member gave their own account of their area, but the majority was similar. There had been no extreme visible damage, but there was still radiation present enough to be an issue, at the minimum, for humans. Olek approached one of the guards on his way back to the vehicle and questioned them about any animals they had seen or about any livestock that had been taken away from the area. The guard responded in a broken language that the animals had been taken by their owners, and the livestock had been removed and taken to other farms for safety reasons. However, they had heard that many of the cattle taken from the surrounding area had begun to die, months after the event. Olek thanked them for their information before being loaded into the team’s vehicle. Two of the guards joined them on their truck, guiding them to the next checkpoint.
After reaching the next checkpoint, the team presented their paperwork again, and the guards currently riding with them switched off with the guards at this checkpoint. This occurred four more times before reaching the final checkpoint. Olek’s Geiger counter had been slowly increasing in its urgent buzzing, so much so that he turned down the volume while on the ride. His teammates did the same, except for one. They wanted to know how bad it was truly getting. Olek could see them squirm in their suit as the buzzing increased.
Outside of his window, he saw the grass get browner, shorter, and eventually, it seemed like the grass was frozen in time. The trees the team drove past lost more and more of their leaves as they drove closer to the epicenter of the event, but only the pine trees. The broad-leafed trees seemed mostly untouched. Olek thought it was odd, seeing the pines lose more and more of their crown, but the others appeared as though nothing had happened at all. It wasn’t until the team approached the immediate vicinity exclusion zone that the effects were extremely obvious. This was the first intense radiation zone that many of Olek’s team had experienced, including himself. His teammate’s Geiger counter was buzzing intensely. His teammates began to look at this member, but the member kept the volume of the machine where it was. They knew the effect it had on their teammates, but they kept it on for themselves. The trees had been mostly wiped clean of their leaves, and Olek hadn’t realized until now but it was quiet. There had been some birdsong and the background hum of cicadas in the first zone, but this close to the plant the only noise was the swish of their suits and the buzz of the counter.
The guards got out of the truck, looking visibly tired, and urged the team to work quickly
in that same broken language. These guards wore the same gear as the guards in the entrance zone, with no radiation protection at all. The difference in preparation was a stark contrast, which everyone noticed but no one pointed out.
In this zone, so close to the plant, it was assumed that the general area contained a minimum of 60 Gy but could be much greater. This is the unit of the amount of radiation absorbed by a given mass, which is 1 joule of energy per kilogram of the targeted mass. Olek likened this to if calories were lethal. He attempted to ask the guards questions about the wildlife in the area, but the guards understood little of what he was asking, again urging him and his team to hurry. Olek and his team again split, this time into teams of two, and began taking notes and collecting samples of the area. He noticed, after venturing into the nearby deadwood with his teammate, that there had been a large pond present. The water was slightly murky, but he could make out the presence of fish in this pond. He took notes that all of the fish were of a certain age, and there appeared to be no younger individuals in this population. He continued to explore the deadwood, finding skeletons of rodents and the further desolation of plant life. He swore he could hear the Geiger counter’s buzz in the distance behind him, the constant white noise of this expedition.
He eventually circled back out of the deadwood to meet up with the rest of his teammates. The guards were beginning to become agitated, one of which had begun to shout, tapping their watch. Olek and his group quickly loaded their equipment back onto the vehicle, and hopped in, barely making it as the guards took the driver’s seat and sped off back in the direction where they came from. Olek compared notes with his teammates and tried to ask one of the guards about the fishpond. The guard was able to communicate that the carp were not producing offspring, and their team was too scared to remove them from the pond, fearing their hands would fall off if they put them in the water. The guard gestured as though their hands were on fire and chuckled nervously. Olek asked then asked them about the rodent skeletons, the guard responded with an obscene gesture and then shrugged, “They try, nothing happens!” they said in the first full sentence Olek had heard them speak. Olek nodded and noted this, thankful for this guard’s cooperation.
Entering the town, it seemed as though everything was normal, just the lack of people. The town was clean, there were no toys from children left out, there were no cars left behind, the windows were not boarded up. The buildings were unaffected, and the trees had minimal damage. Scribbling in his notes, Olek noted the minimal crown death of some of the trees, specifically some of the pine trees that were present. The deciduous trees looked as though they had been entirely unaffected. Even though this area was in the exclusion zone, Olek’s Geiger counter buzzed in the background confirming that there was notable radiation present enough to cause damage to some organisms. He worried for his own safety, but his teammates seemed to be unphased. They each took a separate building to take notes before meeting back up. Some things emitted more radiation than others, which Olek took notes on, but there was minimal radiation emitted at all. There were no real animals left in the town, and the only visible effect on the flora was that it appeared to not grow at the same rate as areas further outside of town. The grass was a little shorter, a little less green.
The team met back up and compared notes, each member gave their own account of their area, but the majority was similar. There had been no extreme visible damage, but there was still radiation present enough to be an issue, at the minimum, for humans. Olek approached one of the guards on his way back to the vehicle and questioned them about any animals they had seen or about any livestock that had been taken away from the area. The guard responded in a broken language that the animals had been taken by their owners, and the livestock had been removed and taken to other farms for safety reasons. However, they had heard that many of the cattle taken from the surrounding area had begun to die, months after the event. Olek thanked them for their information before being loaded into the team’s vehicle. Two of the guards joined them on their truck, guiding them to the next checkpoint.
After reaching the next checkpoint, the team presented their paperwork again, and the guards currently riding with them switched off with the guards at this checkpoint. This occurred four more times before reaching the final checkpoint. Olek’s Geiger counter had been slowly increasing in its urgent buzzing, so much so that he turned down the volume while on the ride. His teammates did the same, except for one. They wanted to know how bad it was truly getting. Olek could see them squirm in their suit as the buzzing increased.
Outside of his window, he saw the grass get browner, shorter, and eventually, it seemed like the grass was frozen in time. The trees the team drove past lost more and more of their leaves as they drove closer to the epicenter of the event, but only the pine trees. The broad-leafed trees seemed mostly untouched. Olek thought it was odd, seeing the pines lose more and more of their crown, but the others appeared as though nothing had happened at all. It wasn’t until the team approached the immediate vicinity exclusion zone that the effects were extremely obvious. This was the first intense radiation zone that many of Olek’s team had experienced, including himself. His teammate’s Geiger counter was buzzing intensely. His teammates began to look at this member, but the member kept the volume of the machine where it was. They knew the effect it had on their teammates, but they kept it on for themselves. The trees had been mostly wiped clean of their leaves, and Olek hadn’t realized until now but it was quiet. There had been some birdsong and the background hum of cicadas in the first zone, but this close to the plant the only noise was the swish of their suits and the buzz of the counter.
The guards got out of the truck, looking visibly tired, and urged the team to work quickly
in that same broken language. These guards wore the same gear as the guards in the entrance zone, with no radiation protection at all. The difference in preparation was a stark contrast, which everyone noticed but no one pointed out.
In this zone, so close to the plant, it was assumed that the general area contained a minimum of 60 Gy but could be much greater. This is the unit of the amount of radiation absorbed by a given mass, which is 1 joule of energy per kilogram of the targeted mass. Olek likened this to if calories were lethal. He attempted to ask the guards questions about the wildlife in the area, but the guards understood little of what he was asking, again urging him and his team to hurry. Olek and his team again split, this time into teams of two, and began taking notes and collecting samples of the area. He noticed, after venturing into the nearby deadwood with his teammate, that there had been a large pond present. The water was slightly murky, but he could make out the presence of fish in this pond. He took notes that all of the fish were of a certain age, and there appeared to be no younger individuals in this population. He continued to explore the deadwood, finding skeletons of rodents and the further desolation of plant life. He swore he could hear the Geiger counter’s buzz in the distance behind him, the constant white noise of this expedition.
He eventually circled back out of the deadwood to meet up with the rest of his teammates. The guards were beginning to become agitated, one of which had begun to shout, tapping their watch. Olek and his group quickly loaded their equipment back onto the vehicle, and hopped in, barely making it as the guards took the driver’s seat and sped off back in the direction where they came from. Olek compared notes with his teammates and tried to ask one of the guards about the fishpond. The guard was able to communicate that the carp were not producing offspring, and their team was too scared to remove them from the pond, fearing their hands would fall off if they put them in the water. The guard gestured as though their hands were on fire and chuckled nervously. Olek asked then asked them about the rodent skeletons, the guard responded with an obscene gesture and then shrugged, “They try, nothing happens!” they said in the first full sentence Olek had heard them speak. Olek nodded and noted this, thankful for this guard’s cooperation.
The team presented their papers again at each checkpoint, continuing with the switching of the guards at each station. The Geiger counter began to slowly calm its buzz, the member visibly becoming less and less anxious. Everyone else seemed to relax their shoulders and breathe deeper as well. Their suits had lasted this entire expedition, showing the wear of the exposure through some dark spots on members’ feet and hands. They had been instructed to only touch what was necessary, but only a few members heeded that advice. Olek reviewed his notes and the interviews he performed, comparing the accounts of each. It was very clear that this event would be detrimental for many years to come, both in the immediate vicinity of the plant, as well as Seversk. He was just happy to be out of this and pushed the thought of permanent radiation damage to the back of his mind as the Geiger counter got quieter and quieter.
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Works Cited*
Geras’kin, S.A., Fesenko, S.V., Alexakhin, R.M. (2008) Effects of non-human species irradiation after the Chernobyl NPP accident. Environmental International. 34(6). 880-897.
Kamiya, K.K., Ozasa, K., Akiba, S., Niwa, O., Kodama, K., Takamura, N., Zaharieva, E.K.,Kimura, Y., Wakeford, R. (2015) Long-Term effects of radiation exposure on health. The Lancet. 386(9992). 469-478.
McCollough, C.H., Scheduler, B.A., Atwell, T.D., Braun, N.N., Regner, D.M., Brown,D.L., Leroy, A.J. (2007) Radiation Exposure and Pregnancy: When Should We Be Concerned? Radiology Society of North America RadioGraphics. 27(4).
*For image sources, click the respective image.
Geras’kin, S.A., Fesenko, S.V., Alexakhin, R.M. (2008) Effects of non-human species irradiation after the Chernobyl NPP accident. Environmental International. 34(6). 880-897.
Kamiya, K.K., Ozasa, K., Akiba, S., Niwa, O., Kodama, K., Takamura, N., Zaharieva, E.K.,Kimura, Y., Wakeford, R. (2015) Long-Term effects of radiation exposure on health. The Lancet. 386(9992). 469-478.
McCollough, C.H., Scheduler, B.A., Atwell, T.D., Braun, N.N., Regner, D.M., Brown,D.L., Leroy, A.J. (2007) Radiation Exposure and Pregnancy: When Should We Be Concerned? Radiology Society of North America RadioGraphics. 27(4).
*For image sources, click the respective image.
For my group-mates' narratives, please click their respective names: