A personal experience reducing radiation exposures: protecting family in Kiev during the first two weeks after...

The Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident occurred in 1986. The plume from the explosions and fires was highly radioactive and resulted in very high exposure levels in the surrounding regions. This paper describes how the people in Kiev, Ukraine, a city 120 km (90 miles) south of Chernobyl, and in particular one individual in that city, Professor Vitaly Eremenko, became aware of the threat before the official announcement and the steps he took to mitigate potential impacts to his immediate family. The combination of being informed and using available resources led to greatly reduced consequences for his family and, in particular, his newborn granddaughter. He notes how quickly word of the some aspects of the hazard spread in the city and how other aspects appear to not have been understood. Although these events are being recalled as the 20 anniversary of the terrible event approaches, the lessons are still pertinent today. Threats of possible terrorist use of radiation dispersal devices makes knowledge of effective individual actions for self-protection from radiation exposures a topic of current interest.