# Chapter Forty — The 1980s in the USSR ![](images/00056.jpg) ## Chernobyl and Nuclear Power On April 26, 1986, at 1:30 in the morning, an explosion shook the Russian town of Chernobyl, just eighty miles north of the city of Kiev. A power plant had exploded. The fireball from the explosion killed thirty people. This might not seem like such a bad accident. But in fact, one hundred and thirty-five thousand people were in danger as soon as the explosion occurred. Another four hundred thousand were told that the accident might damage their health, permanently. The Chernobyl power plant was a nuclear plant—and the explosion in its fourth reactor was the worst nuclear disaster in history. To understand the Chernobyl disaster, we need to go all the way back to the 1940s and the American scientists who worked so hard to make an atomic bomb before Germany could build one. These scientists had discovered that a tremendous amount of energy could be released when an atom was split apart. At first, all of the research that the Americans (and the Soviets) did on *atomic fission* (splitting atoms to produce energy) was intended to make better weapons. Scientists wanted to make atomic bombs and nuclear missiles more powerful, and to build military submarines that would run on nuclear power. But then scientists began to think about the other ways nuclear power could be used. Could nuclear power, for instance, produce electricity? Could cars, lights, refrigerators, and televisions be run by nuclear power? If so, countries that could use nuclear power wouldn’t have to rely quite so much on gasoline and oil. Scientists discovered that nuclear power *could* produce electricity. In 1951, in the town of Arco, Idaho, scientists managed to run a generator with nuclear power. The generator produced enough electricity to light up four light bulbs! Scientists and government officials were very excited about those four light bulbs. They began to dream that nuclear power might be a wonderfully inexpensive source of electricity—and they began to work on building larger and better *reactors* (large, tube-like devices where atoms were split to produce energy). Three years later, in 1954, the first commercial nuclear power plant (a power plant that would produce electricity, using nuclear power, and then sell the electricity) opened. The plant didn’t actually produce power for three more years, until December 1957. When it did, the nuclear power helped produce electricity for the city of Pittsburgh. And in 1955, Arco, Idaho—the hometown of those first four light bulbs—became the very first town to be powered *entirely* by nuclear power. But nuclear power was very controversial. Some scientists and government officials thought it was a marvelous discovery. Nuclear power is cheap; and since, one day, people will use up all the oil in the ground, nuclear power seemed like a good alternative. Others could not imagine that the splitting of atoms would ever produce anything good. Nuclear experiments had produced the atomic bomb, the most destructive weapon in history. How could such devastating power be controlled? The president of the United States, Dwight Eisenhower, knew that Americans were worried about scientific experiments with atomic power. In December 1953, he gave a speech called “Atoms for Peace.” He wanted to assure his listeners that atomic energy was good for much more than the making of bombs. He had decided to give the speech at the United Nations headquarters in New York, where people from all over the world could hear it. He was so concerned that the speech be exactly right that he kept working on it until the very last minute—even on the airplane ride to New York. As he made changes on each page, his secretary retyped his talk. But she didn’t have enough time to finish typing, so President Eisenhower ordered his pilot to stay in the air, flying in circles, for an extra thirty minutes. That gave his secretary just enough time to finish typing. When the plane landed, Eisenhower rushed to the UN to give the speech. Thirty-five hundred people had come to hear him. He began by reminding the audience how very dangerous nuclear weapons could be. But, he said, atomic energy could be used to improve medicine and farming. It could supply electricity to people in poor countries, where oil and coal were scarce. Eisenhower’s speech told all the good things that could happen if nuclear power plants were built. But nuclear power does have one big danger, even if it isn’t being made into bombs. It produces *radioactivity*. Radioactivity changes the way that atoms work, so that they no longer behave normally. A very small bit of radioactivity isn’t dangerous. If you’ve ever had an x-ray, you’ll remember that, before the doctors put you under the x-ray machine, they covered your body with heavy lead pads. This is because x-ray machines, too, are slightly radioactive—and the lead pads protect you. The lead pads ensure that you will only be exposed to a tiny amount of radioactivity, which won’t hurt you at all. But people who are very close to a large atomic explosion are soaked in radioactivity. Their bodies no longer work properly. In Hiroshima and Nagasaki, many people who weren’t killed by the atomic explosions died several years later. The radioactivity from the explosions had caused them to get cancer and other diseases. People worried that nuclear power plants might also leak radioactivity. They worried that working at these plants, or living near them, would make people sick. When nuclear power plants work properly, they are safe and effective. But when accidents do happen, nuclear plants can be dangerous. On March 28, 1979, an accident happened at the nuclear power plant Three Mile Island, in Pennsylvania. Very early in the morning, the plant’s equipment began to fail. A pump that carried coolant, to keep the reactors from getting too hot, stopped working. Over the next five hours, more parts of the reactors stopped working properly. Scientists realized that the plant was beginning to give off radioactive gases. At 9:15 a.m., officials called the White House to tell the president that Three Mile Island was in trouble. By 11 a.m., all the plant’s workers had been told to leave Three Mile Island to get away from the radioactivity. Two days later, scientists discovered that more radiation was coming from another part of the plant. The governor of Pennsylvania ordered all small children and pregnant women within five miles of the plant to leave—in case the radiation made them sick. No one knew exactly how much radioactivity Three Mile Island had produced. Finally, scientists were able to figure out that most people nearby were only exposed to a tiny amount of radiation; one “millirem,” less than what a patient would get during an X-ray. No one died or got sick from the accident at Three Mile Island. But the accident frightened and angered the people nearby—and people who lived near other nuclear plants too. They were worried because the plant operators hadn’t been able to figure out how to stop the radiation from escaping. They were frightened because it had taken scientists so long to measure the radiation that escaped. No one had been hurt this time—but what if a larger accident happened? That larger accident happened at Chernobyl. The Russian power plant didn’t just leak a little bit. One of its four reactors, where atoms were split, blew up—and radioactive gases spewed out of the explosion. The gases drifted all over the Russian countryside. This time, the radiation was so heavy that six hundred thousand people were exposed to dangerous levels of radioactivity. They could develop cancer years and years later, because of the radiation. Animals nearby gave birth to deformed offspring. A Moscow reporter described one: “I was shown a suckling pig whose head looked like that of a frog. Instead of eyes there were large tissue growths, with no cornea or pupil. These animals usually die soon after birth, but this one survived.” People and animals near Chernobyl weren’t the only ones in danger. Wind blew radioactive particles all over Europe. As far away as Poland, milk was tainted by the radiation, and no one was allowed to drink it. As far away as Sweden, reindeer and sheep were made sick by the radiation. “For the first time,” the leader of the Soviet Union said, “we confront the real force of nuclear energy, out of control.” The land around the Chernobyl reactor that exploded is still radioactive. For thousands of years, it will be unsafe for anyone to use. Scientists decided to put a huge metal and concrete shell down over the ruined reactor, so that the radioactivity would be locked in forever. The Chernobyl accident didn’t stop the use of nuclear power. All over the world, nuclear power plants still produce electricity. Today, almost one-fifth of the world’s electricity comes from nuclear energy. Meanwhile, scientists try to make sure that the power plants in their countries are safe, and that an accident like Chernobyl never happens again. ![](images/00056.jpg) ## The End of the Cold War The Cold War between America and the Soviet Union affected almost everything that both countries did, in the years following World War II. It shaped events from the Space Race to the Vietnam War. Finally, in the 1980s, the Cold War was coming to an end. Politicians said that the relationship between the U.S. and the USSR was finally “thawing.” The two central characters in this story are the president of the United States during the 1980s, Ronald Reagan, and the general secretary of the Communist Party, Mikhail Gorbachev. Both men had odd quirks. Reagan had a strange nickname: “the Gipper.” Before he became president, Reagan had been a Hollywood actor. One of his most well-known roles was a football hero named George Gipp. Even after he became president, Reagan was still called the Gipper after this movie character. Gorbachev didn’t have a nickname; he had a strange-looking birthmark, a large purple splotch right across his bald head. In newspaper cartoons from the 1980s, Gorbachev always looks as though someone has been painting on the top of his head! These two men are remembered for their work in “melting” the Cold War. The thaw began in Russia. In 1985, Gorbachev, who had become the leader of the Soviet Union, introduced a plan called *perestroika*. This is Russian for “economic restructuring”—in simpler words, changing the way that the government runs the banks and owns land. Since the Russian Revolution, most of the businesses and banks in the Soviet Union were owned, run, and controlled by the government. Under perestroika, ordinary people were allowed to have more control of Russian businesses—and even to own their own businesses once more. Then, Gorbachev introduced a second plan, called *glasnost*, which is Russian for “openness.” Under glasnost, people in the Soviet Union were given greater freedom of speech. Glasnost meant that it would no longer be a crime for newspapers to publish criticism of the Soviet government. President Reagan believed that, since the Soviet Union was changing, perhaps America could become the USSR’s friend rather than its enemy. But the two countries had been enemies for more than forty years. Both countries still had nuclear weapons, ready to launch at each other. It was difficult to believe that the threat of war between American and the Soviets could ever completely go away. President Reagan believed that the key to ending—and winning—the Cold War lay in the way that both countries would deal with their weapons. Reagan and Gorbachev wanted to avoid another World War. Atomic weapons had gotten even more powerful and more dangerous since the first generation of atomic bombs, the bombs America dropped on Japan at the end of World War II. However, both countries were too scared of each other to simply get rid of all their weapons. Reagan could just imagine: The Soviet Union might promise to destroy all of its weapons, as long as America would do the same. The U.S. would get rid of its atomic bombs. And then it might discover that the USSR had lied—and had kept some weapons back. Then the U.S. would be helpless. The Americans and the Soviets were like two boys with water pistols facing each other. Neither one wants to get drenched with water. But both are sure that, if he puts *his* down first, the other guy will pull the trigger. Reagan decided to solve this problem, not by getting rid of all of America’s atomic bombs—but by inventing new, bigger, more powerful weapons. He believed that, if the Soviet Union knew America had weapons stronger than anything belonging to the Soviets, the Soviets would be too afraid to attack. This strategy was called “Peace Through Strength.” America could ensure peace by being stronger than any other country. And at the same time that Reagan was building up America’s deadliest weapons so that America could achieve “Peace Through Strength,” Reagan and Gorbachev were also entering into an agreement to reduce other kinds of weapons. This agreement was called the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, or the INF Treaty for short. The two leaders signed this treaty on December 8, 1987. The treaty declared that both countries would get rid of weapons that were “short-range”—weapons that could travel only three hundred to thirty-four hundred miles. Reagan’s new “Peace Through Strength” weapons didn’t count, because they were designed to travel longer distances. Although this may seem like a strange way to bring peace, it seemed to work. America still had strong weapons that it could use for self-defense—but it had also promised not to use other weapons to attack Russia. Glasnost, perestroika, and the INF Treaty spelled the end of the Cold War. The Russian people celebrated. They wrote plays, poems, novels, and songs about the end of the Cold War. One Russian singer named Boris Grebenshikov wrote a song called “Radio Silence” about glasnost. In the song, he tries to describe how wonderful it is for Russians to be able to tell the truth about communism, and to speak freely to people around the world: > > It’s strange I don’t feel like I’m a stranger\ > > I feel like I belong here\ > > I feel like I’ve been waiting for a long time\ > > And now I can tell you some stories. Americans sang about the end of the Cold War, too. In 1987, an American singer named Billy Joel visited the Soviet Union and gave concerts in Leningrad and Moscow. When he came back from his tour, he wrote a song called “Leningrad.” The song ends: > > We never knew what friends we had\ > > Until we came to Leningrad. After forty years of Cold War, the hatred between Americans and Russians had finally begun to change into friendship. ![](images/00008.jpg)