Question

In Chernobyl (miniseries) why did people use lead coffins and concrete to bury fallen firefighters? Try to write 500+ words.

Answer 1

Many of the initial measures were useless and, above all, lethal to those who came to fight against the force of the runaway atom. The rubber suits and scuba suits against chemical attacks that were used were appropriate not to inhale radioactive particles and avoid their contact with the skin, but they were of no use against gamma ionizing radiation. With little protection, firefighters sent immediately after the atomic escape had to perch high on the terrace to clean it, where the radiation rate was huge. They could not be more than two minutes, but most of them exceeded and absorbed excessive amounts of radioactive material.

The bodies cannot be delivered to their relatives. Nor burn, as the Japanese tradition mandates, because they would release more toxic particles into the atmosphere, nor bury them, since they would contaminate the soil. They had to be buried in hermetic lead coffins due to the high level of radiation emitted by their bodies. Confinement (or sealing) is the way to prevent radioactive material from contaminating. The radioactive material found in special sealed containers is pollution and cannot contaminate unless its seal is broken. This is the case of fire corpses in the Chernobyl miniseries.