Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Chernobyl - 25 Years Later

25 years ago today Reactor 4 at the Chernobyl power station north of Kiev in the Ukrainian SSR exploded and caught on fire, releasing deadly radiation and melted radioactive graphite pollution over a wide area. Estimates as to the number of victims then and since from the disaster vary widely, but few doubt the disaster killed or injured more than the atom bomb blast at Hiroshima in August 1945.

The combination of the ongoing catastrophe at the Fukushima Daiichi complex in Japan, the need for a new containment regime at the Chernobyl site, and the 25th anniversary, should help people to more deeply contemplate the inherent dangers of the nuclear age and its legacy.

Here are some videos of aspects of the disaster's ongoing legacy:


1 comment:

K. Lindblom said...

The firefighter memorial... Where is this? I have never been there.

If you're interested in Chernobyl, you may want to check out my blog: http://chernobylproject.blogspot.com