The Chernobyl nuclear disaster
On April 26 1986, the No 4 reactor at the Chernobyl power station in Ukraine blew up. Facing nuclear disaster on an unprecedented scale, Soviet authorities responded by sending thousands of ill-equipped men into the radioactive hell. A book by Russian journalist Svetlana Alexievich tells the stories of eyewitnesses who recall the terrible human cost of the catastrophe.
When a routine test at Chernobyl went catastrophically wrong, a chain reaction went out of control creating a fireball that blew off the reactor's 1,000-tonne steel-and-concrete lid. There were 31 fatalities as an immediate result of the explosion and acute radiation exposure would end the lives of hundreds of others in the days that followed.
Evacuation of local residents was delayed by the Soviet authorities' unwillingness to admit the gravity of the incident. Eventually, more than 100,000 people were evacuated from the surrounding area in Ukraine and Belarus.
Bags of sand were dropped on to the reactor fire from the open doors of helicopters (analysts now think this did more harm than good). When the fire finally stopped, men climbed on to the roof to clear the radioactive debris. The machines brought in broke down because of the radiation. The men barely lasted more than a few weeks, suffering lingering, painful deaths. But had this effort not been made, the disaster might have been much worse.
As a result of the accident 485 villages and settlements in the surrounding countryside became uninhabitable, and 70 of those had to be completely demolished, dug up and carried away in trucks to be buried.
What follows is the story of Lyudmilla Ignatenko, the wife of one of the firemen sent in to tackle the blaze on the night of the explosion.
The Chernobyl nuclear disasterOn April 26 1986, the No 4 reactor at the Chernobyl power station in Ukraine blew up. Facing nuclear disaster on an unprecedented scale, Soviet authorities responded by sending thousands of ill-equipped men into the radioactive hell. A book by Russian journalist Svetlana Alexievich tells the stories of eyewitnesses who recall the terrible human cost of the catastrophe.When a routine test at Chernobyl went catastrophically wrong, a chain reaction went out of control creating a fireball that blew off the reactor's 1,000-tonne steel-and-concrete lid. There were 31 fatalities as an immediate result of the explosion and acute radiation exposure would end the lives of hundreds of others in the days that followed.Evacuation of local residents was delayed by the Soviet authorities' unwillingness to admit the gravity of the incident. Eventually, more than 100,000 people were evacuated from the surrounding area in Ukraine and Belarus.Bags of sand were dropped on to the reactor fire from the open doors of helicopters (analysts now think this did more harm than good). When the fire finally stopped, men climbed on to the roof to clear the radioactive debris. The machines brought in broke down because of the radiation. The men barely lasted more than a few weeks, suffering lingering, painful deaths. But had this effort not been made, the disaster might have been much worse.As a result of the accident 485 villages and settlements in the surrounding countryside became uninhabitable, and 70 of those had to be completely demolished, dug up and carried away in trucks to be buried.What follows is the story of Lyudmilla Ignatenko, the wife of one of the firemen sent in to tackle the blaze on the night of the explosion.
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