Ukraine marks Chornobyl NPP disaster remembrance day on April 26
April 26, 2023, marks the 37th anniversary of the accident at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant, the world's largest nuclear disaster. The accident claimed the lives of hundreds of people and caused irreparable damage to Europe's ecology. Since then, every year on this date, Ukraine honors all the people who died or suffered from this disaster and the liquidators of the consequences of the accident.
At the very beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Chornobyl NPP was occupied by its troops. The station was vacated on March 31, 2022.
According to the International Scale of Nuclear Events, the Chornobyl accident is rated at the maximum level of 7 and characterized as having "severe consequences for human health and the environment."
On April 26, 1986, an accident occurred at the fourth power unit. With a difference of two seconds, there were two explosions at the fourth reactor of the Chornobyl NPP. Part of the buildings collapsed a big fire started. A considerable number of radioactive substances were released into the atmosphere.
Hundreds of firefighters and emergency services workers tried to put out the fire that lasted for many days. Many of them later died of radiation sickness.
The leadership of the USSR at the time tried to hide the extent of the tragedy. Still, the radioactive cloud from the explosion traveled through Europe, the eastern part of the USA, and most of the radioactive substances settled in Belarus. People began to be evacuated from the Kyiv Region. In total, more than 300,000 people were forced to leave their homes.
To prevent similar accidents in the future, at the end of 1986, the fourth reactor was covered with a special "sarcophagus" or Shelter, and the Chornobyl NPP was put into operation again. In the following years, the other three reactors were shut down due to major fires.
In 2019, a new "sarcophagus" was launched above the station, as the old one was no longer suitable. Nowadays, the Chornobyl NPP is being prepared for complete decommissioning.
The accident at the Chornobyl NPP caused catastrophic environmental pollution. The territory of the city of Prypiyat is still considered unsuitable for living. The accident severely undermined public confidence in nuclear power. From 1986 to 2002, not a single NPP was built in the world.
The exact number of accident victims could not be established since many died years later. According to approximate calculations, about 4,000 people died from the accident at the Chornobyl NPP. A total of 30 NPP employees died in the first days and weeks, and hundreds of thousands more died in the next few years from cancer and radiation sickness.
A 30-kilometer exclusion zone was created around the NPP. Over the years, it has turned into a tourist destination. People came from all over the world to look at extinct cities and villages, unique animals and immerse themselves in the history of the disaster. The Chornobyl zone became especially attractive after the release of the American TV series, which years later quite realistically recalled the events of 1986.