Day of the Chernobyl tragedy

This date became special not only for citizens of Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, but also for the whole world. All civilized humanity on this day remembers the events at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, about those who did not spare life and health stood up to fight against the radiation element.

Historical background.
Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant (Ukraine), April 26, 1986 - a planned shutdown of the reactor lasting 20 seconds seemed like a routine inspection of electrical equipment. However, a few seconds later, as a result of a sharp surge in voltage, a chemical explosion occurred, as a result of which about 520 dangerous radionuclides were released into the atmosphere.

The explosion was so powerful that the pollution spread to large areas of the Soviet Union, which are now part of Belarus, Ukraine and Russia.

According to official reports, 31 people died immediately after the disaster, and 600,000 liquidators involved in extinguishing the fires and clearing were given high doses of radiation. According to official data, almost 8.4 million residents of Belarus, Ukraine and Russia were exposed to radiation, which exceeds the population of Austria.

About 155,000 square kilometers of the territory were contaminated. Farmland with an area of almost 52 thousand square kilometers was contaminated with cesium-137 and strontium-90 with a half-life of 30 and 28 years, respectively. Nearly 404,000 people have been resettled, but millions still live in conditions where continued residual exposure creates a range of dangerous consequences.