This Day in History: , Nuclear Disaster
at Chernobyl.
April 26, 1986.
The disaster at Chernobyl, located about 65 miles from Kiev in the former Soviet Union, is the worst nuclear power plant accident to date.
50 tons of radioactive material was released into the atmosphere after an explosion of the Number 4 reactor, caused by an engineering experiment.
The 30,000 residents of
the nearby community of
Pripyat were evacuated the next day.
The Soviet government
attempted a cover-up.
But two days after the disaster, radiation levels
800 miles away in Sweden were detected at
40% higher than the normal level.
32 people were initially
killed in the Chernobyl plant.
5,000 Soviets eventually died
from radiation-induced illnesses.
Millions of acres of forest
and farmland across Northern
and Eastern Europe were contaminated.
The former residents of
Pripyat have never returned