AMY GOODMAN: It was 25 years ago today when a deadly explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the former Soviet state of Ukraine led to what was then the worst nuclear disaster in history. It sent a cloud of radioactive fallout into Russia, Belarus and over a large portion of Europe. Fifty thousand people living in Chernobyl's immediate surroundings had to be evacuated. A vast rural region became uninhabitable, and public authorities were forced to put restrictions on the sale and import of food to reduce the risk of radiation-induced cancer deaths among their populations...Video: AMY GOODMAN at democracynow.org Guests on the show:
Dr. Jeff Patterson, the immediate past president of Physicians for Social Responsibility and has visited the Chernobyl disaster site. Physicians for Social Responsibility has just released a new Nuclear Reactor Accident Evacuation Zone Mapping Tool
Dr. Janette Sherman, specialist in internal medicine and toxicology. She edited the book Chernobyl: Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and Nature. She recently wrote the article, Chernobyl, 25 Years Later
Democracy Now! - As Japan continues to deal with its nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power facility, memorials are being held in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia today to mark the 25th anniversary of the nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl. On April 26, 1986, an explosion at the power plant sent a cloud of radioactive fallout into Russia, Belarus and over a large portion of Europe. Soviet officials attempted to cover up the accident, but eventually 50,000 people living in Chernobyl's immediate surroundings had to be evacuated. A vast rural region near the plant remains uninhabitable. Until the crisis in Japan, Chernobyl was the world's only Level 7 "major accident" nuclear disaster, the most severe designation issued by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Chernobyl Catastrophe: 25th Anniversary of World's Worst Nuclear Accident [includes rush transcript]
No comments:
Post a Comment