Chernobyl: Ukraine Marks Nuclear Disaster's 26 Year Anniversary (PHOTOS)

On April 26, 2012, Ukraine marks the 26th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster

On April 26, 1986, at 1:23 a.m., Chernobyl's reactor #4 exploded, resulting in the worst nuclear disaster the world has ever known.

The explosion led to a fire that burned for 10 days, forcing some 300,000 people from their homes. Meanwhile, radioactive material spread across much of northern Europe.

Though just two workers were killed in the initial blast, conflicting numbers suggest a far greater death toll in the days, months and years that followed the explosion.

A Greenpeace report in 2006 suggested that the full health consequences of the Chernobyl disaster could top a quarter of a million cancer cases, with nearly 100,000 being fatal.

Last year, the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit watchdog, suggested that the number of excess cancer deaths due to radiation from the accident will be near 25,000 -- six times higher than the 4,000 deaths cited by the U.N.-sponsored Chernobyl forum.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer expects some 16,000 cancer deaths in Europe through 2065 due to Chernobyl.

Whatever the real number, efforts to contain the disaster are still ongoing. Viktor Yanukovych, the president of Ukraine, is inaugurating the construction of an estimated $1.58 billion sarcophagus designed to hold the remains of the dead reactor. Scheduled to be completed by 2015, the 18,000 ton structure will replace the current unstable concrete shell which now holds 200 tons of highly radioactive material.

In remembrance of the 26th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, view images of the disaster site below.

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• A disabled man cries at the Chernobyl victims memorial in Kiev during a memorial ceremony on April 26, 2012. Ukraine launched construction of a new shelter to permanently secure the stricken Chernobyl plant as it marked the 26th anniversary of the world's worst nuclear disaster. President Viktor Yanukovych pressed a symbolic button at the construction site, watched by workers and ambassadors from China, Japan and a number of other countries that contributed to the massive project, expected to cost 1.5 billion euros. (SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP/GettyImages)

• General view of the construction site of a first element of protective containment structure in front of the shelter over the destroyed fourth block of the Chernobyl Power Plant on April 26, 2012. Ukraine launched construction of a new shelter to permanently secure the stricken Chernobyl plant as it marked the 26th anniversary of the world's worst nuclear disaster. President Viktor Yanukovych pressed a symbolic button at the construction site, watched by workers and ambassadors from China, Japan and a number of other countries that contributed to the massive project, expected to cost 1.5 billion euros. (GENYA SAVILOV/AFP/GettyImages)

• A young boy stands in front of Chernobyl victims memorial in Kiev during a memorial ceremony on April 26, 2012. Ukraine launched today construction of a new shelter to permanently secure the stricken Chernobyl plant as it marked the 26th anniversary of the world's worst nuclear disaster. (SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP/GettyImages)

• Victims of Chernobyl nuclear accident's widows hold pictures of their late husbands during a memorial ceremony at the Chernobyl victims memorial in Kiev on April 26, 2012. Ukraine launched today construction of a new shelter to permanently secure the stricken Chernobyl plant as it marked the 26th anniversary of the world's worst nuclear disaster. (SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP/GettyImages)

• Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych presses symbolic button in front of the shelter in front of the shelter over the destroyed fourth block of the Chernobyl Power Plant on April 26, 2012. Ukraine launched construction of a new shelter to permanently secure the stricken Chernobyl plant as it marked the 26th anniversary of the world's worst nuclear disaster. President Viktor Yanukovych pressed a symbolic button at the construction site, watched by workers and ambassadors from China, Japan and a number of other countries that contributed to the massive project, expected to cost 1.5 billion euros. (GENYA SAVILOV/AFP/GettyImages)

• Workers of Chernobyl nuclear power plant hold candles as they stand in front of the monument to Chernobyl victims in Slavutich, some 30 miles from the accident site, where many of the power station's personnel used to live, during a memorial ceremony early on April 26, 2012.

• A general view of the sarcophagus over destroyed 4th block of Chernobyl power plant on February 24, 2011 ahead of the 25th anniversary of the meltdown of reactor number four due to be marked on April 26, 2011.

• A worker of Chernobyl nuclear power plant holds a candle at the monument to Chernobyl victims in Slavutich, some 50 kilometres from the accident site, where many of the power station's personnel used to live, during a memorial ceremony early on April 26, 2012

• A woman lays flowers at the monument to Chernobyl victims in Slavutich, some 30 miles from the accident site, and where many of the power station's personnel used to live, during a memorial ceremony early on April 26, 2012.

• A woman cries as she looks at portraits at the monument to Chernobyl victims in Slavutich, some 30 miles from the accident site, and where many of the power station's personnel used to live, during a memorial ceremony early on April 26, 2012.

• A picture taken on April 26, 2012 shows portraits at a monument to Chernobyl victims in Slavutich, some 30 miles from the accident site, and where many of the power station's personnel used to live, during a memorial ceremony.

• A man lights a candle at the monument to Chernobyl victims in Slavutich, some 30 miles from the accident site, and where many of the power station's personnel used to live, during a memorial ceremony early on April 26, 2012.

• People light candles and lay flowers at the monument to Chernobyl victims in Slavutich, some 30 miles from the accident site, and where many of the power station's personnel used to live, during a memorial ceremony early on April 26, 2012.

• Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovych addresses media during a visit to exploded Chernobyl power station on April 20, 2011, few days ahead of the 25th anniversary of the 1986 nuclear explosion on April 26. International leaders pledged hundreds of millions of dollars at a conference in Kiev the day before to complete a permanent shelter to secure the ruins the station.

• Employees of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant walk in front of the destroyed 4th block of the plant on February 24, 2011 ahead of the 25th anniversary of the meltdown of reactor number four due to be marked on April 26, 2011.

• An employee of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant points out devices in the control room of the destroyed 4th block of the plant on February 24, 2011 ahead of the 25th anniversary of the meltdown of reactor number four due to be marked on April 26, 2011.

• A memorial stands outside the Devasted Nuclear plant of Chernobyl on February 24, 2011 ahead of the 25th anniversary of the meltdown of reactor number four due to be marked on April 26, 2011.

• A picture of a dog and cello are left in the ghost city of Prypyat, near Chernobyl nuclear power plant on February 24, 2011 ahead of the 25th anniversary of the meltdown of reactor number four due to be marked on April 26, 2011.

• Flowers are placed on a sculpture dedica

  Flowers are placed on a sculpture dedicated to the memory of the men who liquidated the stricken reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Kiev during a memorial ceremony on April 26, 2012. Ukraine launched construction of a new shelter to permanently secure the stricken Chernobyl plant as it marked the 26th anniversary of the world's worst nuclear disaster. President Viktor Yanukovych pressed a symbolic button at the construction site, watched by workers and ambassadors from China, Japan and a number of other countries that contributed to the massive project, expected to cost 1.5 billion euros. AFP PHOTO / SERGEI SUPINSKY (Photo credit should read SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP/GettyImages)

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Comments

[commento]

09:12 AM on 04/28/2012

Chernobyl : A grim reminder of the atoms that went berserk and out of control..

[kasel1]

07:46 PM on 04/26/2012

Guess there's not much to celebrate in the Ukraine. Oh, and I like the off-beat 26 year anniversay. Not silver but uranium, I guess.

[glitterpet]

06:15 PM on 04/26/2012

Oh, cr*p. . . pay no attnetion to the prior post . . posted before thinking so sorry! *embarrassed* . . .it should have read . ..

And now for something conmpletely differenent --

Chernobog is the black god of death and darkness in Slavic Mythology. Folklorists speculate that city's name, Chernobyl is NOT linked to that of a nearby native plant, but rather named for it's proximity to a sacred spot traditionally linked to this god.

Sounds like an X-File. . . but still . .. makes you go hmmmm. . . ;)

[glitterpet]

06:14 PM on 04/26/2012

And now for something conmpletely differenent --

Chernobog is the black god of death and darkness in Slavic Mythology. Folklorists speculate that city's name, Chernobyl is NOT linked to that of a nearby native plant, but rather named for it's proximity to a sacred spot traditionally linked to this god.

Sounds like an X-File. . . but still . .. makes you go hmmmm. . . ;) citiantropological linguists surmise that the origin of the city nake CHerno does not rest with a plant, but actually names becuase of its locvation to a post thought ,

[undsoweiter]

05:03 PM on 04/26/2012

PBS rebroadcast " Radioactive Wolves of Chernobyl" last night.
What a beautiful place it's become; teeming with life.

[Genders]

08:02 PM on 04/26/2012

Young life, coming in from outside, then dying before they grow old.

http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2012/02/birds-near-fukushima-hit-harder-chernobyl

Move there is you love it so much....

[undsoweiter]

09:21 PM on 04/26/2012

Actually, no. The studies have confirmed that the wildlife populations are thriving despite the radiation.
There are 18 wolfpacks established in the exclusion zone, all reproducing normally, along with their prey species.
Cages of laboratory rats are maintained in the zone, and are showing no signs of radiation related illness.
It seems that, of all the species on earth, only humans are susceptible to chronic low-level radiation.

[ThinkCreeps]

02:22 AM on 04/27/2012

Such rich mutation.

If a 30-km radius had been fenced elsewhere, not next to the plant, conditions would have been even better. Look forward to a flourishing nature reserve in eastern Japan in about a quarter century. I wonder which US state will host the first nuclear national park?

[undsoweiter]

08:07 AM on 04/27/2012

No, the ecosystem there was compared with unpopulated areas outside the zone. No difference.
It's people, not radiation.

[phal4875]

04:43 PM on 04/26/2012

That was a bad year for "Ch" words: Challenger late in January and Chernobyl late in April.

[dvx99]

02:55 PM on 04/26/2012

Just add these unfortunate Ukrainians to the large list of victims of Russian/Soviet crimes throughout the 20th Century. Yanukovych is simply a Putin stooge for the 21st Century.

[markkocaldo]

02:49 PM on 04/26/2012

Yup Ukrainians are so upset that their president claims their is no alternative to nukes and solar costs 50 times a much.

Google "Ukraine's PM Sees No Alternatives to Nuclear Power"

[Genders]

04:52 PM on 04/26/2012

Sure, prime cost leaves out construction capital costs.

I bet they assumed giant battery banks for the big utility solar fields too, when bio fuel power turbines would add .5 cent per KWH to solar and wind.

When rooftop solar would be cheaper for the customers.

The Ukraine is going full blast on green energy, notwithstanding one bought nuke shill.

http://www.ecoseed.org/technology/emerging-renewables/article/28-emerging-renewables/10745-ukraine-to-open-europe%E2%80%99s-largest-solar-power-plant

Wind and waste bio mass energy is plentiful in the Ukraine,
http://www.ebrdrenewables.com/sites/renew/countries/Ukraine/default.aspx

[kasel1]

07:48 PM on 04/26/2012

When are they going to start executing people for bad science?

[edwrmelo]

01:25 PM on 04/26/2012

We should not be using Nuclear anything its to unstable and once it goes wrong there is no fixing it. What is it going to take for the World to get this, Stop making Nuclear Plants the risk is to high of a price to pay. I think thats whats killing whales and dolphens from the Japan disaster once it happens the tragety is a high price to pay.

[PoloniumMan]

07:44 AM on 04/27/2012

Just a few week before the tragedy struck the Chernobyl, the IS was conducting an experiment on a reactor where they purposely drove it to failure. They turned off the pumps that supplied coolant to the core. Yhe core heated up until the nuclear reactions stopped. Natural convection removed decay heat without the need for external power. No damage occurred to the core and there were no releases of radioactive material.

[Genders]

09:38 PM on 04/27/2012

What is IS?

What's your point, real reactors melt down.

[Genders]

09:39 PM on 04/27/2012

Got it! finally, Inherently Safe reactors. That was the Swedes if I recal, and there is nothing like that on the market. The Swedes have given up nukes.

So I guess that was not enough,

You think you are so clever, using insider words and phrases, but you just sound like a fool who doesn't know how to talk to his audience.

[rocknhula]

01:02 PM on 04/26/2012

There must be a better way to use nuclear energy. All of these reactors are boiling water to turn turbines. Heat transfer to electricity would be more efficient. What happens when the terrorist realize one man can shoot a small rocket into a reactor cooling dome and create a billion dollar disaster?

[ThinkCreeps]

01:43 PM on 04/26/2012

It has to be a big rocket, as the shell is tough. Then you need to damage the contents as well. Why bother? All you need for Fukushima-type plants is cut the power.

The new AP1000 design is laughable too though, it includes an emergency water supply balanced on top of the shell, in something that wouldn't pass muster in a monty-python animation.

[markkocaldo]

03:54 PM on 04/26/2012

Funny all the nuke engineering experts think you are wrong about the AP-1000.

Perhaps it's your expertise in Monty Python that you use to self -qualify in nuclear engineering.

[Savannah5]

12:37 PM on 04/26/2012

I worked with a woman who suffered after effects from the radiation. It took many years for her to recover and it destroyed her family. Her husband left her and she lost custody of her children because she was so sick.
I brought one of her children to visit her in the hospital.
She finally can walk again, but the damage has been done.

[Doris Hochman]

11:48 AM on 04/26/2012

IN SOUTH FLORIDA I MOVED AWAY FROM TURKEY POINT
ONLY TO BE CLOSER TO THE ONE IN ST. LUCIE COUNTY...
I DON'T BELIEVE ANYTHIG ANY GOVERNMENT TELLS ITS
CITIZENS ANYMORE INCLUDING OURS - BUT YOU HAVE TO
LIVE LONG ENOUGH TO REALIZE HOW MUCH GREED AND
CORRUPTION HAVE TAKEN OVER SOCIETY IN GENERAL.
I FEAR FOR THE FUTURE AND HOPE I DON'T LIVE LONG
ENOUGH TO SEE WHAT I THINK (AND OTHERS) WILL HAPPEN.

[markkocaldo]

03:56 PM on 04/26/2012

Better watch were you are moving.

from Walter Marshall, the chairman of Britain’s Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB):

Quote:
"I have to inform you that yesterday the C.E.G.B. released about 300 kilograms (660 pounds) of radioactive uranium, together with all of its radioactive decay products, into the environment.

Furthermore we released some 300 kilograms of uranium the day before that. We shall be releasing the same amount of uranium today, and we plan to do the same tomorrow.

In fact, we do it every day of every year so long as we burn coal in our power stations. And we do not call that “radioactive waste.” We call it coal ash.

[Genders]

09:44 PM on 04/27/2012

Pathetic, not the same radiation.

When are you folks going to get it.

Coal ash is nowhere near as deadly as spend fuel rods. Not even close.

[smoknjoe]

07:47 AM on 04/26/2012

U.S. reactors are much safer. Back then the Soviets would say "What safety? You Americans are so paranoid."

[lightningbolt]

08:19 AM on 04/26/2012

Fukushima is the same model as many US reactors.  All it takes is one earthquake or one corporation cutting corners on safety to cause an accident.

[markkocaldo]

02:44 PM on 04/26/2012

And a tsunami. US nukes are regulated by the toughest in the world organization headed by a vehemently anti nuke chairman.

[phal4875]

04:46 PM on 04/26/2012

The earthquake was survived just fine. The tsunami caused the damage at the reactor.

[ThinkCreeps]

01:44 PM on 04/26/2012

They are. The three mile island crew sure showed them darned ruskies how to do it a decade earlier.

[markkocaldo]

03:58 PM on 04/26/2012

Actually Hanford and its mess was the model for the destroyed weapon production unit that blew up at Chernobyl.

TMI never hurt a soul. Must be them bloodthirsty Russkis.

[straightuptalker]

06:28 AM on 04/26/2012

Last year, the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit watchdog, suggests that the number of excess cancer deaths due to radiation from the accident will be near 25,000 --

That could be us if we don't wake up and get off that nuclear generated power grid. Solar and wind power are the only safe methods, despite the protests from bleeding-hearts that fear for the safety of birds caught in the turbine blades, I'd think that human life is way more important. Our nuclear plants pose just as much danger, subject to human error which is even more frightening. There's no safe way to deal with nuclear fallout, nor with the nuclear waste that's piling up on the planet. Chernobyl and the latest Japanese disaster hasn't taught us one thing, and we continue to ignore the risks with blinders on, going full-speed ahead.

[markkocaldo]

02:46 PM on 04/26/2012

This is a junk science organization. The WHO in its peer reviewed science published in reputable journal claims 57 actual deaths and as many as 4000 maybe possible what if increases in cancer deaths.

[Genders]

04:55 PM on 04/26/2012

WHO is corrupt.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Health_Organization#IAEA_-_Agreement_WHA_12-40

[PatrickBoucher]

04:37 PM on 04/26/2012

markkocaldo's numbers are more accurate. They also need to be kept in perspective - depending on the source, premature deaths due to fine-particle pollution from coal plants are estimated to be in the neighborhood of 10,000 - 25,000 every year. Also, rates of developing cancer among Chernobyl survivors today appear to be about the same as others their age (as is true for Hiroshima survivors), supporting the radiation-hormesis theory.

Solar and wind power generation are worth pursuing, but with the current energy-density capabilities of those technologies, we would still be better increasing nuclear-power generation and reducing coal-power generation.

[MAX1]

03:39 AM on 04/26/2012

Another thread where posts are printed 2 hours later...

Current status on this HP thread 12:36am PDT shows:
Comments (1) Pending Comments (1)

After leaving four previous posts to this one the post"S" that show are from two different people... wait, I thought the thread said only one was posted??? BOTH from TWO HOURS AGO.

Note:
When I posted on this thread originally, less than 20 minutes ago, there was ONLY one post showing in print from Overtone. ww5022 only showed just minutes ago. Yet was made TWO HOURS prior.
.