Chernobyl's Nuclear Reactor No. 4 blew up at 1.24 am on April 26, 1986.
that night none of the
local villagers had dreamt there was any danger from the power plant, and eventhe
explosion they did not realise how serious the situation was. 'We decided to
carry on as normal', says Petr Remezenko. 'we
regretted that
decision'.
a cloud of radioactive dust
was spreading over Scandinavia and central and eastern Europe, the Remezenko
family were digging potatoes in their garden, almost in the shadow of the
blazing reactor.
However, the authorities
started to evacuate the entire area within a radius of 30 km of the plant.
Families were asked to take in evacuees
permanent accommodation
could be found for them.
urgent plans were made to build replacement homes.
The number of people who died
as a result of the accident was
very small, but who
knows what the long-term effects on present and future generations will be?
