No More Chernobyls
Time heals everything, doesn't it? It has been 25 years since the name Chernobyl became the infamous nuclear accident that devastated the lives of millions of people in Western Russia, Belarus and the Ukraine. 25 years on, and the nightmare for thousands of people is still frightening.
View of the destroyed no. 4 reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear power station. Following the explosion the fire and radiation leaks was not brought under control till 9 days after the accident.
The Chernobyl catastrophe released one hundred times more radiation than the atom bombs dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Yet many seem to just dismiss the accident as a part of history and forget what large doses of radiation actually do to human lives. Sadly, focussing solely on the disputed statistics of Chernobyl has dehumanised what happened. The effects of Chernobyl touched millions of people and thousand still endure very visible and painful effects.
We are telling the stories of just a few of those thousands, to bring to light the reality of nuclear energy. Independent scientists and economists know that nuclear energy is the most expensive electricity source available, counting the cost of building, running and decommissioning the power stations. But an economic analysis alone cannot calculate the costs due to the damage done to our genes, the very foundation of life.
There are many other costs to take into consideration - the insurance and the cost of potential accidents, the long-term disposal of waste when no reliable solution has yet been found. Nuclear power is not a solution for climate change. The massive subsidies needed to keep the nuclear industry alive are slowing and undermine the renewable energy revolution that is the real solution to climate change.
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All the above are facts about nuclear energy, however, no scientist or economist can tell you a life story of misplacement, diseases, trauma and fear...
The latest updates
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Chernobyl: distorted reality, and unanswered questionsBlog entry by Iris Cheng | April 19, 2011We have just returned after completing an important mission in Ukraine - taking around 70 journalists from 18 countries with us to Chernobyl, nearly 25 years after the nuclear catastrophe. It was one of the largest media trips... Read more > |
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Update from the field radiation teamBlog entry by Sakyo Noda | April 14, 2011I spent last week driving around Fukushima, taking our radiation experts to spots where they suspected there was a high levels of contamination. Always carrying a personal dose meter with us, which tells us how much radiation we... Read more > |
Food for ThoughtVideo | April 8, 2011 at 13:3825 years after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, residents of the area are still exposed to the radiation. They depend on contaminated food and milk. Read more > |
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Chernobyl field findings - 25 years laterPublication | April 7, 2011 at 7:00In the early morning of 26 April 1986, a major nuclear accident occurred in reactor number 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear power station in Ukraine. The reactor’s explosion and subsequent burning went down in history as the world’s worst civilian... Read more > |
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Field team finds high levels of contamination outside of Fukushima evacuation zoneBlog entry by Jess Miller | April 6, 2011Our radiation monitoring teams have discovered high levels of contamination in crops grown on the outskirts of Minamisoma city in Japan. The data was collected from the gardens of Minamisoma city residents, and registered well over... Read more > |