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UN: Consequences Remain Decades After Chernobyl Disaster:
The United Nations says persistent and serious long-term consequences remain more than 30 years after the explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine.
The world body is marking International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day on April 26, the 34th anniversary of the accident that spread a radioactive cloud over large parts of Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia.
Chernobyl: How did the world's worst nuclear accident happen?:
Efforts to downplay the scale of the disaster began within government itself — infamously exemplified by the Soviet foreign affairs minister's attempt to allay a more senior official's concern for residents' health with the assertion that they were celebrating weddings, gardening, and "fishing in the Pripyat River".
Three days later, the alarm was raised by Sweden, where the radiation was picked up at a nuclear plant.
The Soviet Union denied that an incident had occurred, but with Denmark, Finland and Norway also voicing concerns shortly afterwards, it eventually became impossible to hide the accident from the international community.
However, Moscow continued to downplay the true scale of the catastrophe, failing to tell even its own citizens to stay indoors and allowing the capital's May Day parade to go ahead a week later. The ensuing secrecy surrounding the handling of the disaster in the years that followed, and the reluctance to warn citizens of the scale of the danger they continued to face, means the true toll is continually being revised.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 28 2020, @05:23PM (1 child)
the linked article is kindda silly.
one could just replace "radioactif accident" with some "chemical accident" and the real story the article is talking about is how sad it is that the government couldn't admit it, made close to hilarious comments on the situation and ... so sad ... people cannot live there anymore ("peeling paint on wall" pictures and "oh look trash" pictures).
what the article is emphasizing is that there was muchos cover-up, trying to make THIS the story.
ofc, maybe it's a "side-load", hinting only at the corners that similar things are/mightbe happening in the most-open-and-transparent west? but it think not ... nuclear isn't so bad if its
managed and overseen by eh western clubberment. moral of story. that's it.
note: tho it is curious that bringing enough of the right materials into close contact makes 'em go hot and even *boom* i find it more curious that some materials exposed to light generate a current without moving parts but can totally power a electrical motor to pump water uphill or whatnot? light meet water flowing uphill, lol.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 29 2020, @12:46AM
What's really depressing, for those of us in the US at least, is taking your comment and replacing "chemical accident" with "preparing for COVID-19".
"sad it is that the government couldn't admit it"
"made close to hilarious comments on the situation"
"muchos cover-up, trying to make THIS the story"
ugh, I can't go on. . .