Today marks 25 years from the biggest accident in the history of nuclear energy. The explosion of the reactor 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear plant led to the evacuation of tens of thousands of people who lived near the plant.
Radioactive contamination has turned the city of Pripiat, located close to the plant, in a ghost town. The residents had been evacuated only after 36 hours from the blast, being advised by local authorities to take along just a few personal items, and also they were told that will be able to come back immediately after stabilization. 25 years after explosion, Pripiat looks the same as at the end of April, 1986. The area remains closed and access of researchers or filming teams is allowed only upon special permission and only for a very short time. Radiation continues to be a high danger.
Pripiat was one of the cities with the youngest population – average age of 30 years old. In this city lived the employees who worked at the plant and their families. On the night of April 26, shortly after 01.00 am, an explosion at the reactor 4 placed Chernobyl on the “black map” of the world.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) announced in a 2005 report that the Chernobyl disaster was directly responsible for the deaths of 56 people (47 workers and 9 children with thyroid cancer). In addition, it is estimated that over 6.6 million people residing in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus were exposed to the radioactive cloud (the mentioned areas being the most affected territories). Over 9,000 people are still at the risk of dying from some form of cancer or cardiovascular disease, attributed to radioactivity.
In 2002, over 4,000 cases of cancer in children have been confirmed by WHO. A Russian doctor living in the region said that only 8% of children are healthy, the remaining of 92% being affected by diseases associated with the 1986 nuclear accident.