According to archive data, at 01:23 on April 26, 1986, a reactor at power unit 4 of the Chornobyl NPP was completely destroyed in a series of thermal explosions. A significant amount of radioactive substances was released into the environment. The accident is regarded as the largest of its kind in the history of nuclear energy, both in terms of victims and the economic losses.
After the Chornobyl disaster, 116,000 people were evacuated from the affected areas, while another 230,000 people were resettled from the contaminated area. A total of 167,653 victims died, including 2,929 liquidators. 83% of victims, including 92% of the emergency response team, are suffering from various diseases.
City sign on the side of the road leading to Chernobyl /
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Power unit 4 of Chernobyl NPP destroyed in an accident Apr 26, 1986 /
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A helicopter pouring sand over the power unit 4 of the Chernobyl NPP late April 1986 /
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A helicpoter hit the powerline upon approach to power unit 4 with a load of sand /
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The workrers pour concrete during construction of a shelter over the destroyed power unit 4 /
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General Leonid Teliatnikov, head of the emergency response team, which was affected most by the accident /
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A schoolboy evacuated from Prypiat, photographed in the village of Khotyn, Kyiv region /
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Military traffic inspector on the road leading to the Chernobyl emergency site /
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Construction workers at Zeleniy Mys settlement built for liquidators /
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First Secretary of the Communist Party Central Committee meeting with the liquidators in a settlement near Chorbobyl in the summer of 1986 /
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American radiologist, proffessor, Doctor Robert Gale, who treated the victims of the Chornobyl disaster /
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The Soviet Union passenger vessel exploited as a dorm for construction workers after the Chornobyl disaster, along with other ships /
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Emergency response team riding a bus to the site of the Chornobyl disaster in August 1986 /
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A liquidator holding a symbolic key at an opening ceremony of the newly-built settlement for liquidators, Zelenyi Mys /
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A working meeting at a bunker near the damaged reactor at Chornobyl NPP in September 1986 /
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Construction of a sarcophagus shelter over the damaged reactor at Chornobyl NPP /
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Locals being evacuated from a settlement near Chornobyl in October 1986. Later on, a city of Slavutich was built in this area /
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Equipment sanctuary in the village of Rassokha near Prypiat in January 1987 /
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Contaminated machinery left behind 15 km from the scene of the Chornobyl disaster before being buried into the ground /
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A liquidator petting puppies left behid by locals evacuated from the Chornobyl zone /
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Abandoned machinery used in the liquidation of the Chornobyl disaster /
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Residents of Chystohalovka village, in a 10-kilometer Chornobyl zone, sitting on what’s left of their belongings, before evacuation after their house was demolished due to excessive radiation contamination in April 1989 /
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Disactivation of contaminated equipment with chemicals near Chystohalivka in 1989 /
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A liquidator passes by a country house with a sign Contaminated painted on its wall with a level of radiation noted by dosimetrists /
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Mikhail Gorbachev and his wife Raisa during their meeting with Chornobyl NPP staff on February 23, 1989 /
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A bus driver involved in emergency response activities playing accordeon left behind by locals during evacuation, 1989 /
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Liquidator of the aftermath of a disaster at Chornobyl /
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A bedroom of an abandoned kindergarten in the village of Kopachi 5 kilometers from the Chernobyl reactor in 1989 /
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Warning sign on high levels of radiation near the cillage of Opachichi, Kyiv region, in spring 1991 /
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A family living in a banned 30-km area around the Chornobyl NPP without permits /
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As of today, the causes of the accident are identified as such: the reactor was improperly designed and dangerous; the staff was not informed of the threats; the staff made a number of mistakes and deliberately violated the existing regulations, partly due to the lack of information about the dangers of the reactor; the protection tripping had no impact on the development of the accident or did not contradict the regulations.
At the moment, the so-called exclusion zone of 30 kilometers around the plant, established in 1986 after the evacuation of the population, is a no-go territory. This area has suffered intense pollution by radionuclides.
However, despite the contamination of the area and the ban on residence in the Chornobyl zone, some people return to their homes, someone just settled in vacant houses, and some people have not left their homes ever since the disaster.