Human consequences
More than 6,000 thyroid cancers recorded among people exposed as children.
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NuclearChernobyl disaster
31Deaths
350,000Displaced / homeless
$235bnEstimated cost
- 31 direct deaths (explosion and acute radiation syndrome). The WHO estimates up to 4,000 long-term deaths among the most exposed populations.
- Estimated losses for Belarus alone over 30 years.
During a safety test, reactor No. 4 runs out of control and explodes. The graphite fire burns for ten days and spreads a radioactive cloud over much of Europe.
Consequences
Environmental consequences
An exclusion zone of about 2,600 km²; the “Red Forest” dies within days.
Economic consequences
Gigantic costs for decontamination, resettlement and health care in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia.
Political consequences
Gorbachev saw it as one of the causes of the collapse of the USSR; the accident accelerates glasnost.
Fallout
- Forsmark (Sweden) · alarm raised on 28 April
- Bavaria · heavy fallout
- Wales · restrictions on sheep until 2012
Further reading
Similar disasters
- Three Mile Island accidentNuclear · United States1979
- Fukushima nuclear accidentNuclear · Japan2011
- AZF factory explosionIndustrial · France2001
- Val-d’Isère avalancheAvalanche & landslide · France1970
In the rankings : The worst industrial and nuclear disasters No. 6The costliest disasters in history No. 2
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