Chernobyl + 20

Posted by Amanda Kendle Apr 26, 2006

Memorial services and rallies are taking place across Ukraine and other former USSR territories to remember the Chernobyl nuclear accident of April 26, 1986.

A reactor exploded and burnt for days, making nuclear pollution a reality as far west as Britain. It depends who you listen to if you want to figure out the number of deaths the disaster caused or will cause: the conservative estimate of the International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA) is 9,000, but Greenpeace pushes the toll up towards 300,000.

Nowadays Ukraine is independent of Russia - a situation that many welcome, but that means trouble in terms of energy, since Ukraine relies on Russia heavily, particularly for gas. That means that nuclear energy is still a high priority, and although the remaining Chernobyl reactors have been closed down, Ukraine is aiming to build another 13 reactors within the country.