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Thursday, April 27, 2006

20 years on... Chernobyl

Children of Chernobyl
:: the girl in this photo is 9 ::
Its been 20 years since the disaster at Chernobyl. I only learned about it a few years ago. It is the stuff of nightmares. People have been dying ever since. Children born since the disaster are born with defects. The children of these children will have defects for generations to come. According to a recent news story in The Moscow Times, there could be as many as 1.5 million people living in the contaminated areas surrounding Chernobyl. They are drinking contaminated water, eating contaminated food, breathing contaminated air. There are some regions that will be uninhabitable for 900 years. CNN recaps here.

20 years later, the world has already forgot about them. The Children of Chernobyl.

*update [27apr06]: Here is a link to a more comprehensive look at Chernobyl. This site also has sort of a photo story it tells about some of the people. It is not for the faint of heart.

Chernobyl is a nuclear reactor, located in the then Soveit Union, that went through a melt down twenty years ago. It spread clouds of radiation for hundreds of square miles, and the fallout from that will affect the next 10 generations or more. It should be remembered as one of the worst things we have done in the last 500 years. Google "Chernobyl" for images and links to sites that can explain it in depth and far better then I.

6 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have not forgotten. I still remember the day it happened...vividly. Having friends here in the states who were from that area of the world as well as several from Finland, it was heartbreaking to watch it all unfold through the eyes of some who were watching their home be destroyed.

I recently watched a special on the Discovery-Times channel and it showed all of the people wo have moved back in to the area. They are so happy to be back, and the crop are growing better than ever! What's sad is that none of them realize WHY the crops are growing better than ever! That was a horrible time and to idea that it will go on and on is horrific as well.

27/4/06 17:56

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Chris, I have never heard about this, maybe becuase it happened before I was born (???), I don't know, but what is Chernobyl? Why do these people keep having children if they know their outcome? Can their dieseases be cured or helped? What happened?

27/4/06 18:16

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I remember when it happened, too. It was big, scary news.

27/4/06 18:26

 
Blogger Monique said...

It's rediculous the way our society has fashioned itself to move on to whatever grabs more attention rather than remembering what/who is important and how we can help or even fix the problems that are surrounding us. We're considered the most powerful nation in the world and yet we just sit on our butts, watching the rest of the world make a mess of itself and contributing to the chaos instead of doing something about it. And then we wonder why other countries don't want to help us in our times of need.


Anyway, that being said, I just wanted to let you know that I put in my 2 weeks today. My last day is May 12th, so you should still get your money. I really hope so anyway.

29/4/06 02:36

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ok, to Monique's comment...in cases anyone else was thinking the same thing: In 1986 the Cold War was still going strong - there wasn't much the US could do at the time. Believe me, we did not it on our butts. Every country in the Northern hemisphere was trying to figure out what to do and what sort of fall out each country was going to receive as it spread East. It was a frightening time. The even thought Alaska and Seattle might be hit with fall out. Who really knows what made it to our shores.

We offered help and expert advice, as did all of the other free world, but that's not much if you aren't allowed in. The Soviet countries were, and still are, crazed for more nuclear power. This accident happened because they shut all safety devices off and then ran a test. Now, because it is still a semi-uneducated ar of the world, people move back and continue to live, work and farm nearby because they don't know any better.

This has nothing to do with the US beng a rich country or having all sorts of resources. You can offer help, but if it is't wanted, you can't do anything about it! We cannot invade another country - and this time on the premise of helping them clean up a mess that will be around for at least another 860 years.

30/4/06 00:09

 
Blogger Monique said...

Thanks for the info Stacy. I hadn't been around long when it happened, so I don't really know the story. Mostly though, I was talking generally about our society now. While there are a lot of people trying to make a difference, there's a whole lot of other people who forget about the major things going on in the world and who would rather not think about it and focus on their own lives than help someone else.

1/5/06 02:17

 

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