20 years on... 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.