{"id":12646,"date":"2006-04-25T22:15:00","date_gmt":"2006-04-25T22:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.driko.org\/blog\/2006\/04\/25\/chornobyl-20-years-later\/"},"modified":"2006-04-25T22:15:00","modified_gmt":"2006-04-25T22:15:00","slug":"chornobyl-20-years-later","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.driko.org\/blog\/2006\/04\/25\/chornobyl-20-years-later\/","title":{"rendered":"Chornobyl’: 20 Years Later"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tomorrow marks the twentieth anniversary of the disaster at the Chornobyl’<\/i> nuclear power plant<\/a> (Chernobyl<\/i><\/a> is more properly transliterated from Ukrainian as Chornobyl’<\/i>, in case you’re wondering about my spelling). CNN<\/i> reports<\/a> that “Ukraine opened a week of commemorations … as international radiation and health experts gathered for a three-day conference to discuss the lessons of the Chornobyl’<\/i> accident.”<\/p>\n

NPR<\/i> reports<\/a> on efforts to contain the facility:<\/p>\n

The ruined Chernobyl nuclear facility still contains some 200 tons of radioactive fuel. A “sarcophagus” – a steel and concrete shell built soon after the disaster to contain the radiation is increasingly unstable.<\/p>\n

Engineers plan to slide an enormous Quonset hut-shaped cover over a breached reactor to keep more radiation from reaching the atmosphere.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Although the BBC<\/i> reports that the “exclusion zone around the Chornobyl’<\/i> nuclear power station is teeming with life<\/a>” despite the lingering high radiation levels, the human toll of the disaster continues to be disputed<\/a>. NPR<\/i> has a very moving story entitled Voices Of Chornobyl’<\/i>: Survivors’ Stories<\/a>, among several other features commemorating the disaster.<\/p>\n

Slate<\/i> magazine, in collaboration with Magnum Photos, has a somber Flash photo essay entitled Chornobyl’<\/i> Legacy<\/a> that is narrated by photographer Paul Fusco. Der Spiegel<\/i> has several photo galleries by Igor Kostin<\/a>, which include some of the first pictures taken at the site as well as pictures documenting some of the horrific effects of the disaster.<\/p>\n

The web site Chernobyl.info<\/a> is an “international communications platform on the longterm consequences of the Chornobyl’ disaster” that allows different organizations to submit their information into a central repository, with the goal of coordinating research and aid efforts.<\/p>\n

via Boing Boing<\/a>, The Presurfer<\/a>, and Ask MetaFilter<\/a>; thanks to Ulana for the NPR link<\/div>\n

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