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Chernobyl disaster: Ukraine marks 30th anniversary | |
(35 minutes later) | |
Commemorations are under way in Ukraine to mark the 30th anniversary of the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl. | |
Sirens were sounded at the same moment as the first explosion at the reactor, in the early hours of 26 April 1986. | Sirens were sounded at the same moment as the first explosion at the reactor, in the early hours of 26 April 1986. |
The meltdown at the Soviet plant was the worst nuclear disaster in history. | |
An uncontrolled reaction blew the roof off, spewing out a cloud of radioactive material which drifted into other parts of the USSR, including Russia and Belarus, and northern Europe. | |
Relatives of those who died attended candle-lit vigils at several churches, including at Slavutych, a town built to re-house workers who lived near the nuclear plant. A series of events are being held throughout the day. | |
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko attended a ceremony in Kiev - laying a wreath and observing a minute's silence - before heading north for a ceremony at the plant itself, not far from the Belarus border. | |
Vasyl Markin, who had been working in Chernobyl at the time of the disaster, attended the service in Slavutych. | Vasyl Markin, who had been working in Chernobyl at the time of the disaster, attended the service in Slavutych. |
"This tragedy will stay with us till the end of our lives," he said. "I won't be able to forget it anyway." | |
Some former residents returned to the area, now derelict and overgrown, ahead of the anniversary. | Some former residents returned to the area, now derelict and overgrown, ahead of the anniversary. |
Zoya Perevozchenko, 66, had lived in Pripyat, the town inhabited by Chernobyl workers which was abandoned in the wake of the accident. | |
She told Reuters news agency: "I barely found my apartment, I mean it's a forest now - trees growing through the pavement, on the roofs. All the rooms are empty, the glass is gone from the windows and everything's destroyed." | |
Levels of radioactivity remain high in the surrounding area. A charity, Bridges to Belarus, is warning that a number of babies in a region close to Ukraine's border are still being born with serious deformities, while an unusually high rate of people have rare forms of cancer. | Levels of radioactivity remain high in the surrounding area. A charity, Bridges to Belarus, is warning that a number of babies in a region close to Ukraine's border are still being born with serious deformities, while an unusually high rate of people have rare forms of cancer. |
Donors around the world pledged €87.5m (£68m; $99m) on Monday towards a new underground nuclear waste facility in the region. Ukraine will need to commit a further €10m in order to complete the new storage site. | Donors around the world pledged €87.5m (£68m; $99m) on Monday towards a new underground nuclear waste facility in the region. Ukraine will need to commit a further €10m in order to complete the new storage site. |
Work began in 2010 on a 25,000-tonne, €2.1bn sarcophagus to seal the uranium left in the damaged reactor, thought to be about 200 tonnes. | Work began in 2010 on a 25,000-tonne, €2.1bn sarcophagus to seal the uranium left in the damaged reactor, thought to be about 200 tonnes. |
Experts fear that if parts of the aging reactor collapse, further radioactive material could be spewed into the atmosphere. | Experts fear that if parts of the aging reactor collapse, further radioactive material could be spewed into the atmosphere. |
Ukrainian press remembers Chernobyl | |
Newspapers in Ukraine carry sombre features looking back at the disaster and discussing ways of rehabilitating the exclusion zone. | |
Segodnya carries a picture of the Chernobyl plant on its front page and highlights plans to create a nature reserve around it. Most of the area is "clean" now, it quotes the Ukrainian environment ministry as saying. | |
Ukraina Moloda daily also says that the area has become "safer" and is now being promoted as a tourist attraction. Its front page headline recalls that "The nuclear industry brought a lot of sorrow to Ukraine". | |
KP v Ukraine, a tabloid, calculates the disaster's cost and reaches the conclusion that money alone is not enough to estimate it. Mortality rates jumped by as much as 40% in certain parts of Ukraine, and many families were simply afraid to have children. "The Chernobyl disaster has resulted in at least 50,000 children not being born," the paper says. | |
The number of people killed by the disaster remains disputed. A report in 2005 by the UN-backed Chernobyl Forum concluded that fewer than 50 people had died as a result of exposure to radiation, most of them workers killed immediately after the disaster, but some survived until as late as 2004. | |
The forum estimated up to 9,000 people could eventually die from radiation exposure, although Greenpeace claims the figure could be as high as 93,000. | The forum estimated up to 9,000 people could eventually die from radiation exposure, although Greenpeace claims the figure could be as high as 93,000. |