On April 26th, 1986, in the Soviet Union's Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the world's worst nuclear power plant accident occurred.
Soviet authorities refused to admit/report the accident occurred in the opening days of the crisis, even though thirty-two people died and dozens more suffered radiation burns. Only after Swedish authorities reported the fallout did Soviet authorities admit it happened.
Soviet authorities began evacuating the 30,000 residents of Pripyat on April 27th. They attempted to cover it up but on April 28th, Swedish radiation monitoring stations were reporting radiation levels 40 percent higher than normal almost 800 miles away from Chernobyl. The Soviet news agency would acknowledge that a major nuclear accident occurred at Chernobyl later that day.
The radiation that escaped into the atmosphere was several times the amount produced by the atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, spread by wind over Northern and Eastern Europe, contaminating millions of acres of forest and farmland.
Approximately 5,000 Soviet citizens would eventually die from cancer and other radiation-induced illnesses caused by their exposure to the Chernobyl radiation. Millions more were adversely affected.
Chernobyl's last working reactors were shut down in 2000 and the plant was officially closed.
By - SC
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