The #Chernobyl disaster was an accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant on April 26, 1986 at 01:23 a.m., consisting of an explosion at the plant and subsequent radioactive contamination of the surrounding geographic area.
The power plant is located near #Pripyat, Ukraine, at the time part of the Soviet Union. The city and surrounding villages were evacuated in the following months and the area remains mainly abandoned.
It is regarded as the worst accident ever in the history of nuclear power.
A 2005 IAEA report tells of 56 direct deaths; of those, 47 were accident workers and 9 were children who died of thyroid cancer. The report thinks that up to 4,000 people may die from long term diseases related to the accident.
Not great, not terrible.
Forthzine - Jonas Forth 