Chernobyl Continues to Spew Death: A Catastrophe Map Toxic Apocalypse Site:

HELP CELEBRATE 25 YEAR ANNIVERSARY! CONTRIBUTE TO A NEW CONTAINMENT DOME!

In April of 1986, the nuclear reactor at Chernobyl, Ukraine blew up and caught fire. Two men died immediately, and thirty others over the next few months (generally firemen who fought the blaze). The causes of death were radiation burns and radiation sickness. It was the worst nuclear disaster of all time, with the exception of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but that doesn't count. The U.S. was forced to do that to save lives and has proven over the years to be the only nation responsible and moral enough to handle nukes.

The official estimate of the radiation release was between 30 and 50 million Cures of radiactive substances, including volatile iodine and cesium. About 135,000 people were evacuated from an area within about 20 miles of the reactor, along with glowing livestock. Even using the inflated standard of acceptible exposure employed by the Soviets, people hundreds of miles away were seriously affected.

Over time the total release of radiactivity from Chernobyl was about one thousand times that released by the Hiroshima bomb. All of Europe was blanketed to some degree by fallout, contaminating food and water. For example, during May 1986 the maximum radiation concentration in the air at Cadarache in France was found to be 18.5 becquerels per cubic meter. Because of weather conditions, the levels of radioactive caesium in livestock continued to increase during 1987.

NUKE LINKS:

2011 Nuclear disaster in Japan

Motorcycle tour of siteChernobyl

Connect to CatMap Nuclear Map.

Marshall Islands unfortunate location in a U.S. Test Zone

Connect to Hanford Downwinders.com.

Godzilla The Radiation Monster Returns to Japan.
Visit the CatMap Hall of Fame.

MAY 2011 UPDATE: The Intenational Community Continues to Pitch In To Raise Enough for a New Chernobyl Containment Shell
It looks like the concrete shell they built over the remains of the nuclear mess that burned its way through the floor of the reactor in 1986 needs to be replaced. The international community has pledged an additional EUR 550 million to the efforts to create a long-term containment solution for Reactor 4, with a total cost of 1.5 billion EUR projected. Unknown how long this one will last, but be sure to factor it in when you compute the true cost of nuclear energy.

APRIL 2011
Chernobyl remains the Gold Standard
In the context of the nuclear disaster at Japans Fukushima Daiichi reactor site, the 25 years old disaster at Chernobyl has resurfaced as a Hall of Fame nuclear screw up. In case you think it's over, consider the following:

200 tons of melted nuclear fuel remain buried beneath the plant floor. The pile melted through the floor. Scientists cannot come near this area.

The contaminated area in Ukraine is 15,00 sq. miles, about the size of Switzerland.

Radiation will stay in the Chernobyl area for the next 48,000 years, but humans may begin repopulating the area in about 300 to 600 years.

CATMAP borrowed the tree image from this site, which is a photo tour of the area affected. Highly recommended viewing if you enjoy reveling in human stupidity.