At 1:23 a.m. on April 26, 1986, a catastrophic meltdown took place inside reactor number four at the Soviet nuclear power plant at Chernobyl. The explosion that followed sent flames and radioactive material soaring into the skies over Pripyat, a nearby city built to house the plant’s scientists and workers. It took 36 hours before the town’s 49,000 residents were evacuated, and many later suffered severe health effects as a result of their brief exposure to the fallout.
Soviet authorities later sealed off an 18-mile exclusion zone surrounding Chernobyl, leaving Pripyat an abandoned ghost town. The city has since languished for nearly three decades as a chilling reminder of the disaster. Its buildings have decayed and been partially reclaimed by the elements, and wild animals roam through what were once bustling apartments, sports complexes and an amusement park. In the town post office, hundreds of letters from 1986 still sit waiting to be mailed. While radiation levels in Pripyat have dropped enough in recent years to allow urban explorers and former residents to make brief visits, scientists estimate that it could take several centuries before the town is once again safe for habitation.
To reduce the spread of radioactive contamination from the wreckage and protect it from weathering, the protective Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant sarcophagus was built by December 1986. It also provided radiological protection for the crews of the undamaged reactors at the site, which continued operating. Due to the continued deterioration of the sarcophagus, it was further enclosed in 2017 by the Chernobyl New Safe Confinement, a larger enclosure that allows the removal of both the sarcophagus and the reactor debris, while containing the radioactive hazard. Nuclear clean-up is scheduled for completion in 2065.
Why keep people there? They say it is to work on the power plants that are still usable, but for what? Wind/air mills are much safer for power for every day living. Why do they need a *very* dangerous nuclear power plant that has already taken living land away from them?
Chernobyl has become a breeding ground for conspiracy theories primarily because hardly any sufficient and accurate information was released about the nuclear explosion soon after it had occurred. The first official announcement about Chernobyl was made on April 28, almost a full three days after the explosion. The announcement did not prescribe any blame, it did not disclose the fact that the reactor was "damaged" because it had exploded, nor did it provide any measures Soviet civilians could take to protect themselves against radiation.
Another conspiracy theory that Chernobyl was secretly planned by Soviet officials to cover-up the failure of the Duga Radar. The Duga Radar, which is located close to Chernobyl, was a failed Soviet attempt to create an early missile detection device. A filmmaker, Fedor Alexandrovich (film titled The Russian Woodpecker) comes to the conclusion that the radar's lead official, Minister Vasily Shamshin, conspired with Soviet officials in Moscow to blow up the Chernobyl plant to hide the radar's failure and to save his career.
Alexandrovich never officially confirms this conspiracy theory -- his work is allegedly cut short by secret Russian police. While the documentary was being made, tension between Russia and Ukraine was heightening. The artist's quest to prove his conspiracy theory heavily centers around this tension, which has deep historical roots.
While conspiracy theories shouldn't necessarily be considered truthful, they can provide insight into the emotional responses victims of tragic events experience.
But how much truth is actually in them? Like it was mentioned previously, there *are* other - much more *safer* - ways to get the power needed for households, even the type of radar system that was stated the dangerous power plant was/is for.
You decide.
