The Chernobyl disaster (also referred to as the Chernobyl accident or simply Chernobyl) was a catastrophic nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the city of Pripyat, then located in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic of the Soviet Union (USSR). An explosion and fire released large quantities of radioactive particles into the atmosphere, which spread over much of the western USSR and Europe.The Chernobyl disaster was the worst nuclear power plant accident in history in terms of cost and casualties. It is one of only two classified as a level 7 event (the maximum classification) on the International Nuclear Event Scale, the other being the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan in 2011. The battle to contain the contamination and avert a greater catastrophe ultimately involved over 500,000 workers and cost an estimated 18 billion rubles. During the accident itself, 31 people died, and long-term effects such as cancers are still being investigated.
Chernobyl Anniversary: Disaster Exiled Humans, Made Way for Wildlife - The forests and fields near the abandoned site of the world's worst nuclear power plant disaster teem with animal life, proving that in some cases humans pose a bigger threat to animals than radiation. The Chernobyl nuclear reactor blew up 30 years ago on Tuesday, sending a radioactive cloud over much of Europe and prompting the resettlement of 350,000 people from the area around the plant. "Peace in absence of cars and tractors and an untouched forage base lets animals thrive," according to Yury Bondar, who supervises biological research in neighboring Belarus' Polesie State Radioecological Reserve, which was created following the 1986 disaster.
