26 years have passed since the beginning of a worldwide nightmare…the nuclear accident at Chernobyl, Ukraine, that occurred on April the 26th 1986. Countless books have been written, even more casualty figures have been circulated and many interpretations exist on what exactly caused the disaster (human error, major political mistakes, etc.). Millions of people have suffered (the latest estimates talk about nearly 7 million victims) any many still endure the consequences of this tragedy. Around 25.000 people have been killed by the events in Chernobyl.
It is essential that WE DO NOT FORGET and do not allow that such a catastrophe repeats itself ever again! Chernobyl was, and still is considered the single most devastating disaster caused by mankind.
We invite you to watch a French documentary, “Chernobyl Express”, made in 2009 – an homage to those that responded immediately to the accident, those that have been named (in a cynical way, I would say) “liquidators”. One third of them have already died and another 30% are affected by various forms of cancer. The film also presents those who are nowadays trying to permanently “clean” the area. “Chernobyl Express” won the First Prize in 2009 at the Short Film Festival in Rueil-Malmaison, and is presented by Terre TV France.
A new sarcophagus above Reactor 4 will be completed in 2015, on top of the one already in existence (a concrete “tomb” built soon after the disaster) which has become unstable and riddled with fissures, and is in danger of collapsing. The new sarcophagus will cost around one billion dollars.
Let’s learn from our mistakes!
A final word: the language used in the documentary is French, and it can be understood by someone with average knowledge of this language. A number of scenes are spoken in English.
Picture source: http://www.evz.ro/detalii/stiri/24-de-ani-de-la-cernobil-893235.html
Link for viewing the documentary: http://www.terre.tv/fr/4291_tchernobyl-express–visite-de-la-zone-interdite
Article written by Valentina Mănoiu and translated by Mitoșeriu Mihail!
