UKRAINE: Chernobyl survivors and victims' families hold candlelight memorial to remember victims of the nuclear disaster which happened 26 years ago

Record ID: 215839

  • Title: UKRAINE: Chernobyl survivors and victims' families hold candlelight memorial to remember victims of the nuclear disaster which happened 26 years ago
  • Date: 26th April 2012
  • Summary: SLAVUTYCH, UKRAINE (APRIL 25, 2012) (REUTERS) GUARD OF HONOUR AT MEMORIAL MEMORIAL MORE OF GUARD OF HONOUR AT MEMORIAL VARIOUS OF PRIEST CONDUCTING MEMORIAL SERVICE VARIOUS OF PEOPLE HOLDING CANDLES AND LAMPS VARIOUS OF PEOPLE LAYING CANDLES AND FLOWERS AT MEMORIAL (SOUNDBITE) (RUSSIAN) CHERNOBYL ELECTRIC STATION WORKER, VLADIMIR SHERBINA, SAYING: "The people who w
  • Embargoed: 11th May 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Ukraine, Ukraine
  • Country: Ukraine
  • Topics: Disasters,History
  • Reuters ID: LVADD82DJBU4T0DQZ56RELMYC9K4
  • Story Text: Residents of Slavutych in Ukraine gathered in the town's main square on Wednesday (April 25) night to remember the victims of the worst nuclear disaster in history.
    Slavutych is located about 50 kilometres (31 miles) from Chernobyl where the No. 4 reactor exploded on April 26, 1986, releasing large amounts of radiation into the atmosphere. The city was built 1986 after residents of neighbouring Prypiat, near where the damaged reactor was located, were permanently relocated and the town became abandoned.
    Dozens of people died in the three months following the catastrophe, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), but the subsequent health fallout of people who lived in the path of the leaked radiation is unknown.
    People holding candles and lanterns were led by a priest in prayer before placing candles and flowers near the guard of honour memorial in the square.
    Vladimir Sherbina, who was a worker at the Chernobyl electrical station in 1986, said he came to remember those who lost their lives and pray a similar disaster will never take place.
    "The people who we remember today -- they paid for this mistake with their own lives. I hope this will never be repeated. And God forbid the people in charge of Chernobyl today repeat the mistake that was made by the leaders of the Chernobyl accident," Sherbina said.
    On December 15, 2000, the last of the Chernobyl reactors was shut down and began to be decommissioned -- a process that is expected to take several decades.
    Construction to replace the compromised "sarcophagus" built around the No. 4 reactor in the months following the disaster with a 29,000 tonne, 105 by 150 metre structure should be completed by mid-2014, according to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development's website. The cost of that project is estimated at US$2 million dollars.
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