What Chernobyl exposed

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MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. 

I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. Up next: The WORLD History Book.

40 years ago, a reactor exploded at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine. It triggered the worst nuclear disaster in history, and led to dramatic changes for the Soviet Union.

Today, Ukrainians are still living with the fallout.

WORLD’s William Fleeson reports.

WILLIAM FLEESON: In the black pre-dawn hours of April 26th, 1986, a series of mistakes led to the world’s worst nuclear disaster at the Chernobyl power plant. 

A steam explosion and resulting fire sent lethal doses of radioactive material into the surrounding area. Back then, Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union.

NEWSREEL: The Soviets are saying little, but what is known is cause for concern. A nuclear accident has occurred at the Soviet atomic plant in the Ukraine.

First responders rushed in to control the damage, which cost some of them their lives. Officials later evacuated about 350,000 people nearby. Wind spread radioactive material across Ukraine, the nearby countries of Belarus and Russia, and broad stretches of Europe to the north and west.

Dozens of people died in the immediate disaster area—now called the ‘exclusion zone’—a 20-mile radius from the plant. Thousands more would perish from the longer-term effects of nuclear radiation, which can cause lethal conditions like heart disease and cancer.

39-year-old Kateryna Aslamova was born in southern Ukraine just three months after the disaster.

ASLAMOVA: So basically, the only thing that I knew was that Chornobyl happened.

Aslamova calls herself a “Chernobyl kid”—being one of the Ukrainians who have come of age since the catastrophe. Because the Soviet Union hid the details of the meltdown, her generation couldn’t know its full effects. The incident has caused them a lifetime of worry.

ASLAMOVA: Because my mom was pregnant with me when Chornobyl happened, it meant that like all the kids of this age, I was kind of like, scared, that one day, some consequences of Chornobyl would show up in my life, maybe I will have some health problems…

Ten years ago, Aslamova applied for a job as a guide at the exclusion zone on a whim—and has since made the zone her life’s work.

ASLAMOVA: When I saw Chornobyl, it was completely different from all of my expectations, and I really loved it. I loved the place itself, I loved how green and peaceful it was…

Aslamova says she now feels empowered by what her career with Chernobyl has taught her. And what she can teach others.

ASLAMOVA: For the first time in my entire life, I actually felt like there is nothing to be afraid of. I do have this heroic history in my country.

Older Ukrainians are also keen to tell the story.

SERHII MIRNYI: When Chornobyl happened, I was mobilized and sent to the Chornobyl zone, where I served as a commander of radiation surveillance platoon…

That’s Serhii Mirnyi. He was a 27-year-old Ukrainian reservist in the Soviet army in ‘86. Mirnyi worked at the plant nonstop for over a month after the meltdown.

He and his colleagues came to be known as ‘liquidators’: the workforce brought in to secure the zone.

MIRNYI: This experience was quite instrumental in mitigating the post-accident radiation contamination.

The liquidators knew what was at stake in their work. Continued radiation leaks would poison everything for miles around, from the air to the water supply. 

The disaster happened 60 miles north of Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital city. At that time, it had a population of almost 2.5 million.

Meanwhile, Soviet officials downplayed the true scope of the disaster. When details of the information control became public, many Soviet citizens felt betrayed. 

Chernobyl’s effect on society proved just as explosive.

MIRNYI: After the Chornobyl accident, the Soviet society was agitated. And so there was a demand for information, and it started to dissolve their total censorship in the Soviet Union, and it was the start of the movement to the free press, free mass media…

The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991—not least because of the broken trust in Chernobyl’s wake. Ukraine gained independence the same year, and its borders opened for the first time in generations. 

At that time, Mirnyi realized that Ukrainians and others had misunderstandings about the event—from its health effects to its historical consequences. After the zone was determined safe enough for short visits, Mirnyi developed an idea for local tourism. He co-founded Chornobyl Tours to help set the record straight.

Tourism is how Mirnyi bridges the gap between his experience and the desire of others to know more. Visitors can get their own sense of the historical calamity.

MIRNYI: The most important monument to the Chornobyl disaster, is the Chornobyl zone itself…

The nuclear meltdown later inspired documentaries and media adaptations, including a hit TV show from 2019 called, “Chernobyl.” Mirnyi says he and many Ukrainians have strong feelings about it.

MIRNYI: Well, in general, my attitude is rather negative.

He welcomed the broad awareness that the series created—especially of the corrupt nature of the Soviet government based in Moscow. But Mirnyi took issue with what he saw as Hollywood-style caricatures and clichés. He singled out the depiction of the ‘dumb Russian,’ given to all Soviet citizens. These characters are nearly always destined to lose. 

This trope, he said, is often applied to the characters in films and shows about the Soviet Union.

MIRNYI: You know, they failed to see the selfless actions of us. 

Mirnyi wants to move the disaster’s narrative from loser to winner. And Kateryna Aslamova says the lessons of Chernobyl shed light on her country’s fighting spirit.

ALSAMOVA: Having the experience of a nation that helped each other years ago, still does, and will in the future, I believe it’s a very powerful idea that needs to be taught to everyone.

That idea—of Ukrainian unity and tenacity—offers lessons to those alive today, whether Ukrainian or foreign. Especially after four years of war, and a 40-year nuclear legacy.

That’s this week’s WORLD History Book. I’m William Fleeson.

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