Report #17—April 26, 2016 30 years since Chernobyl!

Today is the day that the Chernobyl nuclear plant was destroyed. April 26, 1986 unleashed the worst nuclear fallout since the a-bombs that ended World War 2. The devastation and ruin will continue to be felt in Eastern Europe for thousands of years.

Typical of the Russian character, the records of history show that the Kremlin was very aware of the catastrophe but refused to alter those satellite nations in the fallout path. BUT Moscow evacuated its “important” people.
In Chernobyl there was an immediate evacuation of the citizens and things remain as if frozen in time as citizens were immediately told to stop what they were doing and run to the evacuation points where busses waited to take them out of the radiated areas.

Following the meltdown thousands were drafted to go into the radiated areas and “fix” the damage. Our NGO in Zaporozhe is “Veterans of Chernobyl.” Those in this group were among the first to be sent. Our guys were assigned the task of setting up a tent city in the city to house the incoming workers. There were 500 in their group and today less than 100 remain alive.

The first responders were told they would walk into a "safe" environment — The first responders were told they would walk into a “safe” environment

George standing in front of the tent city that would hose workers following the meltdown. You can see their radiation badges that were given to assure them they would not in harm's way. — George standing in front of the tent city that would hose workers following the meltdown. You can see their radiation badges that were given to assure them they would not in harm’s way.

They were sent and told that as long as they wore their radiation badges they would be ok. Each day they had their badges read and if they registered 25 they would be sent back home—they said they were always at 24 but never 25!
Our guys recently went to Chernobyl and took some photos. Once on the ground for this recent visit they did not stay long. Alexander says almost instantly he started tasting metal and he knew they were in radiation.

On approach to Chernobyl you are able to see thousands of abandoned vehicles that were left after being used in the clean up.

Through our efforts we have been assisting those survivors of Chernobyl and those affected by the radiation. Several years ago in Zhitomir I was conducting a needs assessment for the DOS and interviewed an obstetrician. He told me that prior to Chernobyl they had 95% normal births and 5% abnormal but after Chernobyl it was reversed—5% normal and 95% abnormal (some may remember this statistic from that trip).

Here are some of the photos that were made by our guys on a trip back to Chernobyl…