The catastrophe at Chernobyl occurred twenty years ago. The world entered a new era, one that modified our relationship to nature and to science, an era marked by lies elevated to the rank of political principle, as well as by fear and a sense of powerlessness before the ravages that humanity’s inventions can wreak.
While the UN considers the explosion of Chernobyl’s nuclear reactor as a grave industrial accident – but one whose consequences do not exceed those of the dramatic accident in Bhopal, India – anti-nuclear activists beg to differ. For them, the consequences are still both unpredictable and, for the most part, yet to come. The situation of the 8 or 9 million people living in the lastingly contaminated territories is one of endless suffering. Hundreds of thousands of people were uprooted, and of the 600,000 to 800,000 liquidators, who built the sarcophagus and performed the decontamination work, many are now deceased, while others live in sickness and anguish.
While Chernobyl mobilizes several local administrations, international organizations and authorities, and a great number of scientists, there is little reliable data, as powerful political and economic interests are at stake. Galia Ackerman has conducted her own investigation, travelling into the forbidden zone several times, meeting with local authorities, victims, scientists and ecologists. This book is her own evaluation of Chernobyl