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“Restrisiko” – 20
years after Chernobyl
On 26 April 1986 the largest-ever
radiation accident involving a nuclear power
plant happened in Chernobyl.
This reportage tells the story of the people
in Novosybkov, a town of 40.000 inhabitants in
southwest Russia, one hundred kilometres from
Chernobyl. One week after the Chernobyl accident
clouds containing severe containing radioactive
fallout rained down on Novosybkov and its environs.
The consequences are still felt everywhere today.
They are most visible in the increased rates
of thyroid cancer. Less visible, the people here
have over the years eaten so much radioactive
food that they themselves ‘radiate’.
Each year on 26 April demonstrators gather
in front of the municipality in an act of
remembrance.
Few outsiders are taking notice. On the occasion
of its twentieth anniversary, the Chernobyl
disaster is likely to be in the headlines
once more. Afterwards,
people in places like Novosybkov will be largely
forgotten again.
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