This seems to be over shadowed by the football and i dont really understand why... Chernobyls 30th anniversary was yesterday for those that have 90 minutes spare... educate yourselves.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJjhY8XqGRw

A chilling reminder, thanks for posting the link.

Rule one: don't let bored idiots remove safety interlocks.

Also - this was *not* an atomic explosion...

Thirty years ago, I was studying French at Guildford and some of my fellow students were evacuated from Ukraine, having their clothes confiscated and undergoing decontamination en route. Of course, as they had been in Kiev, they weren't really in any imminent danger, but it was quite dramatic. A group of us then flew to Montreal for a 3-month course, where the local launderette manager (a Ukrainian) wouldn't let us (or anyone else from Europe) into his establishment for fear of radiation.
It did dominate many aspects of the news for quite some time.

Ten years later I built a BBC monitoring station in Kiev; we had to check all the building supplies - and rejected a few - because they were being scavenged from radioactive contaminated stores near Chernobyl.

if the interwebs is to be trusted there are reports of the vehicles used in the clearup slowly disappearing and even one or two reports of similar modeled radioactive milatary equipment turning up in Donesk. the reports seem to suggest that at least one of the sites used as a graveyard for these vehicles is now completely empty. which is worrying because it makes you think where the stuff actually went!

im fascinated by things like this. whilst i can only express my sadness for this particular incident (i was only 18months old when it went pop) the actions that lead up to it and the story behind it always captivate me.