Chernobyl

Those who went through that era. Describe what it was like and what was going through your minds when it happened.

• It really wasn't that big of a deal, kid. We all said, "Ugh, what a nasty story!" and went on with our lives. Same for Three Mile Island (closer to home).

  Hiss%21

• I grew up within eyeshot of a nuclear power plant in Illinois. My parents just commented on their personal policy to keep 1/2 a tank of gas at all times and drive into the wind, usually west, if something happens at the plant. There was also a sense that the Russians were probably less regulated or in someway, didn't act with due diligence. We did talk about if something happened just driving away, not taking anything with us.

• Chernobly - NOB = Cheryl. Isn't that funny :)

  Cheryl

• After Chernobyl my penis is falling off.

• It was remarkable at the time. The first inkling the outside world had that something was seriously wrong was when radiation detectors in Sweden started going crazy. Then the Soviet government announced that there had been an "incident" at Chernobyl but provided scant details. I remember watching NBC Nightly News and Dr. Robert Bezell (sp? ) was speculating based on the radioactivity detected from so far away that there had to be tens of thousands dead. Of course that wasn't the case. There was genuine fear about traveling to Europe because no one knew just how bad the disaster was, or when or if it could be contained. After days of denial and secrecy the Soviet government did a complete 180 and revealed the full extent of the problem. This was simply astonishing. Never before had they been so open about any disaster, and even more remarkable they were requesting and accepting assistance from western governments. My jaw just about hit the floor one evening as I listened to an interview of a senior Radio Moscow anchorman. Prior to this incident this guy was little more than a propaganda mouthpiece but now he was being unbelievably frank, answering every question without obsfucating and even offering information that hadn't been asked for. Chernobyl represented the beginning of the end of the Soviet Union.

• There ought to be a 50 kilometre exclusion zone around Cheryl's pussy too.

• This is a pretty good documentary on the disaster.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DMKKz45ORPQQ

• I have relatives in Sweden and they've only been able to eat fish from lakes again a few years ago. I think they had to wait like 20 years? They had a ton of acid rain and fallout.

• I was in Austria when it happened, and I remember a few weeks later they started plowing under many of the fields where the crops had just sprouted, because they had been contaminated by fallout. They had just started sprouting, and it was so odd to see them plowed under.

• r9, was that just that season, or did they avoid planting there for many years?

• Chernobyl - all the laughter, all the tears!

• Chernobyl was responsible, more than anything else, for bringing the Soviet Union down.

• I remember the air from that time -- you could smell the sharp, acrid odor of plutonium.

• Because of the jetstream's movement from Japan to California - followed by the rest of the U.S. - Fukashima is scarier. It's a paradox - Chernobyl was at first total secrecy and rumor soon followed by truth-telling and asking for help, the full reveal. The reaction of Japan is far more disturbing - lying, total secrecy and not asking for help. There has been no "full reveal". There was a deliberate media blackout in the U.S. about Fukashima (we watched Charlie Sheen almost smoke crack on air instead on CNN). With regard to Chernobyl's media response, the U.S. seemed to revel in it, for its implications regarding the U.S.S.R.'s isolation and the fall of Communism.

  Anonymous.

• I'm so sick of the Fukashima troll.

• People were more or less like "Ummm...the Ruskies deserve it." That sort of thing--no real appreciation of the seriousness or the danger.

• [quote]I'm so sick of the Fukashima troll. I'm sick of the freeper trolls.

  Not%20R14

• I've just ordered an empty cardboard box from Chernobyl. It was the cheapest microwave I could find.\t

• That cracked me up, R18.

• R14 I agree that both Chernobyl and Fukashima are the biggest cover ups in modern history. Glasnost and Perestroika became common words post-Chernobyl, literally meaning publicity and restructuring, but commonly presented by Gorbachev as openness and transparency. But little was said about the effects of the disaster, both short and long term, or in fact, how many people have died long term. The original story was that there were only 35 deaths. No one ever talks about the implications to the planet, or peoples' health all over the world that were caused by these disasters. I have read on Wikipedia that the amount of radiation released from Chernobyl was the equivalent of 100 nuclear bombs. Yes, ONE HUNDRED. Anyone remember the movie "Threads"? It detailed the after effects of nuclear war and it was terrifying. Rent it if you can find it; it's not easy, and to my knowledge is not available on DVD. I saw it when it was first broadcast on TV, and was able to find a video at a good rental store. Before 1986 there was little talk of Global Warming. I believe that our recent climactic changes are in fact a direct result of this nuclear disaster, and the most recent disaster in Japan is only adding to this. Funny fact....as a type of "parlour game" I ask people of all ages and all walks of life to name the year Chernobyl happened. About 1 in 50 can name the correct year, let alone the date. Another funny aside, no one can name the inventor of one of the most prolific mind altering and collective brain-washing invention of the 20th century, the Television. See link for the answer if you can't guess???????

  http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/400802/who-really-invented-television/

• I was in Germany at the time - a lot of public fear about the effects of fallout. And warnings not to eat mushrooms and other wild food. People avoided vegetables or produce that was imported from the eastern parts of Europe. Thing is though, it was all overdone. Ultimately something like 65 people were killed - mostly first responders such as firemen, and technicians. A few hundred people have since developed thyroid cancer - which would have been easily prevented had the Soviet authorities issued them with iodine pills.

• The sky was so blue that morning.

• [quote] Anyone remember the movie "Threads"? It detailed the after effects of nuclear war and it was terrifying. "Incredibly disturbing" doesn't even begin to cover that movie. It should be required viewing for those idiots whose response to international problems is 'eh, nuke 'em!'

• The American media covered it as a huge disaster then suddenly "took it back" tow or three days later. The sub-headlines went from "Hundreds of Thousands in Peril" to "Two or Three Dead, Nothing to See Here, Folks" overnight. It was very Soviet-ish to see our media scrub the story clean. I always thought the Nuclear Industry pressured the US Media to soft peddle the story in its immediate aftermath.