Chernobyl

Inside the Mission to Perform Bone-Marrow Transplants on Survivors of the Chernobyl Disaster

"Nevertheless, the next ten days demonstrated the value of international medical cooperation in moments of crisis, even when politics might make success seem impossible." writes Yair Reisner, an Israeli doctor whose help was requested by Russian officials after the disaster.

Chernobyl disaster worse than we were told, historian Kate Brown says

Chernobyl should be seen, not as a one-time accident, Brown argued, but as part of a larger, still ongoing story of global nuclear contamination and Russian, American and the international officials hiding the truth.

The Overlooked Aftermath of the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster

by Robin Lindley

A Conversation with Acclaimed History Professor Kate Brown on Her Groundbreaking Book Manual for Survival: A Chernobyl Guide to the Future

National Security Archive Releases New Briefing Book on Chernobyl through the Eyes of the Soviet Politburo, KGB, and U.S. Intelligence

Declassified documents detail highest-level reactions, cover-ups, critiques using sources never before translated into English.

Watching 'Chernobyl': How Important Are Visuals for Understanding History?

For those struggling to put the facts and visuals together, documentary photography accompanied with words can be a godsend. 

HBO’s Chernobyl and the Rendering of History

by Walter G. Moss

The value of HBO’s Chernobyl is not just what it tells us about the failings of the Soviet system. It offers much more.

How Accurate is HBO's Chernobyl? Experts Weigh In

Chernobyl has been a critical success on HBO, we spoke to experts in the nuclear industry about how accurate the show actually was.

Photos From the 1986 Chernobyl Disaster

Thirty-three years ago, on April 26, 1986, a series of explosions destroyed Chernobyl’s reactor No. 4, and several hundred staff and firefighters tackled a blaze that burned for 10 days and sent a plume of radiation around the world.

A Gripping History of the Nuclear Disaster at Chernobyl

In “Midnight in Chernobyl,” Adam Higginbotham offers a thorough and readable account of one awful night in the Ukraine and its consequences.

Thirty Years After Chernobyl, Debate Rages About Nuclear Power

For many people in the West, Chernobyl has served as a kind of referendum on nuclear power.

Chernobyl’s Hot Mess, “the Elephant’s Foot,” Is Still Lethal

The Elephant’s Foot could be the most dangerous piece of waste in the world.

Chernobyl's arch: Sealing off a radioactive sarcophagus

Work has begun on a new containment vessel for the radioactive ruins of Chernobyl's #4 reactor.

Mark Joseph Stern: Did Chernobyl Cause the Soviet Union To Explode?

Mark Joseph Stern is a Slate intern.At 1:23 a.m. on April 26, 1986, Reactor 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded, following a disastrously ill-judged systems test by undertrained technicians. As surplus energy surged through the reactor, its core combusted, immediately killing nearby workers and exposing others to deadly levels of radiation. In the nearby town of Prypiat, Ukraine, people woke up to respiratory distress and nausea. Emergency response workers encased the reactor in a concrete sarcophagus and, unprepared for exposure to radioactivity, became stricken with severe symptoms of radiation poisoning. Tens of thousands of Soviet citizens filed into Chernobyl to help, considering it their patriotic duty; all were exposed to dangerous levels of radiation with no warning from the government. It took two days for the explosion to be announced, in vague terms, on the national news; not until Sweden discovered a radiation cloud that had drifted across Europe was the true extent of the Chernobyl explosion revealed.