Background - 20 March, 2006
The main contaminated territories lie in the north of Ukraine, the south and east of Belarus and in the western border area between Russia and Belarus. The radioactive cloud spread across large parts of Europe contaminating ares where ever it rained.
Abandoned farms near a small town only a few kilometres away from the heavily contaminated closed zone (Zone-1) around Chernobyl. Residents have been advised to leave the area but most cannot afford to move. Because the ground is too contaminated to grow food, those who stay get US$0.25 cents per month to buy clean food.
International estimates suggest that a total of between 125 000
and 146000 km2 in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine are contaminated
withradioactive cesium-137 at levels exceeding the maximum allowed
level ofcaesium where restrictions do not apply. This is an area
greater thanthat of the neighbouring countries of Latvia and
Lithuania combined. Atthe time of the accident, about 7 million
people lived in thecontaminated territories, including 3 million
children. About 350 000people were resettled or left these areas.
However, about 5.5 millionpeople, including more than a million
children, continue to live in thecontaminated zones.
Most of the contaminated territory lies in Belarus, since up to
70 percent of the total fallout was deposited here. Of the total
area ofBelarus, 22 per cent was contaminated with high levels of
caesium-137.At the time of the accident, 2.2 million people lived
in these areas,one fifth of the population of Belarus. Just over 7
percent ofUkraine's territory was contaminated following the
accident, and 0.6percent of the Russian Federation.
Because of variable weather conditions in the days following
theaccident, radiation also spread over large parts of Scandinavia,
Polandand the Baltic States, as well as southern Germany,
Switzerland,northern France and Britain.
Several days after the explosion a blanket of poisonous caesium
fellover England, Wales and the south and west of Scotland. As a
resultrestrictions were imposed on about 10,000 sheep farms that
were unableto sell their sheep, costing the British taxpayer an
estimated £13million in compensation.
Twenty years after the accident, 200 000 sheep on 375 British
farmsstill have to be monitored with radiation detectors before
being soldfor human consumption. Farmers were initially told
restrictions wouldlast about 30 days after the accident. Twenty
years later no one knowswhen the restriction will actually be
lifted.