A major accident at the #4 reactor of the Soviet Union’s Chernobyl nuclear power facility, near the border of Ukraine and Belarus, causes a significant release of radioactive material into the air. Much of the material has immediate consequences for the nearby city of Pripyat, but the effects are felt both elsewhere in the Soviet Union and in Europe. Worse still, the Soviet government tries to cover up the incident, until the mounting evidence of a major incident forces them to admit, two days after the fact, that a core meltdown occurred and that the resulting release of radioactive material has international reach and consequences. Some emergency workers die of massive radiation exposure, and an increase is seen in other illnesses, including cancer, in exposed human populations nearby. Over 100,000 people are evacuated from nearby areas. Premature deaths and genetic mutations are observed in nearby wildlife for years after the incident. The costs of mitigation and containment of the toxic reactor site will become a major factor in the collapse of the Soviet Union a few years later. The exclusion zone established around the facility may be a safe place for humans to live again for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years.
