Thirty years ago the world witnessed one of the worst disasters in the history of the mankind. The scale of the Chernobyl disaster is well known around the world. As a result of the explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant about 3% to 7% of radionuclides were thrown to the environment. The Chernobyl disaster, that occurred on April 26, 1986, led to the loss of human lives, contamination of territories, huge number of displaced persons and loss of livelihood.

Works aimed at elimination of the consequences of the Chernobyl accident was carried out under the supervision of the Governmental Commission, which started to operate in Chernobyl in the second half of the day on April 26 and continued to work until 1991. The Commission has decided to create a 30-km exclusion zone around the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. On April 27, 1986, the Government of Ukraine initiated evacuation of residents of the towns of Pripyat and Chernobyl, district centers and villages in the 30 km zone (about 100 thousand people).

The accident contaminated more than 145 thousand square kilometres of territory of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. Chernobyl disaster affected over 8.5 million people with radioactive nuclides; around 5000 settlements in those countries were infected. Except of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia the Chernobyl disaster has impacted Sweden, Norway, Poland, Britain and other countries.

The leadership of the former Soviet Union rejected international cooperation during the works to diminish the disaster’s consequences of the nuclear disaster. Hiding of the true information about the Chernobyl disaster has led to the emergence and spreading of rumours on the consequences of the disaster. This, in turn, led to the huge social and psychological stress among people and distrust to the official information. Only in 1989 the Soviet government referred to the IAEA asking for an expert evaluation of the accident at Chernobyl.

The proclamation of Ukraine as an independent state led to positive changes in the scheme of international cooperation in mitigating the effects of the Chernobyl disaster. The resources needed to overcome the consequences of technological disaster of such magnitude, went far beyond economic and technological capabilities of one country and required unified efforts of the international community.

The core burden of the Chernobyl disaster lay on the Ukrainian people. Even nowadays, 30 years after the tragedy millions of citizens affected by the impact of radioactive contamination. The cases of cancer and deaths from cancer and leukaemia between persons related to the accident increased for 15%.

According to the estimations of Ukrainian experts, total economic losses of Ukraine until 2015 is about 179 billion dollars. The burden of the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster served as a major factor retarding economic development of our young independent state. The dimensions of socio-economic losses of Ukraine do not correspond to real economic opportunities of the country to face the consequences of the catastrophe in the coming decades. Therefore Ukraine needs further assistance of the professionals, researchers and the international community. Moreover, the burden related to the liquidation of the Chernobyl disaster, for many years will have a significant negative impact on the economy of the country.

In September 2007, Ukraine approved the construction of a protective sarcophagus over the reactor in place of the existing shelter, which is on the verge of collapse. The project foresees the construction of a solid steel structure in the form of arch. The tender for the construction of the New Safe Confinement won the French company “Novarka”.

Converting of Chernobyl zone into an ecologically safe system is one of the largest projects implemented in Ukraine. Today, 30 years after the world largest nuclear accident, the closed 30-km Chernobyl zone turned into a kind of biosphere and now looks less like a disaster area and more like natural reserve, where the population of wild animals is growing. We hope that after completion of the New Safe Confinement and complete preservation of Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, the negative impact of radioactive emissions will stop to harm the human and animals.

The disaster had significant political influence and changed approach to the use of nuclear energy. International standards and rules of radiation protection, national strategies of nuclear energy development, radioactive waste management were revised in order to enhance nuclear safety.

The Chernobyl disaster became a lesson for the humanity and forced everyone to reassess the reliability of the safety requirements for nuclear power facilities. Analysis of the causes and consequences of the catastrophe is of paramount importance in the context of the growing demand for energy resources. Free exchange of experience and scientific researches, dissemination of technologies for nuclear safety should become the main principle of multilateral cooperation in this sphere.

Ukraine adheres to the principles of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation policy, indicating the understanding of the need to further develop nuclear energy only for peaceful purposes and in accordance to criteria of strict security. All 25 years of independence, Ukraine was a firm supporter of global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. A clear sign of this position is a historic decision of Ukraine to get rid of nuclear weapons. In addition, Ukraine has fulfilled the commitments made at the Washington Summit on nuclear security to remove highly enriched uranium from its territory.

The results of the combined efforts have shown the ability of international community to deal with challenges and solve common problems. As the world once united to overcome the common threat - the consequences of the Chernobyl tragedy, now the whole world is supporting Ukraine in its fight against the aggressor. However, unlike the invisible threat of radiation Chernobyl, the Russian aggression against Ukraine is a clear and internationally recognized.

On this day we pay tribute to those who sacrificed their lives to save their contemporaries and succeeding generations from the scourges of Chernobyl.

 

Video:

30 years after the Chornobyl disaster: Split into atoms https://youtu.be/DegLtyowUMI

Chernobyl Tragedy in 485 hours http://chornobyl30years.1plus1.ua/

Ukraine Today Channel presents a special project to remind the international community of the worst nuclear disaster in the world http://uatoday.tv/society/chornobyl-thirty-years-later-637646.html

 

Embassy of Ukraine to the Republic of Cyprus