Chernobyl Revisited (25 images)

Can't see it, can't smell it, can't taste it, can't talk about it. The Chernobyl exclusion zone splits towns and villages in half: half hospitable and living, half lethal and uninhabitable.

Time and space died in Ukraine and Belarus at 1:23 a.m., April 26, 1986. There is the history of Ukraine and Belarus 'before and after Chernobyl'.

"As other tragedies are vying for the world's attention, Chernobyl has been relegated to history. The images of Chernobyl are...
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Can't see it, can't smell it, can't taste it, can't talk about it. The Chernobyl exclusion zone splits towns and villages in half: half hospitable and living, half lethal and uninhabitable.

Time and space died in Ukraine and Belarus at 1:23 a.m., April 26, 1986. There is the history of Ukraine and Belarus 'before and after Chernobyl'.

"As other tragedies are vying for the world's attention, Chernobyl has been relegated to history. The images of Chernobyl are different than the deeply disturbing images of war where the immediacy of bombs and bullets are all too apparent. The war that has been waged by Chernobyl is a silent and invisible war, but nonetheless, deadly." Adi Roche, Founder of Ireland-based Chernobyl Children's Project.

World dictionaries define Chernobyl as the worst environmental catastrophe in the history of humanity. But what does the 'worst environmental catastrophe' actually mean in the everyday lives of the people of Ukraine and Belarus, cannot be explained by any dictionary.

The complexity of living with Chernobyl can only be understood empirically though breathing Chernobyl, eating Chernobyl, sleeping with Chernobyl, and most of all, through denying Chernobyl.

The stigma of 'Chernobyl victim' is profoundly prevalent. Personal medical and family problems are rarely discussed and are often hidden away in shame. Medical data is frequently unreliable and incomplete; governments and the nuclear industry repeatedly refuse to make links between medical consequences and radiation; contaminated food is being grown, consumed, and distributed nationally; people are falling ill.

An excruciating war waged by Chernobyl's 'atoms for peace gone wrong' has been emitting its long lasting poisonous legacy for almost 25 years, but will continue to do so for centuries into the future. According to the UN, 7 to 9 million people were affected. 4.5 million children and adults live on contaminated land. Over 400,000 people became environmental refugees.
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