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Helicopters Fly Over Chernobyl Shortly After the Disaster
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/helicopter-over-chernobyl.jpgAs fires burned inside the stricken reactor in the days following the accident, firefighters and other first responders—known as liquidators—converged on the scene to contain the crisis. Using helicopters, they extinguished the blaze by May 10. (Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
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Reactor 4’s Concrete Sarcophagus in July 2003
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/sarcophagus-over-reactor-4.jpgBy December 1986, liquidators had completed construction of a concrete shell over reactor 4, where the explosion had occurred. This hastily built “sarcophagus” has begun to show wear and tear, and a new confinement structure is expected to be in place by 2013. (Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
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Monument for the Lost Firemen of Chernobyl in February 2011
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/firemens-monument.jpgMany of Chernobyl’s liquidators—firemen who extinguished the fire, workers who built the sarcophagus and others—died of radiation sickness within weeks or months of their exposure to the site’s high levels of radiation. (Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
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Boundary of the Exclusion Zone in March 2011
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/stop-and-danger-signs.jpgResidents of Pripyat and other surrounding towns—an estimated 150,000 people—were not evacuated until 36 hours after the explosion. In the days that followed, Soviet officials set up an exclusion zone with a radius of 30 kilometers (19 miles) covering parts of Ukraine and Belarus. The area is still considered unfit for human habitation. (Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
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Aerial View of Pripyat in June 2006
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/aerial-views-of-prypyat.jpgPrior to the disaster, many of Chernobyl’s workers and their families lived in the town of Pripyat, established in 1970 and once home to 45,000 people. It is located just 1 mile away from the plant. (Credit: Getty Images)
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An Abandoned Kindergarten in Pripyat in February 2006
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/prypyat-kindergarten.jpgBecause the people of Pripyat and other communities were told that their evacuation was temporary, most residents left their belongings behind. (Credit: Getty Images)
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Abandoned Ferris Wheel in Pripyat in June 2006
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/prypyat-ferris-wheel.jpgAs a result, these ghost towns are eerily frozen in time. (Credit: Getty Images)
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The Last Remaining Villagers of Tulgovichi, Belarus, in April 2006
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/villagers-of-tulgovichi.jpgDespite the evacuation order, some residents refused to leave their homes or eventually returned to the exclusion zone. Several hundred of these predominantly elderly people, known as “samosely” (squatters), remain scattered in villages across the zone. (Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
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Ukraine Emergencies Ministry Distributes Flour to the Samosely of Ilyintsy in December 2005
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/ilyintsy-villagers.jpgMany of the samosely live in poverty and rely on humanitarian aid for survival. They typically deny or claim not to worry about the potentially harmful effects of living within the exclusion zone. (Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
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Contaminated Mushrooms from the Exclusion Zone in June 2006
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/chernobyl-mushrooms.jpgThough flora and fauna in the exclusion zone are plentiful, it is unlikely that agriculture can return to the area for many years. Wild mushrooms that grow there, for example, are still heavily contaminated more than two decades after the disaster. (Credit: Getty Images)
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Wild Horses Grazing Near Pripyat in February 2006
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/wild-horses-near-prypyat.jpgAnimals have proliferated in the exclusion zone, particularly deer, beavers, hawks, eagles, wild horses and several rare species. Mutations in both plants and animals occurred after the meltdown, but scientists are still investigating the increased radiation’s lasting effects on the area’s wildlife. (Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
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The Gulf of Pripyat in June 2004
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/gulf-of-prypyat.jpgThe Chernobyl plant is located on the west bank of the Pripyat River, a major tributary of the Dniepr River. Shortly after the accident, workers built dikes and dams to isolate the radiation contamination. Scientists are still concerned about the transfer of radionuclides into the Pripyat and Dniepr Rivers, which provide much of Ukraine’s drinking water. (Credit: Getty Images)
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Abandoned Port of Chernobyl in June 2000
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/abandoned-port-of-chernobyl.jpgChernobyl was also home to an active port in the years before the meltdown. Many contaminated boats and barges still lie rusting in its waters, which have been off-limits since the disaster. (Credit: Getty Images)
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Belarussians Demonstrate in Minsk to Raise Awareness of Chernobyl’s Consequences in September 1989
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/belarussians-protest.jpgBelarus, which borders the plant, received 70 percent of the fallout from the disaster and has suffered from its lasting effects more than any other country. Much of the country’s agricultural land was contaminated, and thousands of its residents continue to suffer from thyroid cancer, birth defects and other radiation-related health problems. It is believed that the Soviet government’s failure to announce the meltdown and evacuate local communities swiftly resulted in high rates of exposure. (Credit: Getty Images)
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The Children's Oncology Center in Minsk, Belarus, in March 2006
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/childrens-oncology-center-in-minsk.jpgIn the opening days of the crisis, 32 people died at Chernobyl and dozens more suffered radiation burns. The full human toll from the calamity is still being tallied, but experts believe that thousands of people died and as many as 70,000 suffered severe poisoning. Children whose parents were exposed have an elevated risk of developing certain cancers and diseases, and cities such as Minsk have opened special hospitals for their treatment. (Credit: Getty Images)
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Memorial for Chernobyl Victims in Ukraine in April 2010
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/memorial-in-slavutich.jpgNumerous memorials commemorating the victims of Chernobyl have been built, particularly in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. (Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
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Surviving Liquidators Pay Homage to Their Fallen Peers in December 2010
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/surviving-liquidators.jpgIn Ukraine, December 14 is Chernobyl Liquidators Memory Day, a time for remembering the emergency workers who died or fell ill after helping to contain the nuclear catastrophe. (Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
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The Two Buttons Used to Shut Down Reactor Unit 3 in 2000
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/buttons-that-shut-down-reactor-3.jpgChernobyl was kept partially running until December 15, 2000, when its last functioning reactor was shut down. Since then, all work on the site has been aimed at decommissioning the plant. (Credit: Getty Images)
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Chernobyl Workers Measure Their Radiation Levels in April 2006
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/workers-measure-their-radiation.jpgSeveral thousand people are still employed at the Chernobyl plant for radioactive waste management, decontamination and other activities. They work in shifts to minimize their exposure. (Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
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Tourist Takes Photo As Guide Holds Geiger Counter Showing Radiation Levels 37 Times Higher Than Normal in September 2010
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/geiger-counter-and-tourist.jpgAlthough business activities and permanent residence are prohibited in the exclusion zone, tourists, former inhabitants and other groups may gain special permission to visit certain sites. Ukraine has recently begun promoting tourism there. (Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
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A “Chernobyl Day” Demonstration in France in April 2010
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/chernobyl-day-demonstration.jpgEach year, anti-nuclear activists commemorate the anniversary of the Chernobyl accident with demonstrations and protests around the world. Many groups stage mass “die-ins” in which participants lie on the ground to represent the human toll of the disaster. (Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
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Belarussian Workers Plant Trees on Contaminated Land in April 2011
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/planting-trees.jpgEcologically friendly measures are currently being taken to promote the recovery and decontamination of the exclusion zone, including planting trees around the Chernobyl site to prevent the wind from blowing radionuclides into surrounding areas. (Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
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