Chernobyl

Twenty years ago today while I was sweating upcoming final exams in school, the unit 4 reactor at the Chernobyl power plant exploded. A massive steam explosion destroyed the "Upper Biological Shield" (a large concrete lid) atop the reactor, the reactor fuel melted, and hole was blown in the containment building. This catastrophic failure spewed hundreds of tons of radioactive fallout across Belarus and surrounding regions. Hundreds of people died in the days that followed, and ultimately, the death toll will be far greater.

The total deaths due to this disaster will probably never be known, but will likely be in the hundreds of thousands. Even worse are the generation of children in the region that were born after the accident: thousands of children were born with a terrifying array of physical and mental defects. Many will never see life outside of an institution.

Slate has a haunting audiovisual exhibit from photographer Paul Fusco. PixelPress has Nuclear Nightmares by Robert Knoth. Be careful: many of these images will haunt your thoughts for a very long time.

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