Health Risk: Exposure to Radiation

Impacts on Health, for Those Exposed to Radiation - April 1986:

In April 1986 one of the nuclear reactors at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the USSR exploded.

The accident released at least 100 times the radiation of the atom bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
In Moscow, the Soviet government was slow to admit to the accident and only confirmed that there had been a leak two days after one of the reactors exploded.
Tens of thousands of people in the area surrounding the power plant were exposed to the radiation and evacuated to other towns. Most of those never returned to their homes, causing much dislocation to many USSR citizens.


The reactor overheated and built-up pressure,
 until its structure failed, causing it to explode