International Chernobyl Remembrance Day is observed on 26 April every year to mark the nuclear accident that occurred in Chernobyl, Ukraine, in 1986. The catastrophe at Chernobyl is considered to be the biggest nuclear accident in the world. Hence, the United Nations decided to mark the International Chernobyl Remembrance Day to highlight the impact of the tragic incident.

The explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant led to a radioactive cloud over large parts of the former Soviet Union, now the territories of Belarus, Ukraine and Russia. It exposed around 8.4 million people in the three countries to radiation.

However, the Soviet government asked for international assistance only in 1990. Following the request, the United Nations introduced resolution 45/190 which called for international cooperation to address and mitigate the consequences of the Chernobyl incident.

In 2002, the United Nations announced a shift in the Chernobyl strategy to a long-term developmental approach.

On 8 December 2016, the United Nations General Assembly embraced a new resolution and declared 26 April as International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day to provide support to the communities and territories which are still suffering from the “persistent serious long-term consequences” of the disaster.

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Some facts about the Chernobyl Disaster:

1. 1. According to the World Nuclear Association, the Chernobyl disaster caused the “largest uncontrolled radioactive release into the environment ever recorded for any civilian operation.” Massive quantities of radioactive substances were released into the air for about 10 days after the accident.
2. 2. According to official figures, almost 404,000 people were resettled.
3. 3. A total of 31 people died due to the incident. However, a UN report in 2005 stated that about 4,000 more people could eventually die due to exposure to radiation from the power plant.
4. 4. Over 45 nations raised a fund of $2.2 billion to complete a safe confinement shelter in the affected zone in 2019.
5. 5. In 2019, HBO released an award-winning series named Chernobyl about the disaster and its impact.

Source: First Post