NH #201: Chernobyl Anniversary Special

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This week, we commemorate the 29th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine with a Nuclear Hotseat Special.  You’ll hear from:

  • Chernobyl survivor Bonnie Kouneva, a teenager in Bulgaria when the accident began, on the impact to her and her not-yet-born children;
First picture taken of Chernobyl only 14 hours after the explosion and fire of April 26, 1986. The fogging is caused by the radiation, measured at over 1,500 rems.
First picture taken of Chernobyl only 14 hours after the explosion and fire of April 26, 1986. The fogging is caused by the radiation, measured at over 1,500 rems.
  • Dr. Janette Sherman, well known for her work with statistician Joseph Mangano on analyses of data after Fukushima that indicate a spike in US infant mortality and hypothyroidism.  She also edited the English edition of Dr. Alexey Yablokov’s groundbreaking book, Chernobyl: Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment;
  • A brief interview w/Dr. Alexey Yablokov from Dr. Helen Caldicott’s 2013 Symposium on the Medical and Ecological Impact of the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster;
The new sarcophagus, intended to encase the radioactive remains of Chernobyl for another 100 years, remains unfinished and $625 million (US) short on funds, caught between Russia and Ukraine in the recent political tensions and fighting.
The new sarcophagus, intended to encase the radioactive remains of Chernobyl for another 100 years, remains unfinished and $625 million (US) short on funds, caught between Russia and Ukraine in the recent political tensions and fighting.
  • Voices from Japan makes the Chernobyl/Fukushima connection personal with a message from Ryuichi Hirokawa, a Japanese journalist who was the first non-Soviet photo journalist allowed at Chernobyl and began working at Fukushima the day after the disaster began.  He currently works with children and families through the Incorporated NPO Okinawa Kumi No Sato.