Page "History of Belarus" Paragraph 50

On April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl disaster occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine situated close to the border with Belarus.

It is regarded as the worst nuclear accident in the history of nuclear power.

It produced a plume of radioactive debris that drifted over parts of the western Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and Scandinavia.

Large areas of Belarus, Ukraine and Russia were contaminated, resulting in the evacuation and resettlement of roughly 200, 000 people.

About 60 % of the radioactive fallout landed in Belarus.

The effects of the Chernobyl accident in Belarus were dramatic: about 50, 000 km² ( or about a quarter of the territory of Belarus ) formerly populated by 2. 2 million people ( or a fifth of the Belarusian population ) now require permanent radioactive monitoring ( after receiving doses over 37 kBq / m² of caesium-137 ).

135, 000 persons were permanently resettled and many more were resettled temporarily.

After 10 years since the accident, the occurrences of thyroid cancer among children increased fifteenfold ( the sharp rise started in about four years after the accident ).