Ukraine remembers Chernobyl

Ukraine has marked the 27th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster with thousands attending a ceremony in Slavutych. The 1986 accident released a lethal radioactive cloud, which contaminated swathes of Ukraine, Belarus and further afield. According to official figures 4,000 people have died as a result. Svitlana Sekeda, a meteorologist who worked at the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant, issued a warning against the continued use of nuclear power. She said: “People have to remember what unwarranted confidence in nuclear power means. It is not only peaceful, remember Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Chernobyl, Fukushima.” The Chernobyl disaster is considered, along with Fukushima, as the worst nuclear power plant accident in history.