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Child care center, "village behind the forest," abandoned April 1986 following explosion of nearby nuclear reactor, Chernobyl, Ukraine...
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Child care center, "village behind the forest," abandoned April 1986 following explosion of nearby nuclear reactor, Chernobyl, Ukraine
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AmandaJayne
June 28, 2017
Awww thats so sad wish I read before awarding should of been super composition Larry .
larrywelch
July 28, 2017
Thanks Amanda. My one day tour at Chernobyl was an eye opener for me, it was an extremely sad, haunting place. It was an important learning experience to see a world headline first hand.
larrywelch
July 29, 2017
Yes, indeed, a sad situation that affected millions of people in Soviet Union at the time!
naturisk
July 24, 2017
What a terrifying image, and testimonial. You see so many art shots of Chernobyl, but never a follow up of what has happened to the people.
larrywelch
August 08, 2017
Dear Susan: Thanks for commenting. My visit to Chernobyl was spooky. I was on a tour with 8 others, we passed through tight security with a knowledgeable guide to learn history of the event. If you are on Facebook, I have many more photographs from the exclusion zone, address is Facebook.com/Larry.Welch.100. The Soviets practices lies and deceit. People living in nearly 100 villages in the area of the explosion were told they would evacuate for a few weeks, but the truth is they never returned. The largest city was 50,000 people. About 850,000 people did the risky work of cleaning up the fallout and containing the damage. The costs have been about $245 billion, about 30 people lost their lives in the immediate aftermath and 7,000 more from thyroid disease. More have been affected, there have been birth defects, but not counted. This incident led to a greater openness in Soviet Union and the ultimate break-up of the Soviet Union five years later.
larrywelch
August 10, 2017
Dear Sandor: Thanks for your uplifting message. I felt lucky to see the site of such a horrific nuclear disaster. It's one thing to read about it, but seeing it for yourself makes a huge difference in understanding the impact. Wishing you the best day! :) :)
llowzz
August 06, 2017
An extremely emotive image Larry.I can't help but wonder about the small owner .
larrywelch
August 13, 2017
Dear Brian: Hopefully, the worst that happened was a little girl lost a good pair of shoes. Considering the high population, there were relatively few direct casualties. I think 30 people who were fighting the nuclear explosion were killed in the first few weeks, later there was an estimate of 7,000 people who died of thyroid cancer attributed to fallout. People near the blast were evacuated in 48 hours, most radiation fallout was blown in an opposite direction of the nearby higher populations. Of interest, the wind blew over Belarus, leaving a trail of radition that poisoned 23% of their landmass, I am not sure that they can even use that land today. It is a sad story!
alessandraferrari
September 11, 2017
And you are right...For some years I volunteered in an organization that brings children from Belarus to Italy : they spend 2 months in our coutry eating fresh food and vegetables, going to seaside and having activities outdoor, with their group and their teachers, or with the guest family . It happens all over Italy, as the associations are widely scattered, and it has the purpose of helping their immune system . They are condamned to eat produce with a high radioactivity, and their thyroid glands are compromised by it. Fresh food products imported by other countries to Belarus, therefore safe ,are too expensive even for people working middle class jobs...I became a good friend of a translator working in Minsk Uni : she could buy one "safe" apple or peach only once a month,at salary day . The girl I had as a guest for 3 years had thyroid problems, but the break in radioactivity intake helped keep them in check. She is now in good health and married recently.
larrywelch
October 10, 2017
Dear Alessandra: Thank you for telling me about this volunteer program in italy. it is an amazing story of caring and compassion, I am proud of you to be a part of such an excellent humanitarian effort. I want to tell my friends about the generous Italian people!
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