United Nations (UN)’s International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day is annually observed across the globe on April 26 to mark the anniversary of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster.
- 26th April 2023 marks the 37th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor disaster, which took place on 26th April 1986.
Aim: The day aims to raise awareness of the long-term consequences of the Chernobyl disaster.
Background:
i. The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted the resolution A/RES/71/125 on 8th December 2016 and proclaimed April 26 of every year as an International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day.
ii. The 1st ever International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day was observed on 26th April 2017.
The 1986 Chernobyl accident:
i. On 26 April 1986, the Chernobyl disaster, a nuclear accident, occurred at the No.4 reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Pripyat, the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (Ukrainian SSR) in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union.
ii. It is one of only 2 nuclear energy accidents graded at 7(the maximum severity) on the International Nuclear Event Scale; the other one was the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan in 2011.
- It is known as the worst civil nuclear incident in history.
The Legacy of Chernobyl:
i. In 1986, a nuclear power plant explosion at Chernobyl caused a radioactive cloud to cover large parts of the Soviet Union, now the territories of Belarus, Ukraine, and the Russian Federation.
ii. As a result of the Chernobyl explosion’s radioactive cloud spreading across 3 countries, nearly 8.4 million individuals were exposed to radiation.
iii. The Chernobyl disaster also impacted the health of the millions of individuals exposed to the radiation that the nuclear power plant transmitted.
- It has been shown that children affected by the radioactive iodine were more likely to develop thyroid cancer and the consumption of radioactive food increased this probability.
UN’s Effort on Chernobyl Disaster:
i. In 1990, the UNGA adopted resolution 45/190, calling for “international Cooperation to address and mitigate the consequences at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant”.
- It was the start of the UN’s involvement in the Chernobyl recovery.
ii. More than 230 distinct research and support projects in the areas of health, nuclear safety, rehabilitation, environment, production of clean foods, and information have been launched since 1986 by the UN family of organisations and major Non-government Organizations (NGOs).
About the United Nations:
Secretary-General- António Guterres
Headquarters- New York, USA
Establishment- 1945
