April 26 1986, marks the 28th. anniversary of what was probably the world's
worst man made disasters, to date, namely
Chernobyl, we are still
measuring
Fukushima. Though that babbling brook of bullshit the
mainstream media, has long since dropped it as a subject worth
reporting, the disaster lingers on. Neighbouring towns and cities
within a 30km exclusion zone were abandoned, and residents have still
not been allowed to return. Within 36 hours approximately 50,000
residents were evacuated. Most scientist agree that it will not be
safe to inhabit for thousands of years. Radiation from the explosion
contaminated soil, water and solid matter, across large swaths of
Europe and Western USSR. Deaths from cancers etc. are put in the
100's of thousands and we are still counting.
Although the disaster was at
Chernobyl,
the workers lived in a nearby town specially built for them called
Pripyat. A once new town with grand buildings, schools and shops, it
is now an eerie ghost town hardly recognisable as nature slowly takes
over. The town's concrete square is now broken with trees and shrubs
pushing up and slowly turning it to rubble. Once fine buildings stand
with trees and other vegetation sprouting from balconies, floors and
window frames. The surrounding forest is slowly taking back the town.
Standing as a symbol of the disaster is the towns new amusement park,
with its giant yellow ferris wheel, meant to open for May Day 1986,
was used for a couple of hours to amuse the residents on the 27
April, before they were ordered to evacuate.It now stands trees, shrubs and other vegetation, slowly but surely strangling it, as nature wants its territory back.
Capitalism being what it is, can't
miss an opportunity to make a buck, so there are tour companies that
will arrange guided tours around this eerie ghost town. Though it is
illegal to take items in or out of Pripyat for fear of spreading the
radioactive contamination. The town's inhabitants are now wild boar,
wolves and stray dogs, of course there will be the usual smaller
life, rabbits etc. though I doubt if any of it is worth hunting. A
handful of individuals have returned to their contaminated towns and
villages and live there without official permission, they are known
as “self-settlers”.
This is a large slice of the planet
that we probably can never use again, and with the ongoing saga of
Fukushima, spilling into the ocean, it looks like we are about to
repeat the disaster on a larger scale, on both land and sea. This is
contamination on a permanent scale, a poisoned heritage for our
grandchildren, yet the babbling brook of bullshit, spews out
information of football managers losing their job, privileged
parasites prancing about with their kid, and the latest scandal from
some soap. We should remember, Spaceship Earth has no escape capsule.
Born of human error, continually generating copious heat, the
Elephant’s Foot is still melting into the base of the Chernobyl
nuclear power plant. If it hits ground water, it could trigger
another catastrophic explosion or leach radioactive material into the
water nearby residents drink. Long after bleeding from the core, this
unique piece of waste continues to be a testament to the potential
dangers of nuclear power. The Elephant’s Foot will be there for
centuries, sitting in the dark basement of a concrete and steel
sarcophagus, a symbol of one of humankind’s most powerful tools
gone awry.
Read the full article HERE:
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