Deaths due to the Chernobyl disaster 800 roentgens, twice the normal 50% probability of death dose. The following list is of those directly killed by the explosion and initial radioactivity release, or in the support efforts that followed. Deaths due to the Chernobyl disaster The Chernobyl disaster (, "Chornobylʹsʹka katastrofa", "Chernobyl accident") was considered as one of the worst nuclear disasters in history. It occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, then part of the Soviet Union, now in Ukraine. The scientific consensus on the effects of the disaster has been developed by the United Nations
Effects of the Chernobyl disaster presently 10 to 100 times higher than normal background radiation. Although radiation levels were significantly higher soon after the accident, they have fallen because of radioactive decay. Møller and Tim Mousseau have published the results of the largest census of animal life in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. It said, contrary to the Chernobyl Forum's 2005 report, that the biodiversity of insects, birds and mammals is declining. Møller and Mousseau have been criticized strongly by Sergey Gaschak, a Ukrainian biologist who did field work for the pair beginning in 2003. He regards their conclusions to be the result of a biased