Individual involvement in the Chernobyl disaster Individual involvement in the Chernobyl disaster The Chernobyl disaster, () "Chornobylʹsʹka katastrofa," was a nuclear accident that 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 following is the individual involvement in the accident. Most of the information here is based on Grigoriy Medvedev's work. In the night from 25 to 26 April, in the two power plant complexes, there were 160 people on duty, including technicians and maintenance personnel of the various departments. Three hundred more workers were present at the
Effects of the Chernobyl disaster and slowed in 2005. The large increase in incidence of thyroid cancer happened amongst individuals who were adolescents and young children living during the time of the accident, and residing in the most contaminated areas of Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine. High levels of radioactive iodine were released in the environment from the Chernobyl reactor after the accident, and accumulated in pastures which were eaten by cows. The milk was later consumed by children who already had an iodine deficient diet, therefore causing more of the radioactive iodine to be accumulated. Radioactive iodine has a short half-life, 8.02 days,