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Back to To the Point

To the Point

Chernobyl 25 Years Later: Lessons for Fukushima

Twenty-five years ago today, reactor number 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in what's now Ukraine melted down. Some 600,000 workers were exposed to massive amounts of radiation and the radioactive plume caused sickness and death elsewhere in the northern hemisphere.

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By Warren Olney • May 12, 2014 • 1 min read

Twenty-five years ago today, reactor number 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in what's now Ukraine melted down. Some 600,000 workers were exposed to massive amounts of radiation and the radioactive plume caused sickness and death elsewhere in the northern hemisphere. In the months after the disaster, a massive sarcophagus was built over the power plant. But the core is still molten, the sarcophagus is starting to crumble and there's concern that its collapse could release another radioactive cloud. Eben Harrell is a writer and reporter in the London bureau of Time magazine.

  • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

    Warren Olney

    former KCRW broadcaster

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    Christian Bordal

    Managing Producer, Greater LA

  • KCRW placeholder

    Karen Radziner

    Managing Producer, To the Point & Which Way LA?

  • KCRW placeholder

    Eben Harrell

    Harvard University

    NewsNationalPolitics
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