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Portraits of the liquidators | |
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After 26th April 1986, the liquidators, both men and women tried to control the fire at the nuclear power station at Chernobyl and to limit its consequences. The fireman at the power station, and then from the surrounding area were the first to take action. Many soldiers were sent to the power station. Soldiers on leave and reservists were mobilized.
All these men and women worked in extreme conditions, with levels of radioactivity beyond anything previously encountered. The levels were so high that the robots that were sent in broke down after a few minutes. It is estimated that between 600,000 and 800,000 people worked at the power station and in the surrounding area, more men than in Napoleons Grande Armee during his campaign in Russia. Today, many of these people are dead. The exact number is unknown because the Soviet authorities sent them back to the provinces with only a certificate as recognition for their work. There was no medical or social follow up, then or now, although some of them receive a pension. The official records, which are incomplete and often give false information about the radiation doses received, cannot be consulted. The only figures available to us are those provided by WHO under the control of the IAEA, claiming about 50 deaths and 4000 cases of thyroid cancer in children. This collection of portraits presents 260 portraits of liquidators who have died!!! To find out the name of each liquidator, click on his photograph.
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