I passed this on to a forum my husband goes to and it started a big debate to how many actually died from this catastrophe and how the official soviet numbers were 31. However, this is only from the immediate effects (mostly firefighters). 10 years after the meltdown, an estimated 90,000 people who were in the area had died of cancer. The whole issue of the radioactive TV's apparently was a very large problem and spread a large amount of radiation into Kiev. It was an amazing travel log and the ensuing debate made me research it even more.
I tried to find studies on what the radiation is doing to the flourishing wildlife in the area. I wonder if they are tagging and monitoring these animals as a way to understand long term effects of living in radiation. I find it interesting that wildlife can still flourish there.
I don't even have any words to describe how I feel right now!
