Chernobyl liquidators: 25 years after


  • Photographer
    Petr Toman
  • Prize
    Honorable Mention
  • Date of Photograph
    25/4/2011
  • Technical Info
    5D II
Story

Over the 10 years of clean-up works, 600 – 800 thousand clean-up workers of all kinds of professions from across the former Soviet Union were involved in liquidating the aftermath of explosion of Reactor 4 of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Although it occurred 26 years ago, the event is still considered the largest technological disaster marking the history of our world.
Thousands of people who took part in the clean-up decontamination works have been left in wheelchairs, driven to suicide, started down the path of alcoholism and very often hit the economic rock bottom, since the average liquidator retirement age was 33. The disaster had an incredible psychological impact on its victims. Estimates claim that 90 % of former liquidators suffer from psychological problems, depressions, all kinds of phobias that leave them marginalized instead of being able to live a rich full life. Even 26 years after the disaster the people still remain bitter and distrustful based on the feelings of underappreciation and deception on part of the governments that failed to live up to their promises of compensation, medical care, medication supply and convalescent homes.
The liquidators retain the feeling that they have given up their health and lives for the good of the society that has turned its back on them. Rarely did they turn 30 before going on clean-up works in the most heavily contaminated areas in the whole world, wearing only surgical masks and a military uniform for “protection”. All they received were empty promises. Most are not even familiar with the true level of radiation they had been exposed to, due to common manipulation with radiation readings on part of the bureaucratic authorities.
The clean-up workers have been through an utter ordeal. For some even several weeks spent in the Zone were enough to leave their health badly damaged for the rest of their lives. Diseases, nightmares and a stain of a former clean-up worker mark their lives without any chance for future improvement.
The current government only kicks up their frustration as it makes subtle attempts to take from them even the few remaining benefits that they would like to hold on to. But they should not be forgotten. If it wasn’t for them, we all would be dealing with Chernobyl after-effects now.

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