Yes, the Chernobyl incident was a tragedy. But because of this incident our nuclear facilities have triple safeties on each system. We have learned from our own mistakes and the mistakes of others. As for the waste, there is considerably much less waste from power generation than there is from making weapons. I have read that the waste from one year of operation of a nuclear power plant would barely fill a shoe box. But not sure if this is true, has anyone else heard or read that fact? We need to expand our nuclear power facilities, along with our solar and wind power plants. Then we can lessen our use of oil for power generation.

It really was a great pity and a testament to the inherent failure of the Soviet Union and Communism. China is now polluting Russia, isn't that the greatest irony whilst they cling to each other and Iran, all at least a half century behind. Thank God for America where greed and greatness is balanced by openness and lack of fear. Where technical innovation is controlled by the publicity of failure nd a Great Nation is the most Charitable in the World. This attempted cover up could never happen here and their arrogance was their downfall.

I am currently studing the Chernobyl disaster, I would like to get in touch with Gary Branson from San Francisco, Ca. He sent a message on Apr 27, 2006 12:23:45 PM.
Mr. Branson, could you tell me more about your experience?

Thank you.

Im from Ireland, where there is a widespread anti-nuclear feeling. This is not only due to the horrors of the Chernobyl aftermath, but due to the fact that a nuclear reactor/waste recycling plant run by B.N.F.L. known as Sellafield is a disaster waiting to happen. Like the people of Belarus, the people of Ireland may be the ones to suffer the vast majority of the radioactive fallout and consequently the devastating consequences of this fallout. Already due to illegal dumping of highly radioactive liquid by B.N.F.L. the Irish Sea is the most radioactive Sea in the world. Fact. This has resulted in birth defects in areas that border the sea in Ireland. The Irish Government has relentlessly fought for the closure of the plant, which is only 100 miles from Dublin. Yet B.N.F.L. has rejected any claims that the plant is unsafe, despite a major fire which released radioactivity in the 1960's, and another accident in more recent years which ultimately proves the high threat the plant poses to not only the Ireland but any country in Europe which would be unfortuate enough to be in direct line of prevailing winds which would carry the deadly toxic cloud like that of Chernobyl's. Chernobyl is a monument to the horriffic destruction of nuclear energy. The world is not ready to deal with the benifits of nuclear power, especially when it is as immature to make nuclear weapons. I send my deepest regrets to the millons of people affected by Chernobyl. I cannot begin to comprehend the utter despair of your daily lives because of an "experiment" which happened 20 years ago.

I was married, living in Frankfurt,West Germany with a 2 year old child when we heard the news of Chernobyl. It is frightening to have to survive on canned food, no fresh milk or produce & listen to daily radiation reports like we listen to pollen reports now.It was advised that we not go outside unless absolutely necessary, we had a set of clothes & overshoes outside in the hall that we changed into when we did go out. We bought bottled water at the American PX. For 12 years we were advised to monitor our health. Thankfully 20 years later, we are still alive & healthy. I hope our government protects us better than the citizens of Chernobyl.

I am a ukrainian although have lived in the States for the last 5 years. You can not even begin to endure the effects the radiation has brought upon the people of Ukraine. That includes but is not limited to birth defects, hear disorders, cancers. But the greatest problem with the Chernobyl disign in my opinion is that the nuclear plant has been built on the major river in the country that provides the majority of the water reservoirs to people of Ukraine. So it is obvious that if anything would have happened, the whole country would have become poisoned because Dnieper river is the major source for water supply. That is one of the many mistakes made by the Soviet Union engineers.

the problem here is that we have a government that is more concerned with making a buck and cow-towing to big business than it is caring about its people. the new designs for reactors are only minimally safer than they were 20 years ago. As one scientist put it...and I paraphrase, "Sure they're safer, now it's like driving through a school zone at 70MPH rather than 90MPH." IT IS POISON! The only reason we haven't converted to safer, greener methods of power, is because there's less money to be made.

The Chernobyl incident was a terrible tragedy that unfortunately was largely the result of carelessness, flawed design of the reactor casings, and political pressure from Cold War isolation. The incident signaled a paradigm shift and the end of the Soviet Union. To say that this could never happen in the U.S. is naive. Yes our equipment is far superior in design and our personnell are much better trained but the fact remains that mistakes do happen regardless of how far those precautinary measures are taken. There have been no major nuclear incidents in the U.S., or at least none that we know of, and hopefully it will stay that way. In terms of efficiency, nuclear propulsion in naval ships is extremely effective in providing superior power in comparison to diesel powered ships, and produces literally none of the exhaust that diesel engines produce since the turbines are powered solely by steam from vaporized water. They also provide an incredibly long life span if you consider a nuclear powered naval ship can go 20-30 years without ever needing to be refueled. There's no denying the incredible power and efficiency of nuclear fission, and unfortunately due to a few isolated catastropies and because of its dangerous lethality if mishandled, nuclear power is largely looked down upon by the general public. The truth is though, when handled properly and safely, nuclear power can do incredible things for us as a society and I believe is a necessary tool for carrying us into the future. Of course the downside of nuclear energy is waste. Well, how bout the Moon?

As someone who has spent much time in the Exclusion Zone and studied the accident for years I'd like to implore people to get the facts about Chernnobyl. There is far too much myth, misconcetion, misinformation, and politics involved concerning the accident. NBC did a pretty good job in it's reporting but there is much more to know. The world needs to remember Chernobyl because of the enormous suffering that continues and because of the system of government that caused it to happen. Ukrainians are a kind and gentle people whose culture I've developed a great affection for. They certainly didn't deserve what befell them.

I believe that the safeguards in place in our US nuclear reactors will for the most part keep us safe. As long as our failsafes and training are properly applied we shouldn't have to worry about another chernobyl happening. Another tidbit of information about the Chernobyl reactor. The Soviets used a much more volatile heavy metal for their reactors. The US uses a much safer hydrogen formula.

people are so cynical, the death toll ranges from 4000 for the lowball figure up 90000 or more , but because these people didnt immediately get killed theyre not considered by some folks as Chernobyl deaths. This accident has poisoned a large area for hundreds of years, and will negatively affect the lives of people for generations. This was a dark spot in human history and hopefully we can learn from it, but by the way that other countries are ignoring alternatives, we will not.

"All of the ships in the Navy" are not nuclear-powered, thank God! Some of the subs and aircraft carriers are, and their crews are far more rigorously screened and trained than civilian power plant operators. These reactors are a tiny fraction of the size of a nuclear power plant. Still, there are screw-ups, but we don't hear about them because it's "classified" information. The issue of most concern, though, is what to do with the waste. If the best we can do is make it into projectiles and trash the Geneva convention and all norms of civilized conduct by poisoning our enemies and allies alike, that's a pretty sorry state of affairs.

I don't buy into all the hype about Chernobyl. There were only 50 to 60 persons actually killed by this accident. Because of the hype, people are saying that there MIGHT be thousands of deaths in the future related to this event. Get real. This incident happened 20 years ago!

I believe that exagerated claims of great disasters are just the status quo for reporters these days. It sells newspapers. . . and we all know how that is good for the money hungry news business.

Not a day goes by that some news person is making claims of impending doom based on some so-called expert's opinion. Those kind of 'experts' are a dime a dozen.

Have a happy day!!

I'm glad the 'experts' don't control my life.

If nuclear power does become the thing of the future I truely think that a disaster is imminent. As with many things that face the U.S. we will be very careful and watchful at first, and then as time goes by we will become less vigilant and more careless.

It is very unfortunate that something could happen like this. All those people that tried to help that were killed or injured were the biggest heroes in this situation. I think that the day of the Chernobyl accident should be a day to remember.

I do not think a similar accident is possible in the USA. American nuclear reactors have a different design making them much more safe than old Soviet reactors. But, another problem should be addressed: The proper disposal of the nuclear waste.

I do not think a nuclear accident could occur in the U.S. Advances in nuclear energy technology & safety have minimized the risk. As long as the quality of construction of the facility, and training of the personel remains high the risks are marginal. Safety protocol can not be compromised, which is basically what happened to create the Chernobyl disaster.

Of course it can, it already has. Our government thinks we are naieve. We think they are greedy. We're probably both right.

WITH THE WAY THE COUNTRY IS BEING RAN TODAY, I DON'T THINK THAT ANYTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE THESE DAYS. I TELL YOU IT'S A REALLY SCARY THOUGHT AND TO THINK THAT THEY WOULD TRY TO COVER IT UP INSTEAD OF TAKING CARE OF THE PROBLEM. WOW MAKES YOU WONDER ABOUT OUR SO-CALLED GREAT COUNTRY.

No, I don not believe this could happen in the U.S.
There is a big difference in the way nuclear reactors are built in the U.S.Look at France, they have had nuclear reactors for years with no problems. Let's see what happened at Three Mile Island. When the final report was in, the result was if the people at
the controls had NOT interfered the failsafe devices
would have corrected the problem, so it was human error. Also, there were no explosions. There was only a small amount of radioactive hydrogen expelled
and it is so light that it went up into the atmosphere. Therefore, no danger to humans. In the
case of Chernobyl, it was a maintenance error that that caused the explosions.

Of course it could and probably will one day, why wouldnt it? We are not immune to what is going on in the rest of the world. We need to be aware and alert and ready for these things to happen. Keep the people whom it did happen fresh in our minds and hearts, They are just like us.

Of course there are inherent risks in producing nuclear energy, however, if the proper procedures are followed and the correct testing done the risk is minimal. Three Mile Island is not as big a deal as some people would like to make it and Chernobyl is clearly an isolated, albeit terrible situation. Thank goodness for the awesome bravery of those workers who would save their friends and colleauges. Nuclear energy is safe, remember, all of the ships in the navy are running on nuclear reactors right now.

D OYOU THINK THIS COULD HAPPEN IN THE US