Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Russia

Russian Police Break Up Antinuclear Protest

Greenpeace activists being taken away from Red Square (ITAR-TASS)

April 26, 2006 -- Moscow police today broke up a protest arranged by the environmental group Greenpeace to mark the 20th anniversary of the nuclear disaster at Chornobyl (Chernobyl).

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April 26, 2006

Thirteen activists had chained themselves to railings outside St. Basil's Cathedral on Red Square to draw attention to plans by a number of countries to build a new generation of nuclear reactors.

Police also detained several journalists covering the protest.

(Ekho Moskvy, Interfax, Reuters)

Chornobyl Contamination Zones

Click on the map to enlarge.

THE DIRTY ZONE: Within a month of the April 26, 1986, Chornobyl explosion, Soviet authorities had evacuated almost 120,000 people from a zone within 30 kilometers of the plant. However, contamination by radioactive isotopes, particularly cesium-137, which has a half-life of 30 years, spread over a much wider area.
The map above shows the four areas of cesium-137 contamination across Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. The Closed Zone shows contamination more than 40 curies per square kilometer, the Control Zone includes the Permanent Control Zone (15-40 curies per square kilometer) and Periodic Control Zone (5-15 curies per square kilometer), and the Unnamed Zone shows contamination of 1-15 curies per square kilometer.

Click on the icon to view the slideshow

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