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Chernobyl, Ukraine
Population:
Chernobyl itself
–
0, Surrounding Areas 600,000 and dropping
Worst Feature:
Radioactive
Fallout
Best Feature:
Save on
electric bills as your kids glow in the dark
On
April 26th 1986, the world’s worst nuclear disaster occurred at
the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, when 100 times the radiation released by
the A-bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was released into the
immediate area. Dozens died, over 100,000 were evacuated and to this day
there is a 19-mile uninhabitable zone around the area due to high levels of
Uranium, Plutonium, Radioactive Iodine, Cesium-137, Strontium, and other
radioactive heavy metals. More than 4000 cases of thyroid cancer and disease
have been reported in children in the last 5 years living in the surrounding
area, mainly due to contaminated milk.
As bad as the accident was, experts
say that Chernobyl still poses a threat, as most of the radiation was
contained inside by encasing the whole place in a concrete sarcophagus. But
guess what? That was only intended to be a temporary fix, and it is leaking.
Some say a disaster worse than the original is eminent.
On the plus side
however, now that the Ukraine Government has embraced the capitalist ideal
since the break up the Soviet Union it has seen how they could make a buck
off the sight. For a fee you can have your very own guided tour of the
facility along with special clothes, footwear, respiration masks, and
personal radiation meter.
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