Tragedy Tourism

"It was late into a spring night, April 26, 1986, when an explosion ripped the roof off Chernobyl's fourth reactor, causing the building's walls to bend like rubber and hurling tons of radioactive waste into the air. The red light could be seen from miles away: some said afterwards it looked like it was coming straight from hell. No one, though, knew what it was they were looking at, as the authorities did not tell them: the only thing on the government's mind was how to cover up the fact that the whole of Europe would shortly be sitting under a radioactive cloud. So effective was the political strategy that even today the death toll is not known: casualty figures range from 40 (official Soviet figure) to over 15,000 (the UN estimate). " (The Guardian, Monday 18 October 2004)

For years, people have illegally visited the site, which is cordoned off due to high levels of radiation. Now, the Ukrainian government wants to turn Chernobyl, the site of the world's worst nuclear accident, into a tourism hotspot. Ukraine's Emergency Situations Ministry said on Monday it is working on a plan to open the area around the site. It says radiation levels in certain parts of the exclusion zone, were now returning to 'normal' levels. Visitors will be able to take in views of the nuclear plant, as well as towns and villages that were abandoned in the disaster's aftermath.

Find out more: http://www.earthweek.com/2010/ew101217/ew101217a.html