40th Anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
The Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk. 40 years ago this weekend, the Ukrainian city of Chernobyl entered our collective memory for all the wrong reasons. Here is how the BBC Newsnight programme reported the news.
But first, that explosion at a nuclear plant in the Soviet Union. What caused it and how many people did it hurt? Scanty information has come so far from the Soviets, but here's Peter Snow to help fill out the gaps. It does now seem likely that sometime in the last couple of days there's been perhaps the worst accident in the short history of the world's nuclear power industry. The Russians may have been hoping they could contain it without having to release the news, as they appear to have tried to do so in an earlier accident in the Urals 19 years ago.
What happened during the Chernobyl disaster?
But the fact that they've had to reveal it and admit that there are casualties suggests they're deeply worried about the scale of it. Well, it was just four hours ago when Soviet viewers were watching their evening news bulletin and the announcer revealed that the accident had taken place. The official news agency TASS later added that aid was being given to those affected. The accident was at Chernobyl, a town of around 50,000 people, about 50 miles due north of Kiev in Ukraine, and around 300 miles southwest of Moscow. The city of Kiev alone has a population of some one and a half million people. There is no news tonight of any evacuation, although TASS did say that measures were being taken, and I quote, to eliminate the consequences of the accident.
And that report back in the day, 40 years ago from BBC Newsnight. Well, that accident ruined lives when it happened and continued its destruction in the days, the months and the years that followed. However, there was one beacon of hope. A young Irish woman was determined that the children suffering from the devastating consequences of radiation would be given a chance to live a life as normal as possible, even for five or six weeks a year. The Chernobyl Children's International Charity was created and summers in Ireland became a welcome respite from the horrors. Host families sometimes became permanent families as holidays turned into adoptions. And it was, I suppose, a little piece of joy coming from a very dark place.
And I'm delighted to say that 40 years later, the same young Irish woman, she's laughing, is sitting opposite me now. Aidy Roach, good morning and welcome.
A young 70-year-old, I have to say.
Now, you never dreamed when all that started that you'd be still doing this 40 years on.
Do you know something? I'm a believer now in not having a life plan because if I had known then what we would have to do subsequently, I swear to God, I would have run a million miles in the opposite direction because I would have said I don't have the expertise, I don't have the money or the capacity. Do you know, sometimes it's important to go with the impulses of the heart. But listening to the broadcast there from BBC brought so many memories back from that time because we're just on the cusp of the actual anniversary. And in a sense, it's like as if a new word enters the history of the English language. entered into the history of world disasters and the world itself, the word Chernobyl. And in a sense, Chernobyl has become a symbol, like a potent metaphor, actually, for catastrophe.
And in a sense, it's like a cautionary tale of we need to take heed.
By the way, are you changing your pronunciation? You know, the way the Ukrainians are saying it's Chornobyl?
Well, the gas thing is everybody thinks we're misspelling in all of our press statements and on our website. And, you know, we have a big banner dropped off Liberty Hall, by the way. Hope you see it when you're driving home that says Chernobyl is forever. Chernobyl. This is a political thing. The United Nations passed a regulation and they've asked all countries to acknowledge the Ukrainian spelling as opposed to the E, which is the Russian spelling. The Russian spelling, yes. We have gone in solidarity with Ukraine.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:01–0:51
2
What happened during the Chernobyl disaster?
0:51–8:34
3
How did the Chernobyl disaster impact the local population?
8:34–9:17
4
How did the Chernobyl Children's International Charity evolve?
9:17–10:27
5
What role did Adi Roche play in helping affected children?
10:27–14:44