Ukraine celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster

Today, a series of events took place in Ukraine marking the 25th year of the worst nuclear disaster in world history at the Chernobyl plant, amid a world of radioactive fears after the Fukushima 1.

A young boy pointed to a picture of his grandmother at a memorial to the victim in Chernobyl in Slavutich, Ukraine. Photo : AFP.

The commemoration ceremony began in the middle of the night in Kiev, when Chief Kirill - the head of the Orthodox Church - rang the bell at the time of the Chernobyl explosion on April 26, 1986. Next, he and Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych lit a candle to commemorate the ill-fated victims in the disaster.

Today, President Viktor Yanukovych will join his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev to visit Chernobyl and take part in memorial activities here.

On April 26, 1986, the No.4 reactor at the Chernobyl plant exploded, causing radiation to spread across Europe and killing at least 30 people soon after. Many others died of radiation-related diseases and this is still controversial.

The Chernobyl nuclear disaster also left hundreds of thousands of people evacuated in Ukraine, western Russia and Belarus. There is still a 30-kilometer ban area around the factory.

Engineers erected a concrete cover around the broken reactor to prevent radioactive leakage, but experts say it is time to build a new shell. The fundraising event in Kiev, Ukraine last week earned $ 798 million to build a new shield and a used fuel storage plant.

The Chernobyl disaster memorial took place less than two months after Japan's Fukushima 1 nuclear plant was badly damaged after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, further raising nuclear safety concerns. across the globe.

Thousands of people in France and Germany yesterday protested to stop nuclear power. Participants held up nuclear protests and shouted loudly: " Chernobyl, Fukushima, never again!". Meanwhile in India, security is also tightened in Jaitapur, where protesters are expected to march in the area preparing to build a nuclear reactor of six reactors.