The 26th of April - The Day of Chernobyl Tragedy

THE TIME OF CHERNOBYL

Saturday, April 26, 1986. The electronic chronometer at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant stopped at night at 01.23.47. Humanity, which had survived after the atomic bombing of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, didn’t know that the peaceful atom had got out of human control. The explosion on the 4th power unit completely destroyed the reactor. Radioactive substances were thrown into the environment, including isotopes of uranium, plutonium, iodine, cesium, strontium... The ominous Chernobyl cloud covered huge territories of the Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. It spread across the great area of Europe. All people who lived within 30-kilometres zone around the nuclear power plant - over 115,000 people - were evacuated. More than 600,000 people took part in the elimination of the accident. According to experts, the Chernobyl accident is the largest in the history of nuclear energy both in terms of the number of people killed or affected, and in terms of the economic damage caused.

The calendar of commemorative dates of independent Belarus includes Chernobyl Tragedy Day, which is celebrated annually on April 26. It is usually not celebrated widely and solemnly. But this sad date gives an opportunity to hear “the Bells of Chernobyl" and pay tribute to the memory of those who fought with  peaceful atom. Our Republic still lives today, 34 years after the tragedy, according to "the time of Chernobyl." That’s why so much attention is paid to the Ostrovets nuclear power plant which is being constructed. Its safety is under the special control of the President and the Government of the country, and the specialists of the IAEA as well.

Among the workers of the oldest agrarian university BSAA there are those who were directly involved in the elimination of the consequences of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. They are treated like heroes who boldly entered into a fight with the "atomic genie," who freed himself out of a powerful reactor.

Aleksandr Oreshkov, the Chairman of the Trade Union of Teachers and Employees of BSAA, told the local newspaper that our instructor of professional training with a long work experience Petr Ageev took part in the elimination of the consequences of the Chernobyl accident. Petr Ageev is a high-level professional, whose experience is respected by colleagues and students. A hostel № 2 receptionist Valentina Bekeshko, and a landscaping technician of the botanical garden Julia Starovoytova, were also the participants of the mitigation of the accident consequences. On this commemorative date, all our specialists who worked to eliminate the effects of the Chernobyl tragedy would receive financial support and commemorative souvenirs.

Lyudmila Goncharova