undefined | Better HN

0 pointsm0zg5y ago0 comments

> Communists who did not care about what happened to Ukrainians

They didn't really care what happened to _anybody_, not just Ukrainians. Ukrainians (as well as about 30% of Russians) just happened to live in that particular location. The plume made it all the way to the Nordics and Germany, and I, as a kid, had to take iodine tablets in Russia, even though officially everything was "under control" for a few days. Then the narrative shifted to showing the heroism of the "liquidators", never fully acknowledging how dangerous any of this really was.

0 comments

2 comments · 2 top-level

core-questions5y ago

Good point, I agree entirely. It's clear that nuclear power needs to be under the control of responsible governments, built in safe locations (i.e. not on fault lines, not in tsunami zones), and needs solid maintenance budgets.

All of these things are solvable problems, but if we don't solve them before all the current nuclear plant techs age out, we won't be able to apprentice people and keep the culture of solid maintenance alive. At that point, they really do become an albatross.

jessaustin5y ago

This was true in USA too. They took pretty good care of the scientists who knew enough to call out unsafe conditions, but laborers etc. at e.g. PGDP were regularly exposed to poisons and radiation. EEOICP was put together late enough that many of the affected workers had already died.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse