Chernobyl liquidators

Liquidators of Chernobyl, gathered at the Slavutych museum on the 32nd anniversary of the disaster.
A group of liquidators gathered at the Museum of Slavutych on the 32nd anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, 2018
Soviet military badge (left) and medal awarded to liquidators.
The central detail of the Liquidators' medal, with traces of alpha (α) and beta (β) particles and gamma (γ) rays over a drop of blood.

Chernobyl liquidators were the civil and military personnel who were called upon to deal with the consequences of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the Soviet Union on the site of the catastrophe and in affected areas. The liquidators are widely credited with limiting both the immediate and long-term damage from the disaster. On the overall recruitment and human scale, it remains one of the largest man-made environmental clean up operations in modern history.

Surviving liquidators are qualified for significant social benefits due to their veteran status in the former countries of the Soviet Union and abroad. Many liquidators were praised as heroes by the Soviet government and the press, while some struggled for years to have their participation, healthcare or stories officially recognized.

This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.