April 26 — the accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant occurred — the largest man-made disaster in human history. A powerful explosion took place at the station’s fourth power unit, equivalent to 500 Hiroshima bombs. As a result of the accident, radioactive contamination occurred within a 30-kilometer radius. Nineteen Russian regions were affected by radioactive pollution.
This is an area of nearly 60,000 square kilometers with a population of about three million people. As a result of the catastrophe, about 23% of Belarus and large areas of Europe were contaminated with radioactive cesium.