Remembering the Chornobyl Disaster

By Marichka Galadza

Despite the fact that most of the University of Toronto’s Ukrainian Student’s Club members were merely toddlers when the Chornobyl disaster occurred, it is an event so deeply etched in the diaspora’s consciousness that it seems to many as though it just happened yesterday. The nuclear explosion occurred two decades ago, but the radiation emitted from the Chornobyl reactor continues to ravage the health and homeland of Ukrainians today, and many are still looking for someone to hold accountable.

To commemorate the disaster, the University of Toronto’s Ukrainian Students Club hosted an event on Thursday April 19, entitled Chornobyl: 20 Years Later. The event featured a panel discussion intended to clarify the initial causes of the explosion, and the health and socio-political implications of the blast. Presentations were followed by a screening of the HBO Academy-award winning short documentary Chornobyl Heart. The film focused on the rising prevalence of thyroid cancer, tumours and genetic birth defects in Belarus’s Gomel province and further emphasized the fact that Chornobyl is not just a Ukrainian problem, but a global one.

The presentations were followed by refreshments and a question-and-answer period.

The guest speakers at the event were Dr. Oleh Trojan, Professor of Nuclear Engineering at McMaster University, Marko Horbatsch, Professor of Physics at York University, and Maxim Tarnawsky, Associate Professor at the department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Toronto.

All three offered insight based on their specific fields: Prof. Trojan focused on the physical drivers of the explosion, Prof. Horbatsch on the health effects; and Prof. Tarnawsky on the cultural and socio-political implications.

Although the disaster was caused by a nuclear test gone wrong, Prof. Tarnawsky pointed out that “the Chornobyl accident had meaning that transcended mere technological breakdown.” It was more than a nuclear disaster, it was a symbol of the inefficiencies and impending failure of a Soviet regime built on subjugation, deceit and dictatorship.

Professor Tarnawsky summarized the disaster as a “failure of communication” and a Soviet “ideology of inefficiency where “workers pretend[ed] to work while their employers pretend[ed] to pay them”.

Such sentiments seemed to be shared by Prof. Trojan who said that on the day of the explosion there was no physicist on site and workers were not properly trained on what to do in case of such an emergency. Tragically, a bad work ethic, brought on by bureaucratic incompetence and a repressive regime, led to the destruction of thousands of livelihoods, the erosion of an entire natural region, the possible contamination of a crucial water supply (Chornobyl lies directly on the Prypiat, which flows into the Dnipro), as well as radiation-induced cancers, immune-system deficiencies and thyroid disorders, to name just a few of the health effects.

Scientific explanations and expostulations of the disaster discuss graphite rods and Zenon 135 measures, yet nuclear power plants function all over the world without hindrance. As stated by Professor Tarnowsky, France relies on nuclear power for 70 per cent of its energy. So what is it that makes nuclear energy a viable option for some countries, and a dangerous gamble for others?

 If Chornobyl has taught us anything, it is not that nuclear power should be faulted, but rather the Soviet mentality of “don’t ask don’t tell” in times where communication is crucial.