Chornobyl Exhibit Visits Toronto

Toronto - The Sierra Club of Canada is hosting the Canadian premiere of Chornobyl: 20 years -20 lives, a photographic exhibit featuring the personal stories of twenty survivors of the Chornobyl nuclear power-plant disaster.

“This accident occurred twenty one years ago, but with the industry’s push to build more reactors, the exhibit is well-timed to remind Ontarians of nuclear power’s true legacy,” said Stephen Hazell, executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada. “Ontario … through this exhibit, can learn about the environmental, health and social disasters that nuclear power has created.”

“Since Chornobyl and Three Mile Island, very few nuclear power plants have been built in countries with functioning democracies,” said Emilie Moorhouse, atmosphere and energy campaigner for the Sierra Club of Canada. “The provincial election campaign provides an opportunity for Ontarians to ask candidates where they stand on coal and nuclear power and how they will replace these with clean energy solutions.”

“The 30 km radius around Chornobyl is known as the ‘dead zone’ due to its extremely high radioactivity.  The Pickering (Nuclear Power) Plant is only 30 km from downtown

Toronto. Ontarians must be sensitized to the risks that this technology poses,” said Jean Langlois, national campaigns director of the Sierra Club of Canada.

“In total, seven million people were affected by Chornobyl. The costs of dealing with the disaster have reached $460 billion in Belarus and in Ukraine alone.”

Through the photography of Denmark’s Mads Eskesen, the exhibit draws attention to the impact of the tragedy on the environment and how it continues to affect people today. With the support of two-time grand slam tennis champion Maria Sharapova, the exhibit is showing at the Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen St West, Toronto.

Hours are noon to 5:00 pm daily, from August 3^rd to September 3^rd, 2007.

Admission is free.

For more information about the exhibit and the issues visit www.sierraclub.ca/chernobyl