Chernobyl and Hanford – “A Tale of Two Cities” Lecture

Forrest Lloyd will tell us about an educational tour he and 10 other people took to Kiev and Chernobyl in the Ukraine in November 2015. The tour title was “Return to Chernobyl Zone Ecosystem Recovery.” Forrest and the others spent two days in the exclusion zone, using the remainder of the time to visit points of interest around Kiev. Forrest had taken several history classes on Russia in college, but this trip greatly expanded his understanding of Ukrainian history, as well as of the nuclear accident.

Matt Anderson will tell us about the challenges that 50,000 people living in the adjacent city of Pyrpyat endured after the Chernobyl nuclear plant failed. The residents had to be relocated; a whole new city, Slavutych, was built about 30 miles away to provide safe housing for the power plant workers and their families. Their possessions, homes and community were so bodily contaminated it all had to be left behind. In comparison to Chernobyl, the Hanford, Washington nuclear site and current power plants have similar experiences. One way of providing support to both communities was a collaboration between Jr. High School students in both cities to describe their dependence on the nuclear industry, and the similarities and challenges they both face. Matt has traveled to Hanford several times and will show photos of the area, the B Reactor and associated infrastructure.

The scope of the presentation is on what Forrest observed on the trip as well as research by both Forrest and Matt on the aftermath and other subjects. The presentation will be informal and interactive with the audience. Other topics for discussion may include, why the power house exploded, plans to clean up the mess, the exclusion zone, and the environmental impact on people, property, plants, and animals.

This lectures was given at the Maturango Museum on March 9, 2016.

Video courtesy of Mark Pahuta

Видео Chernobyl and Hanford – “A Tale of Two Cities” Lecture канала Maturango Museum