April 26 will mark the 23rd anniversary of the disastrous accident at Chernobyl nuclear power plant that spewed radioactive material across much of Europe causing both short- and long-term health consequences for the people affected.

The explosion occurred in the number four reactor of the plant due to an ill-conceived experiment. However, the power plant remained open for operation until being finally shut down in 2000.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), an independent organization related to the United Nations, as of October 2007, there were 435 nuclear reactors operating worldwide and 29 more were under construction.

Around this time of the anniversary every year, the issue of nuclear power viability is brought to the public’s consciousness. According to local environmental activist Art Jackson, “I think the Chernobyl thing is basically a wake-up reminder to people that this is the most toxic industry on the planet and it’s there forever and once it’s released, once the nuclear genie is out of the bottle,” that’s it. 

Although the Canadian-made CANDU nuclear reactor is reputed to be much safer than the Soviet-designed reactors at Chernobyl, Jackson still believes that “it’s an industry that doesn’t need to exist,” he said, adding that “we have no need for it when we’ve got alternatives for energy.” The Bruce nuclear reactor in Ontario still isn’t earthquake-proof, terrorist-proof or human-error-proof, said Jackson.

A report commissioned by the Green Party of the European Parliament published in May 2007, entitled “Residual Risk: An Account of Events in Nuclear Power Plants since the Chernobyl Accident in 1986,” found that in France, the world’s leader in nuclear power generation with 59 reactors that produce 78 per cent of the nation’s electricity needs, that there are between 10,000 and 12,000 incidents each year in nuclear facilities, of which 700 to 800 are significant. 

A separate but related issue to the safety of nuclear reactors, is whether or not the nuclear option is a viable and environmentally sustainable alternative to coal-fired powered plants. “If they (the Canadian Government) are trying to ram nuclear down our throats... Canadians need to stand up and say ‘no’,” said Jackson. “These companies are so big and so powerful and they have so many billions of subsidized dollars, that their PR (public relations), the best thing they can do is confuse the public with doubt on what works and what doesn’t work,” he added. 

Jackson is also concerned about the age of reactors across the planet. “We’re reaching a point where the nuclear reactors, most of them are all getting quite old and this is actually where the danger part is coming in because things are totally corroding inside, the pipes break, the cooling systems break down, the valves shut down,” he said, adding that, “I’m afraid it’s going to get to a point that it’s going to take another accident, which is going to be really sad,” before people wake up to the danger of nuclear reactors.

It should also be noted that nuclear reactors can be used to produce radioisotopes for nuclear medicine purposes. The Chalk River facility in Ontario, about 160 km northwest of Ottawa, is one of those reactors producing radioisotopes for use in diagnostic and treatment procedures for illnesses such as cancer. 

Since 1993, the Rocky Mountains have had a seasonal connection with the people devastated by the accident at Chernobyl. Children from Belarus come to the Hinton area to spend eight or nine weeks enjoying the fresh mountain air during the summer months. However, this small respite from their irradiated homeland was put in jeopardy by a Californian family.

The program Children of Chernobyl endeavours to send children affected by the accident away from their homes during the summer months, but a couple in California decided to keep the child they were hosting, causing the Belarusian government to suspend these trips. 

As it stands right now, the Belarusian government requires host countries to sign an official document, which the Canadian government has yet to do. “We don’t have any new information so we’ve kind of set a deadline for ourselves at the end of May,” said Fran Hanington, president of the Hinton Association of the Children of Chernobyl. “And if we haven’t heard at that point in time that a document has been signed, then we’re going to have to cancel the program for the summer,” she said.

Hanington is “definitely disappointed” by the current situation, she said, adding that “it’s something that the citizens of the town of Hinton have really supported and backed.” It’s an unfortunate situation for the children as well because according to Hanington, they may go through the process of preparing to come to Hinton only to find out that the trip is cancelled and by that point it will be too late to go somewhere else. 

“It’s quite a difficult life for these kids,” said Hanington. They suffer from hair loss, nose bleeds, thyroid issues as well as social issues involving poverty and alcoholism. However, even if the program doesn’t go ahead this summer, Hanington is planning for the summer of 2010. 

When speaking with famed Canadian photographer Ted Grant in November, he discussed the difficulty of having photographed children affected by the Chernobyl disaster. “The Chernobyl thing in Russia and Ukraine is very very emotional,” he said. “I can start to talk about it right now and the whole emotion thing, I can feel it inside my body. It’s tough.”