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Estimates vary, but it is likely that some 3 million people, more than 2 million in [[Belarus]] alone, are still living in contaminated areas. The city of Chernobyl is still inhabited by almost 10,000 people.  

Estimates vary, but it is likely that some 3 million people, more than 2 million in [[Belarus]] alone, are still living in contaminated areas. The city of Chernobyl is still inhabited by almost 10,000 people.  

Chernobyl has become a metaphor not only for the horror of uncontrolled nuclear power but also for the collapsing Soviet system and its reflexive secrecy and deception, disregard for the safety and welfare of workers and their families, and inability to deliver basic services such as health care and transportation, especially in crisis situations. The Chernobyl catastrophe derailed what had been an ambitious nuclear power program and formed a fledgling environmental movement into a potent political force in Russia as well as a rallying point for achieving Ukrainian and Belorussian independence in 1991.  The Chernobyl plant was in partial operation since the accident until fully shut down in 1993.  

Chernobyl has become a metaphor not only for the horror of uncontrolled nuclear power but also for the collapsing Soviet system and its reflexive secrecy and deception, disregard for the safety and welfare of workers and their families, and inability to deliver basic services such as health care and transportation, especially in crisis situations. The Chernobyl catastrophe derailed what had been an ambitious nuclear power program and formed a fledgling environmental movement into a potent political force in Russia as well as a rallying point for achieving Ukrainian and Belorussian independence in 1991.  The Chernobyl plant was in partial operation from 1986 until it was fully shut down in 1993.  

==Notes==

==Notes==