Changes

[[Image:Chornobyl radiation96.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Radiation-affected areas from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant as of 1996]]

[[Image:Chornobyl radiation96.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Radiation-affected areas from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant as of 1996]]

In April 1986, Chernobyl (Chornobyl in Ukrainian) was an obscure city on the Pripiat River in north-central [[Ukraine]]. Almost incidentally, its name was attached to the V.I. [[Lenin]] Nuclear Power Plant located about twenty-five kilometers upstream.  

In April 1986, '''Chernobyl''' (Chornobyl in Ukrainian) was an obscure city on the Pripiat River in north-central [[Ukraine]]. Almost incidentally, its name was attached to the V.I. [[Lenin]] Nuclear Power Plant located about twenty-five kilometers upstream.  

On April 26, the city's anonymity vanished forever when, during a test at 1:21 A.M., the No. 4 reactor exploded and released thirty to forty times the radioactivity of the [[atomic bomb]]s dropped on [[Hiroshima]] and [[Nagasaki]]. Thirty- one lives were lost immediately. The world first learned of history's worst nuclear accident from [[Sweden]], where abnormal radiation levels were registered at one of its nuclear facilities.  

On April 26, the city's anonymity vanished forever when, during a test at 1:21 A.M., the No. 4 reactor exploded and released thirty to forty times the radioactivity of the [[atomic bomb]]s dropped on [[Hiroshima]] and [[Nagasaki]]. Thirty- one lives were lost immediately. The world first learned of history's worst nuclear accident from [[Sweden]], where abnormal radiation levels were registered at one of its nuclear facilities.