"Nuclear Power stations are like stars that shine all day long,' declared one senior Soviet scientist, M. A. Styrikovich. 'We shall sow them all over the land. They are perfectly safe!"
This statement was made in the late 1970s - a time when the Soviet Union carried out a widespread reactor building programme. It was a time when nuclear fuel seemed like it would be cheaper than the more traditional oil and coal. However, people of this time never predicted the effects of this nuclear material on the environment. These lasting effects were seen when reactor number four at the nuclear power…