Abstract
On 26 April 1986, at 01.23 hours and 58 seconds, a series of explosions destroyed the nuclear reactor and building of the fourth power generator unit of Chernobyl atomic power station.
During World War II, the German fascists destroyed 619 Belarusian villages along with their inhabitants. As a result of the Chernobyl disaster, the country lost 485 villages and hamlets. During the war, one in four Belarusians lost their lives. After Chernobyl, one in five Belarusians, 2.1 million people, are living in contaminated territory. Seven hundred thousand of these are children.
Ongoing low level radiation results in a year on year increase in the number of Belarusans suffering from cancers, mental debility, neuro-psychological disorders,and genetic mutations.
'Chernobyl' volume of the Belarusian Encyclopaedia, Minsk, 1996.