Chernobyl' 

     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
bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  The world first learned
of history's worst nuclear accident from Sweden, where abnormal
radiation levels were registered at one of its nuclear
facilities. 
     Ranking as one of the greatest industrial accidents of all
time, the Chernobyl' disaster and its impact on the course of
Soviet events can scarcely be exaggerated.  No one can predict
what will finally be the exact number of human victims.  Thirty-
one lives were lost immediately.  Hundreds of thousands of
Ukrainians, Russians, and Belorussians had to abandon entire
cities and settlements within the thirty-kilometer zone of
extreme contamination.  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.  Billions of rubles have
been spent, and billions more will be needed to relocate
communities and decontaminate the rich farmland.
     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.  Although still
in operation, the Chernobyl' plant is scheduled for total