The Chernobyl Disaster
切尔诺贝利灾难事件
On April 26, 1986, the nuclear reactor of the Chernobyl Power Plant in Ukraine exploded.
1986年4月26日,乌克兰切尔诺贝利核电站的核反应堆发生爆炸。
The explosion occurred early in the morning, while plant workers were performing a maintenance check.
爆炸发生在凌晨,当时核电站的工作人员正在进行维护检查。
They had turned off a control system that was keeping the reactor stable.
他们关闭了一个保持反应堆稳定的控制系统。
The initial explosion killed two of the workers, and 28 other workers died of radiation sickness in the months after the disaster.
最初的爆炸导致两名工作人员死亡,另有28名工作人员在灾难发生后的数月内死于辐射病。
The explosion also caused residents of a nearby town called Pripyat to be exposed to radiation.
爆炸还导致附近的普里皮亚季城的居民受到辐射。
Because of this, the residents were forced to evacuate and find new places to live.
因此,该地居民被迫撤离,另寻新的居住地。
In order to prevent more deaths from radiation exposure, the government of what was then the Soviet Union created an exclusion zone around the Chernobyl plant.
为了防止更多的人死于辐射,当时的苏联政府在切尔诺贝利核电站周围设立了隔离区。
Although the zone is now safe for tourists to visit, scientists believe that the most contaminated areas will not be habitable for over 20,000 years.
虽然现在该区域对游客来说是安全的,但科学家们认为,污染最严重的地区将在2万多年内无法居住。