The history of the Chornobyl accident should include scientific and educational content to motivate humanity to do everything possible to enhance reliability and safety and avoid similar catastrophes in the future. This was stated by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his speech on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the Chornobyl disaster.
"35 years ago there was a tragedy that became one of the greatest manmade, environmental and humanitarian catastrophes of our time. The Chornobyl accident and its consequences have changed and turned the world upside down. They have shown humanity that there are disasters that can affect everyone individually and at the same time all together," the President said during a speech at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant in the Kyiv region.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that for some people Chornobyl is horrible memories of what they saw with their own eyes, for some it is a shame and an attempt to hide the truth, and for others it is courage and feat in overcoming the consequences of the accident. And for all, Chornobyl is a terrible common lesson and a terrible common tragedy.
"At that time the radioactive cloud covered the territory of our country - Ukraine, the territory of Belarus, Russia, Sweden, Norway, Finland, many European countries: Germany, Austria, Greece, Romania, the Baltic states. More than 600,000 people took part in the liquidation of consequences of the accident. At the cost of their own lives and health, they not only overcame the disaster, but also allowed humanity to avoid even more catastrophic developments," the President said, adding that the memory about each of them should be preserved.
According to the Head of State, a lot has been studied, written and filmed about the Chornobyl catastrophe. Chornobyl today is common challenges and joint actions for the future and safety of the planet.
"Our goal today is to transform the territory of exclusion into the territory of revival. Include scientific and educational content in the history of Chornobyl, motivate humanity, motivate the world to develop all this in a positive context. And, of course, our task is to do everything to enhance the reliability, security, and avoid such catastrophes in the future," said the President.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy added that Ukraine is not alone on this path, as it has broad support from partners. Proof of this is the implementation of a joint project - spent nuclear fuel storage to enhance security in the Chornobyl zone.
