Kyrgyzstan readying international forum on Chernobyl disaster

AKIPRESS.COM - Deputy Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Jenish Razakov held a meeting of the organization committee preparing for the international scientific and practical forum devoted to the 35th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear accident.
Kyrgyz government said that the year 2021 marks the 35th anniversary of the nuclear accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the worst nuclear disaster in history and is one of only two nuclear energy disasters rated at seven-the maximum severity-on the International Nuclear Event Scale, the other being the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan.
The struggle to safeguard against hazards immediately after the accident, together with later decontamination efforts of the surroundings, ultimately involved more than 500,000 liquidators and cost an estimated 18 billion Soviet rubles-roughly US$68 billion in 2019, adjusted for inflation.
From 1986 to 1989, 3,200 Kyrgyzstanis participated in liquidation of the consequences of the accident.
The 2021 also marks 10 years since the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan.
"Marking these days, our society pays tribute to those killed in these disasters and expresses deep gratitude and respect for the liquidators, who at the cost of their own lives did their duty," Razakov said.
The international forum will be a good platform for discussion of important issues linked to reclamation of tailings dumps in Kyrgyzstan containing uranium and other highly toxic wastes.