The Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster

On April 26th, 1986, the word Chernobyl, until then a tiny town in the Soviet countryside, became synonymous with “nuclear disaster.” Here are some photos that capture some of the haunting feeling around Chernobyl since the 1986 disaster that displaced hundreds of thousands of people, brought death and destruction to thousands, and has left the area uninhabitable for as much as the next 1,000 years.

Chernobyl has been of particular interest to thyroid practitioners and patients, because one of the radioisotopes released during reactor accidents is iodine 131 – also known as radioactive iodine, or radioiodine. Radioactive iodine can contaminate the food supply and contaminate plants, animals and water where, once ingested, it concentrates almost exclusively in the thyroid gland, where it can act as a long-term trigger for development of thyroid cancer and other thyroid problems.