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Chernobyl Disaster, 26 April 1986

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The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Interest Groups, Lobbying and Public Affairs
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Definition

The events that took place on 26 April 1986 at the nuclear power station located in the former Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (now the Ukraine), near Kiev, are acknowledged as one of the worst nuclear accidents to date (Yankovska & Hannam, 2014). Basic facts about the situation that preceded the accident and the subsequent fallout and impacts of the event are widely documented, but still contested. Over the past three decades a significant volume of work has been reported on this anthropogenic hazard and its ramifications for humankind and the environment. More recently, there have been a number of narrative accounts of the disaster, documentaries, and the HBO dramatization “Chernobyl.” The imagery of Chernobyl as a place, as a representative symbol of potential for disaster and damage, is powerful and enduring. Moreover, the nuclear accident itself has succeeded the meaning of Chernobyl as a place (Goatcher & Brunsden, 2011).

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The events that took place on...

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Further Reading

  • Harper, K. M. (2001). Chernobyl stories and anthropological shock in Hungary. Anthropological Quarterly, 74, 114–123.

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  • Perez, J. R. (2009). Uncomfortable heritage & dark tourism at Chernobyl. In Merill, S., & Schmidt, L. (Eds.), A reader in uncomfortable heritage and dark tourism (pp. 31–47). Cottbus: Brandenburg University of Technology.

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Correspondence to Andrea Insch .

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Insch, A., Loughran, I. (2020). Chernobyl Disaster, 26 April 1986. In: The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Interest Groups, Lobbying and Public Affairs . Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13895-0_23-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13895-0_23-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-13895-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-13895-0

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