It’s
a long way from Chernobyl to Wales, but until this weekend there were still restrictions
on movement of sheep from more than 300 Welsh farms as a result of fall-out
from the nuclear disaster 26 years ago.
After
the explosion, radioactive particles became lodged in upland peat, and passed
to sheep grazing the land, so they had to be tested before they
could be sold.
At first, nearly 10,000 British farms were affected. Over the years this came down to 327 in
Wales and a further eight in England, and now these final restrictions have been
removed.
At Chernobyl itself, work has begun on
a huge new metal shelter to cover the stricken reactor. After the disaster on April 26, 1986, a
concrete ‘sarcophagus’ was hastily erected, but for years it has been
crumbling, allowing radiation to leak out. According to some estimates, the disaster cost
of up to 200,000 lives.
(See also my
blogs of April 4, 2009, March 14, 2011 and April 29, 2012)
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