The Chernobyl nuclear power plant, where a reactor melted down and spewed radiation 14 years ago in the world’s worst nuclear accident, was shut down with a simple flip of a switch today in Ukraine. Ukraine President Leonid Kuchma said, “The world will become a safer place. People will sleep in peace.” Since the 1986 meltdown, more than 4,000 cleanup workers have died, and some 70,000 others in Ukraine alone have been disabled by radiation. About 3.4 million of Ukraine’s 50 million people are estimated to be affected by radiation-related ailments. Ukraine had faced intense international pressure to shut down the plant. At the closing ceremony, a different sort of protester was present: Chernobyl workers in black armbands who were about to lose their jobs.
