Chernobyl and Fukishima Art Galleries | Environmental and Social Artivism

Environment & Social Activism through Art

Carolann Espino My Life In Art

Chernobyl

The Chernobyl and Fukishima Ongoing Tragedy

In April 1986, a nuclear power plant in the former Soviet Union exploded filling the atmosphere with 100 times more radiation than the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The Chernobyl plant is located on the boarder area between Ukraine and Belarus. At the time of the accident, 7 million people lived in the contaminated territories, including 3 million children. The plant has been covered with cement. It is now a dilapidated, decaying plant that cannot really be guaranteed to protect the population.The radiation threat still exists to the global environment Four decades later, radiactive elements are spread through dust particles deposited in the earth by rainfall or enter the food chain through plants and animals. Millions continue to be exposed to these low doses of radiation and their children had tragic results. Many of the children were born with disabilities so severe their parents didn't couldn't care for them. They lived in institutions their entire lives.The severely affected children and adults are now deceased. The second generation of children were also born with severe genetic irregularities and severe birth defects. The tragedy now in the third generation lingers on to this day.The government hid this nuclear explosion for thirty five hours from the population and the world. It was not until radiation was measured in Europe that the government began to evaculate unknowing populations.All first responders unknowingly were exposed to the radiation and died almost immediately.

When I first learned of this tragedy in 1986 and saw the photos of the children born with horrific deformities, I was shocked to my core. I was determined to honor those who died and suffered someway. At the time I didn't know it would be in a conceptual art installation.To this day, no human can live in Prityat which was a metropolitan city near the plant. Only animals live in the area and all are radioactive. Even a spider web which ordinarily is geometically perfect in its weave shows the effects of radiation. The orginal animals had severe deformities as well. Only nature remains in this once prosperous city.

In Japan, the nuclear plant meltdown called Fukishima happened in 2011. It is the second major nuclear accident. This was caused by an earthquake and Tsunami. Citizens and animals left behind died from radiation or drowning. This accident has had lasting effects to our oceans, oceanlife, animals and the globe. Long term effects are still being measured. Radiation has affected the food chain and some countries have banned rice , fish and fishing from Japan. The blue finned tuna yearly migrates to the west coast from this area. Pregnant women should avoid consuming tuna and other seafood. The population cannot return to their homes. Radiation is still leaking in the pacific ocean to this day. It is important for people to learn and keep aware of this plant and Chernobyl.