Welcome to our site introduction The Chernobyl Children Life Line

The charity, Chernobyl Children's Life Line, was founded in 1992 to help the children of Belarus. It is made up of approximately 136 Links set up around the country whose aim is to raise money in order to bring groups of children to their particular area for respite care. Around 2,500 - 3,000 children are brought to the Uk annually by the CCLL, and a recent tally of the number of children having visited the UK exceeded 18,500. It is estimated that a month in the Uk eating uncontaminated food, breathing uncontaminated air boosts their imune system to such an extent, that it gives them an extra two years on their life expectancy.

THE CHERNOBYL DISASTER

On 26 th. April 1986, the fourth reacter at the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant, 12k south of the Belarus border, exploded. Yet, it was not until abnormal radiation levels were registered at one of Sweden's nuclear facilities that the world learned about the disaster, initially concealed by the Soviet authorities. Belarus was the region worst hit by the disaster, with 75% of the fallout landing on its territory, and about one fifth of its area seriously affected.

By 1990 2-million people, 20% of the country's forests and well over 250,000 hectares of agricultural land had been contaminated. It is estimated that today 2-million people in Belarus alone still live in contaminated areas - there is no access to "clean" food. People still till their fields, herd cattle and eat the produce of their labours. Medical experts expect as many as 40% children exposed to Chernobyl's radiation to develop thyroid cancer over the next 30 years.

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