The Babushkas of Chernobyl
Al Jazeera (2016)
Film Review
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the nuclear accident at Chernobyl, Al Jazeera has made this eye opening documentary about 100 elderly “babushkas” who defied authorities and returned to their farms in the Chernobyl exclusion zone. Most of these women live independently, surviving off subsistence farming. However they meet up for birthdays and other celebrations, to sing and down plenty of vodka.
Formerly they all received pension checks from the Ukrainian government – delivery has become less reliable with the recent civil war.
Aside from the “babushkas,” a number of researchers, soldiers and administrators work in the exclusion zone. For health reasons, they are limited to 15 days a month and forbidden to eat food or drink water from the exclusion zone. Both are contaminated with radioactive cesium, which is absorbed into muscle, and strontium, which is absorbed into bone. People are also discouraged from entering the exclusion zone in the presence of heavy winds – dust containing uranium and plutonium can be deadly when inhaled.
The “babushkas,” who are irresistible research subjects, are visited regularly by Ukrainian soldiers, who measure the amount of radiation in their cottages, water and foodstuffs. One of them developed thyroid cancer from radioactive iodine, the first radionucleotide released during a nuclear explosion. Since her thyroid was removed in 1986, her health has been fine.
The video can’t be embedded but can be viewed free at
The Most Revolutionary Act 
Have you read the following?
http://www.zengardner.com/slow-bleed-fukushima-five-years/
It seems the Russian government had tried to protect its people more than the Japanese have since March, 2011!
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Yes. I’m well aware of this. The Soviets were much maligned for poisoning their population with improper management of industrial poisons. However unlike the Japanese, they clearly recognized that nuclear radiation is an equal opportunity toxin – the party elites knew their children and grandchildren would be as much effective as lowly peasants and workers.
In contrast, Japanese management of Fukushima has consisted purely of lies and cover-ups. I’ve been reading Chalmers Johnson’s detailed writing about how the CIA has virtually controlled the Japanese government since the end of World War II. Which explains a lot. I’m planning to post reviews of Blowback and Nemesis in the next few weeks.
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