Four Decades Post-Chernobyl: A Liquidator's Account (lemonde.fr)

• First-hand account of the 1986 containment response
• Evidence of institutional failure and lack of safety transparency
• Long-term health impact on disaster responders

"On the 40th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, Halyna Kharshenko recounts her experience as a liquidator at the site. Ignorant of the true scale of the explosion, she faced severe radiation exposure, highlighting the systemic failures and lack of transparency during the final years of the Soviet Union. Her testimony serves as a stark reminder of the long-term human cost and the critical necessity for rigorous safety protocols in civil nuclear infrastructure."