cover image Journey to Chernobyl: Encounters in a Radioactive Zone

Journey to Chernobyl: Encounters in a Radioactive Zone

Glenn Alan Cheney. Academy Chicago Publishers, $20 (165pp) ISBN 978-0-89733-418-1

In 1991, Cheney, who teaches writing at Connecticut College, went to Ukraine to learn the circumstances of the world's deadliest nuclear accident and to interview the people who were affected by it. In this brief, informal report, this self-appointed investigator describes his travel adventures (with an expired visa) and his encounters with officials and victims of the Chernobyl catastrophe. Cheney made a daring visit to the nuclear ghost town of Propyat, originally built for Chernobyl's workers, and relates how they were forced to abandon their homes and possessions to escape the effects of nuclear radiation. The statistics are not yet confirmed, but evidence Cheney gathered indicates that at least 8000 people died as a result of the meltdown, with another 30,000 presently suffering from diseases related to radiation. His poignant account humanizes the events of April 26, 1986, at Chernobyl. Photos. (Oct.)