40 Jahre Tschernobyl - Die Geschichte und ihre neue Gegenwart

In the organizer's words:

"Chernobyl" stands for far more than just a reactor accident. It all began on April 26, 1986 with radioactivity and death, the establishment of an exclusion zone and the short-term resettlement of hundreds of thousands of people in the Soviet republics of Belarus and Ukraine. The events ruthlessly exposed the decay of the Soviet system.

However, the reactor disaster also marked a profound turning point in Western and Eastern European societies' awareness of the extreme dangers of nuclear energy for people and the environment. In many countries, it meant the end of ambitious nuclear power plant projects and mobilized citizens' movements in Central and Eastern Europe. The year 1986 thus became a turning point in society's perception of technological progress - it is no coincidence that Ulrich Beck's book "Risk Society" was published in the same year, which created a broad awareness of the risks of scientific and technological modernization. At the same time, Chernobyl played an important role in the political identity of the Greens, who developed a long-standing political struggle from the broad social support for a nuclear phase-out.

In 2026 - four decades later - the anniversary of Chernobyl is more relevant than ever. The debate on risk technologies has become even more important. In its war against Ukraine, Russia is not only bombarding the protective shell around the old accident reactor in Chornobyl, as the name-giving location should be correctly transcribed here from the Ukrainian when talking about the present. Russia is occupying facilities and willfully damaging critical infrastructure around reactors - as it did back then, a highly negligent gamble with the nuclear safety of people in the region and far beyond Ukraine. The Russian nuclear industry remains a successful geopolitical instrument of power for Russia. In this country, things have been rather quiet since Germany finally phased out nuclear power three years ago.

What remains of Chernobyl/Chornobyl? We invite you to a discussion about green history and security in Europe.

Price information:

Registration at https://calendar.boell.de/de/civi_register/164113