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Chernobyl Essay

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Herein lies the problem. Natural disasters often lead to thousands -- if not millions -- in donations to those affected in order to rebuild their life. New beds, textbooks, or food can be donated to those affected so that they can replace what they've lost and try to rebuild. But for Chernobyl, the first disaster of its kind at such at scale, they didn’t have that benefit. The obsessive need for secrecy made helping the affected people nearly impossible since news outlets weren’t even technically allowed to talk about it (Mulligan). The USSR’s denial of any event for 18 days, the isolated nature of the USSR during the time, and the lack of financial resources that the already-failing USSR would have had available, the people evacuated had to rebuild their lives essentially on their own. Some estimates for Belarus alone have put the cost of estimated losses at $235 billion dollars over 30 years (“What are the Social…?”). A person who may have just been able to get comfortably by suddenly may not be able after a disaster because they have to try to replace all of the essentials that they lost (Sysoyeva). Poverty is often a vicious cycle. Once someone falls into it, it can be practically impossible to escape. This leaves both them and their descendents vulnerable until they are able to gain financial security. The people of Pripyat lacked both the social and government safety nets available to people who are wealthier or from wealthier countries. This makes them especially

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