The date of April 26, 1986 is etched into the memory of Nikolai Karpan.
He was working as a scientist at Chornobyl nuclear power plant when a reactor exploded, creating the world’s worst nuclear disaster.
As the whole world remembers the accident and its consequences on its 25th anniversary, Karpan – who also worked on the clean-up – presented his book detailing personal experiences and discussing the future of nuclear power.
The question of nuclear power has returned to prominence with the ongoing crisis as Japan’s Fukushima reactor.
This gives Karpan’s book, titled “From Chornobyl to Fukushima,” a highly topical angle.
“We didn’t learn anything out of Chornobyl, many things are repeating themselves right now,” he said.
Karpan, 65, is a nuclear physicist who believes that nuclear power has no future.
“There are too many dangerous aspects of this technique so that we should recognize we can’t control it,” he said.
About 50 people came to the Chornobyl Museum in the Podil district of Kyiv to hear his book presentation.
Karpan is well-known in the scientific sphere after writing another book a couple of years ago. “The first book is for engineers and specialists,” he said. “The recent book is for ordinary people – it is basically about my feelings after the explosion.” He says it took him five years to write, as after his work at Chornobyl he has suffered from serious health problems and today he is only able to work two hours per day.
