Behind a fence in Chernobyl town, in the far north of Ukraine, is a display of colourful robots. When a reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded in 1986, these bright little machines were sent on to the roof to clear the lethal debris, but they failed. The radiation destroyed their electronics. My guide said one “committed suicide” by throwing itself from the roof. They’re on display for visitors, a zoo of radioactive robots, a reminder of what happened.
The Times: History of a tragedy by Serhii Plokhy
Workers walk next to the New Safe Confinement over the fourth block of the Chornobyl nuclear plant on April 26, 2017, the 31st anniversary of the Chornobyl disaster.
