Town remembers Chernobyl disaster

ROUGH CUT NO REPORTER NARRATION

Residents of Slavutych in Ukraine gathered in the town's main square on Wednesday (April 25) night to remember the victims of the worst nuclear disaster in history.

Slavutych is located about 50 kilometres (31 miles) from Chernobyl where the No. 4 reactor exploded on April 26, 1986, releasing large amounts of radiation into the atmosphere.

The city was built in1986 after residents of neighbouring Prypiat, near where the damaged reactor was located, were permanently relocated and the town became abandoned.

Dozens of people died in the three months following the catastrophe, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), but the subsequent health fallout of people who lived in the path of the leaked radiation is unknown.

People holding candles and lanterns were led by a priest in prayer before placing candles and flowers near the guard of honour memorial in the square.

On December 15, 2000, the last of the Chernobyl reactors was shut down and began to be decommissioned -- a process that is expected to take several decades.