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Skills

Listening

at a nuclear plant in France have warned of a possible leak. Dr. Vermier, the in charge of the plant, has revealed that a small quantity of uranium may have leaked as it was being transported to a different site. The scientists involved were all wearing clothing, and it is hoped that the spill has been contained.

Local pressure groups, which have long campaigned to get the plant closed, have held further protests. A spokesman for the groups said, “We all remember Chernobyl. A disaster of this scale cannot be allowed to happen again.”


To recall, at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant a series of explosions led to 400 times more fallout being released into the atmosphere than by the Hiroshima bomb. The consequences of the disaster have been horrific, with over 4,000 deaths linked to radiation poisoning. studying the after effects of the leak have also noticed a sharp increase in birth defects. High levels of radiation can affect the formation of the central nervous system and cause severe damage.

A large area of damaged in the spill is now known as the Red Forest because the trees were all burned. Whole towns were abandoned after the catastrophe, and many of the animals that were left behind subsequently died of .