Yanukovych warns on nuclear power on Chernobyl anniversary Ukraine's president Viktor Yanukovych has warned of the dangers of nuclear energy as his country marks the 26th anniversary of the world's worst atomic accident. He was speaking at the inauguration of a giant steel arch that will cover the reactor site. The Chernobyl disaster underscored that mankind must be extra careful in using nuclear technologies. Nuclear accidents lead to global consequences. They are not a problem of just one country, they affect the life of entire regions," the Ukrainian head of state said. When the arch is completed in 2015, it will be big enough to house New York's Statue of Liberty. Then the dangerous job of dismantling the reactor and cleaning up vast amounts of radioactive waste can begin. The explosion on April the 26th, 1986, spewed a cloud of radiation over much of the Northern Hemisphere. It also forced hundreds of thousands from their homes in Ukraine, Belarus and western Russia. More about: Chernobyl, Nuclear accidents, Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych