( CNN ) -- Twenty-six years ago this week , a botched reactor safety test in a corner of what was then the Soviet Union set off the worst nuclear accident in history . The radiation effects of the April 26 , 1986 , reactor explosion were about 400 times more potent than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima during World War II , and nearly 14 times greater than the disaster last year at the Fukushima plant in Japan . Fast forward to today , and even in the exclusion zone , plants have re-grown , animals are flourishing and Chernobyl has been opened to tourists . But Chernobyl refuses to be relegated to the past . Indeed it may still be devastating the lives of millions who continue to live in the fallout zone . Aside from the potential health hazards of living in an area contaminated with radiation , domino socioeconomic effects have caused multiple problems in these regions . Chernobyl Children International , or CCI , works to help kids in the region whose lives have been impacted by a disaster that happened years before they were born . Many suffer from physical problems such as congenital heart defects . Many kids have chronic illnesses or disabilities , and many live full time in institutions . To help them , CCI sends surgical teams who in turn help train local doctors . CCI nurses teach institution staff techniques , and volunteers renovate facilities . One of CCI 's main goals going forward is a program they call `` Home of Hope , '' which uses money from donations to place institutionalized kids with nearby families . For many severely disabled children there , the future is uncertain . CCI works to build community centers in affected areas , in the hopes that there will be some support system for them after they are too old to remain in institutions . Decades after the meltdown , the mission of CCI is complicated by the fact that there is no real consensus on how many of the region 's current problems can be directly attributed to Chernobyl . Only 30 people died in the immediate aftermath , either from the explosion or acute radiation syndrome . But the disaster sent a cloud of radioactive fallout over hundreds of thousands of square miles of what is now Russia , Belarus and Ukraine that would have an impact on the health of many more . More than 200,000 people were evacuated , never to return . However , a 2005 report by `` The Chernobyl Forum '' ( the most comprehensive to date ) estimated more than 5 million remain in what have been termed `` contaminated territories , '' and a quarter-million live in `` highly contaminated territories . '' Ten years after the explosion , a CNN team visited Chernobyl to ascertain the long-term effects of radiation exposure for those living near Chernobyl during the accident , for cleanup workers or `` liquidators , '' or for those who continued to live in areas that were classified as polluted . They found more questions than answers . Research funds were scarce . Economies of affected countries were decimated by the disaster and by the subsequent breakup of the USSR . Years later , there are n't many more definitive answers than there were then , to the question of how exactly Chernobyl has affected the lives , not just of those who lived through it , but of subsequent generations still living in these `` contaminated ' areas '' Many of us have certain mental images that spring to mind when thinking of the effects of radioactive contamination : mutated animals , children with deformities and birth defects , for example . But the 2005 Chernobyl Forum report found scant evidence that this was the case . In fact , other than a marked increase in thyroid cancers in those living near the exclusion zone , the report found few definitive links to increased instances of disease or birth defects . Their conclusion ; in the 600,000 people they studied , they might expect around 4,000 extra deaths that could be directly linked to Chernobyl . The report created fierce debate among some who felt it grossly underestimated the impact of the disaster . A subsequent study titled `` The Torch Report , '' commissioned by the European Green Party , put the number of extra cancer deaths alone at a much higher rate -- somewhere between 30,000 and 60,000 . Figures released by UNICEF in 2010 showed that more than 20 % of adolescent children in Belarus suffered from disabilities and chronic illness . Belarus absorbed 70 % of Chernobyl 's fallout . But the truth is , no one really knows where to lay the blame for these figures . One of the main challenges for anyone attempting to ascertain the health effects of Chernobyl radiation is that there is so much background radiation in the atmosphere to begin with . But more specifically , Chernobyl was so much more than an explosion . `` When we think about Chernobyl , most people think about the medical consequences of living with radiation , '' said Kathy Ryan , a spokesperson for Chernobyl Children 's International ( CCI ) . `` But it 's important to understand that people are still being affected by the social and economic fallout . '' After the Chernobyl disaster , millions living on previously prime farmland found that no one would import their `` contaminated '' produce . The high cost of cleanup from the accident , which cost Belarus alone well over $ 200 billion , is thought to have contributed to the breakup of the Soviet Union and further crippled affected region 's economy . With diminished ways to make a living , many were -- and still are -- forced to eat food and drink water from the polluted areas where they live . Whether radiation in produce is or is not harmful , what 's certain is malnutrition is common , which often can result in illnesses and birth defects . Another factor is a sense of defeatism in Chernobyl-affected people , many of whom had to leave homes their families had lived in for generations . The International Atomic Energy Agency ( IAEA ) says displacement , poverty and fear of radiation sickness have contributed to `` suicides , drinking problems and apathy . '' It 's issues like these -- prenatal alcohol exposure for example -- that have led to birth defects and illnesses in many children . As a result , many children live in institutions ; UNICEF estimates the number in Belarus alone to be nearly 10,000 . `` The children in many cases were removed from their home ... because the parents might have had issues with alcoholism or with poverty , '' Ryan said . According to CCI , many kids suffer almost as much from being in an institution as they do from their disability or illness . Rebecca Fordham , communications officer from UNICEF , said that finding an alternative to institutions is a worldwide priority for them . `` It can be impersonal , '' she said . `` They 're not getting the dedicated services they need , not having enough access to proper food or physical activity . '' The question now , is how populations can begin to move on from the specter of Chernobyl ? Reports by the U.N. Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation ( UNSCEAR ) and the World Health Organization claim that much of the land designated as `` contaminated '' by the former Soviet Union actually contains radiation levels not much higher than vast areas considered `` safe . '' In fact , by the USSR 's standards , it 's not just the former Soviet republics that should be concerned.. `` Some 45,000 square kilometers in Western Europe have measurable levels of radioactivity in the soil from Chernobyl above the criterion applied in the former Soviet Union to designate 'contaminated ' areas , '' said UNSCEAR Secretary Malcolm Crick . And yet , those areas have experienced nowhere near the alienation and economic impact of much of Belarus and Ukraine . How many areas are still `` contaminated , '' and what does that mean ? Does lingering radiation adversely affect the health of residents , and is there still a danger from eating food grown there ? These are questions that many not have answers to for some time to come . In the meantime , a priority for CCI volunteers is simply to spend time with the kids , hug them , show them some love , and help them look forward to some kind of future -- whatever their link to the explosion that so altered their past . `` We 're not scientists ; we 're humanitarians , '' Ryan said . `` We just do n't want these people to be forgotten . ''
A botched reactor safety test set off the worst nuclear disaster in history in 1986 . About 5 million people remain in what have been termed 'contaminated territories ' Kathy Ryan : `` People are still being affected by the social and economic fallout . '' The Japanese government has said it will pay for a clean-up of up to $US1 billion ($A1.27 billion) over 30 years.