[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by krynski

I completely agree. Europe was economically devastated. I can tell you a little of what happened, in a second-person account. Crops were essentially useless, and deemed unfit to consume. Rationing was huge across Europe. Unlike Japan, the Ukraine is located inland. The radiation spread to adjacent countries quite easily. Although the soviets attempted to cover it up, their neighbors blew the whistle. In particular, the Soviet union was ill-equiped to deal with such a matter. Many suffered radiation poisoning from radioactive iodine isotope, including my mother. Shortly after Chernobyl, my mother (who was visiting Poland at the time) was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. She had her thyroid removed, and is on (and has been since shortly after Chernobyl) supplementary drugs to compensate for thryroid hormone loss.

I remember something about massive quantities of irradiated milk that the Russian's distributed anyways.