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A combination of faulty reactor design and human error caused the explosion of reactor 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in northern Ukraine, and authorities rushed to clean up the disorder. In December 1986, 31 people died either shortly after the explosion or from radiation poisoning. Those who lived within 30 km of the factory had to leave their contaminated area, losing their livelihood.
It is expected that thousands of other people suffer from long-term cancer due to radiation. Numerous studies have revealed an increase in the number of cancer cases.
The Soviet Union claimed that it paid 882 million pounds of compensation, or 2.5 billion dollars in today's money, to 116,000 evacuees from the Chernobyl region of Ukraine.
However, 65% of this sum – £ 574 million or £ 1.6 billion – was not paid by the Soviet Union.
Instead, it was fueled by voluntary private contributions to a special relief fund set up by the government after the disaster.
READ MORE: How the Chernobyl disaster "caused anomalies" at WALES
In this way, it is well caring individuals who have paid most of the compensation, rather than Moscow.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Russian government offered additional compensation to Russian victims.
Russia paid £ 2.3 billion to victims between 1992 and 1998 – around £ 4.5 billion if inflation is generously taken into account.
However, many victims of the disaster were left without compensation, as they could not prove that their health problems were related to Chernobyl.
A Polish woman, Magdalena Ines Kmiecik, whose family had cancer after Chernobyl and thinks the nuclear accident is to blame, told Express.co.uk that the authorities will not recognize the far-reaching effects of the disaster.
She said: "Nobody will admit that it is because of the impact of Chernobyl on Poland and its people. And I have no way to prove it.
"Nobody will pay compensation for what we have experienced.
"Nobody will care that we are going to have countless surgeries for the rest of our lives."
Moreover, the billions paid to the victims of Chernobyl are still derisory compared to the compensation paid after the nuclear disaster of Fukushima in Japan in 2011.
Both the Japanese government and the private operator Tepco Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. had to pay billions of yen to those affected.
After an earthquake and tsunami that caused the melting of the nuclear plane, thousands of people were evacuated and many died.
Tepco had to shell out the equivalent of 58 billion pounds sterling to compensate for the "mental anguish" of those who have to move, as well as the loss of their livelihood.
The latest appearance of "Chernobyl", a mini-series of historical drama in five episodes, was aired on HBO last night in the United States.
It will air on Sky Atlantic in the UK tonight at 9pm.
The show is the highest rated show of all time on IMDB with an impressive 9.7 / 10.
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