The Fall of the USSR/Soviet Union.

The After Chernobyl Podcast discusses the social, economic, and political aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster. Chernobyl, located in Ukraine, was a nuclear reaction that the USSR tried to hide by withholding wages from its people. This was done to prevent panic and maintain control over its satellite nations. The fallout from Chernobyl affected not only Ukraine but also other Eastern European countries. Sweden was one of the first to detect the radiation through a portable gamma-ray spectrometer. The extent of the disaster was revealed over a three-month period, ultimately leading to the fall of the USSR. What's up guys, it's Cece, and Dale, and you're listening to the After Chernobyl Podcast, where we talk about the aftermath in the face of Chernobyl, socially, economically, and politically. Well, today we're talking about the politics. Now, Chernobyl was in the north of Ukraine, which at the time, Ukraine was a satellite nation of the USSR, or more commonly known as the Soviet Union. The leader of the Soviet Union was a guy named Mikhail Gorbachev, or for the English version, Michael. His rule lasted from 1985 to 1991, which 1991 was officially the year where the Soviet Union fell. So, Chernobyl was a nuclear reaction, and the USSR tried to seem in control and hide it by taking away wages, kind of a blackmail of the people. And they did it to prevent panic in their people, and to prevent rumors from spreading, and to seem in control of their satellite nation, which they were slowly losing control of. This wasn't only affecting the USSR or Ukraine by itself. The USSR also had other countries under its control, such as Belarus, Estonia, and Latvia, which are only a few of the countries that I could have named. They were also satellite nations of the USSR, meaning it also affected most of the Eastern European countries. There were about 18 countries that were affected, and one that affected not the most, but first, one of the first, was Sweden. And they actually found out first from a radar. What kind of radar was it, or like the official name of it? A portable gamma-ray spectrometer. And they caught wind, literally, of it, because the wind pushed the radiation to it, and they connected the high levels of radiation to Chernobyl. During this whole time, from when Chernobyl first had its explosion, to when Chernobyl was discovered to its full extent, was between the end of April to the end of July, around three months. Every now and then, the USSR would reveal just a little bit more, and just a little bit more, as if to stay in control. But when the UN, the United Nations, called Gorbachev into a meeting, he had to tell them the full extent of Chernobyl. And Chernobyl is considered one of the major components that brought down the fall of the USSR, because of why they tried to hide it, and the extent they went to, to try and hide it. Now, that is all we have for Chernobyl, so we hope that you enjoyed listening to it, and we'll see you next time.