BEIJING, April 26 -- It was the worst nuclear accident the world had ever seen. Twenty years ago, on April 26, 1986, a blast at a power plant in the Ukrainian town of Chernobyl sent a cloud of radioactive dust across northern and western Europe and as far away the eastern United States.

    Following are some key facts about the Chernobyl disaster:

    Reactor number four at the Soviet-designed Chernobyl nuclear power plant 130 kilometres north of Ukraine's capital Kiev exploded at 1:24 am on April 26 following a test on capacity when the safety system was temporarily cut off.

    A series of powerful blasts caused by overheated steam created a fireball which blew off the reactor's heavy steel and concrete lid.

    The accident sent a huge cloud of radioactive strontium, caesium and plutonium across Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and much of Europe.

    The Chernobyl Forum, a group of eight UN agencies, and governments of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, has estimated an eventual death toll of only a few thousand as a result of the explosion. UN agencies have said some 4,000 people would die in total because of radiation exposure.

    Environmental group Greenpeace said this month that the eventual death toll could be far higher than official estimates, with up to 93,000 extra cancer deaths worldwide.

    Chernobyl engineers shut down the last functioning reactor, Number Three, in December 2000. The actual process of making the plant safe will take many years. Officials have said the last fuel rods will not be taken away until 2008 and it will be between 30 and 100 years before the station is completely decommissioned.

(Source: China Daily)