World Remembers Chernobyl

A Ukrainian child holds a candle to commemorate those who died in the Chernobyl disaster, during a ceremony at the memorial to Chernobyl firefighters in Slavutich, Tuesday, April 25, 2006. Ukraine marked the 20th anniversary of the disaster, the world's worst ever nuclear accident. Some 50,000 Pripyat, Ukraine residents were evacuated at the time, never to return. Many now live in Slavutich, 37 miles from the plant.

Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko lays flowers at a memorial monument honoring Chernobyl victims during a nighttime ceremony on the 20th anniversary of the world's worst nuclear disaster, Wednesday, April 26, 2006 in Kiev, Ukraine.

A Chernobyl veteran rings a bell 20 times, while another one looks at his watch at 1:23 a.m., the time of the explosion in Reactor No. 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, during a ceremony on the 20th anniversary of the world's worst nuclear disaster, Wednesday, April 26, 2006, in Kiev, Ukraine.

Ukrainian mourners hold candles and single red carnations as they honor memory of Chernobyl victims during a night ceremony on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the world's worst nuclear disaster, Wednesday, April 26, 2006, in Kiev, Ukraine.

A young relative of a Chernobyl victim holds flowers to lay at a tomb, whose stone is illustrated with the sarcophagus that covers the destroyed reactor, near the monument to Chernobyl victims in Ukraine's capital of Kiev, Wednesday, April 26, 2006. Ukraine marked the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster which spread radiation over much of northern Europe.

Vera Toptunova, the mother of Leonid Toptunov, who was a senior reactor control engineer at Chernobyl's Reactor No. 4 when it exploded on April 26, 1986, mourns over his grave at Mitino cemetery in Moscow, Wednesday, April 26, 2006. Hundreds of people came to Mitino, where those who died in the Chernobyl catastrophe are buried, to pay tribute to loved ones who perished in the world's worst nuclear accident 20 years ago.

Relatives of firefighter Vladimir Pravik, whose crew was the first to fight the fire at the Chernobyl nuclear plant when Reactor No. 4 exploded in 1986, grieve near his grave at Mitino cemetery in Moscow, Wednesday, April 26, 2006. Hundreds of people came to Mitino where those who died in the Chernobyl catastrophe are buried, to pay tribute to loved ones who perished in the world's worst nuclear accident 20 years ago.

Mother of firefighter Vasily Ignatenko, whose crew was the first to fight the fire at the Chernobyl nuclear plant when Reactor No. 4 exploded in 1986 grieves near his grave at Mitino cemetery in Moscow, Wednesday, April 26, 2006. Hundreds of people came to Mitino where those who died in the Chernobyl catastrophe are buried, to pay tribute to loved ones who perished in the world's worst nuclear accident 20-years ago.

The widow of a Chernobyl victim carries a box of photos of men killed in clean-up operations following the Chernobyl explosion, to place them at the monument to Chernobyl victims in Ukraine's capital of Kiev, Wednesday, April 26, 2006. Ukraine marked the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, which spread radiation over much of northern Europe.

A widow of a Chernobyl victim holds a portrait of her husband who was killed in the clean-up operation following the Chernobyl explosion, during a ceremony at the monument to Chernobyl victims in the Ukraine capital of Kiev, Wednesday, April 26, 2006. Ukraine marked the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, which was the world's worst ever nuclear accident.

Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko speaks on the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster outside the shuttered nuclear power plant, Wednesday, April 26, 2006. In 1986 Chernobyl's Reactor No. 4 exploded during a pre-dawn test April 26, 1986, spewing radioactive clouds over much of the western Soviet Union and northern Europe.

Men who were drafted to clean up the site of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant explosion toast with vodka, a Slavic tradition, in honor of the accident's victims after an official ceremony marking the 20th anniversary of the disaster, in Minsk, Belarus, Wednesday, April 26, 2006. The nuclear plant explosion covered nearly a quarter of Belarus' territory with radioactive fallout.

Pope Benedict XVI delivers his address to the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, during the weekly general audience Wednesday April 26, 2006. Recalling the Chernobyl nuclear accident, the pontiff urged world leaders to ensure that all forms of energy are in the peaceful service of humanity.

British boy Tal Horsman stands next to his father, Greenpeace team leader Paul Horsman, who is carrying a banner that reads: "I trusted nuclear!" during a demonstration in Istanbul, Turkey, Wednesday, April 26, 2006. Environmentalists and peace activists gathered to mark the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine. Tal wears makeup to represent a victim suffering from the effects of radiation.

A Greenpeace activist lights a candle while others, representing the dead, lay on the ground, in Plaza Mayor, Madrid, Wednesday, April 26, 2006 on the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant explosion.

Greenpeace activists carry a man in a white sheet next to others laying on the ground, in Plaza Mayor, Madrid, Wednesday, April 26, 2006 on the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant explosion.

Green Party activists lay flowers outside the French state-owned electricity provider, Electricite de France, in Paris, Wednesday, April 26, 2006 for the victims of the Chernobyl, nuclear accident, in a protest to mark the 20th anniversary of the disaster. France is more dependent than any other country on nuclear energy. (

A police officer uses a wire-cutter to cut chain of a Greenpeace activist, who chained himself to a fence around St. Bazil's Cathedral in Moscow's Red Square, Wednesday, April 26, 2006, to mark the 20th anniversary of Chernobyl nuclear power plant explosion. Letters on t-shirt read: Stop nuclear power plants.