On Chernobyl Disaster Day, UN Secretary-General calls for remembering the past and protecting the future

Madame President,

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,                              

Today we come together to mark the 40th anniversary of the Chornobyl disaster.

On 26 April, 1986, an explosion during a routine 20-second system shutdown released large amounts of deadly radiation into the atmosphere.  

This was the most significant nuclear accident in history, and a human tragedy with devastating consequences.

The radioactive contamination spread across Ukraine, Belarus, the Russian Federation, and far beyond, leaving a legacy that would affect communities for generations. 

Some 350,000 people across the region were forced to flee their homes.                                                                                                  

Today, we remember the suffering, trauma and displacement these people endured. 

We pay tribute to those who died in the accident, and in the years and decades after, as communities endured its lasting health, environmental and social consequences. 

But we also remember something more. 

We remember how this tragedy revealed the best of the human spirit. 

The first responders, firefighters, liquidators, and medical workers who responded to the emergency. 

The multinational, long-term recovery efforts that followed. 

The tireless work of scientists, engineers and academics who collected and analyzed evidence about how this disaster happened — and how it could be prevented in the future.

And the work of the United Nations that mobilized global partners and donors to support the recovery. 

By providing emergency and humanitarian aid. 

By the work of our colleagues in the International Atomic Energy Agency, which was the first international institution to survey the site less than two weeks after the accident. 

And by supporting long-term recovery, resilience and sustainable development. 

Over the last four decades, staff across the United Nations system have brought together development, health, environmental, food security and science support to boost recovery and resilience in affected regions. 

That essential work continues to this day. 

From assessing contaminated territories. 

To monitoring the health and environmental effects of radiation and providing training to local residents, leaders and doctors. 

To the critical work of decommissioning nuclear facilities. 

To supporting long term socio-economic development, with more small and medium-sized businesses operating in affected areas each year. 

These efforts are deeply connected to people’s lives and livelihoods. 

To the health and safety of communities and the environment. 

To the institutions and infrastructure that people count on. 

And to the inclusive, long-term development prospects of entire countries and regions. 

Perhaps most of all, Chornobyl underscores the vital importance of countries working together, and sharing information and experiences, to build a culture of safety around this remarkable power source. 

This includes the development of important global conventions that emerged directly from the Chornobyl accident — including the Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident. 

It also includes close cooperation with the IAEA and its peer review system, which deploys international teams of experts to advise countries on the safety of their nuclear reactors and the effectiveness of their regulatory systems. 

It means working with plant operators, with governments and regulators to ensure that safety is never an afterthought — it is the first thought. 

And in these days of geopolitical division and of mistrust, this means that Member States must spare no effort to avoid any actions, intentional or otherwise, that could cause a nuclear accident — whether in the Middle East, in Europe, or anywhere. 

The current war in Ukraine is one example. 

The conflict continues to endanger Ukraine’s nuclear sites, including the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant — the largest nuclear facility in Europe. 

Inconceivably, we have seen military activity directly impacting Chornobyl itself. 

Since 2023 — one year after the start of the war — an IAEA team has continuously been in place at the Chornobyl site, supporting nuclear safety, namely in the follow-up of a drone strike last year. 

The message is clear. 

All military activities near nuclear sites must cease immediately. 

My recent report to the General Assembly underlines that nuclear safety and security must be safeguarded under all circumstances — and that damage to nuclear facilities can undermine decades of collective international efforts. 

There is too much at stake to risk another disaster. 

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, 

Chornobyl was never only a national tragedy.  

Chornobyl was a lesson that the consequences of nuclear accidents are shared by the international community. 

In the name and memory of those who suffered the effects of that horrifying accident four decades ago, let us carry that lesson forward. 

Let us work as one to support communities not only to recover, but to develop and thrive in peace and security. 

And let us build a safer, and more peaceful and resilient future for all. 

Thank you.