On the morning of April 26, 1986, a massive explosion tore through Reactor 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in northern Ukraine. The blast released a radioactive cloud estimated to be 400 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. In the immediate aftermath, 31 people lost their lives — including two plant workers and 29 firefighters who battled the flames. But the invisible danger of radiation exposure meant the true toll was far greater, with long-term deaths from can