Chernobyl.

[Colortec]

When reactor #4 erupted in an almighty ball of fire back in 1986 it spewed out tons of radioactive material.

This material caused many deaths in the days that followed and rendered the land uninhabitable for miles around.

Journalists, equiped with gieger counters, report radiation levels in excess of 1000x normal background levels.

How was it possible then, to continue running the other (remaining) reactors for another 14 years or so AFTER the original disaster?

Surely, the proximity of the individuals operating/working to the radiation was not practical.....how was it managed?

Were the workers ignorant of the danger they were placing themselves in by working so close to the (now destroyed) number four reactor?

[qapmoc]

These web sites might help you get some answers.

http://www.chernobyl.co.uk/

http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~meshkati/chernobyl.html