The total geographical area contaminated by radioactive isotopes, including the quantity and radioisotope composition dispersed both on land and water, as a result of a nuclear power plant disaster, atomic bomb blast or depleted uranium munitions event.
The radioactive footprint resulting from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the Ukraine covered 38,000 square kilometers and nearly rendered all of Europe uninhabitable had a second explosion occurred at the power plant, according to Soviet nuclear expert Vassily B. Nesterenko.
by San Onofre Downwinder December 7, 2012