WORLD HERITAGE TAG SOUGHT FOR CHERNOBYL

A mothballed nuclear power station surrounded by wasteland, rubble and abandoned buildings is not what most people associate with a UNESCO World Heritage site. But that is exactly what Ukraine has in mind for Chernobyl.

Hoping it could mean more funding and more tourists, the government has begun a process that could eventually allow it to apply to the UN'S cultural, scientific and education body for protection. On April 26, the former Soviet republic marks the 35th anniversary of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, when a reactor at the plant, located some 108 km north of the capital Kyiv, exploded during a botched safety test.

Most of the area around the abandoned nuclear plant is a wilderness of empty buildings, scrubland and rubble.