Already by the end of the 1950s, the republic fully surpassed pre-war levels of industry and production. It also became the center of Soviet arms industry and high-tech research. Such an important role resulted in a major influence of the local elite. Many members of the Soviet leadership came from Ukraine, most notably Leonid Brezhnev who would later oust Khrushchev and become the Soviet leader from 1962 to 1984, as well as many prominent Soviet sportsmen, scientists and artists.
The rule of Shcherbytsky was characterized by the expanded policies of Russification. He used his influence as the First Secretary of CPU, and a Politburo member for over 25 years, to advocate economic interests of Ukraine within the USSR.
On April 26, 1986, a reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded, resulting in the Chernobyl disaster, the worst nuclear reactor accident in history.[42][43] The disaster was the result of a flawed reactor design, and serious mistakes by plant operators. The explosions and the resulting fire sent a plume of highly radioactive fallout into the atmosphere and over an extensive geographical area, resulting in mandatory evacuation or voluntary resettlement of about 350,000 people. At the time of the accident 7 million people lived in the contaminated territories, including 2.2 million in Ukraine.[44]
After the accident, a new city, Slavutych, was built outside the exclusion zone to house and support the employees of the plant, which was decommissioned in 2000. Around 150,000 people were evacuated from the contaminated area, and 300,000–600,000 took part in the cleanup. As of 2000, about 4,000 Ukrainian children have been diagnosed with thyroid cancer caused by radiation released by this incident.[45]