Reagan reiterated his sympathy for the victims of the accident and his offer of assistance, but then his tone hardened. He contrasted the openness of “free nations” with the “secrecy and stubborn refusal” of the Soviet government to inform the international community of the risks they shared from the disaster. “A nuclear accident that results in contaminating a number of countries with radioactive material is not simply an internal matter,” Reagan said in his folksy rasp. “The Soviets owe the world an explanation.” That day, radioactive rain fell on Japan before being carried eastward by the
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