Alexander Zayats is growing up in the shadow of Chernoybl.

Raised just 20 miles from where part of the nuclear power plant exploded and caught fire in 1986, he is one of more than a million children possibly exposed to radioactive contamination.

Last summer, Alexander and four other youngsters spent more than a month with a host families in Sequim and Port Angeles as part of an exchange program offered by the non-profit Christian group For the Children of the World.

Though none of the children showed signs of radiation sickness, the program was meant take them out of areas of the Ukraine, Russia and Belarus contaminated by the world’s worst nuclear accident.

Alexander, now 13, was born three years after the incident.

“It’s to give them a six-week break from the radiation and help them build their bodies back up,” said Andy Sallee of Sequim, a cargo pilot whose family hosted Alexander. “It’s also a cultural exchange program.”

Sallee is now looking for families to host children this year from late June to early August.

The rest of this story appears in today’s Peninsula Daily News. Click on “Subscribe” to get the PDN delivered to your home or office.