Twin bothers Michael and Vladimir Iariga are 16 years old. Michael has hydrocephalus, an accumulation of fluid within the cranium causing great enlargement of the head. Michael is five minutes older than Vladimir who is deaf. At the time, they lived in Bragin, an area badly affected by Chernobyl and their father worked as a liquidator, evacuating people from the area. His genetic material was diagnosed as badly damaged. Chernobyl in the Ukraine became the site of the most infamous nuclear disaster accident of all. In 1986 the explosion of the nuclear reactor affected the lives of millions in Western Russia, Belarus and the Ukraine. Both countries have plans to build new reactors to export energy to Europe.