Nimisha Sharma

Geography HL
IB1
Explain the reasons for the occurrence and severity of a specific
human-induced hazard event that you have studied.
Hazard:

A threat (whether natural or human) that has the potential to

cause loss of life, injury, property damage, socio-economic disruption or

environmental degradation. It can be human-induced as well as natural.
A human-induced disaster is a disastrous event caused directly and
principally by one or more identifiable deliberate or negligent human
action. Also called a human-made disaster.
The Chernobyl Nuclear Accident in 1986 is a famous human-induced
disaster. It was a nuclear accident that occurred at the Chernobyl Nuclear
Power Plant on April 26, 1986. Chernobyl is located in the Ukraine, northwest of the capital city Kiev. The Ukraine is located in Eastern Europe. At
the time of the accident the Ukraine was part of the USSR (Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics) and became independent in 1991 with the collapse of
the USSR. The Ukraine has a population of about 46 million.
The Chernobyl nuclear accident took place at 01.23 am local time on the
26th April 1986. The accident happened exactly when the scientists at the
plant were testing the safety procedures. It happened during an
emergency drill. It is known as the worst nuclear power plant disaster in
the history. It was actually a nuclear meltdown in one of the reactors,
which caused a fire that sent a plume of radioactive fallout and eventually
spread all over Europe. It is one of only two nuclear accidents to be
classified level 7 on the International Nuclear Events Scale.
The day before the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, scientists were preparing
for a one-time shutdown to do routine maintenance on reactor number 4.
In violation of safety regulations, they disabled plant equipment including
the automatic shutdown mechanisms.

At 1:23 a.m. on April 26, when extremely hot nuclear fuel rods were
lowered into cooling water, an immense amount of steam was created,
which because of the RBMK reactors (designed and built by the Soviet
Union) design flaws created more reactivity in the nuclear core of

reactor number 4. The resultant power flow had an immense explosion

that detached the 1,000-ton plate covering the reactor core, releasing
radiation into the standard pressure and burning away the flow of coolant
into the reactor. A few minutes after, a second burst of even greater
power than the first blew the reactor building apart and discharged
burning graphite and other regions of the reactor core around the plant,
starting a bit of intense fires around the damaged reactor and reactor
number 3, which was still running at the time of the detonations.
It was reported that the external fires around the plant were extinguished
within 5 hours, but fires within the reactor continued until 10th May 1986.
Helicopters were used to drop boric acid, sand, clay and lead onto the
reactor to neutralise the reactor, but firefighters on the ground were used.
The firemen were not warned about the risks of radiation and due to that
most

of

them

died

later

because

of

radiation

poisoning.

Pripyat, the nearby town was not evacuated for over 24 hours, even after
the massive radiation leak. The town had a population of around 50,000 at
the time of the accident. When the evacuation warning eventually came,
people were told that it would only be temporary and that they should
leave all their belongings behind. The explosion killed two plant workers,
who were the first of several workers to die within hours of the accident.
28 more died afterwards, in the next 2 months. For the next several days,
as emergency crews tried desperately to hold the fires and radiation
leaks, the death toll climbed up as plant workers give in to the intense
radiation

illness.

After getting a massive radiation leak around the plant, a radioactive

cloud was also discharged into the air. The USSR authorities did not inform
the world straight out near the accident and it was actually another power
station in Sweden that first discovered the cloud and informed USSR about
it. The cloud contained 400 times more radioactive material than the
Hiroshima bomb that hit Japan. The whole of Europe received fallout from
the cloud, although it is reckoned that up to 50% fell on Russia, Belarus
and

the

Ukraine.

As with many nuclear disasters, it is difficult to fully approximate all the

deaths and injuries accountable to it is estimated that 237 suffered acute
radiation sickness and 52 died in the months following the accident. In
total 135,000 people were evacuated from the region. The number of
cancer cases blamed for the accident ranges from 2,000 to 100,000. The
range is so big because it is hard to know how many would have caught
cancer had there not been a leak. As well as the effects on humans, lakes,
reservoirs and rivers received fallout as well as forests and animals. Many
of

the

nearby

animals

died

of

cancers

or

became

sterile.

To try and stop the leakage of radioactive material a giant container

(called a sarcophagus) was built over the burnt out reactor. Nevertheless,
scientists now think that the sarcophagus is leaking and another one
needs

to

be

made

over

the

crest

of

the

previous

one.

It is estimated that it will be another 200 years until the land around
Chernobyl is fully usable gain and up to 20,000 years until it is fully
normal. As mentioned earlier an exclusion zone does exist, but up to
10,000 residents have returned. It is claimed that the evacuated area has
turned into a bit of a wildlife sanctuary with animals adapting and now
lynx, bear, wolves, bears, Bison and eagle owl being found in the area.
However, others argue that this is not the case.