1986

Nuclear explosion at Chernobyl

On this day in 1986, the worlds worst nuclear accident to date occurs at the
Chernobyl nuclear plant near Kiev in Ukraine. The full toll from this disaster is
still being tallied, but experts believe that thousands of people died and as
many as 70,000 suffered severe poisoning. In addition, a large area of land
may not be livable for as much as 150 years. The 18-mile radius around
Chernobyl was home to almost 150,000 people who had to be permanently
relocated.
The Soviet Union built the Chernobyl plant, which had four 1,000-megawatt
reactors, in the town of Pripyat. At the time of the explosion, it was one of the
largest and oldest nuclear power plants in the world. The explosion and
subsequent meltdown of one reactor was a catastrophic event that directly
affected hundreds of thousands of people. Still, the Soviet government kept its
own people and the rest of the world in the dark about the accident until days
later.
At first, the Soviet government only asked for advice on how to fight graphite
fires and acknowledged the death of two people. It soon became apparent,
however, that the Soviets were covering up a major accident and had ignored
their responsibility to warn both their own people and surrounding nations.
Two days after the explosion, Swedish authorities began measuring
dangerously high levels of radioactivity in their atmosphere.
Years later, the full story was finally released. Workers at the plant were
performing tests on the system. They shut off the emergency safety systems
and the cooling system, against established regulations, in preparation for the
tests. Even when warning signs of dangerous overheating began to appear,

the workers failed to stop the test. Xenon gases built up and at 1:23 a.m. the
first explosion rocked the reactor. A total of three explosions eventually blew
the 1,000-ton steel top right off of the reactor.
A huge fireball erupted into the sky. Flames shot 1,000 feet into the air for two
days, as the entire reactor began to melt down. Radioactive material was
thrown into the air like fireworks. Although firefighting was futile, Pripyats
40,000 people were not evacuated until 36 hours after the explosion.
Potentially lethal rain fell as the fires continued for eight days. Dikes were built
at the Pripyat River to contain damage from contaminated water run-off and
the people of Kiev were warned to stay indoors as a radioactive cloud headed
their way.
On May 9, workers began encasing the reactor in concrete. Later, Hans Blix of
the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that approximately 200
people were directly exposed and that 31 had died immediately at Chernobyl.
The clean-up effort and the general radioactive exposure in the region,
however, would prove to be even more deadly. Some reports estimate that as
many as 4,000 clean-up workers died from radiation poisoning. Birth defects
among people living in the area have increased dramatically. Thyroid cancer
has increased tenfold in Ukraine since the accident.

8 Things You May Not Know About

Chernobyl
APRIL 25, 2016 By Jesse Greenspan

An abandoned school in Pripyat, Ukraine.

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On April 26, 1986, a series of explosions rocked the Soviet Unions Chernobyl nuclear
power station, precipitating a catastrophic release of radioactive material into the
environment. Explore some surprising facts about historys worst nuclear accident, the
effects of which are still being felt.
1. The reactors emergency safety systems had been turned off.
The Chernobyl nuclear power station in present-day Ukraine consisted of four 1,000-megawatt
reactors, plus two additional reactors that were under construction. On the night of April 25-26,
1986, Soviet technicians initiated a turbine test on Unit 4 just prior to a routine shutdown for
maintenance. In order to perform the test, they unwisely disabled the emergency core cooling
system and other key safety equipment. A chain of operating mistakes then ensued, resulting in a
buildup of steam that caused the reactor to overheat. At 1:23 a.m., two to three rapid-fire

explosions blew its steel and concrete lid right off and sent a fireball shooting high into the sky.
This initial release of radioactive material was then compounded by several fires that broke out,
including one inside the reactor core that raged for 10 days. All told, the accident at Chernobyl
released at least 100 times more radiation than the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki.
2. The cleanup was much deadlier than the original blasts.
Though massive, the explosions at Chernobyl killed only two plant operators directly and
reportedly prompted a third to die of a heart attack. By comparison, 28 workers and firefighters
succumbed to acute radiation poisoning during the first few months of the cleanup, and dozens of
others were badly sickened. Heavy radioactive fallout, which spread as far west as France and
the United Kingdom, likewise took a toll. Thousands of children who drank irradiated milk
contracted thyroid cancer, at least 15 of whom ended up dying. Chernobyl almost certainly
caused other premature cancer deaths as well, though the number remains hotly disputed. In
2005, the United Nations-backed Chernobyl Forum predicted that the accident would claim up to
4,000 lives in total, whereas Greenpeace put the number at 93,000.
3. The Soviet Union attempted a cover-up.
In the immediate aftermath of the Chernobyl meltdown, the Soviet authorities largely kept their
own citizens in the dark and made no attempt to alert neighboring countries. On April 28,
however, the cover-up began falling apart when Swedish air monitors detected large amounts of
radiation in the atmosphere that seemed to have originated in the USSR. Pressed for an answer,
the Soviets admitted that an accident had killed two people at Chernobyl, but they also lied that
the situation was now under control. It took until May 6 for the authorities to close schools in
Kiev, the Ukrainian capital located about 65 miles from the plant, and to warn residents to stay
inside. The full story of what happened at Chernobyl would not come out until years later.
4. Huge numbers of people still cant go home.
About 36 hours after the accident, the Soviet authorities started evacuating some 115,000 people
who lived nearby, though not before many had already begun to suffer from vomiting and
headaches. Believing they would soon be allowed to return home, they left behind assorted pets
and valuables. Much to their surprise, however, all land within an 18.6-mile radius of the plant
was subsequently closed off, and checkpoints were established to control access. This so-called
exclusion zone was expanded in later years, leading to the evacuation of an additional 220,000

people. Though a few hundred residents have returned illegally, the vast majority of the area
remains devoid of humans.
5. Chernobyl may have actually been a boon for wildlife.
As forests reclaimed land previously given over to industry and agriculture, and without people
around to shoot and poison them, moose, red deer, wolves, lynx, bears, eagles and other
megafauna reportedly began taking refuge in the exclusion zone around Chernobyl. This area
has paradoxically become a unique sanctuary for biodiversity, the Chernobyl Forum declared
in 2005. Yet even as some species apparently thrive, the radiation has been shown to cause
significant and potentially deadly abnormalities in others, such as birds with deformed beaks.
6. The plant didnt close until years later.
When Unit 4 exploded, the other three reactors at the Chernobyl nuclear power station were
likewise shut down. But they were all restarted within a year and a half or so, despite
international condemnation over their alleged design flaws and widespread contamination at the
site. Thousands of plant operators continued trudging into work every day, only to see a turbine
hall fire prompt the closure of Unit 2 in 1991. Then, in 1995, newly independent Ukraine agreed
to shutter the remaining two reactors in return for financial assistance from the Group of 7
leading industrial nations (which includes the United States). Unit 1 stopped operating in 1996,
and Unit 3 was the last to close in 2000.
7. Chernobyl has become a macabre tourist attraction.
Though people still cant live there, the Ukrainian authorities opened up the exclusion zone to
tourism in 2011. Since then, guides regularly take in visitors to view wildlife, as well as to
explore the hastily abandoned ghost towns that dot the landscape, such as Pripyat, which once
had a population of more than 45,000. In order to minimize exposure to radiation, the guides
carry dosimeters and instruct their customers not to eat or smoke outside.
8. The cleanup is still taking place.
At great risk to their own health, emergency workers dropped sand, lead and boron into the
reactor core and cleaned up flammable debris, among other desperate attempts to stop the release
of radioactive material in the frantic few days after the accident. They also chopped down and
buried acres of pine forest, bulldozed villages and even slaughtered abandoned pets for fear they
would leave the area and cause further contamination. The workers then entombed the reactor in

a gigantic concrete structure, known as the sarcophagus, which over time has begun to
deteriorate and spring leaks. If all goes well, a new 32,000-ton arch will be pushed on top of the
sarcophagus sometime next year. According to the Ukrainian government, however, the site will
not be completely cleared until around 2065. Meanwhile, radioactive particles will remain in the
environment for hundreds of generations to come.
http://www.history.com/news/8-things-you-may-not-know-about-chernobyl
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/nuclear-explosion-at-chernobyl
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