April 26 1986 : NUCLEAR DISASTER AT CHERNOBYL:
April 26, 1986, the world's worst nuclear power plant accident
occurs at the Chernobyl nuclear power station in the Soviet Union.
Thirty-two people died and dozens more suffered raOndiation burns in the
opening days of the crisis, but only after Swedish authorities
reported the fallout did Soviet authorities reluctantly admit that an
accident had occurred.
The Chernobyl station was situated at the settlement of Pripyat, about
65 miles north of Kiev in the Ukraine. On the evening of
April 25, 1986, a group of engineers began an electrical-engineering
experiment on the Number 4 reactor. The engineers, who had little
knowledge of reactor physics, wanted to see if the reactor's turbine
could run emergency water pumps on inertial power.
As part of their poorly designed experiment, the engineers
disconnected the reactor's emergency safety systems and its
power-regulating system. A chemical reaction, driven by the ignition of gases
resulted in an explosion and ensuing fire,
more than 50 tons of radioactive material were released into the
atmosphere, where it was carried by air currents.
On April 27, Soviet authorities began an evacuation of the 30,000
inhabitants of Pripyat. A cover-up was attempted, but on April 28
Swedish radiation monitoring stations, more than 800 miles to the
northwest of Chernobyl, reported radiation levels 40 percent higher
than normal. Later that day, the Soviet news agency acknowledged that
a major nuclear accident had occurred at Chernobyl.
In the opening days of the crisis, 32 people died at Chernobyl and
dozens more suffered radiation burns. The radiation that escaped into
the atmosphere, which was several times that produced by the atomic
bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, was spread by the wind over
Northern and Eastern Europe, contaminating millions of acres of forest
and farmland. An estimated 5,000 Soviet citizens eventually died from
cancer and other radiation-induced illnesses caused by their exposure
to the Chernobyl radiation, and millions more had their health
adversely affected. In 2000, the last working reactors at Chernobyl
were shut down and the plant was officially closed.
Here is a great link of Chernobyl and the surrounding area today:
Ghost Town
