Worst nuclear accident in the human history - Chernobyl

"Chernobyl diaries" was the movie which made me interested in this specific accident which took place on 26th of April 1986 in USSR. It was a nuclear accident which caused so many deaths and contaminated the environment. Influence of the accident can still be seen in the affected areas.

Pripyat

Chernobyl power station was situated in Soviet Russia, (Now the area belongs to Ukraine) 20km south of the border of Belarus. Three kilometers away from the reactor there was a town called "Pripyat"with 49000 inhabitants and an old town of Chernobyl which was 15 kms south east from the complex consisted about 12500 inhabitants. Within a radius of 30km from the Chernobyl reactors a total population of 115000- 135000 people lived.

Chernobyl nuclear power plant consisted of four nuclear reactors of RBMK 1000 design which was a design of Soviet Russia (Reactor BolshoMoshchnosty Kanalny;meaning high power channel reactor). These kind of reactors produced both Plutonium and electric power. Used graphite to maintain the chain reaction and cooled the reactor core with water. RBMK reactors were highly unstable at low power levels. At the time of the accident Soviet Union was using 17 RBMK reactors and Lithuania was using 2 reactors. After the accident 3 other Chernobyl reactors and both Lithuanian reactors were shut down permanently.

Chernobyl nuclear power plant

On the day of the accident reactor crew at the Chernobyl 4 began preparing for a test and it caused a loss of main electrical power supply, which made control rods to cause a dramatic electrical surge when they were inserted into the reactor.Interaction of hot fuel with cooling water led to a fuel fragmentation and steam production and therefore an increase in pressure. It caused a steam explosion, which shifted the 100 megaton cover off the top of the reactor,rupturing 1660 pressure tubes and caused a second explosion and it exposed the reactor core to the environment. Since Chernobyl plant didn't had a massive containment structure, radioactive material escaped into the environment.

Radiation effects killed 28 of the 600 workers in the plant within four months and 2 people died on the night of the explosion. 7000 children under 18 years at the time of the accident later diagnosed with thyroid cancers.200,000 cleanup workers were exposed to high levels radiation in 1986 and 1987. However this explosion contaminated a wide area of Belarus, Russian federation and Ukraine.

Government evacuated people in the area after the explosion and 200-300 tonnes of water per hour was injected to the intact half of the reactor,but stopped cause it will flow into other 3 reactors and cause more accidents. From day 2 to 10, Boron, Dolomite,sand clay and Lead were dropped on to the core using helicopters. Within the next few weeks emergency crews completely covered the damaged core in a temporary concrete structure called the "sacrophagus". Government decided to cut and bury a square mile of pine forest near the plant and the area within 30kms of the plant was closed for people.
Ukrainian government had estimated that the area will not be safe for people to live for another 20,000 years,

An abandoned children's' park in Pripyat

High radiation levels has caused genetic mutations in children and wildlife in these affected areas,(mutation is the change of genome in a living organism) Many Chernobyl wildlife mutations had under developed nervous systems and smaller brains. Water was contaminated and animals consumed this water,especially cattle who consumed contaminated water produced milk with radioisotopes. Roots of the plants in this area absorbs Strontium and Cesium.Trees and shrubs dried up and changed colours.

Abandoned buildings 

There was an artificial lake which was used to provide coolants to the reactors and with the explosion the lake was covered with radioactive debris. Today even after couple of decades water from nearvy river Pripyat is being pumped to prevent the lake from evaporating in summer.(Otherwise vapour with radioactive materials will get into the atmosphere and wind will spread them)

 Today in the city of Chernobyl there is a monument for the people who died trying to stop the contamination. The plaque of the monument says "To those who saved the world". World learned so many lessons from this huge accident which caused a drastic effect on the society and also the environment.But the thing we should remember always is that, a knife can be used to kill a person and also to cut bread. It's not about the knife,it's about the one holding it. Nuclear power is not bad.It is how we use it..