![]() There was then an open-air reactor core fire, which is what released the airborne radioactivity. A second explosion followed immediately after the first, and led to the collapse of the building which housed the reactor. This first explosion was a steam explosion caused by the overheating of the water usually used to cool the reactor, which broke open the reactor core. Initially, a huge burst of energy was released, followed by two successive explosions. Once the nuclear reaction was triggered, there was very little that could be done to stop the inevitable tragedy. Nuclear Chain Reaction A group of visitors in the Control Room of the Reactor number 2 in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Due to the unstable nature of the reactor at the time, this shutdown triggered a nuclear chain reaction. Once the electrical test was finished, the reactor was put into shutdown mode. Because they were unaware of how unstable the reactor was, the operators continued with the electrical test as planned. When the operators attempted to restore power, only some returned, meaning the reactor was then left in an extremely unstable condition, a risk which was not explained to the operators, and therefore went unacknowledged. When the reactor power was reduced, as planned, power dropped much lower than anticipated, reaching almost zero. ![]() This issue was exacerbated by the fact that this test was delayed on the day, and therefore the workers on shift when the test did run were unprepared and ill trained to deal with this scenario. In essence, the previous tests had failed. This test had been run previously, but despite the simulations, no solution was found to bridge this power gap and maintain reactor cooling. This was intended to provide training for ensuring reactor cooling occurred despite the outage in the interim between the shut down and the back up generator kicking in. The Initial Safety Test Barbed wire fence and radioactive sign on the nuclear chemical power plant's field in Chernobyl.įirst, a safety test was run on one of the major reactors which simulated an electrical power outage. Unfortunately in the case of Cheronbyl, several factors - including inexperienced workers, a fault in the safety measures themselves, and an attempt to underplay the incident - lead to a series of events that created this nuclear disaster. As such, strict safety precautions exist in order to ensure the safety of the crew and surrounding areas. Nuclear Reactors are complex and potentially highly dangerous. The Chernobyl Disaster is considered the worst nuclear disaster in history in terms of both casualties and financial damages. The result was a series of major faults that led to a steam explosion which spilled radioactivity throughout this area of the Ukraine. The reactor itself contained a faulty design, and the operating staff were also undertrained. The Chernobyl Disaster was a nuclear reactor accident that occured in 1986. In many cases, species which have been declining in population elsewhere in Russia and Europe have flourished due to the absence of human life in the exclusion zone in recent times.In the years following the disaster, there have been approximately 5,000 cases of thyroid cancer, resulting in 15 known deaths.Within the first year of the explosion, some 135,000 residents were permanently evacuated.The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Exclusion Zone is still in effect as of 2021, with no plans to resettle the area.
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