Written by: Rakshit Dahal - 2022024, Grade XII
Posted on: 09 August, 2021
Chernobyl Nuclear Facility consisted of four RBMK reactors out of which each reactor would generate 1000 Megawatt ( MW) of electricity. The Chernobyl Nuclear Facility was responsible for at least 10 percent of electricity supplied to Ukraine. Altogether the USSR consisted of ten 1000 RBMK nuclear power plants. On April 26 , reactor number 4 in Chernobyl exploded, marking it to be one of the deadliest nuclear disasters.
It was April 26 in the chilly afternoon of Saturday near the city of Pripyat, north of Ukranian SSR in the Soviet Union ( Modern Day Ukranian).Now the reason why Cheronobyl exploded can be partially explained because of the design fault but the other major issue it had, were the inadequate trained personnel inside the control room. The accident occured while running a safety test on an RBMK - type nuclear reactor.Chernobyl disaster is known to be one of the key factors which resulted in the downfall of Soviet Union.
To explain how serious the case was , 24 hours after the explosion, the exposed nuclear core produced radiation worth 40 nuclear bombs( the one dropped in Hiroshima).The longer the time the more radiation it would give.Today Chernobyl serves as tourist spot , it still isn’t operational and is still reactive. More than 49,000 people were evacuated, the officials stated it to be for a short period of time. To this date no one has returned and is by law illegal to live in Pripyat, which today is known as the exclusion zone.
There’s a series called Chernobyl on HBO where it has been explained well.
