A massive explosion occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. This led to a large amount of radiation.
Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (File Photo)
The world has seen the stench of nuclear weapons in Hiroshima and Nagasaki cities of Japan. But due to the incidents in the nuclear plants, lakhs of people have been affected. A similar incident occurred on this day in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. On April 26, 1986, about 1.25 lakh people died due to the incident at Nuclear Power Plant located in Charnobil, Ukraine (Ukrain). The impact of this accident was so great that so far no one has shown the courage to resettle in Chernobyl. The animals living here are completely over.
A routine test at the power plant was done incorrectly. Subsequently, two large explosions in the plant blew up the reactor’s 1,000-tonne roof. This led to 400 times more radiation than the Nuclear Bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Two employees died in the explosion at the plant. At the same time, 28 more people died due to radiation in the coming months. On the other hand, due to the grip of radiation, thousands of people got cancer, which became the reason for their death. The Chernobyl incident exposed the danger of a nuclear plant among the people. He also highlighted the failure of the government of the Soviet Union.
Where is Chernobyl located?
Chernobyl is located about 80 miles north of Ukraine’s capital, Kiev (Kiev). A small town Pripyat was established a few miles from the nuclear plant to house the laborers and their families working in the plant. The construction of the Chernobyl power plant began in 1977. During this time Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union. By 1983, the work of four nuclear reactors had been completed. Two more reactors were planned to be built in the coming years.
What happened in Chernobyl?
The plant’s power went down at 1:23 am on 26 April. Later in the day, a regular exercise was done to check whether the emergency water cooling system of the plant would work due to power failure. But within a few seconds, the pressure began to build up as uncontrolled steam in reactor number four. Due to this pressure of steam, the roof of the reactor blew up. This led to a burst of radiation and radiative debris. Two to three seconds later, a second explosion occurred and additional fuel started flowing.
A fire broke out on the roof of reactor number three and now the plant started to face danger. The automatic safety system had to work at the time of such an accident, but it was shut down due to testing. Soon after the incident, firefighters arrived at the plant and extinguished the fire that broke out after the explosion. During this time, he was also not wearing radiation avoidance equipment. Due to this, many firemen were also among the 28 people who died in the plant due to radiation.
Eyewitnesses said that the firemen who were extinguishing the fire said that radiation seemed like a taste of metal to them. In addition, he was feeling stinging pins and needles on his face. Reactor number three was shut down till five in the morning. Reactor number one and two were also shut down after 24 hours. On the afternoon of 26 April, the Soviet government deployed troops to extinguish the fire. Some soldiers were dropped from the helicopters on the roof of the reactor. Also water was sprayed from above to cool the reactor. The fire was completely extinguished after about two weeks.
How many people died in the Chernobyl accident?
The Government of Ukraine reported in 1995 that about 125,000 people died due to Chernobyl radiation. A 2005 report by the United Nations Chernobyl Forum estimated that less than 50 people were killed in the months following the accident. At the same time, 9,000 people died due to cancer caused by exposure to radiation of Chernobyl. The health effects of the Chernobyl disaster remain unclear. On the other hand, about 50 thousand people living in the Priyapat were evacuated from there. People left their homes and belongings and fled from there to save their lives.
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