The disaster of Chernobyl

Chernobyl after the explosion

The Chernobyl disaster took place on 1986, April 28, in the Vladimir Ilyich Lenin Nuclear Power Plant, Chernobyl, Ukraine. This accident killed 30 people and spread massive amounts of radiation into the sky. The Chernobyl disaster is pretty well known. However do you know the cause and aftermath of this tragic event?

THE CAUSE
Now, you might be wondering, what or who is to blame? Well the blame was officially placed on Viktor Bryukhanov for mismanagement and not being trained. He was a janitor on the overnight crew. Vikor Bryukhanov had ignored his co-workers who told him he was tasked to clean the facility only. He thought the tanks that held water were empty and had to be filled up.  This lead to the tanks erupting from the pressure of too much water. Later, after the water had drained out, the core of reactor exploded because there was no longer any water inside of it to keep cool.

THE PEOPLE WHO WERE TO BLAME

Viktor Bryukhanov was later arrested . He was taken to trial then was found guilty. Many of his co-workers were also blamed him for refusing to leave the water tanks alone. He was given 10 years but served only half of that and later died October 13 2021 at the age of 85 after a series of strokes.

Chernobyl Pripyat is now uninhabitable for any human due to amounts of radiation in the air. The radiation was as bad as Hiroshima and Nagasaki at one point.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE POWER PLANT AFTERWARDS?

At some point the power plant had to be restarted to avoid further problems. Defense Forces tried to make the area habitable once again. Now it has become a museum and signs were put to warn Ukrainians who wander the area to avoid walking in areas with too much radiation. 

ELEPHANT’S FOOT

The core created a radioactive material that is named “Corium.” It was later called “Elephant’s foot.” Being around this material could cause cancer. This was made up of melted nuclear fuel mixed with concrete and core sealing material as well Corium. A veteran nuclear engineer and program manager at the Argonne National Laboratory said that Corium looks “A lot like lava, a blackish-oxide material that gets very viscous as it cools down, flowing like sticky molten glass.”

Gallery • 4 Photos

Nuclear Energy Agency

Ukraine powerplant from a distance in Pripyat.