On April 26, 1986, at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, in the 4th power unit, a huge explosion occurred, as a result of which the nuclear reactor was completely destroyed. This sad event will forever go down in human history as the “accident of the century.”
Explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Year 1986, April 26 - a black date in history
The most powerful nuclear power plant in the USSR became a source of release of extremely dangerous pollutants into the environment, due to which 31 people died within the first 3 months, and the number of deaths over the next 15 years exceeded 80. The most severe consequences of radiation sickness were recorded in 134 people due to severe radioactive contamination. The terrible “cocktail” consisted of a large list of elements from the periodic table, such as plutonium, cesium, uranium, iodine, strontium. Deadly substances mixed with radioactive dust covered a huge territory with a mud plume: the European part of the Soviet Union, the eastern part of Europe and Scandinavia. Belarus suffered greatly from the contaminated precipitation. The explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was compared to the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
How the explosion happened
During the investigation, numerous commissions repeatedly analyzed this event, trying to find out what exactly caused the disaster and how it happened. However, there is no consensus on this matter. A force capable of destroying all life in its path burst out from the 4th power unit. The accident was classified: the Soviet media remained deathly silent for the first days, but the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (1986) was recorded abroad as a colossal radiation leak and the alarm was raised. It became impossible to remain silent about the accident. The energy of the peaceful atom was intended to carry civilization forward, towards progress, but changed its trajectory and caused the invisible war between man and radiation.
The explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the date of which will be remembered by mankind for centuries, began with a fire in power unit No. 4, the signal about which was received by the control panel at 1.24 am. The fire brigade promptly began extinguishing the fire, successfully extinguishing the fire by 6 a.m., thanks to which the fire could not spread to block No. 3. The level of radiation in the halls of the power unit and near the station was unknown to anyone at that time. What happened in these hours and minutes with the nuclear reactor itself was also unknown.
Reasons and official versions
Analyzing the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the causes of which were inexplicable at first glance, experts put forward many versions. Having summed up the results of the investigation, scientists settled on several options:
1. Disruption and disruption of the operation of circular pumps due to cavitation (formation of a shock wave as a result of a chemical reaction) and, as a consequence, a pipeline breakthrough.
2. Power surge inside the reactor.
3. Low level of security in the enterprise - INSAG version.
4. Emergency acceleration - after pressing the "AZ-5" button.
The latter version, according to many industry experts, is the most plausible. In their opinion, the control and protection rods were brought into active operation precisely by pressing this ill-fated button, which led to the emergency acceleration of the reactor.
This course of events is completely refuted by experts from the Gospromatnadzor commission. Employees put forward their versions of the causes of the tragedy back in 1986, insisting that the positive reactivity was caused by the emergency protection being activated, which is why the explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant occurred.
Certain technical calculations that prove the cause of the explosion due to cavitation on anti-aircraft missile system, refutes other versions. According to the chief designer of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, steam at the entrance to the reactor, as a result of boiling of the coolant in the air defense system, entered the core and distorted the energy-releasing fields. This happened due to the fact that the coolant temperature at its most dangerous period has reached the boiling point. The emergency acceleration began precisely with active vaporization.
Explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Other reasons for the tragedy
In addition, opinions were often voiced about the cause of the explosion as an act of sabotage, which was planned by the United States and carefully hidden by the government of the USSR. This version is supported by photographs of the exploded power unit from an American military satellite, which miraculously found itself in the right place exactly when the explosion occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. It is very difficult to refute or confirm this theory, and therefore this version remains a guess. It remains only to confirm that indeed in 1986 the explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant resulted in the disabling of secret objects (over-the-horizon radar Duga-1, Chernobyl-2).
The earthquake that occurred at that moment is also cited as the cause of the tragedy. Indeed, shortly before the explosion, seismographs recorded a certain shock in the immediate vicinity of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. It is the vibration that could provoke the accident that adherents of this version call the reason for the launch of irreversible processes. What seems strange in this situation is the fact that for some reason the neighboring power unit No. 3 was not damaged in any way and did not receive information about the seismic tremors. But no tests were carried out on it...
The most fantastic reason for the explosion has also been put forward - this is possible ball lightning, formed during the bold experiments of scientists. It was she who, if we imagine such a course of events, could well disrupt the operating regime in the reactor zone.
The consequences of the tragedy in numbers
At the time of the explosion, only 1 person died at the station. The very next morning, another employee died from very serious injuries. However, the worst thing began later, when literally within a month another 28 people died. They and 106 other station employees were at work at the time of the disaster and received the maximum dose of radiation.
Fire extinguishing
To extinguish the fire, when a fire was announced in power unit No. 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, 69 employees included in the fire department, as well as 14 vehicles, were involved. People put out the fire, having no idea about the high level of pollution. The fact is that it was not possible to look at the background radiation meters: one was faulty, the second remained out of reach, under the rubble. That is why no one could even imagine the real consequences of the explosion at that time.
A year of death and sorrow
At approximately 2 a.m., some firefighters began to experience the first symptoms of radiation sickness (vomiting, weakness, and an incomparable “nuclear tan” on their bodies). After the first medical care the patients were taken to the city of Pripyat. The next day, 28 people were urgently sent to Moscow (6th Radiological Hospital). All the efforts of the doctors were in vain: the fire tamers became so infected that they died within a month. Trees covering an area of almost 10 square meters also died from the huge release of radioactive substances into the atmosphere during the disaster. km. The explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the consequences of which were felt not only by the direct participants, but also by residents of the three republics Soviet Union, forced unprecedented safety measures to be taken at all similar installations.
On April 26, 1986, at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, in the 4th power unit, a huge explosion occurred, as a result of which the nuclear reactor was completely destroyed. This sad event will forever go down in human history as the “accident of the century.”
Explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Year 1986, April 26 - a black date in history
The most powerful nuclear power plant in the USSR became a source of release of extremely dangerous pollutants into the environment, due to which 31 people died within the first 3 months, and the number of deaths over the next 15 years exceeded 80. The most severe consequences of radiation sickness were recorded in 134 people due to severe radioactive contamination. The terrible “cocktail” consisted of a large list of elements from the periodic table, such as plutonium, cesium, uranium, iodine, strontium. Deadly substances mixed with radioactive dust covered a huge territory with a mud plume: the European part of the Soviet Union, the eastern part of Europe and Scandinavia. Belarus suffered greatly from the contaminated precipitation. The explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was compared to the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
How the explosion happened
During the investigation, numerous commissions repeatedly analyzed this event, trying to find out what exactly caused the disaster and how it happened. However, there is no consensus on this matter. A force capable of destroying all life in its path burst out from the 4th power unit. The accident was classified: the Soviet media remained deathly silent for the first days, but the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (1986) was recorded abroad as a colossal radiation leak and the alarm was raised. It became impossible to remain silent about the accident. The energy of the peaceful atom was intended to carry civilization forward, towards progress, but changed its trajectory and caused the invisible war between man and radiation.
The explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the date of which will be remembered by mankind for centuries, began with a fire in power unit No. 4, the signal about which was received by the control panel at 1.24 am. The fire brigade promptly began extinguishing the fire, successfully extinguishing the fire by 6 a.m., thanks to which the fire could not spread to block No. 3. The level of radiation in the halls of the power unit and near the station was unknown to anyone at that time. What happened in these hours and minutes with the nuclear reactor itself was also unknown.
Reasons and official versions
Analyzing the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the causes of which were inexplicable at first glance, experts put forward many versions. Having summed up the results of the investigation, scientists settled on several options:
1. Disruption and disruption of the operation of circular pumps due to cavitation (formation of a shock wave as a result of a chemical reaction) and, as a consequence, a pipeline breakthrough.
2. Power surge inside the reactor.
3. Low level of security in the enterprise - INSAG version.
4. Emergency acceleration - after pressing the "AZ-5" button.
The latter version, according to many industry experts, is the most plausible. In their opinion, the control and protection rods were brought into active operation precisely by pressing this ill-fated button, which led to the emergency acceleration of the reactor.
This course of events is completely refuted by experts from the Gospromatnadzor commission. Employees put forward their versions of the causes of the tragedy back in 1986, insisting that the positive reactivity was caused by the emergency protection being activated, which is why the explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant occurred.
Certain technical calculations that prove the cause of the explosion due to cavitation on an anti-aircraft missile system refute other versions. According to the chief designer of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, steam at the entrance to the reactor, as a result of boiling of the coolant in the air defense system, entered the core and distorted the energy-releasing fields. This happened due to the fact that the temperature of the coolant reached the boiling point during the most dangerous period. The emergency acceleration began precisely with active vaporization.
Explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Other reasons for the tragedy
In addition, opinions were often voiced about the cause of the explosion as an act of sabotage, which was planned by the United States and carefully hidden by the government of the USSR. This version is supported by photographs of the exploded power unit from an American military satellite, which miraculously found itself in the right place exactly when the explosion occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. It is very difficult to refute or confirm this theory, and therefore this version remains a guess. It remains only to confirm that indeed in 1986 the explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant resulted in the disabling of secret objects (over-the-horizon radar Duga-1, Chernobyl-2).
The earthquake that occurred at that moment is also cited as the cause of the tragedy. Indeed, shortly before the explosion, seismographs recorded a certain shock in the immediate vicinity of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. It is the vibration that could provoke the accident that adherents of this version call the reason for the launch of irreversible processes. What seems strange in this situation is the fact that for some reason the neighboring power unit No. 3 was not damaged in any way and did not receive information about the seismic tremors. But no tests were carried out on it...
The most fantastic reason for the explosion has also been put forward - this is possible ball lightning, formed during the bold experiments of scientists. It was she who, if we imagine such a course of events, could well disrupt the operating regime in the reactor zone.
The consequences of the tragedy in numbers
At the time of the explosion, only 1 person died at the station. The very next morning, another employee died from very serious injuries. However, the worst thing began later, when literally within a month another 28 people died. They and 106 other station employees were at work at the time of the disaster and received the maximum dose of radiation.
Fire extinguishing
To extinguish the fire, when a fire was announced in power unit No. 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, 69 employees included in the fire department, as well as 14 vehicles, were involved. People put out the fire, having no idea about the high level of pollution. The fact is that it was not possible to look at the background radiation meters: one was faulty, the second remained out of reach, under the rubble. That is why no one could even imagine the real consequences of the explosion at that time.
A year of death and sorrow
At approximately 2 a.m., some firefighters began to experience the first symptoms of radiation sickness (vomiting, weakness, and an incomparable “nuclear tan” on their bodies). After first medical aid, the patients were taken to the city of Pripyat. The next day, 28 people were urgently sent to Moscow (6th Radiological Hospital). All the efforts of the doctors were in vain: the fire tamers became so infected that they died within a month. Trees covering an area of almost 10 square meters also died from the huge release of radioactive substances into the atmosphere during the disaster. km. The explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the consequences of which were felt not only by the direct participants, but also by residents of three republics of the Soviet Union, forced to take unprecedented safety measures at all similar installations.
Any global event remains in our memory for a long time, most often forever. Unfortunately, not all such events are joyful and expected. Sometimes it happens, therefore, when a particular country goes down in history “thanks to” a terrible incident that entails human casualties, destruction of the environment, devastation of an entire area, and the death of all living things around. One such event can accurately be called such a sad event as the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant occurred on the territory of the former Ukrainian USSR (now an independent country - Ukraine), on April 26, 1986. The term most often used in the media is “Chernobyl disaster,” which became one of the largest nuclear tragedies in the history of mankind. When did the Chernobyl accident happen and what followed? Why did the accident happen at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and who is to blame for it? When was Chernobyl, when did the Chernobyl accident happen? More about all this below.
Lesson for humanity
The destruction that occurred during the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was in the nature of an explosion. was completely destroyed. A huge amount of radioactive substances were released into the environment.
As already mentioned, the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is regarded as the largest in the entire history of peaceful nuclear energy. Such conclusions can be drawn from the number of deaths, as well as those affected by the consequences. We cannot ignore the economic damage, which also affected the material condition of the Soviet Union.
Only within three months after the accident the number of victims reached 31 people. The first ones died within a few days. Further, radiation sickness claimed the lives of from sixty to eighty people, and this over the next fifteen years. Also, about one hundred and thirty-four people suffered radiation sickness, which had one degree or another of severity. More than 100 thousand people who lived in a 30-kilometer zone were immediately evacuated.
In order to eliminate such a phenomenon as the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, a force of 600 thousand people was deployed and a huge amount of resources was spent. However, even now we continue to feel the consequences of this terrible accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, and it is safe to say that this atomic curse will weigh on humanity around the world for a long time.
No matter how you look at it, people will continue to ask such questions, since the date of the accident in Chernobyl has long been known: Chernobyl, as it all happened, the accident at the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, or briefly, the emergency accident. All these questions remain largely open.
What did people do to deserve such a disaster and how did it happen? What is this, a human mistake or a curse from above? Probably, no one will say for sure, just as the true culprits will not be found. The Chernobyl accident became a good warning for those who believe that everything in this world is subject to human control, because sometimes the slightest mistake can lead to huge casualties. And we all tend to make mistakes...
Chernobyl and Hiroshima
Along with such grief as the Chernobyl accident, another world catastrophe is remembered, namely. But here you can find a difference. The explosion that resulted in the Chernobyl accident was more like a powerful “dirty bomb”, and the main damaging factor Here we can accurately call radiation contamination.
The radioactive cloud formed from the burning reactor spread various radiation throughout almost all of Europe. Of course, the greatest consequences from this radiation were observed in large areas of the Soviet Union that were located near the reactor. Today these are lands that belong to the Republic of Belarus, Ukraine, and the Russian Federation.
The Chernobyl accident became an event of enormous social and political significance for the entire Soviet Union. And this, of course, left a significant imprint on the course of the investigation of the case. The interpretation of facts and their course were constantly changing, but there is still no exact designation or identification of the reasons that caused such a catastrophe as the Chernobyl accident.
The giant who buried the city. Characteristics of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant
Chernobyl, the accident in which led to sad worldwide fame, is located on the territory of Ukraine, three kilometers from, 16 kilometers from Belarus, 110 kilometers from the capital of Ukraine, Kiev.
By the time the accident occurred, Chernobyl operated four power units based on RBMK-1000 reactors at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The total power of the station was already one of the highest in Europe at that time: the Chernobyl nuclear power plant produced one tenth of the electricity throughout the USSR. In the future, it was planned to increase the capacity of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. There was simply no time to complete the two additional power units.
The Chernobyl nuclear power plant stopped forever on December 15, 2000. This date seemed to confirm that some things cannot be restored, they are now buried due to circumstances and, possibly, human omission.
Accident, Chernobyl - these two words can still inspire horror. For us, the current generation, it is impossible to imagine such a terrible thing happening again. And all we can do is correct conclusions and act in such a way as to protect yourself and those around you.
Horror is coming. Accident
On April 26, 1986, at night, namely at 1:26 am, an explosion occurred at the fourth power unit, which led to the complete destruction of the reactor. The accident in Chernobyl began with the partial destruction of the power unit building, killing two people. Moreover, the body of one of them could not be found, since it was buried under the rubble of the building. The second person died in hospital from burns and other injuries incompatible with life. But that was only the beginning. The Chernobyl accident did not stop there, but continued to claim life after life and is still doing so.
The explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant provoked the emergence of many fires. Fires broke out in various rooms of the station and on the roof, and as a result, the remains of the core melted. It seemed that the real end of the world had begun. Mixtures of sand, concrete, and fuel fragments began to spread throughout the sub-reactor rooms, destroying what was in their path.
Immediately the Chernobyl accident caused the release of radiation into the atmosphere. Among the radioactive substances there were plutonium, uranium and other substances terribly harmful to life, the half-life of which reaches several hundred and even thousands of years. The Chernobyl accident is something that will have consequences for centuries to come.
How it was. Chronology of the disaster
So, Chernobyl nuclear power plant, whose accident shocked the whole world, was once one of the largest systems that produced electricity. It would seem that it is indestructible, that there is no such phenomenon that can shake this powerful colossus.
The accident, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, is something that is known to everyone, but not everyone knows how it all began. It's probably good to know the history of what remains in our memory forever. Let's talk about what caused what we feel even decades later.
Path to Death
When did the tragedy at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant occur? It all started on April 25, 1986. The plans were to shut down the fourth power unit in order to carry out regular preventive maintenance and at the same time conduct an experiment. As part of the experiment, “turbogenerator rotor run-down” tests were to take place. The project proposed by the general designer was seen as an effective and cost-effective way to obtain an additional power supply system.
It should be noted that this was already the fourth test of the regime that was carried out at the station. Therefore, if someone asks the question “when did the tragedy at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant occur,” we can say that the tragedy was approaching gradually. The station itself seemed to warn people about something terrible, and it happened when no one expected it.
Deadly experiment
Tests about which we're talking about, were supposed to take place on April 25, 1986. About a day before such an event as the accident at Chernobyl, the power of the reactor was reduced by half. There was a decrease in power prerequisite experiment. For the same reason, the emergency cooling system was turned off. A further reduction in reactor power was prohibited by the Kievenergo dispatcher. At 23:10 the ban was lifted.
Although the date of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is exact character– April 26, 1986, the tragedy played out even earlier, since all huge events have their introductions. Due to prolonged unstable operation of the reactor, non-stationary xenon poisoning occurred.
Within 24 hours on April 25, the peak of poisonings had passed, and it seemed that the problem had been solved. But, as the date of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant confirms, the worst was yet to come. On the same day, the process of poisoning the reactor began at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. But since the power of poisoning began to decrease again, the poisoning process gained momentum again. If the question “in what year was the accident at Chernobyl” can be answered precisely - 1986, then even scientists do not dare to give an exact answer to the question of when its consequences will pass.
If anyone wants to see what the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant looks like, photos on the Internet are at your service. However, it is unlikely that photographs will be able to convey all the horror that actually happened there. No books or documentary stories will allow you to feel all the horror that is happening in the eighties of the twentieth century. The date of the Chernobyl accident will forever go down in history as one of the most terrible events that is unlikely to be corrected.
Signs from above?
Within about two hours, the reactor power was reduced to the level that was provided for by the program, but then, for unknown reasons, the reactor power could not be maintained at the required level and got out of control.
The shift manager decided to restore the rector's power. After a certain time, the station operators achieved the restoration of the reactor's power, but after a few minutes it began to grow again. Only after an hour of work did the operators finally manage to stabilize the reactor. The manual control rods continued to be removed.
After a certain thermal power was achieved, additional circulation pumps were put into use, the number of which was increased to eight. As the test program states, four pumps, together with two additional ones, were supposed to serve as a load for the generator of the “running down” turbine, which also participated in the experiment.
You already know that the tragedy in Chernobyl began with an experiment that started at 1:23 am. Due to the fact that the speed of the pumps connected to the run-down generator decreased, the reactor experienced a trend that entailed an increase in power. But at the same time, for almost the entire time of the process, the reactor power did not inspire concern. The tragedy in Chernobyl occurred a little later, and continues to this day. But then there was still no sign of trouble.
Seconds before the tragedy
Due to the fact that there was an additional increase in coolant flow through the reactor, and the cooling system was turned off, excessive amounts of steam were generated. As a result, when the coolant entered the core, the temperature in the reactor approached the boiling point. The situation began to become unmanageable.
Sensing something was wrong, the shift supervisor gave the command to stop the experiment. The operator pressed the emergency protection button, but the Chernobyl NPP system did not respond as it should. After just a few seconds, various signals were deciphered and recorded. They indicated that the reactor's power was growing, then the recording system simply failed.
The emergency protection system also did not work. Due to the large amount of steam in the reactor, the uranium rods, which were supposed to stop the fission of atoms, lingered at a height of 2 out of 7 meters. Dangerous processes continued to occur. Less than a minute after the “successful” start of the experiment, an explosion occurred, the consequences of which are shown in photographs of the Chernobyl accident to this day.
One way or another, the date of the Chernobyl accident is forever etched in history former USSR. The consequences of the Chernobyl accident can be felt through the years, and then on that fateful day, it was impossible to imagine such a thing. But it is the consequences of the Chernobyl accident that make us think about how fragile and unreliable everything in this world is.
The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant - what did the investigation show?
As mentioned above, the Chernobyl accident, the photo of which eloquently tells us about those terrible events, does not give an accurate idea of the reasons for what happened. The investigation into this accident has been ongoing for many years. Not only Soviet, Ukrainian and Russian specialists tried to understand why the accident happened at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, and whether it could have been avoided. The history of the disaster interests many scientists around the world. After all, as already mentioned, we continue to feel the consequences of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant even now, although enough time has passed.
Today, there are two different approaches that lead to explaining the causes of the Chernobyl accident. The consequences of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant arose as a result of an explosion, the causes of which have been trying to find out for many years in a row. These versions can be called official, in addition, there are several alternative versions, and their degree of reliability also varies.
A state commission was formed in the USSR in order to investigate such an event as the Chernobyl tragedy. The State Commission placed responsibility for this on the personnel of the Chernobyl plant, as well as on its management. But are these people really to blame for the Chernobyl tragedy?
Soviet experts, based on some of their research, confirm this point vision. There are allegations that the accident occurred due to a number of violations of the rules, that is, discipline was simply not observed, operating regulations were violated by personnel. The consequences at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, photos may somewhere show that all this happened due to the fact that the reactor was not used in a regulated condition.
Probably, if you want to ask Google “Chernobyl accident, date,” it will also answer you clearly and precisely when it happened. But the errors given here cannot be considered reliable, since, as mentioned above, there is no evidence, one can only speculate.
Causes of the accident
The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the date of which is known to everyone, could have taken place due to gross violations established rules:
- The experiment had to be carried out “at any cost,” despite the fact that changes in the state of the reactor were too obvious and indicated danger. The Chernobyl accident, the date of which is included in the list of the worst disasters, became inevitable due to the fact that it was not appreciated human life.
- The causes of the Chernobyl accident were that plant employees turned off manual safety mechanisms that were able to stop the reactor in a timely manner.
- The causes of the Chernobyl accident could also have occurred due to the hushing up of the scale of the accident in the early days by the management at the nuclear power plant. All this was a gross violation of the rules, which led to the disaster.
Is this why the Chernobyl tragedy happened? After all, already in the nineties, namely in 1991, all this was reviewed anew by the USSR Gosatomnadzor. And as a result, they came to the conclusion that all these statements are not substantiated, that, they say, this is all quite doubtful. In addition, the commission carried out special analyzes regarding the regulatory documents at that time, and there was no confirmation of the accusations against the station personnel.
Also in 1993, a report of additional content was published, where a lot of attention was paid to the reasons that led to such a terrible event as the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Questions regarding reactor malfunction were also addressed. All this was obtained from the old archive and new reports that were formed over many years.
The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant still worries the minds of those who study it. As this report states, the most obvious reason is that there was an error in the design of the rector structure. Design features could have had a major influence on the course of the accident and, as a result, led to such a catastrophe as the Chernobyl accident, while Chernobyl became the most famous place in the world, unfortunately notorious.
Causes of the accident considered today
So, if the question is asked “in what year was the Chernobyl accident,” we can answer clearly, but we are also interested in the liquidation of the Chernobyl accident and its main factors of occurrence. The main versions of the disaster that are being considered today are:
- Failure to comply with safety regulations. It is believed that the reactor did not meet the required safety standards.
- Low quality of regulations. The quality of the regulations was very low, therefore safety was also at zero.
- Lack of information among staff. The exchange of information was not effective, it was impossible to properly convey danger signals.
The liquidation of the Chernobyl accident continues to this day, because it is completely destroyed terrible phenomenon, probably not possible. The Chernobyl accident is of interest year after year for its gloom and mystery, interests in what happened in Chernobyl, how the seconds passed before the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, how the accident occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, when there was an accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, when there was an accident in Chernobyl, and the main question , this is probably “Chernobyl nuclear power plant photo after the accident”, because it will allow you to see how it once was and how it is happening now.
The Chernobyl disaster is gradually being forgotten, although it seemed that the most grandiose man-made disaster in the history of mankind in terms of its scale and consequences was the Chernobyl accident. nuclear power plant will forever be engraved in human memory, will serve as a stern warning to people living today and their descendants that one must always talk to the nucleus of an atom in a “YOU” manner, that a frivolous, self-confident attitude towards atomic energy,
The article examines the technical side of this huge tragedy. I tell specialists in advance that much is given here in an extremely simplified form, in some places even to the detriment of scientific accuracy. This was done so that even a person very far from physics and nuclear energy would understand what happened and why on the night of April 25-26, 1986.
Although this disaster is not directly related to military science and history, it was the “stupid and illiterate, rude and stupid” army that had to use the lives and health of its soldiers and officers to correct the mistakes of the “intelligent geniuses of science, the concentration of all the best that is in our society ".
It was highly educated and technically competent nuclear scientists, all these “Promstroykompleks”, “Atomstroy”, Dontekhenergo”, all the venerable academicians, doctors of sciences who managed to arrange this disaster, but were unable to either organize work to eliminate the consequences or manage all the material resources provided at their disposal.
It turned out that they simply did not know what to do now, they did not know the processes occurring in the reactor. You should have seen their shaking hands, confused faces, and pitiful babble of self-justification in those days.
Orders and decisions were either made or cancelled, but nothing was done. And radioactive dust rained down on the heads of Kiev residents.
And only when the head of the chemical forces of the Ministry of Defense got down to work and troops began to gather at the scene of the tragedy; When at least some concrete work began, these “scientists” breathed a sigh of relief. Now you can again intelligently argue about the scientific aspects of the problem, give interviews, criticize the mistakes of the military, and tell tales about your scientific foresight.
Physical processes occurring in a nuclear reactor
A nuclear power plant is not much different from a thermal power plant. The whole difference is that in a thermal power plant, steam for turbines driving electric generators is obtained by heating water from the combustion of coal, fuel oil, gas in the furnaces of steam boilers, and in a nuclear power plant, steam is obtained in a nuclear reactor from the same water.
When the atomic nucleus of heavy elements decays, several neutrons are released from it. The absorption of such a free neutron by another atomic nucleus causes excitation and decay of this nucleus. At the same time, several neutrons are also released from it, which in turn... The so-called nuclear chain reaction begins, accompanied by the release of thermal energy.
Attention! First term! Multiplication factor - K. If at a given stage of the process the number of free neutrons formed is equal to the number of neutrons that caused nuclear fission, then K = 1 and each unit of time the same amount of energy is released, but if the number of free neutrons formed is greater than the number of neutrons that caused nuclear fission , then K>1 and at each subsequent moment of time the energy release will increase. And if the number of free neutrons produced less number neutrons that caused nuclear fission, then K<1 и в каждый следующий момент времени выделение энергии будет уменьшаться.
The task of the power plant duty shift personnel is precisely to keep K approximately equal to 1. If K<1, то реакция будет затухать, количество вырабатываемого пара уменьшаться, пока реактор не остановится. Если К>1 and it cannot be made equal to 1, then what happened at the Chernbyl nuclear power plant will happen.
It seems easy to come to the conclusion that the nuclear fission reaction will increase all the time, because One free neutron during the splitting of an atomic nucleus releases 2-3 neutrons and the number of free neutrons should increase all the time.
To prevent this from happening, tubes containing a substance that absorbs neutrons well (cadmium or boron) are placed between the tubes containing nuclear fuel. By moving such tubes out of the reactor core, or vice versa, introducing such tubes into the zone, they can be used to capture some of the free neutrons, thus regulating their number in the reactor core and maintaining the K coefficient close to unity.
When uranium nuclei fission, nuclei of lighter elements are formed from their fragments. Among them is tellurium-135, which turns into iodine-135, and iodine in turn quickly turns into xenon-135. This xenon is very active in capturing free neutrons. If the reactor operates in a stable mode, then the xenon-135 atoms burn out quite quickly and do not affect the operation of the reactor. However, if there is a sharp and rapid decrease in reactor power for some reason, xenon does not have time to burn out and begins to accumulate in the reactor, significantly reducing K, i.e. helping to reduce reactor power. The phenomenon of so-called (Attention! Second term!) xenon poisoning of the reactor is growing. At the same time, the iodine-135 accumulated in the reactor begins to turn into xenon even more actively. This phenomenon is called (Attention! Third term!) iodine pit.
Under such conditions, the reactor does not respond well to the extension of control rods (tubes with boron or cadmium), because neutrons are actively absorbed by xenon. However, in the end, with a sufficiently significant extension of the control rods from the core, the power of the reactor begins to increase, heat generation increases, and xenon begins to burn out very quickly. It no longer captures free neutrons and their number is rapidly increasing. The reactor gives a sharp jump in power. The control rods lowered at this moment do not have time to absorb the neutrons quickly enough. The reactor may escape the operator's control.
The instructions require that when there is a certain amount of xenon in the core, do not try to increase the power of the reactor, but by lowering the control rods, finally stop the reactor. But the natural removal of xenon from the reactor core takes up to several days. All this time, no electricity is generated by this energy unit.
There is another term - reactor reactivity, i.e. how the reactor responds to operator actions. This coefficient is determined by the formula p=(K-1)/K. At p>0 the reactor accelerates, at p=0 the reactor operates in a stable mode, at p< 0 идет затухание реактора.
Principles of reactor design
Nuclear fuel is black tablets with a diameter of about 1 cm and a height of about 1.5 cm. They contain 2% uranium dioxide 235, and 98% uranium 238, 236, 239. In all cases, with any amount of nuclear fuel, a nuclear explosion cannot develop , because for an avalanche-like rapid fission reaction characteristic of a nuclear explosion, a concentration of uranium 235 of more than 60% is required.
Two hundred nuclear fuel pellets are loaded into a tube made of zirconium metal. The length of this tube is 3.5m. diameter 1.35 cm. This tube is called (Attention! Fifth term!) Fuel element - fuel element.
36 fuel rods are assembled into a cassette (another name is “assembly”).
The RBMK-1000 brand reactor (high-power channel reactorchernob-5.jpg (7563 bytes) with an electric power of 1000 megawatts) is a cylinder with a diameter of 11.8 m and a height of 7 meters, made of graphite blocks (the size of each block is 25x25x60cm. Through each The block passes through a hole - a channel. There are a total of 1872 such holes - channels in this cylinder. 1661 channels are intended for cartridges with nuclear fuel, and 211 for control rods containing a neutron absorber (cadmium or boron).
This cylinder is surrounded by a 1 meter thick wall made of the same graphite blocks, but without holes. The whole thing is surrounded by a steel tank filled with water. This entire structure lies on a metal plate and is covered on top with another plate (lid). Total weight reactor 1850 tons. The total mass of nuclear fuel in the reactor is 190 tons.
In the figure on the left is an assembly with fuel rods in the reactor channel, on the right is a control rod in the reactor channel.
Each reactor supplies steam to two turbines. Each turbine has an electrical power of 500 megawatts. The thermal power of the reactor is 3200 megawatts.
The operating principle of the reactor is as follows:
Water under pressure of 70 atmospheres by main circulation pumps
The main circulation pump is supplied through pipelines to the lower part of the reactor from where it is forced through channels into top part reactor, washing the assemblies with fuel rods.
In fuel rods, under the influence of neutrons, a nuclear chain reaction occurs with the release of a large amount of heat. The water heats up to a temperature of 248 degrees and boils. A mixture of 14% steam and 86% water is supplied through pipelines to separator drums, where steam is separated from water. Steam is supplied through a pipeline to the turbine.
From the turbine, through a pipeline, steam, which has already turned into water with a temperature of 165 degrees, returns to the separator drum, where it mixes with hot water coming from the reactor and cools it to 270 degrees. This water is again supplied through the pipeline to the pumps. The cycle is complete. Additional water can be supplied to the separator from outside through the pipeline (6).
There are only eight main circulation pumps. Six of them are in operation, and two are in reserve. There are only four separator drums. The dimensions of each are 2.6 m in diameter, 30 meters long. They work simultaneously.
Prerequisites for disaster
The reactor is not only a source of electricity, but also its consumer. Until nuclear fuel is unloaded from the reactor core, water must be continuously pumped through it so that the fuel rods do not overheat.
Typically, part of the electrical power of turbines is selected for the reactor's own needs. If the reactor is shut down (fuel replacement, preventive maintenance, emergency shutdown), then the reactor is powered from neighboring units or an external power grid.
In case of extreme emergency, power is provided from backup diesel generators. However, in the best case scenario, they will be able to start producing electricity no sooner than in one to three minutes.
The question arises: how to power the pumps until the diesel generators reach operating mode? It was necessary to find out how long from the moment the steam supply to the turbines is turned off, they, rotating by inertia, will generate a current sufficient for emergency power supply to the main reactor systems. The first tests showed that the turbines cannot provide electricity to the main systems in the inertial rotation mode (coasting mode).
Dontekhenergo specialists proposed their own system for controlling the magnetic field of the turbine, which promised to solve the problem of power supply to the reactor in the event of an emergency shutdown of the steam supply to the turbine.
On April 25, it was planned to test this system in operation, because... The 4th power unit was still planned to be shut down for repair work that day.
However, it was necessary, firstly, to use something as a ballast load so that measurements could be taken on a running-out turbine. Secondly, it was known that when the thermal power of the reactor drops to 700-1000 megawatts, the reactor emergency shutdown system (ECS) will work, the reactor will be shut down and it will be impossible to repeat the experiment several times, because xenon poisoning will occur.
It was decided to block the ECCS system and use backup main circulation pumps as a ballast load.
(main central pump)
These were the FIRST and SECOND tragic mistakes that led to everything else.
Firstly, there was absolutely no need to block the ECCS.
Secondly, anything could be used as a ballast load, but not circulation pumps.
It was they who connected the completely distant electrical processes and processes occurring in the reactor.
Chronicle of the disaster
13.05. The reactor power was reduced from 3200 megawatts to 1600. Turbine No. 7 was stopped. Power supply to the reactor electrical systems was transferred to turbine No. 8.
14.00. The emergency shutdown system of the ECCS reactor is blocked. At this time, the Kievenergo dispatcher ordered to delay the shutdown of the unit (end of the week, afternoon, energy consumption is growing). The reactor is operating at half power, and the ECCS has not been reconnected. This was a gross mistake by the staff, but it did not affect the development of events.
23.10. The dispatcher lifts the ban. The personnel begins to reduce the power of the reactor.
April 26, 1986 0.28. The reactor power has decreased to a level where the system for controlling the movement of the control rods must be transferred from local to general (in normal mode, groups of rods can be moved independently of each other - this is more convenient, but at low power all rods must be controlled from one place and move simultaneously).
This was not done. This was the THIRD tragic mistake. At the same time, the operator makes a FOURTH tragic mistake. It does not command the car to "hold power". As a result, the reactor power is rapidly reduced to 30 megawatts. Boiling in the channels decreased sharply, and xenon poisoning of the reactor began.
The shift staff makes the FIFTH tragic mistake (I would give a different assessment to the actions of the shift at this moment. This is no longer a mistake, but a crime. All instructions require shutting down the reactor in such a situation). The operator removes all control rods from the core.
1.00. The reactor power was raised to 200 megawatts against the 700-1000 prescribed by the test program. This was the second criminal act of the shift. Due to the growing xenon poisoning of the reactor, the power cannot be raised higher.
1.03. The experiment began. The seventh pump is connected to the six operating main circulation pumps as a ballast load.
1.07. The eighth pump is connected as a ballast load. The system is not designed to operate such a number of pumps. The cavitation failure of the main circulation pump began (they simply do not have enough water). They suck water out of the separator drums and its level in them drops dangerously. Huge flow quite cold water through the reactor reduced vaporization to a critical level. The machine completely removed the automatic control rods from the core.
1.19. Due to the dangerously low water level in the separator drums, the operator increases the supply of feed water (condensate) to them. At the same time, the staff makes the SIXTH tragic mistake (I would say the second criminal act). It blocks reactor shutdown systems based on signals of insufficient water level and steam pressure.
1.19.30 The water level in the separator drums began to rise, but due to a decrease in the temperature of the water entering the reactor core and its large quantity, boiling there stopped.
The last automatic control rods left the core. The operator makes his SEVENTH tragic mistake. He completely removes the last manual control rods from the core, thereby depriving himself of the ability to control the processes occurring in the reactor.
The fact is that the height of the reactor is 7 meters and it responds well to the movement of the control rods when they move in the middle part of the core, and as they move away from the center, controllability deteriorates. The speed of movement of the rods is 40 cm. per second
1.21.50 The water level in the separator drums has slightly exceeded the norm and the operator turns off some of the pumps.
1.22.10 The water level in the separator drums has stabilized. Much more is now entering the core less water than before this moment. Boiling begins again in the core.
1.22.30 Due to the inaccuracy of the control systems, which were not designed for such an operating mode, it turned out that the water supply to the reactor was about 2/3 of what was required. At this moment, the station computer issues a printout of the reactor parameters indicating that the reactivity margin is dangerously low. However, the staff simply ignored this data (this was the third criminal act that day). The instructions prescribe in such a situation to immediately shut down the reactor in an emergency manner.
1.22.45 The water level in the separators has stabilized, and the amount of water entering the reactor has been brought back to normal.
The thermal power of the reactor slowly began to increase. The staff assumed that the operation of the reactor had been stabilized and it was decided to continue the experiment.
This was the EIGHTH tragic mistake. After all, practically all the control rods were in the raised position, the reactivity margin was unacceptably small, the ECCS was disabled, and the systems for automatically shutting down the reactor due to abnormal steam pressure and water level were blocked.
1.23.04 Personnel blocks the reactor emergency shutdown system, which is triggered in the event of a loss of steam supply to the second turbine, if the first one has already been turned off. Let me remind you that turbine No. 7 was turned off at 13.05 on 25.04 and now only turbine No. 8 was working.
This was the NINTH tragic mistake. (and the fourth criminal act this day). The instructions prohibit disabling this reactor emergency shutdown system in all cases. At the same time, the personnel shuts off the steam supply to turbine No. 8. This is an experiment to measure the electrical characteristics of the turbine in run-down mode. The turbine begins to lose speed, the voltage in the network decreases and the main circulation pump powered by this turbine begins to reduce speed.
The investigation established that if the emergency shutdown system of the reactor had not been turned off by a signal that the steam supply to the last turbine had been stopped, the disaster would not have occurred. Automation would have shut down the reactor.
But the staff intended to repeat the experiment several times using different parameters for controlling the magnetic field of the generator. Shutting down the reactor excluded this possibility.
1.23.30 The main circulation pumps significantly reduced their speed and the flow of water through the reactor core decreased significantly. Steam formation began to rapidly increase. Three groups of automatic control rods went down, but they could not stop the increase in the thermal power of the reactor, because there weren't enough of them anymore. Because The steam supply to the turbine was turned off, its speed continued to decrease, and the pumps supplied less and less water to the reactor.
1.23.40 The shift supervisor, realizing what is happening, orders to press the AZ-5 button. At this command, the control rods with maximum speed go down. Such a massive introduction of neutron absorbers into the reactor core is intended to completely stop nuclear fission processes in a short time.
This was the last TENTH tragic personnel error and the last direct cause of the disaster. Although it should be said that if this last mistake had not been made, then the catastrophe would have been inevitable.
And this is what happened - at a distance of 1.5 meters under each rod
the so-called “displacer” is suspended
This is an aluminum cylinder 4.5 m long, filled with graphite. Its task is to ensure that when the control rod is lowered, the increase in neutron absorption does not occur abruptly, but more smoothly. Graphite also absorbs neutrons, but somewhat weaker. than boron or cadmium.
When the control rods are raised to their maximum limit, the lower ends of the displacers are 1.25 m above the lower boundary of the core. In this space there is water that is not yet boiling. When all the rods sharply went down the AZ-5 singal, the rods themselves with boron and cadmium had not yet actually entered the active zone, and the displacer cylinders, acting like pistons, displaced this water from the active zone. The fuel rods were exposed.
There was a sharp jump in vaporization. The steam pressure in the reactor increased sharply and this pressure did not allow the rods to fall down. They hovered after walking only 2 meters. The operator turns off the power to the rod couplings.
Pressing this button turns off the electromagnets that keep the control rods attached to the valve. After such a signal is given, absolutely all the rods (both manual and automatic control) are disconnected from their reinforcement and freely fall down under the influence of their own weight. But they were already hanging, supported by steam, and did not move.
1.23.43 Self-acceleration of the reactor began. Thermal power reached 530 megawatts and continued to grow rapidly. The last two emergency protection systems were activated - by power level and by the rate of power growth. But both of these systems control the issuance of the AZ-5 signal, and it was given manually 3 seconds ago.
1.23.44 In a split second, the thermal power of the reactor increased 100 times and continued to increase. The fuel rods became hot, and the swelling fuel particles tore the shells of the fuel rods. The pressure in the core increased many times over. This pressure, overcoming the pressure of the pumps, forced the water back into the supply pipelines.
Further, the steam pressure destroyed part of the channels and steam pipelines above them.
This was the moment of the first explosion.
The reactor ceased to exist as a controlled system.
After the destruction of the channels and steam lines, the pressure in the reactor began to drop and water again flowed into the reactor core.
Chemical reactions of water with nuclear fuel, heated graphite, and zirconium began. During these reactions, rapid formation of hydrogen and carbon monoxide began. The gas pressure in the reactor rapidly increased. The reactor cover, weighing about 1,000 tons, lifted, breaking all the pipelines.
1.23.46 The gases in the reactor combined with atmospheric oxygen, forming an explosive gas, which instantly exploded due to the high temperature.
This was the second explosion.
The reactor lid flew up, turned 90 degrees and fell back down again. The walls and ceiling of the reactor hall collapsed. A quarter of the graphite located there and fragments of hot fuel rods flew out of the reactor. These debris fell on the roof of the turbine hall and other places, creating about 30 fires.
The fission chain reaction has stopped.
The station staff began leaving their jobs at approximately 1.23.40. But from the moment the AZ-5 signal was issued until the moment of the second explosion, only 6 seconds passed. It is impossible to figure out what is happening during this time, and even more so to have time to do something to save yourself. The employees who survived the explosion left the hall after the explosion.
At 1.30 a.m. the first fire brigade, Lieutenant Pravik, arrived at the scene of the fire.
What happened next, who behaved how and what was done correctly and what was wrong is no longer the topic of this article.
author Yuri Veremeev
Literature
1. Journal "Science and Life" No. 12-1989, No. 11-1980.
2.X. Kuhling. Handbook of Physics. ed. "World". Moscow. 1983
3. O.F.Kabardin. Physics. Reference materials. Education. Moscow. 1991
4.A.G.Alenitsin, E.I.Butikov, A.S.Kondratiev. Brief physical and mathematical reference book. The science. Moscow. 1990
5. Report of the IAEA expert group “On the causes of the accident of the RBMK-1000 nuclear reactor at the Chernobyl power plant on April 26, 1986.” Uralurizdat. Ekaterinburg. 1996
6. Atlas of the USSR. Main Directorate of Geodesy and Cartography under the Council of Ministers of the USSR. Moscow. 1986
April 26, 1986... This date will be remembered by several more generations of Ukrainians, Belarusians and Russians as the day and year when the terrible thing happened. When all this happened, perhaps even the most experienced experts did not fully and fully understand what awaited us all subsequently.
The disaster of April 26, 1986 resulted in thousands of deaths and illnesses, contaminated forests, poisoned water and soil, and mutations of plants and animals. Among other things, a thirty-kilometer exclusion zone has appeared on the map of Ukraine, travel to the territory of which is possible only with a special permit.
This article is aimed not only at once again reminding readers what happened on April 26, 1986, but also at looking at what happened, as they say, from different angles. Now, it seems, it is no secret to anyone that in the modern world there are more and more often those who are willing to pay a lot of money to go on an excursion to these places, and some former residents, having never settled down in other regions, often return to their ghostly and abandoned cities.
Brief summary of events
Almost 30 years ago, namely on April 26, 1986, the largest nuclear accident in the world, the consequences of which are felt by the planet to this day.
The nuclear reactor of the fourth power unit exploded at a power plant in the city of Chernobyl. A huge amount of deadly radioactive substances were simultaneously released into the air.
It has now been calculated that in the first three months alone, starting from April 26, 1986, 31 people literally died from radiation on the spot. Later, 134 people were sent to specialized clinics for intensive treatment for radiation sickness, and another 80 died in agony from infection of the skin, blood and respiratory tract.
The Chernobyl nuclear power plant (1986, April 26 and the following days) needed workers more than ever. More than 600 thousand people took part in the liquidation of the accident, most of whom were military personnel.
Perhaps the most dangerous consequence The incident was a huge release of deadly radioactive substances into the environment, namely isotopes of plutonium, uranium, iodine and cesium, strontium and radioactive dust itself. The radiation plume covered not only a huge part of the USSR, but also Eastern Europe, and the Scandinavian countries, but most of all April 26, 1986 affected the Belarusian and Ukrainian SSR.
A lot of international experts were involved in investigating the causes of the accident, but even to this day no one knows for sure true reasons what happened.
Distribution area
After the accident, a so-called “dead” zone of 30 km had to be designated around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Hundreds of settlements were destroyed almost to the ground or buried under tons of earth using heavy equipment. If we consider the sphere with confidence, we can say that Ukraine at that time lost five million hectares of fertile soil.
Before the accident, the reactor of the fourth power unit contained almost 190 tons of fuel, 30% of which was released into the environment during the explosion. In addition, at that time, various radioactive isotopes accumulated during operation were in the active phase. It was they, according to experts, who posed the greatest danger.
More than 200,000 sq. km of surrounding lands were contaminated with radiation. The deadly radiation spread like an aerosol, gradually settling on the surface of the earth. Pollution of territories then mainly depended only on those regions where it rained on April 26, 1986 and the next few weeks. Very severely affected were those regions.
Who is to blame for what happened?
In April 1987, a court hearing took place in Chernobyl. One of the main culprits at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant was recognized as the director of the plant, a certain V. Bryukhanov, who initially neglected basic safety rules. Subsequently, this person deliberately underestimated the level of radiation and did not put into effect a plan for the evacuation of workers and the local population.
Also, along the way, facts were discovered of gross neglect of their official duties on April 26, 1986 on the part of the chief engineer of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant N. Fomin and his deputy A. Dyatlov. All of them were sentenced to 10 years in prison.
The head of the very shift on which the accident occurred (B. Rogozhkin) was sentenced to another five years, A. Kovalenko, his deputy, was sentenced to three years, and Yu. Laushkin, the state inspector of Gosatomenergonadzor, was sentenced to two years.
At first glance, it may seem that this is quite cruel, but if all these people had shown great caution when working at such a dangerous enterprise as the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the disaster of April 26, 1986 would hardly have occurred.
Notification and evacuation of the population
The expert commission argues that after the accident, the first step should have been to immediately evacuate the population, but no one took responsibility for making the necessary decisions. If the opposite had happened then, there could have been tens, or even hundreds of times fewer human casualties.
In practice, it turned out that people knew nothing about what had happened the whole day. On April 26, 1986, someone was working for personal plot, someone was preparing the city for the upcoming ones. Kindergarten kids were walking on the street, and schoolchildren, as if nothing had happened, were doing physical education in the fresh air, as it seemed to them.
Work to evacuate the population began only at night, when an official order was issued to prepare for evacuation. On April 27, a directive was announced on the complete evacuation of the city, scheduled for 14.00.
Thus, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the disaster on April 26, 1986, which deprived many thousands of Ukrainians of their homes, turned the modest satellite town of Pripyat into scary ghost with devastated parks and squares and dead, deserted streets.
Panic and provocations
When the first rumors about the accident spread, part of the population decided to leave the city on their own. Already on April 26, 1986, towards the afternoon, many women in panic and despair, picking up their babies in their arms, literally ran along the road away from the city.
Everything would be fine, but this was done through the forest, the dose of pollution of which was actually many times higher than all permissible indicators. And the road... According to eyewitnesses, the asphalt surface glowed with some strange neon hue, although they tried to pour it abundantly with water mixed with some white solution unknown to the common man.
It is very unfortunate that serious decisions to rescue and evacuate the population were not made on time.
And finally, only a few years later it became clear that the intelligence services of the Soviet Union were aware of the procurement of three tons of meat and fifteen tons of butter in the territories directly affected by the Chernobyl tragedy on April 26, 1986. Despite this, they decided to reprocess radioactive products by adding relatively pure components to them. In accordance with by decision, this radioactive meat and butter was distributed to many large factories in the country.
The KGB also knew for sure that during the construction of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, defective equipment from Yugoslavia was used, it was also familiar with various kinds of miscalculations in the design of the station, delamination of the foundation and the presence of cracks in the walls...
What was going on anyway? Trying to prevent more grief
At about half past two at night in the city of Chernobyl (1986, April 26), the local fire department received a signal about a fire. The duty guard responded to the call and almost immediately transmitted a signal about a fire of high complexity.
Upon arrival, the special team saw that the roof of the turbine room and the huge reactor hall were on fire. By the way, today it has been established that when extinguishing that terrible fire, the guys who were working in the reactor hall suffered the most.
Only at 6 o'clock in the morning was the fire completely extinguished.
In total, 14 vehicles and 69 employees were involved. In terms of overalls, the people performing such an important mission had only a canvas robe, a helmet and mittens. The men extinguished the fire without gas masks, because when high temperature it was simply impossible to work in them.
Already at two o'clock in the morning the first victims of radiation appeared. People began to experience severe vomiting and general weakness, and also experienced a so-called “nuclear tan.” They say that for some, the skin of their hands was removed along with their mittens.
Desperate firefighters did everything possible to prevent the fire from reaching the third block and beyond. The station personnel began extinguishing local fires in different rooms of the station and took all necessary measures to prevent a hydrogen explosion. These actions helped prevent an even greater man-made disaster.
Biological consequences for all humanity
Ionizing radiation, when it hits all living organisms, has a destructive biological effect.
Radiation radiation leads to the destruction of biological matter, mutation, and changes in the structure of organ tissue. This type of irradiation promotes the development different types Oncological disruption of the vital functions of the body, changes and decay of DNA and as a result leads to death.
A ghost town called Pripyat
For several years following the man-made disaster, this settlement aroused the interest of various kinds of specialists. They came here en masse, trying to measure and analyze the level of the contaminated area.
However, in the 90s. Pripyat has begun to attract more and more attention from scientists interested in environmental changes. environment, as well as issues of transformation natural area a city completely left without anthropogenic influence.
Many Ukrainian scientific centers conducted assessments of changes in flora and fauna in the city.
Stalkers of the Chernobyl zone
First of all, it is worth noting that stalkers are people who penetrate into the exclusion zone by hook or by crook. Chernobyl extreme sports fans are conditionally divided into two categories, distinguished by their appearance, slang used, photographs and prepared reports. The first are curious, the second are ideological.
Agree, now you can really find a lot of information in the media