| In the Western region of the former Soviet | | | | crew was not made aware of the fact that they |
| Union, at that time the only Superpower in the | | | | had postponed the power decrease, and thus |
| world other than the United States, disaster | | | | followed the plan for shutdown as if it had been |
| struck the sleepy Ukraine town of Pripyat. On | | | | decreasing throughout the day. |
| April 26, 1986, in the cold early morning hours, the | | | | Without getting into the scientific aspects of the |
| Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded. The | | | | disaster, suffice to say that this lack of |
| resulting disaster hit a level 7 on the International | | | | knowledge (and the plant's unacceptable safety |
| Nuclear Event Scale, the only incident in the | | | | systems), led directly to the meltdown. While |
| history of atomic energy to do so. Following the | | | | trying to complete the experiment, the staff |
| initial explosion, fire and subsequent explosions | | | | removed the manual control rods for the reactor, |
| from the site sent radioactive plumes of smoke | | | | since they were not getting the desired results |
| into the air and contaminated much of the | | | | from their shutdown. The reactor, set inexorably |
| surrounding area. Reports came from many | | | | towards a runaway reaction, was left without |
| European countries of increased radioactivity | | | | anything to prevent it. By the time systems |
| levels in the atmosphere, and detailed reports | | | | began to show instability on the computers, it |
| thereafter picked up changes in the radioactivity | | | | was too late. The staff tried to reinsert the rods, |
| as far away as the United States. It is estimated | | | | but they melted and broke. Fire and explosion |
| that the fallout was up to forty times that of the | | | | quickly blew the roof off the reactor, and a |
| Hiroshima nuclear bomb. | | | | disaster was born. |
| How It Happened | | | | Taking The Measure |
| Reactor 4 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant | | | | The Chernobyl disaster and its aftermath has |
| was scheduled for a shutdown to perform routine | | | | been difficult to quantify. Conflicting reports exist |
| maintenance on April 25th, the day before the | | | | as to the extent of the damage. It is known that |
| disaster. This shutdown was to take place, in part, | | | | there were fifty-seven deaths as an immediate |
| so an experiment could be undertaken. The | | | | result of the radiation, mostly concentrated on |
| engineers at the plant intended to test the | | | | power plant staff and fire and rescue workers |
| turbines running the generators in the reactor to | | | | who were not told of the severity of the risk. |
| see if they would continue to run even if there | | | | Almost five miles of forestry in the vicinity of the |
| was an external power outage. This would be an | | | | plant changed colors and died due to the radiation. |
| important safety component, as the reactor type | | | | The animals were destroyed. It has been |
| used at Chernobyl requires a constant spray of | | | | estimated that as many as 10,000 cases of fatal |
| water in order to remain cool. Of course, the | | | | cancer among the surrounding residents as a |
| turbines could not turn forever under their own | | | | result of the contamination, making it one of the |
| momentum (or else there would be no need for a | | | | most deadly manmade accidents in history. |
| nuclear power plant). There was a forty second | | | | The incident slowed greatly the Soviet Union's |
| delay between the shutdown of the electricity | | | | abilities to carry on with a nuclear program, and it |
| and the initiation of the backup generators. The | | | | forced the government to be more open in |
| engineers needed to test if the turbines could | | | | future dealings with the press. The disaster may |
| continue to turn for a minimum of forty seconds, | | | | have been less serious had the government been |
| thus producing a seamless transition in the event | | | | prompt with its acceptance of what had |
| of a power outage. | | | | happened and dispersed correct information more |
| In a twist of fate, the grid controller in the area | | | | rapidly. |
| requested that the reactor stay online, however, | | | | It is interesting to note that it was not until the |
| rather than decreasing power output. This was | | | | year 2000, some fourteen years after the |
| due to a regional power station gong offline that | | | | incident that Chernobyl finally shut down. Today, |
| day, and the controller anticipating the need for | | | | workers are still there around the clock, as the |
| the electricity during the peak hours of the day. | | | | nuclear core cannot be left unsupervised. The |
| Chernobyl agreed, and the power decrease did | | | | town of Pripyat has been a ghost town ever |
| not start until nearly 11:00 that night. Thus, the | | | | since, and has actually become a haven for wildlife |
| safety test was put into the hands of the less | | | | in the absence of humans. |
| experienced and understaffed night shift. The new | | | | |