The Chernobyl Incident of 1986
April 26, 1986 is the date of the biggest nuclear meltdown in history. While the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, a.k.a. the USSR, was in control of Ukraine, it built multiple nuclear power plants. However, these nuclear power plants were not as safe as the ones built in the west-ern countries due to the lack of a safety culture in the USSR. Soviet Russia had boasted how its nuclear power plants were the safest ones in the world in previous press conferences addressing the nuclear meltdown at Three Mile Island. According to the World Nuclear Association (WNA), the designs of the reactors built in the city of Chernobyl in Ukraine had serious mistakes and dur-ing a reactor systems test on April 26, 1986 the fourth reactor exploded. The root cause of this event was a sudden power burst. First responders rushed to the site and poured sand and boron on the reactor. The …show more content…
Once the steam was in the atmosphere, it created a huge cloud that moved onto northern Europe. The incident in Chernobyl is a prime example of how neglecting safety measures can cause widespread destruction. To illustrate the magnitude of the incident it is worth noting that the annual average of radiation exposure in America is approximately .6 Rem, a unit of radiation measurement. This should be contrasted with the 1 to 100 Rems that the people who lived in the city of Chernobyl and those who responded to the tragedy received. This exposure caused major health issues which included mutations and deadly
April 26, 1986 is the date of the biggest nuclear meltdown in history. While the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, a.k.a. the USSR, was in control of Ukraine, it built multiple nuclear power plants. However, these nuclear power plants were not as safe as the ones built in the west-ern countries due to the lack of a safety culture in the USSR. Soviet Russia had boasted how its nuclear power plants were the safest ones in the world in previous press conferences addressing the nuclear meltdown at Three Mile Island. According to the World Nuclear Association (WNA), the designs of the reactors built in the city of Chernobyl in Ukraine had serious mistakes and dur-ing a reactor systems test on April 26, 1986 the fourth reactor exploded. The root cause of this event was a sudden power burst. First responders rushed to the site and poured sand and boron on the reactor. The …show more content…
Once the steam was in the atmosphere, it created a huge cloud that moved onto northern Europe. The incident in Chernobyl is a prime example of how neglecting safety measures can cause widespread destruction. To illustrate the magnitude of the incident it is worth noting that the annual average of radiation exposure in America is approximately .6 Rem, a unit of radiation measurement. This should be contrasted with the 1 to 100 Rems that the people who lived in the city of Chernobyl and those who responded to the tragedy received. This exposure caused major health issues which included mutations and deadly