With an ever-growing demand for new and efficient ways to generate electricity from renewable resources, many ways have been discovered. We are able to harvest energy from the wind, running water, and even the rays of the sun. But out of all the renewable energy sources today, which one comes to your mind first when you think of the most dangerous one? Do you think of hydroelectric power plants, which in one incident, caused more than 220,000 casualties, and affected more than 10 million (“Typhoon Nina”, 2014)? Or do you think of wind, which in some cases emits a low-frequency sound as it spins, causing an increase in hearing loss in both animals and adults (A. Salt)? In most cases, citizens think that nuclear energy is the most dangerous source
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It was built in the late 1970’s on the banks of the Pripyat river. Chernobyl had four reactors, each with the ability to produce 1,000 MW of electric power. On April 25, 1986, the engineers working there took it upon themselves to perform a stress test on reactor number four. The engineers, even though they had little experience with reactors, wanted to see if the reactor’s turbine could run the emergency water pumps with inertia alone (“Nuclear disaster”, 2016). The engineers disconnected the reactor’s emergency safety systems, as well as its power regulation system. The engineers then reduced the power to the point where the reaction in the core became highly unstable. When they noticed this, the engineers removed some of the control rods in the reactor, the parts that control the rate of fission of the uranium in the reactor. The instability increased rapidly until the engineers decided to reinsert all 200 graphite control rods at once, catalyzing the reaction (Lallanilla, 2013).
At 1:23 a.m. on April 26th, the reactor exploded. The explosion blew the lid off of the reactor, releasing more than 50 tons of radioactive material into the atmosphere. The 30,000 inhabitants of Pripyat were immediately evacuated, and moved to another city in
It was built in the late 1970’s on the banks of the Pripyat river. Chernobyl had four reactors, each with the ability to produce 1,000 MW of electric power. On April 25, 1986, the engineers working there took it upon themselves to perform a stress test on reactor number four. The engineers, even though they had little experience with reactors, wanted to see if the reactor’s turbine could run the emergency water pumps with inertia alone (“Nuclear disaster”, 2016). The engineers disconnected the reactor’s emergency safety systems, as well as its power regulation system. The engineers then reduced the power to the point where the reaction in the core became highly unstable. When they noticed this, the engineers removed some of the control rods in the reactor, the parts that control the rate of fission of the uranium in the reactor. The instability increased rapidly until the engineers decided to reinsert all 200 graphite control rods at once, catalyzing the reaction (Lallanilla, 2013).
At 1:23 a.m. on April 26th, the reactor exploded. The explosion blew the lid off of the reactor, releasing more than 50 tons of radioactive material into the atmosphere. The 30,000 inhabitants of Pripyat were immediately evacuated, and moved to another city in