Chernobyl

ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS PROJECT 

NUCLEAR ISSUES - CHERNOBYL DISASTER

On Saturday 26 April 1986, at the No. 4 reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant nuclear accident occurred. The accident begun during safety test on nuclear reactor while an unprepared operating shift was on duty. Upon test completion, the operators ordered a reactor shutdown, but a combination of unstable conditions and reactor design flaws caused an uncontrolled nuclear chain reaction instead. A large amount of energy was suddenly released, destroying cooling water machine. This caused reactor core fire that released radioactive contamination for nine days. As a result 30 kilometers of radius was closed and 68,000 people were evacuated from the effected area. The worst environmental impact was radioactive pollution of aquatic systems near Kiyev and huge radioactive pollution that was spreading around the Europe. Also, Chernobyl catastrophe caused 4000 deaths from radiation caused cancer. Future effects of the disaster is huge as radiation pollution haven’t stopped yet. In order to solve the problems caused by disaster, The Chernobyl Trust Fund was created in 1991 by the United Nations to help victims of the Chernobyl accident. The Chernobyl disaster is considered the worst nuclear disaster in history.