Write an informational newspaper article about the devastating effects of the famous nuclear meltdowns that occurred in Chernobyl, Ukraine in 1986...
Answers
Explanation:
Chernobyl disaster, accident in 1986 at the Chernobyl nuclear power station in the Soviet Union, the worst disaster in the history of nuclear power generation. The Chernobyl power station was situated at the settlement of Pryp’yat, 10 miles (16 km) northwest of the city of Chernobyl (Ukrainian: Chornobyl) and 65 miles (104 km) north of Kiev, Ukraine. The station consisted of four reactors, each capable of producing 1,000 megawatts of electric power; it had come online in 1977–83.
Chernobyl disaster
Chernobyl disaster
The decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear power station, Ukraine.
© Denis Avetisyan/Fotolia
Chernobyl disaster
QUICK FACTS
DATE
April 26, 1986 - May 4, 1986
LOCATION
Ukraine
RELATED TOPICS
Fallout
Nuclear power
Nuclear reactor
The disaster occurred on April 25–26, 1986, when technicians at reactor Unit 4 attempted a poorly designed experiment. Workers shut down the reactor’s power-regulating system and its emergency safety systems, and they withdrew most of the control rods from its core while allowing the reactor to continue running at 7 percent power. These mistakes were compounded by others, and at 1:23 AM on April 26 the chain reaction in the core went out of control. Several explosions triggered a large fireball and blew off the heavy steel and concrete lid of the reactor. This and the ensuing fire in the graphite reactor core released large amounts of radioactive material into the atmosphere, where it was carried great distances by air currents. A partial meltdown of the core also occurred.
Helicopter inspecting the Chernobyl nuclear power station, Ukraine, U.S.S.R., April 26, 1986.
The destroyed reactor Unit 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear power station, Ukraine, U.S.S.R., April 26, 1986.
Helicopter inspecting the Chernobyl nuclear power station, Ukraine, U.S.S.R., April 26, 1986.
Ukrainian Society for Friendship and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, courtesy IAEA
The destroyed reactor Unit 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear power station, Ukraine, U.S.S.R., April 26, 1986.
Ukrainian Society for Friendship and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, courtesy IAEA
Ax.
BRITANNICA QUIZ
History Lesson: Fact or Fiction?
Aluminum was once more valuable than gold.
On April 27 the 30,000 inhabitants of Pryp’yat began to be evacuated. A cover-up was attempted, but on April 28 Swedish monitoring stations reported abnormally high levels of wind-transported radioactivity and pressed for an explanation. The Soviet government admitted there had been an accident at Chernobyl, thus setting off an international outcry over the dangers posed by the radioactive emissions. By May 4 both the heat and the radioactivity leaking from the reactor core were being contained, albeit at great risk to workers. Radioactive debris was buried at some 800 temporary sites, and later in the year the highly radioactive reactor core was enclosed in a concrete-and-steel sarcophagus (which was later deemed structurally unsound).