Chernobyl disaster

From WikiMD's medical encyclopedia

Chernobyl disaster is a catastrophic nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the No. 4 reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, near the city of Pripyat, in the north of the Ukrainian SSR in the Soviet Union. It is considered the worst nuclear disaster in history.

Background

The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant was one of the largest and oldest nuclear power plants in the world. It was built in the 1970s and was the third such facility built in the Soviet Union. The plant was located near the city of Pripyat, which was home to many of the plant's workers and their families.

The Disaster

On 26 April 1986, during a late-night safety test simulating a power outage, a combination of inherent reactor design flaws and the reactor operators arranging the core in a manner contrary to the checklist for the test resulted in uncontrolled reaction conditions. Water flashed into steam generating a destructive steam explosion and a subsequent open-air graphite fire.

Aftermath

The Chernobyl disaster had significant impact on the surrounding area and on the people who lived there. Large areas of the Ukrainian SSR and Belarus were contaminated with radioactive fallout, leading to serious health problems for the inhabitants. The disaster also had significant economic and political consequences for the Soviet Union.

Health Effects

The Chernobyl disaster caused many immediate and long-term health effects. The immediate effects included acute radiation sickness in those who worked at the plant or were nearby when the explosion occurred. Long-term effects include increased rates of cancer and other illnesses, particularly among those who were children at the time of the disaster.

See Also

References


External Links

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Contributors: Prab R. Tumpati, MD