On April 25th -26th, 1986 the world's worst nuclear power accident occurred at Chernobyl in the former USSR (now Ukraine). The Chernobyl nuclear power plant located 80 miles north of Kiev had 4 reactors and while testing reactor number 4, numerous safety features were disabled, or disregarded. At 1:23am control of the reactor was lost creating explosions and a fireball which blew off the reactor's heavy steel and concrete lid.
The Chernobyl accident killed more than 30 people immediately, and as a result of the high radiation levels in the surrounding 20-mile radius, 135,00 people had to be evacuated.
The Chernobyl Disaster was caused by an emergency shutdown experiment ordered by the Soviet Government. The operators of the reactor advised against the experiment but were ordered to proceed!
American Reactors and Reactor Containment Buildings as well as those in Europe and the rest of the world are built to superior standards and regulatory commitments! This anomaly to the Nuclear Industry will never be allowed in the future.
Chernobyl Model Drawing
1.Reactor core, 2.Steam-to-water pipes, 3.Drum Separator, 4.Main circulation pumps, 5.Group dispensing headers,
6.Water pipelines, 7.Upper biological shield, 8.Refueling machine, 9.Lower biological shield.
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