The Chernobyl Disaster

Chernobyl in Russia

      The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred in April of ’86. The event took place at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, which is now in Ukraine. It is known to be the worst nuclear accident in history and is the only disaster to be deemed a level 7 event on the International Nuclear Event Scale. Radioactivity occurred and created a massive power excursion that destroyed the reactor. Radiation poisoning was cause of most deaths. Reactor number 4 of the Chernobyl Plant had a fatal meltdown resulting in further explosions and fire, creating a plume of highly radioactive fallout into the atmosphere. The town of Pripyat and extensive geographical areas were also targets of radioactive material. The fallout that occurred during this disaster was about 400 times worse than the bombing of Hiroshima. Large areas in Europe were badly contaminated which led to evacuations of about 330,000 people. Belarus was a huge target for all of the fallout, about 60% of it. Concern for safety arose shortly after the accident and opened eyes all over. This is still a concern all over the world and will be as long as there are radiation plants up and in use.