DARK HISTORY: CHERNOBYL

This week, Ninetoes visits the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster. I hope he has his radiation suit with him!

Hey there, history lovers! It is your old pal, Ninetoes, coming to you from Ninetoes HQ. Today, I am looking at the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster of 1986. I have coffee in my system and my thinking cap on, so let’s get to it!

The Date was April 26, 1986. Reactor four of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded. At the time, the reactor was located in Pripyat, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine). There were dozens of casualties at the time of the accident, with thousands of health issues resulting from the accident.

The accident happened during a test that simulated cooling down the reactor during a blackout. When the operators shut down the reactor for the test, design flaws created a power surge that ruptured the reactor components and caused a loss of coolant. The resulting steam explosions and meltdown destroyed the reactor building. This was followed by a reactor core fire that spread contaminants across the Soviet Union and Europe.

A 10-kilometer exclusion zone was set up by the Soviet Union thirty-six hours after the accident. 49,000 people were evacuated. The zone was later set to 30 kilometers, and an additional 68,000 people were evacuated.

The Soviet government did not acknowledge the accident until two days later, when elevated radiation levels were detected in Sweden.

The injuries and fatalities were almost like dominoes falling over the years. The initial explosion killed two workers and severely burned two others. Two hundred and thirty-seven others were hospitalized, 134 of these showed Acute Radiation Syndrome (ARS), of which twenty-eight people died within the next three months. Over the next ten years, fourteen more people died. This is the only case in commercial nuclear power history where radiation-related fatalities occurred.

Pripyat was abandoned. The sarcophagus for the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant was completed in December 1986. This reduced the spread of radioactive contamination and provided protection for the crews that worked the undamaged reactors. From 2016 to 2018, the Chernobyl New Safe Confinement was constructed around the sarcophagus.

This will enable the safe removal of the reactor debris.

This will be done by 2065.

The only other nuclear accident rated at maximum severity on the International Nuclear Event Scale was the Fukushima Nuclear Accident of 2011.

The Chernobyl Accident is still considered the worst nuclear disaster and the most expensive, costing close to $700 billion.

Darren “Ninetoes” Perdue is a book and media reviewer. When he is not reading, he is watching true crime shows, cooking for his family, or working on a plan for universal domination. If you see him on his porch, say hi. He does not bite…much.

PLEASE NOTE: The views and opinions of the staff of Memento Mori Ink do not necessarily represent those of Memento Mori Ink or Crystal Lake Publishing. Thank you for understanding.