Chernobyl disaster

The Chernobyl disaster (/tʃɜːrˈnoʊbəl/, Russian: Чернобыльская катастрофа) was a 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.

Etymology

The term "Chernobyl" is derived from the Ukrainian word for "wormwood" (Artemisia vulgaris), a plant commonly found in the wild in the region. The disaster is named after the location of the nuclear power plant.

Causes

The disaster was caused by a combination of inherent reactor design flaws and the reactor operators arranging the core in a manner contrary to the checklist for the test. The nuclear reactor was not designed with adequate safety features for this type of test.

Consequences

The immediate aftermath of the explosion dispersed large amounts of radioactive particles into the atmosphere, which spread over much of Western USSR and Europe. This led to acute radiation sickness for many of the plant workers and emergency responders, and long-term health effects such as cancer and deformities in the wider population.

Chernobyl disaster

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