The 

Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident of catastrophic proportions that occurred on 26 April 1986, at

the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine (by the time of the disaster it was theUkrainian Soviet Socialist

Republic, part of the Soviet Union). It is considered the worst nuclear power plant accident in history and is the

only level 7 event on the International Nuclear Event Scale.

The disaster occurred at 01:23, at reactor number four at the Chernobyl plant, near the town of Pripyat, during an

unauthorized systems test. A sudden power output surge took place, and when an attempt was made at an

emergency shutdown, a more extreme spike in power output occurred which led to the rupture of a reactor vessel

as well as a series of explosions. This event exposed the graphite moderator components of the reactor to air

and they ignited; the resulting fire sent a plume of radioactive fallout into the atmosphere and over an extensive

area, including Pripyat. The plume drifted over large parts of the western Soviet Union, and also much of Europe.

As of December 2000, 350,400 people had been evacuated and resettled from the most severely contaminated

areas of Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine.[1][2] According to official post-Soviet data, up to 70% of the fallout landed

in Belarus.[3]

Following the accident, Ukraine continued to operate the remaining reactors at Chernobyl for many years. The

last reactor at the site was closed down in 2000.[4

Events of the accident

RBMK reactor 4 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant was due to temporarily close for
routine maintenance on April 25 1986. The personnel decided this would be the perfect
opportunity to run a particular test on this reactor. This test was to ensure that during a
shutdown, enough electrical power would be available to run the emergency equipment and the
water cooling supply until the diesel power came on. Here is the sequence of events on April 25
and 26 which ended in the disaster.

The test started in the morning of April 25. Part of the test was to shutdown the emergency core
cooling system (ECCS) so it wouldn't interrupt to the test later on. This shutdown of the ECCS
was not a cause of the accident, although, had it not been shut down the severity of the accident
may have been reduced. With this shutdown the reactor was carried on at half the power. At
about 23.00h on April 25 the power was reduced further. The reason it was so late on in the day
was because the grid controller had requested the reactor operator to keep delivering electricity
throughout the working hours causing a delay of the test.

Once the reduction of power had recommenced the reactor should have been stabilised at 1000MW before
it was shutdown, but an operational error made the power drop to about 30MW where the positive void
coefficient became a problem (this is additional steam in the cooling channels) . The operators did their best
to redeem the problem by freeing the control rods manually, this way they managed to stabilise the reactor
at 200MW.

Shorly after that, the coolant flow increased and the steam pressure dropped requiring
the operators to remove almost all the rods, making the reactor very unstable. There is
a minimum requirement of 20 rods that need to be inserted in the reactor at any time.
There were probably only about 6 left after the operators had finished removing them
but the automatic rods in the reactor increase this number towards 20. The operators
had to maintain the steam pressure, they managed to do this by reducing the flow of
feedwater. The cooling of the reactor became less and less because the pumps powered
by turbine were slowing down as the turbine was slowing down. This meant the positive
void coefficient occurred and the operators were now unable to control the power surge.

The temperature increased rapidly causing part of the fuel to rupture. This fuel then
got into the water and fuel particles started reacting with the water causing a steam
explosion, this then destroyed the core of the reactor and 2 minutes later a second
explosion due to expansion of fuel vapour occurred causing more destruction to the
reactor. These 2 explosions resulted in the pile cap lifting up allowing air to enter the
reactor and to react with the graphite moderator blocks producing carbon monoxide
(CO). CO is a very flammable gas and ignited easily causing a fire in the reactor.

About 8 of the 140 tonnes of fuel, containing plutonium and other highly radioactive
fission products, were released from the reactor along with the graphite moderator
which is was also highly radioactive. Along with this vapours from caesium and iodine
were released with the explosion and the fire which burnt long after.

Consequences of the accident

1. Environmental consequences

The radioactive fallout caused radioactive material to deposit itself over a large areas of ground. It has
had an effect over most of the northern hemisphere in one way or another. In some local ecosystems
within a 6 mile (10km) radius of the power plant the radiation is lethally high especially in small
mammals such as mice and coniferous trees. Luckily within 4 years of the accident nature began to
restore itself, but genetically these plants may be scarred for life.

2. Health effects

Firstly, there was a huge increase in Thyroid Cancer in Ukranian children (from birth to 15 years old).
From 1981-1985 there was an average of 4-6 patients per million but between 1986 and 1997 this
increased to an average of 45 patients per million. It was also established that 64% of Thyroid Cancer
patients lived in the most contaminated areas of the Ukraine (Kiev province, Kiev city, provinces of
Rovno, Zhitomir, Cherkassy and Chernigov).

3. Psycological consequences

There has been an increase in psycological disorders such as anxiety, depression, helplessness and
other disorders which lead to mental stress. These disorders are not a consequence of radiation, but
a consequence from the stress of evacuation, the lack of information given after the accident and the
stress of knowing that their health and their children's health could be affected.
 Thyroid Cancer is cancer of the tyroid gland, a gland found near the larynx that secretes
growth and metabolism hormones.

There have also been increases in other cancers, mainly in the population living in the most
contaminated areas and the people who helped clean up the accident.

4. Economic, political and social consequences

The worst contaminated areas were economically, socially and politically declining as the birth rate
had decreased and emigration numbers had substantially risen which had caused a shortage in
labour force. These areas could not evolve industrially or agriculturally because of strict rules that
were introduced because the area was too contaminated. The few products made were hard to sell or
export because people were aware that it had come from the Ukraine and so were scared of being
affected, this caused a further economic decline. Socially people have been limited on their activities
making everyday life very difficult.

Now in the year 2000, everything is looking a lot better and is starting to rise again and probably in
about 10 years time almost everything will be as good as normal in the Ukraine.

The 1986 Chernobyl accident

On 25 April, prior to a routine shutdown, the reactor crew at Chernobyl 4 began preparing for a test to determine
how long turbines would spin and supply power to the main circulating pumps following a loss of main electrical
power supply. This test had been carried out at Chernobyl the previous year, but the power from the turbine ran
down too rapidly, so new voltage regulator designs were to be tested.

A series of operator actions, including the disabling of automatic shutdown mechanisms, preceded the attempted
test early on 26 April. By the time that the operator moved to shut down the reactor, the reactor was in an
extremely unstable condition. A peculiarity of the design of the control rods caused a dramatic power surge as
they were inserted into the reactor (seeChernobyl Accident Appendix 1: Sequence of Events).
The interaction of very hot fuel with the cooling water led to fuel fragmentation along with rapid steam production
and an increase in pressure. The design characteristics of the reactor were such that substantial damage to even
three or four fuel assemblies can – and did – result in the destruction of the reactor. The overpressure caused the
1000 t cover plate of the reactor to become partially detached, rupturing the fuel channels and jamming all the
control rods, which by that time were only halfway down. Intense steam generation then spread throughout the
whole core (fed by water dumped into the core due to the rupture of the emergency cooling circuit) causing a
steam explosion and releasing fission products to the atmosphere. About two to three seconds later, a second
explosion threw out fragments from the fuel channels and hot graphite. There is some dispute among experts
about the character of this second explosion, but it is likely to have been caused by the production of hydrogen
from zirconium-steam reactions.

Two workers died as a result of these explosions. The graphite (about a quarter of the 1200 tonnes of it was
estimated to have been ejected) and fuel became incandescent and started a number of firesf, causing the main
release of radioactivity into the environment. A total of about 14 EBq (14 x 1018 Bq) of radioactivity was released,
over half of it being from biologically-inert noble gases.

About 200-300 tonnes of water per hour was injected into the intact half of the reactor using the auxiliary
feedwater pumps but this was stopped after half a day owing to the danger of it flowing into and flooding units 1
and 2. From the second to tenth day after the accident, some 5000 tonnes of boron, dolomite, sand, clay and
lead were dropped on to the burning core by helicopter in an effort to extinguish the blaze and limit the release of
radioactive particles.

Progressive closure of the Chernobyl plant

In the early 1990s, some US$400 million was spent on improvements to the remaining reactors at Chernobyl,
considerably enhancing their safety. Energy shortages necessitated the continued operation of one of them (unit
3) until December 2000. (Unit 2 was shut down after a turbine hall fire in 1991, and unit 1 at the end of 1997.)
Almost 6000 people worked at the plant every day, and their radiation dose has been within internationally
accepted limits. A small team of scientists works within the wrecked reactor building itself, inside the shelterl.

Workers and their families now live in a new town, Slavutich, 30 km from the plant. This was built following the
evacuation of Pripyat, which was just 3 km away.

Ukraine depends upon, and is deeply in debt to, Russia for energy supplies, particularly oil and gas, but also
nuclear fuel. Although this dependence is gradually being reduced, continued operation of nuclear power
stations, which supply half of total electricity, is now even more important than in 1986.

When it was announced in 1995 that the two operating reactors at Chernobyl would be closed by 2000, a
memorandum of understanding was signed by Ukraine and G7 nations to progress this, but its implementation
was conspicuously delayed. Alternative generating capacity was needed, either gas-fired, which has ongoing fuel
cost and supply implications, or nuclear, by completing Khmelnitski unit 2 and Rovno unit 4 ('K2R4') in Ukraine.
Construction of these was halted in 1989 but then resumed, and both reactors came on line late in 2004,
financed by Ukraine rather than international grants as expected on the basis of Chernobyl's closure.

Chernobyl today
Chernobyl unit 4 is now enclosed in a large concrete shelter which was erected quickly (by October 1986) to
allow continuing operation of the other reactors at the plant. However, the structure is neither strong nor durable.
The international Shelter Implementation Plan in the 1990s involved raising money for remedial work including
removal of the fuel-containing materials. Some major work on the shelter was carried out in 1998 and 1999.
Some 200 tonnes of highly radioactive material remains deep within it, and this poses an environmental hazard
until it is better contained.

A New Safe Confinement structure is due to be completed in 2014, being built adjacent and then will be moved
into place on rails. It is to be an 18,000 tonne metal arch 110 metres high, 200 metres long and spanning 257
metres, to cover both unit 4 and the hastily-built 1986 structure. The design and construction contract for this was
signed in 2007 with the Novarka consortium and preparatory work on site was completed in 2010. The Chernobyl
Shelter Fund, set up in 1997, had received €864 million from international donors by early 2011 towards this
project and previous work. It and the Nuclear Safety Account, set up in 1993, are managed by the European
Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The NSA had received 321 million by early 2011 for
Chernobyl decommissioning and also projects in other ex-Soviet countries. The total cost of the new shelter is
estimated to be €1.2 billion. Early in 2011 EBRD said a further €600 million was required for the structure. Design
approval is expected by mid 2011.
Resettlement of contaminated areas
In the last two decades there has been some resettlement of the areas evacuated in 1986 and subsequently.
Recently the main resettlement project has been in Belarus.

In July 2010, the Belarus government announced that it had decided to settle back thousands of people in the
'contaminated areas' covered by the Chernobyl fallout, from which 24 years ago they and their forbears were
hastily relocated. Compared with the list of contaminated areas in 2005, some 211 villages and hamlets had
been reclassified with fewer restrictions on resettlement. The decision by the Belarus Council of Ministers
resulted in a new national program over 2011-15 and up to 2020 to alleviate the Chernobyl impact and return the
areas to normal use with minimal restrictions. The focus of the project is on the development of economic and
industrial potential of the Gomel and Mogilev regions from which 137,000 people were relocated.

The main priority is agriculture and forestry, together with attracting qualified people and housing them. Initial
infrastructure requirements will mean the refurbishment of gas, potable water and power supplies, while the use
of local wood will be banned. Schools and housing will be provided for specialist workers and their families ahead
of wider socio-economic development. Overall, some 21,484 dwellings are slated for connection to gas networks
in the period 2011-2015, while about 5600 contaminated or broken down buildings are demolished. Over 1300
kilometres of road will be laid, and ten new sewerage works and 15 pumping stations are planned. The cost of
the work was put at BYR 6.6 trillion ($2.2 billion), split fairly evenly across the years 2011 to 2015 inclusive.

Radioactive release

Like many other releases of radioactivity into the environment, the Chernobyl release was controlled by the

physical and chemical properties of the radioactive elements in the core. While the general population often

perceives plutonium as a particularly dangerous nuclear fuel, its effects are almost eclipsed by those of its fission

products. Particularly dangerous are highly radioactive compounds that accumulate in the food chain, such as

some isotopes of iodine and strontium.

Two reports on the release of radioisotopes from the site were made available, one by the OSTI and a more

detailed report by the OECD, both in 1998.[76][77] At different times after the accident, different isotopes were

responsible for the majority of the external dose. The dose that was calculated is that received from external

gamma irradiation for a person standing in the open. The dose to a person in a shelter or the internal dose is

harder to estimate.

The release of radioisotopes from the nuclear fuel was largely controlled by their boiling points, and the majority

of the radioactivity present in the core was retained in the reactor.

 All of the noble gases, including krypton and xenon, contained within the reactor were released

immediately into the atmosphere by the first steam explosion.

 About 55% of the radioactive iodine in the reactor, this means ~1760 PBq or ~0.4 t of I-131 alone, was

released, as a mixture of vapor, solid particles, and organic iodine compounds.

 Caesium and tellurium were released in aerosol form.

 An early estimate for fuel material released to the environment was 3 ± 1.5%; this was later revised to

3.5 ± 0.5%. This corresponds to the atmospheric emission of 6 t of fragmented fuel.[77]

Two sizes of particles were released: small particles of 0.3 to 1.5 micrometers (aerodynamic diameter) and large

particles of 10 micrometers. The large particles contained about 80% to 90% of the released nonvolatile
radioisotopes zirconium-95, niobium-95, lanthanum-140, cerium-144 and the transuranic elements,

including neptunium, plutonium and the minor actinides, embedded in auranium oxide matrix.

Residual radioactivity in the environment

[edit]Rivers, lakes and reservoirs

Earth Observing-1 image of the reactor and surrounding area in April 2009

The Chernobyl nuclear power plant is located next to the Pripyat River, which feeds into the Dnipro

River reservoir system, one of the largest surface water systems in Europe. The radioactive contamination of

aquatic systems therefore became a major issue in the immediate aftermath of the accident.[80] In the most

affected areas of Ukraine, levels of radioactivity (particularly radioiodine: I-131, radiocaesium: Cs-137 and

radiostrontium: Sr-90) in drinking water caused concern during the weeks and months after the accident. After

this initial period, however, radioactivity in rivers and reservoirs was generally below guideline limits for safe

drinking water.[80]

Bio-accumulation of radioactivity in fish[81] resulted in concentrations (both in western Europe and in the former

Soviet Union) that in many cases were significantly above guideline maximum levels for consumption.
[80]
 Guideline maximum levels for radiocaesium in fish vary from country to country but are approximately

1,000 Bq/kg in the European Union.[82] In the Kiev Reservoir in Ukraine, concentrations in fish were several

thousand Bq/kg during the years after the accident.[81] In small "closed" lakes in Belarus and the Bryansk region

of Russia, concentrations in a number of fish species varied from 0.1 to 60 kBq/kg during the period 1990–92.
[83]
 The contamination of fish caused short-term concern in parts of the UK and Germany and in the long term

(years rather than months) in the affected areas of Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia as well as in parts of

Scandinavia.[80]

[edit]Groundwater

Map of radiation levels in 1996 around Chernobyl.

Groundwater was not badly affected by the Chernobyl accident since radionuclides with short half-lives decayed

away long before they could affect groundwater supplies, and longer-lived radionuclides such as radiocaesium

and radiostrontium were adsorbed to surface soils before they could transfer to groundwater.[84] However,

significant transfers of radionuclides to groundwater have occurred from waste disposal sites in the 30 km (19 mi)

exclusion zone around Chernobyl. Although there is a potential for transfer of radionuclides from these disposal

sites off-site (i.e. out of the 30 km (19 mi) exclusion zone), the IAEA Chernobyl Report[84] argues that this is not

significant in comparison to current levels of washout of surface-deposited radioactivity.

[edit]Flora and fauna

After the disaster, four square kilometers of pine forest directly downwind of the reactor turned reddish-brown and

died, earning the name of the "Red Forest".[85] Some animals in the worst-hit areas also died or stopped

reproducing. Most domestic animals were evacuated from the exclusion zone, but horses left on an island in the

Pripyat River 6 km (4 mi) from the power plant died when theirthyroid glands were destroyed by radiation doses

of 150–200 Sv.[86] Some cattle on the same island died and those that survived were stunted because of thyroid

damage. The next generation appeared to be normal.[86]

Recovery projects
[edit]The Chernobyl Shelter Fund(The protective box that was placed over the wrecked reactor was
named  object "Shelter"  by the Soviet government, but the media and the public know it as the
"sarcophagus.")

The Chernobyl Shelter Fund was established in 1997 at the Denver 23rd G8 summit to finance the Shelter

Implementation Plan (SIP). The plan calls for transforming the site into an ecologically safe condition by means of

stabilization of theSarcophagus followed by construction of a New Safe Confinement (NSC). While the original

cost estimate for the SIP was US$768 million, the 2006 estimate was $1.2 billion. The SIP is being managed by a

consortium of Bechtel, Battelle, and Electricité de France, and conceptual design for the NSC consists of a

movable arch, constructed away from the shelter to avoid high radiation, to be slid over the sarcophagus. The

NSC is expected to be completed in 2013, and will be the largest movable structure ever built.

Dimensions:

 Span: 270 m (886 ft)

 Height: 100 m (330 ft)

 Length: 150 m (492 ft)

[edit]The United Nations Development Programme

The United Nations Development Programme has launched in 2003 a specific project called the Chernobyl

Recovery and Development Programme (CRDP) for the recovery of the affected areas.[88] The programme was

initiated in February 2002 based on the recommendations in the report on Human Consequences of the

Chernobyl Nuclear Accident. The main goal of the CRDP’s activities is supporting the Government of Ukraine in

mitigating long-term social, economic, and ecological consequences of the Chernobyl catastrophe. CRDP works

in the four most Chernobyl-affected areas in Ukraine: Kyivska, Zhytomyrska, Chernihivska and Rivnenska.

[edit]The International Project on the Health Effects of the Chernobyl Accident

The International Project on the Health Effects of the Chernobyl Accident (IPEHCA) was created and

received US $20 million, mainly from Japan, in hopes of discovering the main cause of health problems due

to 131I radiation. These funds were divided between Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia, the three main affected

countries, for further investigation of health effects. As there was significant corruption in former Soviet countries,

most of the foreign aid was given to Russia, and no positive outcome from this money has been demonstrated.
Wildlife Sanctuary status and related controversy

The Exclusion Zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power station is reportedly a haven for wildlife.[3][4] As humans

were evacuated from the area 24 years ago, existing animal populations multiplied and rare species not seen for

centuries have returned or have been reintroduced, for example lynx, wild boar, wolf, Eurasian brown

bear, European bison, Przewalski's horse, and eagle owl.[3][4] Birds even nest inside the cracked concrete

sarcophagus shielding in the shattered remains of reactor number 4.[5] The Exclusion Zone is so lush with wildlife

and greenery that in 2007 the Ukrainian government designated it a wildlife sanctuary,[6][7] and at 488.7 km2 it is

one of the largest wildlife sanctuaries in Europe.[4]

According to a 2005 U.N. report, wildlife has returned despite radiation levels that are presently 10 to 100 times

higher than normal background radiation. Although they were significantly higher soon after the accident, the

levels have fallen because of radioactive decay.[5]

Biologist Anders Møller from the University of Paris Sud in France has been examining the effects of radiation on

animals around Chernobyl for two decades. "Areas with higher radiation have fewer animals, survival and

reproduction is reduced, sperm are abnormal and have reduced swimming ability. Abnormalities are

commonplace and mutations rates are much elevated," Møller said.

Last year, Møller and Tim Mousseau published the results of the largest census of animal life in the Chernobyl

Exclusion Zone [1]. It revealed, contrary to the Chernobyl Forum's 2005 report[2], that biodiversity in insects,

birds and mammals is declining. Not all species are affected by radiation in the same way according to Møller.

Some birds -- including migrant species and long distance dispersers -- are more vulnerable to radiation than

others, he said. Martin Hajduch said animal numbers in the exclusion zone are probably higher now than before

the accident. But that's because there are no humans there hunting or fishing.