CHERNOBYL DISASTER

BROLIN NANDABI CPE/16/17

TREVOR MULUMIA CPE/12/18
KEVIN NYASINGA CPE/20/17
INTRODUCTION
• The 1986 Chernobyl disaster was brought on by a defective reactor
design that was operated by unqualified staff.
• At least 5% of the radioactive reactor core was discharged into the
environment as a result of the steam explosion and flames, which led
to the deposition of radioactive elements across much of Europe.
DATE, TIME AND LOCATION
• The Chernobyl disaster which occurred on 26th April 1986 was a
catastrophic nuclear accident that occurred at the Chernobyl Nuclear
power plant in the city of Pripyat, Ukraine.
• The plant was located 3km away from the city of Pripyat. The city was
mainly built for settlement of the workers in the Nuclear power plant.
WHAT HAPPENED…
The Test
• Before the setup pf the power plant, the Soviet Union wanted to test
if there was a total shutdown of the plant, the electrical power
generated by the slow moving turbines will be enough to power the
emergency water pumps for the plant to keep running during the 60-
75 seconds it took the coolant pumps to power up and run at full
capacity.
• A couple of tests were done in 1982, 1984 and 1985 but to no avail.
28 minutes past midnight
• Anatoly Dyatlov the supervisor in charge of running the plant gave
instructions to reduce the output of the reactor to 25%.
• Something goes wrong and there is an unexpected major decrease
that makes the power fall too much that they had to remove 200 out
of 206 control rods so as to increase the power production but
nothing happens.
• This likely happened due to xenon buildup during the test that caused
xenon poisoning in the reactor.
• Xenon is usually blown away at full power but the slow down to 25%
caused xenon buildup in turn causing low production of power.
2nd hour
• At 1:05am the power is stable though the reactor is running below
the ideal.
• Anatoly Dyatlov gives the green light for the beginning of the test
although the reactor was running below the safety level.
• At 1:24am the test begin to simulate the power outage.
• Then there is a sudden increase in power. The output of the reactor
was way above normal full capacity levels.
• The increase was so serious that one of the workers panicked and hit
the SCRAM button which was an emergency off switch.
The reactor lid and control rods
Design flaw (The Big Mistake)
• The control rods had graphite tips that increase the reaction rate but the
boron in the control rods reduces reactivity, not at the tips.
• As the rods hit the reactor at the same time, there was a surge in reactivity.
This creates a massive amount of hot steam which was in effect a bomb.
• The worker manning the reactor was shocked to see 200 rods each weighing
350kg jumping up and down with the reactor lid which was 10,000 tons.
• At this point the reactor was producing 10 times the amount of power it does
at full capacity.
• BANG!!!!! The lid is blown off the roof. This was the first explosion.
• Due to hydrogen build up from the zirconium-steam reaction as second
explosion occurred in the reactor that blew bits of radioactive material
everywhere.
Blue beam of light from ionization of air and site after explosion
After the explosion
• Alexander Yuvchenko rushes to the control room and informs Anatoly
Dyatlov, the supervisor, that the reactor had exploded and there was
fire breaking out everywhere.
• Since it was practically impossible, Anatoly Dyatlov instructs his
colleagues to remove Alexander Yuvchenko out of the room as he was
not okay. He also instructs them to call the fire brigade and sends 3
workers alongside Alexander Yuvchenko to go and manually open the
emergency water tank valves in the reactor room.
• The fire brigade arrive at the scene without any protective gear as
they were not informed on what could have caused the fire.
DEATHS AND INJURIES
• The initial explosions were recorded to have caused 2 deaths but it is
unclear as the workers who had signed in were not accounted for.
• 237 people were exposed (including the fire men) to acute radiation. 31 of
them died in 1st month.
• Citizens of Pripyat were also exposed to radiation as no immediate action
was taken as the city was put on lockdown for the first 33 hours.
• 4000 people died due to cancer from the radiation.
• 150 necessary abortions had to be done for expectant mothers.
• A number of children exposed to the radiation were diagnosed with
thyroid cancer as they grew.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
• The total damages incurred during the disaster was estimated to be
about 235 billion dollars.
• As the city of Pripyat was built mainly for the settlement of the
nuclear plant workers, they all lost their jobs.
SOCIAL IMPACT
• There was increase in incidences of various cancers and health
problems among the affected population.
• The disaster caused loss of lives and displacement of hundreds of
thousands of people from their homes.
• An exclusion zone of 2600km2 was made around Chernobyl .
• The disaster also had a profound effect on the psychology of the
affected population as many people experience anxiety, depression
and post traumatic stress disorder.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
• The disaster caused extensive damage to the environment in te
surrounding area including forests, rivers and wildlife.
• The long term impact of radiation on the ecosystem is still being
studied.
• The city of Pripyat will be safe for human inhabitation after 20,000
years.
RECOMMENDATION (LESSONS LEARNT)
• Safety culture: It is important to have a strong safety culture in all industries especially the ones
dealing with potentially dangerous material. It also shows the need to have independent
regulatory bodies to ensure safety standards are being met. In addition the importance of having
qualified personnel running high risk plant activities.
• Transparency and open communication: The Soviet governments lack of transparency and failure
to communicate the full extent of the disaster led to serious consequences. This highlighted the
importance of open communication in any situation especially when dealing with public safety.
• Emergency preparedness: Governments and organizations need to have a clear plan in place to
deal with emergencies and minimize the impact on public safety on the environment.
• Long term impact of environmental disasters: The Chernobyl disaster showed the importance of
taking a long term perspective when assessing the risks and impact of potential disasters.
• Global nature of environmental disasters: With radiation spreading across multiple countries
after the Chernobyl explosion, the importance of international cooperation when dealing with
environmental disasters and managing their impacts was seen.