Moscow: The city of Chernobyl is once again in the news in the midst of the Russia-Ukraine War. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed that Russian forces have entered Chernobyl. He has also told that Russian troops are trying to capture the Chernobyl nuclear plant. During this firing, there is talk of damage to the Nuclear Waste Storage Facility. Zelensky has said that his country's army is fighting diligently to prevent another Chernobyl disaster. At the same time, the Russian Defense Ministry has issued a statement saying that 74 military bases of Ukraine have been damaged in their army's airstrike. In addition, a Ukrainian attack helicopter has been shot down in the Donbass.
A terrible accident happened 36 years ago
In fact, 36 years ago today, on 26 April 1986, there was a devastating explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the then Soviet Union. The horror of this accident can be gauged from the fact that within a few hours of the blast, 32 workers working in the plant died. Apart from this, hundreds of workers were badly burnt due to nuclear radiation. Initially, the Soviet Union tried its best to hide this accident. From media coverage to movement of people was immediately stopped. But, after a government report from Sweden, the then Soviet Union accepted the incident. After the partition, the city of Chernobyl became part of Ukraine.
Chernobyl is 130 km from Kiev
The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant was located in the city of Pripyat, about 130 kilometers north of the Ukrainian capital, Kiev. This place is about 20 km south of the Belarus border. Four reactors were built in this nuclear power plant. Unit 1 was produced in 1970 while Unit 2 was produced in 1977. In 1983, the work of Unit No. 3 and 4 was completed. Two reactors were active at the time of the accident. An artificial lake was constructed on the banks of the nearby Pripyat River to keep the reactor cool. Water from this lake was brought to the reactor with the help of pipes. Later they were used and sent back to this lake.
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Why was the Chernobyl nuclear accident
A test was to be conducted at the nuclear power plant on 26 April, the day of the accident. During this, the scientists wanted to test whether the rest of the reactor's equipment would work in the event of a power supply shutdown. They also wanted to find out how long the nuclear turbine would keep spinning in this condition and maintaining the power supply. The reality of the power supply of the cooling pumps that kept the reactor cool with the help of this electricity was also to be studied.
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The accident started on the night of 25 April
The valve controlling the turbine was removed at around 1.30 pm on 25 April. After that the system that kept the reactor cool in case of emergency was also turned off. The reactor is fitted with an automatic switch that stops the process of nuclear fission in case of any emergency. Scientists turned that switch off as well. Due to this suddenly the process of nuclear fission inside the reactor became uncontrollable. The steam began to form rapidly, which increased the pressure inside the reactor. This caused two powerful explosions within a short time, spreading radioactive material throughout the atmosphere.
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Claim of death of 5000 people
The explosion was so powerful that the metal plates covering the reactor and the concrete roof over it, weighing more than a thousand tons, were blown up in the air. The nuclear fuel rods used in the reactor were blown up. These radioactive rods jumped high in the air, due to which the radioactive material in the environment was spread far and wide. Cancer caused by this radiation later killed about 5,000 citizens of the Soviet Union. The health of lakhs of people was badly affected.
