To start off with, what is a disaster? Well, a disaster is a natural or man-made hazard resulting in an event of substantial extent causing significant physical damage or destruction, loss of life, or drastic change to the environment. Thus, an engineering disaster is a disaster that is caused by an error an engineer has made in the production of the product or service. Committing a mistake is part of being human. Unfortunately for engineers, due to the importance of their job in creating products that serve mankind, their mistakes usually lead to a disaster. On April 26, 1986 an engineering disaster took place in Pipryat, Ukraine which was then part of the Soviet Union. The disaster struck the Chernobyl nuclear reactor which exploded and led to at least five percent of the radioactive core released into the atmosphere. This was the result of a flawed reactor design that was operated by inadequately trained personals.
So what happened that day to cause this disaster? Ironically, the engineers were running a safety procedure on the reactor. Running the RBMK reactor needs the gener...
On April 26th, 1986, operators at the Chernobyl Power Plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, ran what they thought to be a routine safety test. But fate was not on the side of these operators. Without warning, reactor #4 became unstable, as it had been operating at a low power for a possible shutdown and the reactor’s design caused it to be unsafe at this level of power. Internal temperatures rose. Attempts to cool the system produced the opposite effect. Instantly, the nuclear core surged with power. At 1:23 p.m., the reactor exploded. The first blast ripped off the reactor's steel roof. The second blast released a large plume of radiation into the sky. Flames engulfed the building. For ten long days, fire fighters and power plant workers attempted to overcome the inferno. Thirty-one of them died of radiation poisoning. Chernobyl was the worst nuclear disaster in history. It unleashed radiation hundreds of times greater than the atomic bombs exploded over Japan during World War II. [1]
On April 26 1986, an accident-related Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl has been occurred. The Chernobyl disaster was a catastrophic nuclear accident which has resulted in several explosion and fire. This causes the release of large quantities of radioactive particle into the atmosphere and then spread over the nearby area. The Chernobyl disaster is said to be the worst nuclear power plant accident in history. It is classified as level event on Internati...
Every nuclear power plant is overseen by the NRC, which sets safety standards for all of the plants. But because of the “team player” atmosphere, safety regulations are often relaxed; testing deadlines are pushed back, and heads are turned when they probably should not be. So when Jim Creswell, an inspector at the NRC, notified his colleagues and superiors of the problems at Three Mile Island, he was told to give them more time to get things running smoothly. As time passed, though, thing... ...
Countless engineering disasters have occurred in this world, many civilians lost their lives due to corrupted constructions. The most fatal and deadly engineering disaster that took place in our history was the Chernobyl disaster. The Chernobyl catastrophe was a nuclear setback that happened at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in on April 26, 1986. It is seen as the most recognizable terrible nuclear power plant cataclysm ever. A nuclear crisis in one of the reactors caused a fire that sent a cluster of radioactive consequence that on the long run spread all over Europe.
Chernobyl also influenced the nuclear community, bringing an awareness of safety. Considering not many who worked in at Chernobyl had ever worked at a nuclear power plant before, and there had not been one emergency drill at Chernobyl. This prompted many organizations to revaulate other plant and their procedures. Many thought that the RBMK reactors need better safety measures, with the knowledge that Chernobyl could have ultimately been avoided.
On April 26, 1986, a reactor in the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine exploded and released 126 different types of radiation into the atmosphere. On April 25, the reactor which later exploded was shut down for maintenance. At the same time, machine operators were planning a test on the nuclear turbines located in the power plant. During this test, the operators turned off several safety systems which led to this major disaster. While testing the reactor, the power was increased, water flow into steam drums decreased, and the power rapidly increased. Because the emergency and safety systems were turned off, the reactor exploded and caused a horrible problem to deal with.
The world experiences disasters every day and there has to be someone there to help. That someone could be considered Disaster Medicine EMS or rescue workers who get called out for natural disasters, terrorist attacks, major events, etc.…An excellent example of a terrorist attack would be the Boston Marathon where a major event was held and many people were hurt from a bomb going off . That terrorist attack took more than just rescue workers, paramedics, and other experienced professionals, it took civilians helping each other until professional help arrived. Natural disasters could be consider tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, blizzards, or any other weather condition that requires outside resources.
On February 1, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia was lost due to structural failure in the left wing. On take-off, it was reported that a piece of foam insulation surrounding the shuttle fleet's 15-story external fuel tanks fell off of Columbia's tank and struck the shuttle's left wing. Extremely hot gas entered the front of Columbia's left wing just 16 seconds after the orbiter penetrated the hottest part of Earth's atmosphere on re-entry. The shuttle was equipped with hundreds of temperature sensors positioned at strategic locations. The salvaged flight recorded revealed that temperatures started to rise in the left wing leading edge a full minute before any trouble on the shuttle was noted. With a damaged left wing, Columbia started to drag left. The ships' flight control computers fought a losing battle trying to keep Columbia's nose pointed forward.
Through their existence, technology continues to be boundless, meaning that there can be both success and failure as engineers follow their path. Nevertheless, failure is inescapable for humans. Whether diminutive or devastating, deficiencies exist in the work humans take part in doing. As flawless as humans are, the problems that occur appears in what they do. In contrast, the way they succeed is similar. Having the ethical standards to prevent a disaster is an essential quality. A guideline that is not tangible is perhaps the reason that saves people’s lives. In addition, engineers are at this high level of technology due to their mistakes and failures. One key element for the future of the world is experiencing different situations. For example, from the worst rocket disaster known as the Nedelin Catastrophe in 1960, engineers have invented rockets that can now reach other planets that were unachievable in the past. Through their experience, it obliges them to think with more complexity to answer the general question of why. In the end, the goal of an engineer is not to only help society in efficient ways. The comprehension of the situation is to enhance the work, but also to improve themselves and their skills for the future. Although disasters are inevitable, it is a
One of the most significant environmentally damaging instances in history was the Chernobyl incident. In 1986, the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant in Ukraine exploded. It became one of the most significant disasters in the engineering community. There are different factors that contributed to the disaster. The personnel that were tasked with operating the plant were unqualified. The plant’s design was a complex one. The RBMK reactor was Soviet design, and the staff had not be acquainted with this particular design. As the operators performed tests on the reactor, they disabled the automatic shutdown mechanism. After the test, the attempt to shut down the reactor was unsuccessful as it was unstable. This is the immediate cause of the Chernobyl Accident. It later became the most significant nuclear disaster in the history of the
Engineering is a professional career and thus much is expected out of them. Morals and values must be incorporated into the work of an engineer based on his/her own believes and those of the company. In today’s age, money speaks. Profit is a huge concern of companies even to the point where violations and infractions of the law are committed. Just to name a few immoral acts in engineering include: plagiarism, bribery, and whistleblowing. Whistleblowing can be either good or bad. It could save lives, but could also get one fired. Bribery, however, is a very deceptive act and can lead to actions being taken that otherwise would not have been. Bribery breaks many of the cannons in the NSPE Code of Ethics and thus should be taken seriously.
The word engineer comes from the latin word ingeniare. ingeniare means construct or craftsmanship. Ever since the beginning of time we have had engineers. Engineering is the combination of math and science , solving world problems to help better the world around us. Being an engineer takes a lot of knowledge, creativity, and hard work. A typical engineer can clearly see a problem and is capable of fining a solution. A senior engineer or engineering manager usually doesnt do as much technical work, but usally lot of managing. Some of the first official engineers were military engineers. They were employed by the goverment to build such things as roads, bridges, and weapons. US mililary Academy at Westpoint was the first school to offer an education in enginnering. Engineering is a very broad field. Engineers are always at a high demand, we could never have enough brilliant minds making the world better. Engineers are needed everywhere. Engineering managers have to have a bachelor's degree or higher, they usually direct and seek solutions to problems and are sometimes called executi...
There are different types and causes of disasters; man-made, natural and a combination. Man-made disasters are caused by human error or human actions that cause harm to the environment, and people (Baack & Alfred, 2013). Natural disasters are caused by nature a hurricane for example; and a combination; NA-TECH (natural-technological) examples are earthquakes that cause structural damage such as a collapse of a bridge (Nies & McEwen, 2011). Communities must have effective emergency preparedness in place to reduce the causalities from a disaster.
There are two possible causes. The first one is that the operator’s error. The turbine was exploded while it was testing, and the operator ignored the rules and regulations. The operator turned off the technical protection systems, and all the safety barriers. It was happened, because of insufficient education and training, and it caused the lack of knowledge of nuclear reactor. He just ignored the steps of test, and chose the dangerous short cut to finish the test quickly. The other possible cause is incorrect operating instructions and design. This argument announced in 1992. Both possible causes were lobbied from different groups. And Soviet Union did not offer enough data; therefore still the exact cause is veiled. (IAEA, 2005)
he had just banished all the engineers on the planet to work in the Pixie Stick