Essay On Chernobyl Disaster

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On April 26, 1986, an tragic accident occurred at the nuclear power station at Chernobyl. The crew were planning to test the turbine and in order to prevent any interruptions to the power of the reactor, the safety systems were switched off. For the experiment to be tested, the reactor had to be powered down to 25 percent of its capacity, but this didn't go according to plan where the reactor power level fell to less than 1 percent causing the reactor's emergency shutdown to fail. The reactor's fuel elements broke and there was a violent explosion. "The 1000-tonne sealing cap on the reactor building was blown off. At temperatures of over 2000°C, the fuel rods melted. The graphite covering of the reactor then ignited. The graphite burned for nine days, churning huge quantities of radiation into the environment."(What Happened in Chernobyl, 1).The Soviet authorities evacuated people from the area around Chernobyl only on the second day after the disaster and about a month later, all people living within a 30 km radius of the plant had been relocated. It is estimated that the radiation from the Chernobyl disaster was 100 times more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped on Japan. Thirty-one people died shortly after the explosion and thousands of people who were exposed to high levels of radiation suffer serious health problems, such as cancers, cataracts, and cardiovascular disease. Over the course of 15 years 3.5 million people died from radiation caused by the explosion Just like everything in this world, nuclear energy has both advantages as well as disadvantages. Some of the nuclear power disadvantages are: Radioactive Waste. The nuclear waste gives off radiation, radiation which can change the DNA in cells, which leads to il... ... middle of paper ... ...t risk. I believe that nuclear power plants have more disadvantages and more risks than it does with advantages therefore I do not support it. As I mentioned earlier I do not support nuclear power, so the thought of having one built in the UAE is quiet frightening to me. I personally don't believe that having a nuclear energy in the UAE is a good idea. Even though UAE is a qualified country for having nuclear energy I still don't believe they should because as I've mentioned earlier, problems could occur, problems which could be out of the governments hands such as natural disasters. These problems will cause the failure of the nuclear energy causing a leak of radiation which would eventually cost us our lives. Would you risk your life for having nuclear energy? I know I wouldn't, therefore I strongly believe that having nuclear energy in the UAE is a terrible idea.

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