The Disaster at Chernobyl

Chernobyl, one word that still strikes pain and fear in the hearts of many, even after 28 years is still causing serious damage. It was largest nuclear disaster ever, Chernobyl was “. . . about 400 times more potent than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima during World War II . . .” (Walmsley “26 years on: helping Chernobyl's children”). The disaster was not immediately seen as a large threat, and this is why so many lives were taken or destroyed.

The Chernobyl Power plant is located about 11.2 miles northwest of the City of Chernobyl, and was 8.2 square miles large. Chernobyl was opened in 1977, and had taken six years for the Soviet Union to build. The Soviet Union was pressed for power at the time and this is what prompted the construction of Chernobyl. By the 1980’s, the Soviet Union had climbed the ranks in Nuclear power, leading with the United States, England, and France.

The power plant had 4 reactors that provided electricity to millions, and had the official name of V. I. Lenin Nuclear Power Plant. The design of Chernobyl was similar to the earlier models used in the United States. The V. I. Lenin NPP used the fission process to create the energy that would then turn into electricity.

The reactor used at Chernobyl was an RBMK reactor created by the Soviet Union as a breeder reactor. A breeder reactor by definition is a reactor that creates more fissile material than the amount of a different type fissile material fuel needed to power it. This type of reactor produces more that was is needed to maintain the chain reaction in the fission process, and it also can produce a fissile isotope that can be used to create a nuclear weapon. Though being used as a breeder reactor was not the main purpose of the RBMKs, it still had...

... middle of paper ...

...ot the only illness, many children developed disabilities. “Figures released by UNICEF in 2010 showed that more than 20% of adolescent children in Belarus suffered from disabilities and chronic illness. Belarus absorbed 70% of Chernobyl's fallout” (Walmsley “26 years on: helping Chernobyl's children”).

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.

Works Cited

Brennan, Kristine. The Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster. Philadelphia, PA. Chelsea House Publishers, 2002. Print.