Student Article

On April 26, 1986, a terrible accident happened at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine, which was then part of the Soviet Union.

The Chernobyl disaster begins

During a risky experiment, technicians tested if the reactor’s turbine could keep cooling pumps running during a power failure. To do this, they lowered the reactor’s power and turned off important safety systems — even the emergency shutdown!

What went wrong

Things quickly went out of control. The reactor got hotter and more unstable. Instead of stopping the test, workers kept going. When a power surge hit, it triggered a meltdown and at 1:23 a.m., Reactor Number Four exploded. Flames and radioactive materials shot more than 980 feet into the sky.

The immediate aftermath

Right after the explosion, firefighters rushed in, not knowing they were being exposed to deadly radiation. The nearby city of Pripyat, home to workers and their families, wasn’t evacuated until 36 hours later. People had already breathed in harmful radioactive air.

Containment efforts

Even though Sweden — 620 miles away — detected radiation, the Soviet Union didn’t make the accident public until April 30. By early May, the fire and radiation were under control, but it came at a high cost. Brave workers built a concrete and steel "sarcophagus" around the reactor to stop more radiation from escaping. Still, the damage was done.

The long-term impact

In the short term, 32 people died from radiation, but many more became sick or died later. The radioactive dust spread across Russia, France, and Italy. Wildlife in the area was poisoned, cancer cases increased, and fear of nuclear energy grew around the world.

The exclusion zone

A special “exclusion zone” was created, stretching almost 19 miles from the site. Even today, that area remains mostly empty, and the disaster continues to remind us of the dangers of nuclear power.

© Jonny Wilkes / www.historyextra.com