It happened like this
that the public opinion of the CIS countries and the whole world perceives the Chernobyl disaster as the apotheosis of the irresponsibility of the Soviet nuclear scientists and the first step towards the collapse of the USSR.
But is everything so unambiguous in the usual picture of the accusers of the Soviet nuclear "sloppiness"? This is what we are now trying to find out.
On the twentieth anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster - April 26, 2006 - the First Channel of Russian Television showed a documentary film by the famous Russian TV journalist Dmitry Medvedev "Liquidator". Formally, Medvedev's "Liquidator" was dedicated to the tragic death of Academician Legasov, who led the so-called liquidation work on Chernobyl nuclear power plant starting immediately after the disaster itself. But this film was truly a bolt from the blue in the established ideas about the Chernobyl disaster of the vast majority of Russians who watched this truly sensational TV movie.
So, it is well known that in 1988 Academician Legasov committed suicide by hanging himself in his own office. Medvedev questions in his film official version death of academician Legasov - suicide due to the oppressed state of the psyche. Allegedly, the head of the liquidation work at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant received a large dose of radiation during business trips to the site of a nuclear disaster, moreover, he often had to quickly resolve very dangerous issues, an error in solving which could have very serious consequences. In general, the psyche of the academician could not stand it, and he settled scores with his life with the help of a noose.
The film "Liquidator" cites the testimonies of Legasov's relatives and close friends, who vehemently refute the allegations of the academician's depressed state of mind. Moreover, a very strange detail is given about the method of suicide of the main liquidator of the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster. It turns out that in the desk drawer in Legasov's office there was a nominal pistol, but for some reason the academician preferred to hang himself a few steps from his desk than to commit suicide in a more noble way - by shooting himself with this very nominal pistol.
Filim Dmitry Medvedev "Liquidator"
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But in the very interesting place, where, according to the logic of this message, Legasov was supposed to comment on the official preliminary version of the Chernobyl disaster, voiced by the General Secretary of the CPSU M. Gorbachev himself, someone erased part of the tape.
In the same 1988, immediately after the death of Academician Legasov, an article appeared in the main party newspaper Pravda, devoted to the true causes of the Chernobyl disaster. The fact is that until this very moment there was only a preliminary version of the explosion of the Fourth Chernobyl reactor, and Gorbachev promised the country and the entire world community to conduct a thorough and reliable investigation into this matter.
So, from the pages of the main party newspaper it was stated that the so-called thermal explosion occurred at the fourth reactor, which happened as a result of the unprofessional actions of the maintenance personnel of the fourth power unit. In addition, according to the author of the article, there was evidence that at the fourth reactor, which was already being decommissioned for scheduled repairs, some experiments were carried out, which, in fact, are strictly prohibited at operating nuclear reactors intended for industrial production of electricity. And, as the pinnacle of the results of the investigation into the causes of the Chernobyl disaster, this article drew up an almost minute-by-minute timetable of the development of events that led to the thermal explosion of the fourth reactor.
But the most interesting thing is that the author of the aforementioned article in Pravda was a certain lieutenant colonel Veremeev, who was a professional sapper and had nothing to do with nuclear physics. And, what really didn’t fit into any gates, this lieutenant colonel-sapper appeared at the site of the Chernobyl disaster only in 1988, that is, 2 years after the disaster itself, but he managed to draw up a minute-by-minute schedule for the development of the prerequisites for the explosion of the fourth reactor!
The article on the causes of the Chernobyl disaster by the self-taught nuclear scientist Veremeev, following Pravda, was reprinted by all the main Soviet newspapers. And over time, Lieutenant Colonel Veremeev’s article began to be referred to as the ultimate truth. However, D. Medvedev draws attention to the fact that it was Academician Legasov who was supposed to prepare the final report on the causes of the Chernobyl disaster. But he suddenly died, and our miracle sapper took over. True, shortly before his death, Legasov for some reason decided to utter a message about the causes and consequences of the Chernobyl tragedy, part of which turned out to be erased ...
The author of these lines remembers the events of 1988, when an article by sapper Veremeev appeared in Pravda. Rumors spread across the country that nuclear scientists were sabotaging the investigation into the real causes of the Chernobyl disaster. And the “anti-perestroika forces” within the party and the state are trying to use the “sabotage of academicians” to undermine the authority of our main “perestroika”. It is noteworthy that not a single scientific publication has ever reprinted the conclusions of the self-taught nuclear scientist Veremeev.
But towards the end of his film, D. Medvedev reproduces sensational information about some of the events that preceded the explosion of the fourth reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, as well as testimonies about the catastrophe of the employees of the fourth power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which were classified on the personal instructions of Gorbachev. These materials have recently been declassified.
In general, all these facts published by the author of the film "Liquidator" claim to open a new criminal case on the circumstances of the death of Academician Legasov and the falsification of the version of the Chernobyl disaster.
But that's not all. It turns out that 25 seconds before the explosion of the fourth reactor, many seismic stations scattered around the globe recorded a strange high-frequency seismic wave. The oddity of this seismic wave was that the spectrum of frequencies accompanying seismic waves, say, during earthquakes, is much lower. At first, the aforementioned high-frequency seismic wave was considered a consequence of the explosion of the fourth reactor, but later it was found out that the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant occurred 25 seconds later. And the most remarkable thing is that the source of this very high-frequency seismic wave was almost under the fourth power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. So far, no one can explain the nature of the occurrence of a strange high-frequency seismic wave by any natural natural causes. Although what took place almost directly under the fourth Chernobyl reactor was more like a very powerful local earthquake.
Therefore, some independent experts came to sensational conclusions: it is quite possible that sabotage was committed against the Chernobyl nuclear power plant using the latest means of warfare - a beam weapon installed on an artificial earth satellite, or the so-called remote geotectonic weapon.
At this point, many readers may exclaim: eka, where did the author go, in science fiction! But there is no need to rush to such conclusions. The fact is, we know very little the true details of the arms race in times cold war. For example, the creators of the series documentaries on Channel One under the name "Shock Force" in one of their films they told the audience a no less fantastic story of the use of a Soviet combat laser on an American space shuttle. At the same time, the authors of Strike Force referred to recently declassified documents.
It was in 1984 at a Soviet military training ground near Lake Balkhash (East Kazakhstan). There, tests of the combat domestic laser "Terra-3" took place. The specificity of such tests lies in the fact that during the passage of spy satellites over the range, the tests are temporarily stopped until the satellite leaves this sector. But at that time, the American space shuttle Columbia flew over Balkhash (the same one that later crashed in 2003). A space shuttle, unlike a spy satellite, has the ability to adjust its orbit. Therefore, "Columbia" flew over the test site again, and then again, preventing military scientists from working normally. In the end, the Soviet authorities got tired of this, and they gave the task of pointing the Terra-3 laser at the American space shuttle and giving it an impulse. And although the power of our combat laser was reduced to the minimum possible, the result was very impressive. On board Columbia, communication with the earth was disrupted for several minutes, and the crew of the space shuttle felt a sharp deterioration in well-being.
It is noteworthy that the employees of the fourth power unit of the Chernobyl NPP, a few minutes before the explosion of the reactor, also felt a sharp deterioration in their health. By the way, in their testimony they categorically denied any violations in the reactor control regulations. According to them, everything happened in just a few minutes: incomprehensible vibrations and noise began in the reactor hall, which ended in an explosion of the reactor. According to eyewitness accounts, the explosion of the Chernobyl reactor was reminiscent of frames from a science fiction movie: a column of flame about a hundred meters rose into the sky above the building of the fourth power unit, and a few seconds later another column of flame soared into the sky - several times higher than the first.
Meanwhile, at a meeting of the Politburo, the testimony of eyewitnesses to the tragedy was questioned: they say that the Chernobyl employees experienced a huge psychological shock and inadequately perceived the events. Gorbachev authorized Legasov to look for other, more "mundane" causes of the Chernobyl disaster - we will be ridiculed by the entire world community!
As you know, the search for truth led academician Legasov into a loop, and on the magnetic tape of the recorder, someone erased the record with the words of the academician, dedicated specifically to the preliminary version of the explosion at the fourth power unit.
But still, what happened at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the early morning of April 26, 1986? And if the version about a specially planned sabotage is true, who did it and why?
Now, at a time of complete ideological agreement and the desire to enter the global economy, it has somehow become unfashionable to recall the situation that had developed by the mid-80s of the last century.
The global confrontation between the US and the USSR reached its maximum, and it was then that various plans for the creation of the latest types of weapons of mass destruction began to be carried out at a rather feverish pace. The SDI alone (Strategic Defense Initiative) of US President Reagan was worth something! But in addition to military-technological goals, the initiation of the Chernobyl disaster had a great geopolitical and geo-economic effect. And when military-political goals are combined with global economic goals, certain circles are capable of committing any crime.
Let's delve into the past for a few more years and take a closer look at the situation in the world at the end of the 70s of the twentieth century.
After another Arab-Israeli war, OPEC countries (the world cartel of oil producers) increased oil prices several times. The economies of the Western countries were in a permanent crisis. As a response to rising oil prices, the search for so-called alternative energy sources begins.
In the United States, the APEC program (adiabatic thermal power plant) was actively deployed, which could use the temperature difference between ocean water near the equator on the surface and at a depth of 1000 meters. This difference is very small, only twenty degrees Celsius, but the reserves of ocean water are practically inexhaustible. The best forces of the military-technological giants of America - Boeing, Lockheed, Martin-Marietta and others - have been thrown into the implementation of this project. It should not be forgotten that at that time the so-called Detente (or Detention in the Russian version) was in vogue in politics, and the then US President Jimmy Carter, by transferring the efforts of military-industrial corporations to the APEC project, killed two birds with one stone: he solved the energy problem and deepened this Detent.
In 1985, it was planned to complete the construction of the first experimental APEC, in 1990 - the first industrial APEC. Moreover, it was assumed that by the middle of the 21st century, most of the US needs for energy resources should have been met through the APEC development program.
On the other side of the Atlantic, in the FRG, an active development of the newest nuclear power program was going on - the creation of a high-temperature gas-cooled fast neutron breeder reactor. This new reactor should work in conjunction with the so-called helium turbine, which should be fed by the inert gas helium heated in a fast neutron breeder reactor to 981 degrees Celsius. The efficiency factor (coefficient of performance) of the aforementioned helium turbine is simply fantastic - 60 percent! The problem of fresh nuclear fuel was solved - in the breeder reactor, it should not decrease, but, on the contrary, be added. The use of the inert gas helium as a working fluid solved many problems of both technology and environmental safety.
Germany, and with it the European Union, received energy independence and conditions for the sustainable development of its energy industry for the next few thousand years.
Everything would be just fine, but transnational oil and gas corporations, with such a vector of development of the world energy industry, lost their profits and practically slipped to the sidelines of the global energy business. And they began to act.
The first blow came to US President Jimmy Carter (1976-1980), who was the initiator of the APEC program. In order to cover up this very APEC program, it was necessary to prevent the re-election of Jimmy Carter for a second presidential term. One of the actions to create a negative image for Jimmy Carter was the disruption of the operation of American intelligence agencies to rescue American hostage diplomats from the seized building of the American embassy in Tehran in the spring of 1980. During this unsuccessful action, five of the six helicopters used in this operation were simultaneously disabled by the Americans. The probability of an arbitrary accident is negligible, and, most likely, one of their own made these helicopters unusable. Interested parties, as they say, did not stand up for the price.
The 1980 US presidential election was won by Ronald Reagan, who promptly shut down the APEC program. However, something had to be done with the idle US military-industrial corporations that had already invested heavily in the APEC program.
This is where the notorious SDI was born. America was promised protection from the Soviet nuclear missiles, and the same military-industrial corporations have fabulous profits. And while scientists and experts from around the world scathingly criticized the retired Hollywood actor in the US presidency, calling SDI "star wars", oil and gas corporations triumphed. Their future was secured.
However, there remained a European program to create a high-temperature gas-cooled fast neutron breeder reactor. The jurisdiction of the "star cowboy" did not extend to Europe. This is where, apparently, the plan of sabotage at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant arose. Everything was taken into account - both the wind rose, which made it possible to scatter nuclear fallout as much as possible throughout Europe, and the sharp drop in the authority of the USSR in the external and internal arena, and most importantly, it was possible to discredit the very idea of nuclear energy. Plus, try out some developments on the path of "Star Wars".
It is curious, but the "green" movement in Europe appeared somewhere towards the end of the 70s of the last century. Coincidence? May be. But it was the “greens” who played the role of the main striking force in closing the program to create a high-temperature gas-cooled fast neutron breeder reactor, launching a hysterical campaign immediately after the Chernobyl disaster. After that, the "greens" in Germany entered big politics. And in 1998, they, in alliance with the Social Democrats, came to power in Germany on the condition of the complete closure of nuclear power plants in the country.
German power engineering companies, which will have to suffer significant losses after the closure of nuclear energy in their country, following the example of the US authorities in the early 1980s, were offered a replacement in the form of the possibility of producing combined cycle power plants. These are power plants in which gas is first burned in gas turbines, and then enters steam generators, the steam from which rotates steam turbines. The efficiency of such combined cycle power plants, which are being developed by German companies, reaches 55%. For example: the efficiency of the best thermal power plant does not exceed 35%. All this is justified by the recently entered into force "Kyoto Protocol", which limits the emissions of "greenhouse gases" into the Earth's atmosphere.
Indeed, per unit of generated electricity, combined-cycle power plants emit almost half as much environment these "greenhouse gases". But the most curious thing is that combined-cycle power plants can operate only on natural or associated petroleum gas. And so it happened that both the wolves are fed (that is, oil and gas corporations) and the sheep are safe (malicious nuclear power plants are closed, rejoice at the "green" idea!).
It remains to find out the last thing: why did Gorbachev so persistently ignore the testimony of eyewitnesses and the opinion of nuclear scientists, and why was the publication of an article by the self-taught nuclear scientist Veremeev in the Pravda newspaper authorized?
The answer may lie in the fact that all the prospective development of the economy of the USSR in the 80-90s. was founded taking into account the advanced construction of nuclear energy facilities (from large power plants with reactors-"million" to hot-water nuclear reactors for heating residential villages) while boosting the export of hydrocarbons abroad to obtain convertible currency. And the Chernobyl disaster was just the right thing to do as a reason to start a "deep reform" of the Soviet economy according to the author's recipes, not by night, be the aforementioned "perestroika".
It was not until mid-May 1986 that anxiety swept over the whole of Ukraine. All children under the age of 14 were evacuated from Kyiv. Several months passed before shocking and frightening articles began to appear in the press about the Chernobyl accident and the consequences that it could entail. Literally six months later, a report appeared in "Vecherniy Kyiv" from the construction site of the "Shelter" object - young guys-builders were photographed against the background of the "sarcophagus", over which they placed the slogan "We will complete the task of the party." It seemed - and so the newspapers wrote - the atomic genie was driven into a concrete vessel.
April 26 is the Day of Remembrance for those killed in radiation accidents and catastrophes. This year marks 33 years since the Chernobyl disaster - the largest in the history of nuclear energy in the world. A whole generation has already grown up that did not experience this terrible tragedy, but on this day we traditionally remember Chernobyl. After all, only by remembering the mistakes of the past can we hope not to repeat them in the future.
In 1986, an explosion occurred at the Chernobyl reactor No. 4, and several hundred workers and firefighters tried to put out the fire, which had been burning for 10 days. The world was enveloped in a cloud of radiation. Then about 50 employees of the station were killed and hundreds of rescuers were injured. It is still difficult to determine the scale of the disaster and its impact on people's health - only from 4 to 200 thousand people died from cancer that developed as a result of the received dose of radiation. Pripyat and the surrounding areas will be unsafe for people to live for several more centuries.
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1. This 1986 aerial view of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, shows the destruction from the explosion and fire of Reactor 4 on April 26, 1986. As a result of the explosion and the fire that followed it, a huge amount of radioactive substances was released into the atmosphere. Ten years after the world's largest nuclear disaster, the power plant continued to operate due to an acute shortage of electricity in Ukraine. The final stop of the power plant occurred only in 2000. (AP Photo/ Volodymyr Repik) 
2. On October 11, 1991, while reducing the speed of turbine generator No. 4 of the second power unit for its subsequent shutdown and putting the separator-superheater SPP-44 into repair, an accident and a fire occurred. This photograph, taken during a press visit to the station on October 13, 1991, shows part of the collapsed roof of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, destroyed by fire. (AP Photo/Efrm Lucasky) 
3. Aerial view of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, after the largest nuclear disaster in human history. The picture was taken three days after the explosion at the nuclear power plant in 1986. In front of the chimney is the destroyed 4th reactor. (AP Photo) 
4. Photo from the February issue of the magazine " Soviet life": the main hall of the 1st power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on April 29, 1986 in Chernobyl (Ukraine). The Soviet Union admitted that there was an accident at the power plant, but did not provide additional information. (AP Photo) 
5. A Swedish farmer removes straw contaminated through precipitation several months after the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in June 1986. (STF/AFP/Getty Images) 
6. A Soviet medical worker examines an unknown child who was evacuated from the nuclear disaster zone to the Kopelovo state farm near Kiev on May 11, 1986. The picture was taken during a trip organized by Soviet authorities to show how they deal with the accident. (AP Photo/Boris Yurchenko) 
7. Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev (center) and his wife Raisa Gorbacheva during a conversation with the management of the nuclear power plant on February 23, 1989. This was the first visit by a Soviet leader to the station since the April 1986 accident. (AFP PHOTO/TASS) 
8. Kievans stand in line for forms before checking for radiation contamination after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, in Kyiv on May 9, 1986. (AP Photo/Boris Yurchenko) 
9. A boy reads an ad on a closed playground gate in Wiesbaden on May 5, 1986, which says: "This playground is temporarily closed." A week after the Chernobyl nuclear reactor explosion on 26 April 1986, the Wiesbaden municipal council closed all playgrounds after detecting levels of radioactivity between 124 and 280 becquerels. (AP Photo/Frank Rumpenhorst) 
10. One of the engineers who worked at the Chernobyl NPP undergoes a medical examination at the Lesnaya Polyana sanatorium on May 15, 1986, a few weeks after the explosion. (STF/AFP/Getty Images) 
11. Activists of the organization for the protection of the environment mark the railroad cars, which are infected with radiation dry whey. Photo taken in Bremen, northern Germany on February 6, 1987. The serum, which was brought to Bremen for further transport to Egypt, was produced after the Chernobyl accident and was contaminated with radioactive fallout. (AP Photo/Peter Meyer) 
12. An abattoir worker puts suitability stamps on cow carcasses in Frankfurt am Main, West Germany, May 12, 1986. According to the decision of the Minister of Social Affairs of the federal state of Hesse, after the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, all meat began to be subjected to radiation control. (AP Photo/Kurt Strumpf/stf) 
13. Archival photo dated April 14, 1998. Workers of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant pass by the control panel of the destroyed 4th power unit of the station. On April 26, 2006, Ukraine marked the 20th anniversary of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which affected the fate of millions of people, required astronomical costs from international funds and became an ominous symbol of danger atomic energy. (AFP PHOTO/ GENIA SAVILOV) 
14. In the picture, which was taken on April 14, 1998, you can see the control panel of the 4th power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (AFP PHOTO/ GENIA SAVILOV) 
15. Workers who took part in the construction of a cement sarcophagus that closes the Chernobyl reactor, in a memorable photo in 1986 next to an unfinished construction site. According to the data of the Union of Chernobyl of Ukraine, thousands of people who took part in the liquidation of the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster died from the consequences of radiation contamination, which they suffered during work. (AP Photo/ Volodymyr Repik) 
16. High-voltage towers near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant June 20, 2000 in Chernobyl. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky) 
17. The duty operator of a nuclear reactor records control readings at the site of the only operating reactor No. 3, on Tuesday, June 20, 2000. Andrey Shauman pointed angrily at a switch hidden under a sealed metal cover on the control panel of the reactor at Chernobyl, a nuclear power plant whose name has become synonymous with nuclear catastrophe. “This is the same switch that can be used to turn off the reactor. For $2,000, I'll let anyone push that button when the time comes," Shauman, acting chief engineer, said at the time. When that time came on December 15, 2000, environmental activists, governments and simple people around the world breathed a sigh of relief. However, for the 5,800 Chernobyl workers, it was a day of mourning. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
18. 17-year-old Oksana Gaibon (right) and 15-year-old Alla Kozimerka, who suffered from the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, are being treated infrared rays in the children's hospital "Tarara" in the capital of Cuba. Oksana and Alla, like hundreds of other Russian and Ukrainian teenagers who received a dose of radiation, were treated for free in Cuba as part of a humanitarian project. (ADALBERTO ROQUE/AFP)
19. Photo dated April 18, 2006. A child during treatment at the Center for Pediatric Oncology and Hematology, which was built in Minsk after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. On the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, representatives of the Red Cross reported that they were faced with a lack of funds to further help the victims of the Chernobyl accident. (VIKTOR DRACHEV/AFP/Getty Images) 
20. View of the city of Pripyat and the fourth reactor of Chernobyl on December 15, 2000 on the day of the complete shutdown of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (Photo by Yuri Kozyrev/Newsmakers) 
21. Ferris wheel and carousel in the deserted amusement park of the ghost town of Pripyat, next to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant May 26, 2003. The population of Pripyat, which in 1986 was 45,000 people, was completely evacuated within the first three days after the explosion of the 4th reactor No. 4. The explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant occurred at 1:23 am on April 26, 1986. The resulting radioactive cloud damaged much of Europe. According to various estimates, from 15 to 30 thousand people subsequently died as a result of exposure to radiation. Over 2.5 million people in Ukraine suffer from diseases acquired as a result of exposure, and about 80,000 of them receive benefits. (AFP PHOTO/ SERGEI SUPINSKY) 
22. Pictured on May 26, 2003: an abandoned amusement park in the city of Pripyat, which is located next to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (AFP PHOTO/ SERGEI SUPINSKY) 
23. Pictured May 26, 2003: gas masks on the floor of a classroom in a school in the ghost town of Pripyat, which is located near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (AFP PHOTO/ SERGEI SUPINSKY) 
24. In the photo dated May 26, 2003: a TV case in a hotel room in the city of Pripyat, which is located near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (AFP PHOTO/ SERGEI SUPINSKY) 
25. View of the ghost town of Pripyat next to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (AFP PHOTO/ SERGEI SUPINSKY) 
26. Pictured January 25, 2006: an abandoned classroom in a school in the deserted city of Pripyat near Chernobyl, Ukraine. Pripyat and the surrounding areas will be unsafe for people to live for several more centuries. According to scientists, the complete decomposition of the most dangerous radioactive elements will take about 900 years. (Photo by Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images) 
27. Textbooks and notebooks on the floor of a school in the ghost town of Pripyat January 25, 2006. (Photo by Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images) 
28. Toys and a gas mask in the dust in the former primary school abandoned city of Pripyat on January 25, 2006. (Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images) 
29. In the photo on January 25, 2006: an abandoned sports hall of one of the schools in the deserted city of Pripyat. (Photo by Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images) 
30. What is left of the school gym in the abandoned city of Pripyat. January 25, 2006. (Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images) 
31. A resident of the Belarusian village of Novoselki, located just outside the 30-kilometer exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, in a picture dated April 7, 2006. (AFP PHOTO / VIKTOR DRACHEV) 33. On April 6, 2006, an employee of the Belarusian radiation and ecological reserve measures the level of radiation in the Belarusian village of Vorotets, which is located within a 30-kilometer zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (VIKTOR DRACHEV/AFP/Getty Images) 
34. Residents of the village of Ilintsy in the closed area around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, about 100 km from Kyiv, pass by the rescuers of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Ukraine, who are rehearsing before a concert on April 5, 2006. Rescuers organized an amateur concert dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster for more than three hundred people (mostly elderly people) who returned to live illegally in villages located in the exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP/Getty Images) 37. Construction team wearing masks and special protective suits on April 12, 2006 during work to strengthen the sarcophagus covering the destroyed 4th reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (AFP PHOTO / GENIA SAVILOV) 
38. On April 12, 2006, workers sweep away radioactive dust in front of a sarcophagus covering the damaged 4th reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Because of the high levels of radiation, crews only work for a few minutes. (GENIA SAVILOV/AFP/Getty Images) 04/26/1986 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, in the 4th power unit, there was a huge explosion, as a result of which the nuclear reactor was completely destroyed. This sad event went down in the history of mankind forever as the "accident of the century".
Explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Year 1986, April 26 - a black date in history
The most powerful nuclear power plant of the USSR became a source of extremely dangerous pollutants released into the environment, due to which 31 people died within the first 3 months, and the number of deaths over the next 15 years exceeded 80. The most severe consequences of radiation sickness were recorded in 134 people due to powerful radioactive contamination. A terrible "cocktail" consisted of a large list of elements of the periodic table, such as plutonium, cesium, uranium, iodine, strontium. Deadly substances mixed with radioactive dust covered a huge territory with a mud plume: the European part of the Soviet Union, the eastern part of Europe and Scandinavia. Belarus has suffered greatly from the polluted precipitation. The explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was compared with the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
How the explosion happened
During the investigation, numerous commissions analyzed this event more than once, trying to find out what exactly caused the disaster and how it happened. However, there is no consensus on this matter. A force capable of destroying all life in its path broke out of the 4th power unit. The accident was classified: the Soviet media kept deathly silence for the first days, but the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (year 1986) was recorded abroad due to a colossal radiation leak and raised the alarm. It became impossible to keep silent about the accident. The energy of a peaceful atom was intended to move civilization forward, towards progress, but changed its trajectory and caused an invisible war of man with radiation.
An explosion began at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the date of which will be remembered by mankind for centuries, with a fire in power unit No. 4, the signal of which was received by the control panel at 1.24 am. The fire brigade promptly started extinguishing, having successfully coped with the fire by 6 o'clock in the morning, thanks to which the fire could not spread to block No. 3. The level of radiation in the territory of the halls of the power unit and near the station at that time was unknown to anyone. What happened in those hours and minutes with the nuclear reactor itself was also unknown.
Reasons and official versions
Analyzing the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the causes of which were inexplicable at first glance, experts put forward many versions. Summing up the results of the investigation, the scientists settled on several options:
1. Violation and disruption of the operation of circular pumps due to cavitation (the formation of a shock wave as a result of chemical reaction) and, as a result, a pipeline break.
2. Power surge inside the reactor.
3. Low level of security in the enterprise - version INSAG.
4. Emergency acceleration - after pressing the "AZ-5" button.
The latter version, according to many experts in the industry, is the most plausible. In their opinion, the control and protection rods were activated by active work precisely by pressing this ill-fated button, which led to an emergency runaway of the reactor.
This course of events is completely refuted by experts from the Gospromatomnadzor commission. Employees put forward their versions of the causes of the tragedy back in 1986, insisting that the positive reactivity was caused by the emergency protection that worked, which caused the explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
Certain technical calculations that prove the cause of the explosion due to cavitation on the anti-aircraft missile system refute other versions. According to the chief designer of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the steam at the reactor inlet, as a result of the boiling of the coolant in the air defense system, got into the core and distorted the energy-releasing fields. This happened due to the fact that the temperature of the coolant in the most dangerous period reached the boiling point. Emergency acceleration began precisely with active vaporization.
The explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Other causes of the tragedy
In addition, opinions were often heard about such a cause of the explosion as a sabotage action, which was planned by the United States and carefully hidden by the Soviet government. This version is supported by photographs of an exploded power unit from an American military satellite, which miraculously ended up in the right place exactly when the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant occurred. It is very difficult to refute or confirm this theory, and therefore this version remains a guess. It remains only to confirm that in 1986 the explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant actually resulted in the disabling of secret facilities (Over-the-horizon radar station Duga-1, Chernobyl-2).
Among the causes of the tragedy are also called the earthquake that occurred at that moment. Indeed, shortly before the explosion, seismographs recorded a certain shock in the immediate vicinity of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. It is the vibration that could provoke an accident that the adherents of this version call the reason for the launch of irreversible processes. In this situation, the fact that the neighboring power unit No. 3 for some reason did not suffer in any way and did not receive information about seismic tremors looks strange in this situation. But it hasn't been tested yet...
The most fantastic cause of the explosion was also put forward - this is a possible ball lightning, formed during the bold experiments of scientists. It was she, if we imagine such a course of events, that could well disrupt the operation in the reactor zone.
The consequences of the tragedy in numbers
At the time of the explosion itself, only 1 person died at the station. The very next morning, another employee died from very serious injuries. However, the worst began later, when 28 more people died literally within a month. They and 106 other employees of the station were at work at the time of the disaster and received the maximum dose of radiation.
Fire suppression
To extinguish the fire, when a fire was announced in the Chernobyl power unit No. 4, 69 employees of the fire brigade, as well as 14 vehicles, were involved. People extinguished the fire, having no idea about the highest level of pollution. The fact is that it was impossible to look at the radiation background metering devices: one was faulty, the second remained out of reach, under the rubble. That is why no one could even imagine the real consequences of the explosion at that time.
Year of death and sorrow
At about 2 am, some firefighters developed the first symptoms of radiation sickness (vomiting, weakness, and an incomparable "nuclear tan" on the body). After the first medical care patients were taken to the city of Pripyat. The next day, 28 people were urgently sent to Moscow (6th Radiological Hospital). All the efforts of the doctors were in vain: the fire tamers received such a large infection that they died within a month. From the huge release of radioactive substances into the atmosphere during the catastrophe, trees also died on an area of almost 10 square meters. km. The explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the consequences of which were felt not only by the direct participants, but also by the inhabitants of the three republics Soviet Union forced to take unprecedented security measures at all similar installations.
Over the past two centuries, mankind has experienced an incredible technological boom. We discovered electricity, built flying machines, mastered Earth orbit and are already climbing into the backyard solar system. Opening chemical element called uranium showed us new possibilities in obtaining large amounts of energy without the need to consume millions of tons of fossil fuel.
The problem of our time is that the more complex the technologies we use, the more serious and destructive the disasters associated with them. First of all, this refers to the “peaceful atom”. We have learned how to create complex nuclear reactors that power cities, submarines, aircraft carriers, and even spaceships. But not a single most modern reactor is 100% safe for our planet, and the consequences of errors in its operation can be catastrophic. Isn't it too early for humanity to take up the development of atomic energy?
We have already paid more than once for our clumsy steps in conquering the peaceful atom. Nature will correct the consequences of these catastrophes for centuries, because human capabilities are very limited.
The Chernobyl accident. April 26, 1986
One of the largest man-made disasters of our time, which caused irreparable harm to our planet. The consequences of the accident were felt even on the other side of the globe.
On April 26, 1986, as a result of a personnel error during the operation of the reactor, an explosion occurred in the 4th power unit of the station, which forever changed the history of mankind. The explosion was so powerful that multi-ton roof structures were thrown into the air for several tens of meters.
However, it was not the explosion itself that was dangerous, but the fact that it and the resulting fire were carried from the depths of the reactor to the surface. A huge cloud of radioactive isotopes rose into the sky, where it was immediately picked up air currents that carried him in a European direction. Phonic precipitation began to cover the cities in which tens of thousands of people lived. The territories of Belarus and Ukraine suffered the most from the explosion.
The volatile mixture of isotopes began to hit unsuspecting residents. Almost all of the iodine-131 that was in the reactor ended up in a cloud due to its volatility. Despite the short half-life (only 8 days), it managed to spread hundreds of kilometers. People inhaled a suspension with a radioactive isotope, receiving irreparable harm to the body.
Along with iodine, other even more dangerous elements rose into the air, but only volatile iodine and cesium-137 (half-life 30 years) could escape in the cloud. The rest, heavier radioactive metals, fell out within a radius of hundreds of kilometers from the reactor.
The authorities had to evacuate a whole young city called Pripyat, which at that time was home to about 50 thousand people. Now this city has become a symbol of disaster and an object of pilgrimage for stalkers from all over the world.
Thousands of people and pieces of equipment were thrown to eliminate the consequences of the accident. Some of the liquidators died during the work, or died later from the effects of radioactive exposure. Most became disabled.
Despite the fact that almost the entire population of nearby territories was evacuated, people still live in the Exclusion Zone. Scientists do not undertake to give accurate predictions about when the last evidence of the Chernobyl accident will disappear. According to some estimates, it will take from several hundred to several thousand years.
Accident at Three Mile Island Station. March 20, 1979
Most people, barely hearing the expression "nuclear catastrophe", immediately think of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, but in fact there were many more such accidents.
On March 20, 1979, an accident occurred at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant (Pennsylvania, USA), which could have become another powerful man-made disaster, but it was prevented in time. Before the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, this particular incident was considered the largest in the history of nuclear energy.
Due to the leakage of coolant from the circulation system around the reactor, the cooling of nuclear fuel was completely stopped. The system heated up to such an extent that the structure began to melt, metal and nuclear fuel turned into lava. The temperature at the bottom reached 1100 °. Hydrogen began to accumulate in the reactor circuits, which the media perceived as an explosion threat, which was not entirely true.
Due to the destruction of the shells of fuel elements, radioactive from nuclear fuel got into the air and began to circulate through the ventilation system of the station, after which they entered the atmosphere. However, when compared with the Chernobyl disaster, everything here cost little victims. Only noble radioactive gases and a small part of iodine-131 got into the air.
Thanks to the well-coordinated actions of the station personnel, the threat of an explosion of the reactor was averted by resuming the cooling of the molten machine. This accident could become an analogue of the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, but in this case, people coped with the disaster.
The US authorities have decided not to close the power plant. The first power unit is still in operation.
Kyshtym accident. September 29, 1957
Another industrial accident with the release of radioactive substances occurred in 1957 at the Soviet Mayak enterprise near the city of Kyshtym. In fact, the city of Chelyabinsk-40 (now Ozersk) was much closer to the accident site, but then it was strictly classified. This accident is considered the first man-made radiation disaster in the USSR.
"Mayak" is engaged in the processing of nuclear waste and materials. It is here that weapons-grade plutonium is produced, as well as a host of other radioactive isotopes used in industry. There are also warehouses for the storage of spent nuclear fuel. The enterprise itself is self-sufficient in electricity from several reactors.
In the fall of 1957, there was an explosion at one of the nuclear waste storage facilities. The reason for this was the failure of the cooling system. The fact is that even spent nuclear fuel continues to generate heat due to the ongoing decay reaction of the elements, so the storage facilities are equipped with their own cooling system, which maintains the stability of sealed containers with nuclear mass.
One of the containers with a high content of radioactive nitrate-acetate salts has undergone self-heating. The sensor system could not fix this, because it simply rusted due to the negligence of workers. As a result, there was an explosion of a container with a volume of more than 300 cubic meters, which tore off the roof of the storage facility weighing 160 tons and threw it almost 30 meters. The force of the explosion was comparable to the explosion of tens of tons of TNT.
A huge amount of radioactive substances were lifted into the air to a height of up to 2 kilometers. The wind picked up this suspension and began to carry it over the nearby territory in a northeasterly direction. In just a few hours, radioactive fallout spread hundreds of kilometers and formed a kind of strip with a width of 10 km. A territory with an area of 23 thousand square kilometers, where almost 270 thousand people lived. Characteristically, due to weather conditions the Chelyabinsk-40 object itself was not damaged.
The Commission for the Elimination of the Consequences of Emergencies decided to evict 23 villages, the total population of which was almost 12,000 people. Their property and livestock were destroyed and buried. The contamination zone itself was called the East Ural radioactive trace.
Since 1968, the East Ural State Reserve has been operating on this territory.
Radioactive contamination in Goiania. September 13, 1987
Undoubtedly, one should not underestimate the danger of nuclear energy, where scientists work with large volumes of nuclear fuel and complex devices. But even more dangerous is radioactive materials in the hands of people who don't know what they're dealing with.
In 1987, in the Brazilian city of Goiania, looters managed to steal from an abandoned hospital a part that was part of radiotherapy equipment. Inside the container was the radioactive isotope cesium-137. The thieves did not figure out what to do with this part, so they decided to just throw it in a landfill.
After some time, an interesting shiny object attracted the attention of the landfill owner Devar Ferreira, who was passing by. The man thought of bringing the curiosity home and showing it to his household, and also called friends and neighbors to admire an unusual cylinder with an interesting powder inside, which glowed with a bluish light (radioluminescence effect).
Extremely improvident people did not even think that such a strange thing could be dangerous. They picked up the parts of the part, touched the powder of cesium chloride and even rubbed it on the skin. They liked the pleasant glow. It got to the point that pieces of radioactive material began to be passed to each other as gifts. Due to the fact that radiation in such doses does not have an instant effect on the body, no one suspected something was wrong, and the powder was distributed among the residents of the city for two weeks.
As a result of contact with radioactive materials, 4 people died, among whom was the wife of Devara Ferreira, as well as the 6-year-old daughter of his brother. A few dozen more people were undergoing therapy for radiation exposure. Some of them died later. Ferreira himself survived, but all his hair fell out, and he also received irreversible damage. internal organs. The man spent the rest of his life blaming himself for what had happened. He passed away from cancer in 1994.
Despite the fact that the disaster was of a local nature, the IAEA assigned it the 5th level of danger according to the international scale of nuclear events out of 7 possible.
After this incident, a procedure was developed for the disposal of radioactive materials used in medicine, as well as tightened control over this procedure.
Fukushima disaster. March 11, 2011
The explosion at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan on March 11, 2011 was equated on a scale of danger to the Chernobyl disaster. Both accidents received 7 points on the international scale of nuclear events.
The Japanese, who at one time became victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, have now received in their history another catastrophe on a planetary scale, which, however, unlike its world counterparts, is not a consequence of human factor and irresponsibility.
The cause of the Fukushima accident was a devastating earthquake with a magnitude of more than 9, which was recognized as the strongest earthquake in the history of Japan. Nearly 16,000 people died as a result of the collapses.
Shocks at a depth of more than 32 km paralyzed the work of a fifth of all power units in Japan, which were under the control of automation and provided for such a situation. But the giant tsunami that followed the earthquake completed the job. In some places, the wave height reached 40 meters.
The earthquake disrupted the operation of several nuclear power plants at once. For example, the Onagawa nuclear power plant survived the fire of the power unit, but the staff managed to correct the situation. At Fukushima-2, the cooling system failed, which was repaired in time. Fukushima-1 suffered the most, which also had a cooling system failure.
Fukushima-1 is one of the largest nuclear power plants on the planet. It consisted of 6 power units, three of which were not in operation at the time of the accident, and three more were turned off automatically due to an earthquake. It would seem that the computers worked reliably and prevented trouble, but even in a shutdown state, any reactor needs to be cooled, because the decay reaction continues, generating heat.
The tsunami that hit Japan half an hour after the earthquake disabled the reactor's emergency cooling system, causing the diesel generator sets to stop working. Suddenly, the plant personnel were faced with the threat of overheating of the reactors, which had to be eliminated in as soon as possible. The nuclear power plant personnel made every effort to cool the red-hot reactors, but the tragedy could not be avoided.
Hydrogen accumulated in the circuits of the first, second and third reactors created such pressure in the system that the structure could not stand it and a series of explosions rang out, causing the collapse of the power units. In addition, the 4th power unit caught fire.
Radioactive metals and gases rose into the air, spread over the nearby territory and fell into the waters of the ocean. The products of combustion from the storage of nuclear fuel rose to a height of several kilometers, carrying radioactive ash hundreds of kilometers around.
To eliminate the consequences of the accident at Fukushima-1, tens of thousands of people were involved. Urgent decisions were needed from scientists on how to cool the red-hot reactors, which continued to generate heat and release radioactive substances into the soil under the station.
To cool the reactors, a water supply system was organized, which, as a result of circulation in the system, becomes radioactive. This water accumulates in reservoirs on the territory of the station, and its volumes reach hundreds of thousands of tons. There is almost no place left for such tanks. The problem with pumping out radioactive water from the reactors has not yet been resolved, so there is no guarantee that it will not fall into the oceans or the soil under the station as a result of a new earthquake.
There have already been precedents for leaking hundreds of tons of radioactive water. For example, in August 2013 (leakage of 300 tons) and February 2014 (leakage of 100 tons). The level of radiation in groundwater is constantly rising, and people cannot influence it in any way.
On the this moment Special systems have been developed for the decontamination of contaminated water, which make it possible to neutralize water from tanks and reuse it for cooling reactors, but the efficiency of such systems is extremely low, and the technology itself is still underdeveloped.
Scientists have developed a plan that provides for the extraction of molten nuclear fuel from reactors in power units. The problem is that humanity currently does not have the technology to carry out such an operation.
The preliminary date for the extraction of molten reactor fuel from the circuits of the system is 2020.
After the disaster at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant, more than 120 thousand residents of nearby territories were evacuated.
Radioactive contamination in Kramatorsk. 1980-1989
Another example of human negligence in the handling of radioactive elements, which led to the death of innocent people.
Radiation contamination occurred in one of the houses in the city of Kramatorsk, Ukraine, but the event has its own background.
In the late 70s, in one of the mining quarries in the Donetsk region, workers managed to lose a capsule with a radioactive substance (cesium-137), which was used in a special device for measuring the level of contents in closed vessels. The loss of the capsule caused a panic among the management, because rubble from this quarry was delivered, incl. and to Moscow. By personal order of Brezhnev, the mining of rubble was stopped, but it was too late.
In 1980, in the city of Kramatorsk, the construction department commissioned a panel residential building. Unfortunately, a capsule with a radioactive substance fell into one of the walls of the house along with rubble.
After the tenants moved into the house, people began to die in one of the apartments. Just a year after the settlement, an 18-year-old girl died. A year later, her mother and brother died. The apartment became the property of new tenants, whose son soon died. In all the dead, the doctors stated the same diagnosis - leukemia, but this coincidence did not alert the doctors at all, who blamed everything on bad heredity.
Only the perseverance of the father of the deceased boy made it possible to determine the cause. After measuring the radiation background in the apartment, it became clear that it was off scale. After a short search, a section of the wall was identified from where the background came from. After delivering a piece of the wall to the Kyiv Institute for Nuclear Research, scientists removed the ill-fated capsule from there, the dimensions of which were only 8 by 4 millimeters, but the radiation from it was 200 milliroentgens per hour.
The result of local infection for 9 years was the death of 4 children, 2 adults, as well as the disability of 17 people.
Many people were victims of this terrible accident, the consequences of which are still felt today.
The catastrophe at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the Chernobyl accident (in the media the terms “Chernobyl disaster” or simply “Chernobyl” are most often used) is one of the saddest pages in the history of modern civilization.
We bring to your attention short description Chernobyl accident. As they say, briefly about the main thing. Let us recall those fatal events, the causes and consequences of the tragedy.
What year did Chernobyl happen?
The Chernobyl accident
On April 26, 1986, a reactor exploded at the 4th power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (ChNPP), as a result of which a huge amount of radioactive substances was released into the atmosphere.
The Chernobyl nuclear power plant was built on the territory of the Ukrainian SSR (now -) on the Pripyat River, near the city of Chernobyl, Kiev region. The fourth power unit was put into operation at the end of 1983 and successfully operated for 3 years.
On April 25, 1986, at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, it was planned to carry out preventive maintenance of one of the systems responsible for safety at the 4th power unit. After that, in accordance with the schedule, they wanted to completely shut down the reactor and perform some repairs.
However, the shutdown of the reactor was repeatedly postponed due to technical problems in the control rooms. This led to difficulties regarding the control of the reactor.
The disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant
On April 26, an uncontrolled increase in power began, which led to explosions in the main part of the reactor. Soon a fire started, and a huge amount of radioactive substances was released into the atmosphere.
After that, thousands of people were sent to eliminate the accident using a variety of equipment. Local residents began to urgently evacuate, forbidding them to take any things with them.
As a result, people were forced to leave their homes and run away in what they were wearing at the time the evacuation began. Before leaving the disaster area, each person was doused with water from hoses to wash contaminated particles from the surface of the skin and clothing.
For several days, the reactor was filled with inert materials to extinguish the power of the radioactive release.
Helicopters are decontaminating the buildings of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant after the accident In the early days, everything was relatively good, but soon the temperature inside the reactor plant began to rise, as a result of which even more radioactive substances began to be released into the atmosphere.
It was possible to achieve a decrease in radionuclides only after 8 months. Naturally, during this time a huge amount was thrown into the atmosphere.
The Chernobyl accident at the nuclear power plant shook the whole world. All the world's media constantly reported on the state of affairs at a particular point in time.
Less than a month later, the Soviet leadership decided to mothball the 4th power unit. After that, construction work began on the construction of a structure that could completely close the reactor.
About 90,000 people were involved in the construction. This project was called "Shelter", and was completed in 5 months.
On November 30, 1986, the 4th reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was accepted for maintenance. It is worth noting that radioactive substances, primarily radionuclides of cesium and iodine, were distributed almost throughout Europe.
The largest number of them fell on Ukraine (42 thousand km²), (47 thousand km²) and (57 thousand km²).
Chernobyl radiation
As a result of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, 2 forms of Chernobyl fallout were released: gas condensate and radioactive substances in the form of aerosols.
The latter fell along with precipitation. The greatest damage was caused to the territory within a radius of 30 km around the site of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
Helicopters put out the fire Interestingly, cesium-137 deserves special attention in the list of radioactive substances. The half-life of this chemical element occurs within 30 years.
After the accident, cesium-137 settled on the territories of 17 European countries. In total, it covered an area exceeding 200 thousand km². And again, Ukraine, Belarus and Russia were in the top three "leading" states.
In them, the level of cesium-137 exceeded the permissible norm by almost 40 times. More than 50 thousand km² of fields sown different cultures and gourds, were destroyed.
Chernobyl disaster
In the first days after the disaster, 31 people died, and another 600,000 (!) liquidators received high doses of radiation. More than 8 million Ukrainians, Belarusians and were exposed to moderate radiation, as a result of which their health was irreparably harmed.
After the accident, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was suspended due to a high radioactive background.
However, in October 1986, after decontamination work and the construction of the sarcophagus, the 1st and 2nd reactors were put into operation. A year later, the 3rd power unit was also launched.
In the premises of the block control panel of the power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the city of Pripyat In 1995, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Ukraine, the Commission of the European Union and the G7 countries.
The document spoke about the launch of a program aimed at complete closure NPP by 2000, which was later implemented.
On April 29, 2001, the NPP was reorganized into the State Specialized Enterprise "Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant". From that moment, work began on the disposal of radioactive waste.
In addition, a powerful project was launched to build a new sarcophagus, instead of the outdated Shelter. The tender for its construction was won by French enterprises.
According to the existing project, the sarcophagus will be an arched structure with a length of 257 m, a width of 164 m and a height of 110 m. According to experts, the construction will last about 10 years and will be completed in 2018.
When the sarcophagus is completely rebuilt, work will begin related to the elimination of the remnants of radioactive substances, as well as reactor installations. This work is planned to be completed by 2028.
After the dismantling of the equipment, cleaning of the area will begin using appropriate chemicals and modern technology. Specialists plan to complete all types of work to eliminate the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster in 2065.
Causes of the Chernobyl accident
The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was the largest in the history of nuclear energy. Interestingly, there are still heated debates about the true causes of the accident.
Some blame the dispatchers for everything, while others suggest that the accident was caused by a local one. However, there are versions that it was a well-planned terrorist act.
Since 2003, April 26 has been recognized as the International Day of Remembrance for the Victims radiation accidents and disasters. On this day the whole world remembers terrible tragedy that claimed the lives of many people.
Workers of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant walk past the control panel of the destroyed 4th power unit of the station Unlike, the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant resembled a very powerful "dirty bomb" - radioactive contamination became the main damaging factor.
Over the years, people have been dying from various types of cancer, radiation burns, malignant tumors, immunity decline, etc.
In addition, in the affected areas, children were often born with some kind of pathology. So, for example, in 1987 an unusually large number of cases of Down syndrome were recorded.
After the Chernobyl accident, many similar nuclear power plants in the world began to carry out serious checks. In some states, nuclear power plants have decided to close altogether.
Frightened people went to rallies, demanding that the government find alternative ways to produce energy in order to avoid another environmental disaster.
I would like to believe that in the future humanity will never repeat such mistakes, but will draw conclusions from the sad experience of the past.
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