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Casey Owen

Mrs. Terry
Language Arts, Period 5
5/27/13
Chernobyl Research Paper

The Chernobyl disaster was a disastrous nuclear accident that occurred on April 26th,
1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, still under the control of the USSR. The
disaster began when reactor #4 received an unexpected surge of power, causing massive
explosions in a confined space. This event in the power core caused radioactive materials and
fuel to be exposed to the atmosphere, which later spread as far as Switzerland. Along with impact
on human lives, the political impact of the Chernobyl incident was also very large, as it had
paved the way for the disintegration of the USSR. With the topic of radioactivity and human
endangerment in air, the Chernobyl disaster became a hot topic for many pop culture books,
movies, and stories. Surprisingly, the U.S. public paints an image of Chernobyl that is
tremendously accurate.

The Chernobyl disaster is often considered one of the worst nuclear disasters to ever take
place on Earth. The radiation from the explosion of reactor #4 released 400 times more
radioactive particles than the bombing of Hiroshima. On the International Nuclear Event Scale,
the events at Chernobyl is rated as a level 7 disaster, this rating is the highest possible, and it only
shares this rank with the nuclear event that had occurred in Japan, 2011. The radioactive fallout
following the events at Chernobyl spread over most of western Europe. The immediate aftermath
of the explosion reported 30 power plant workers dead (28 of which were caused by radiation

poisoning) and more than 100 cases of survivable poisoning. There were also large amounts of
radiation poisoning reported in the countries near or around the Ukraine. Out of all these
countries affected by the disaster (including the Ukraine) the country that received the most
radioactive fallout was Belarus, a small republic near the border of the Ukraine. Over 116,000
people were evacuated, most of them being evacuated from local town of Pripyat.

On April 25 prior to a routine shut-down, the reactor crew at Chernobyl began preparing
for a test to determine how long turbines would spin and supply power following a loss of main
electrical power supply. Similar tests had already been carried out at Chernobyl and other plants,
despite the fact that these reactors were known to be very unstable at low power settings. A series
of operator actions, including the disabling of automatic shutdown mechanisms, preceded the
attempted test early on April 26. As the flow of coolant water diminished, power output
increased. When the operator moved to shut-down the reactor from its unstable condition arising
from previous errors, a peculiarity of the design caused a dramatic power surge. This sudden
power surge caused the fuel elements to rupture and the resulting explosive force of steam lifted
the cover plate off the reactor releasing fission products to the atmosphere. A second explosion
threw out fragments of burning fuel and graphite from the core and allowed air to rush in,
causing the graphite moderator to burst into flames. These explosions in and around the core
aided the structural failure in the building when 5% of the molten hot corium inside the reactor
leaked out into the buildings support structures.

The current president of the USSR was Mikhail Gorbachev, a highly popular politician
that helped the USSR in its final times. At the time of the Chernobyl accident, Mikhail

Gorbachev was doing great things for Russia, which, had it not been for the Chernobyl accident,
the USSR may have lived into 21st century. Mikhails involvement in Chernobyl is surrounded
with rumors and secrecy. The only thing that have been proved to be true was that Mikhail
Gorbachev employed a Glasnost policy when the incident occurred, allowing information of
the disaster to be released to other countries. After the full Glasnost policy was instituted, news
of the USSRs disaster with nuclear power was spread all across the globe, especially the United
States. With the USSR starting to look weak compared to America, the Communist Regime
began to crumble. The incident at Chernobyl was one of the main events that caused a chain
reaction that would lead to the fall of the USSR.

The depiction of Chernobyl across medias like books, movies, and videogames is not
without reason. The events at Chernobyl did release tonnes of radioactive materials into the
atmosphere which later descended on the town of Pripyat and other surrounding areas. With
radioactive particles in the air, it was only a matter of time before a baby was born with a genetic
disease or deformity. Multiple movies have been made using the plot that there are mutants and
monsters in Chernobyl, yet a protagonist will always somehow end up face to face with one. The
more common depictions of Chernobyl always begin with very accurate details like where the
reactor exploded, or where radioactivity was the highest, and then begin to drift towards to
science-fiction side of storytelling. Though, in the nature of media, facts will always get twisted
and changed, no matter what the origins may be.

"The Pollution Blog." The Pollution Blog RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 May 2013.

"New Licence for Chernobyl Used Fuel Facility." Chernobyl. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 May
2013.

"Chernobyl." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 31 May 2013.

Zelman, Joanna. "Chernobyl: 25 Years After The Nuclear Disaster (PHOTOS)." The
Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 02 Feb. 2011. Web. 31 May 2013.

"Chernobyl: A Global Impact." Chernobyl, the Accident Scenario and Its Global Impact.
N.p., n.d. Web. 31 May 2013.

"Mikhail Gorbachev Biography." -- Academy of Achievement. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 May


2013.

"UNSCEAR - Chernobyl." UNSCEAR Assessments of the Chernobyl Accident. N.p., n.d.


Web. 31 May 2013.

"The United Nations and Chernobyl." The United Nations and Chernobyl. N.p., n.d. Web.

31 May 2013.

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