57 Chernobyl Facts: Shocking Trivia About The Disaster

On April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union, erupted, resulting in what many consider to be the world's worst nuclear accident.

The long-lived radionuclides unleashed by the Chernobyl tragedy had their after-effects, and it continues to have an impact on the lives of millions of people several years after the disaster.

Due to Cold War consequences and tensions with the West, the Soviet government attempted to keep the Chernobyl tragedy a secret.

Even after many years of scientific inquiry and government investigation, many issues surrounding the Chernobyl disaster remain unresolved, particularly about the long-term health effects of the large radioactive release on people who were exposed.

Take a look at some of the most interesting Chernobyl facts.

Facts About Chernobyl

We have listed down some of the most intriguing facts about Chernobyl and the nuclear disaster below.

The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station (ChNPP), officially deemed the Vladimir Lenin Nuclear Power Plant, is a decommissioned nuclear power plant in northern Ukraine, 10 mi (16 km) northwest of Chernobyl.

Chernobyl plant lacked a couple of critical safety precautions. There was no containment structure or gas-tight shell surrounding the nuclear reactor.

Since people abandoned the city of Pripyat owing to excessive levels of radiation, wild horses, wolves, wild boars, beavers, and other animals have occupied the city.

The Chernobyl Forum concluded in 2005 that this area had paradoxically become a unique haven for biodiversity.

Animals living in the 1.8 mi (3 km) safety zone around Chernobyl's nuclear power plant have a higher mortality rate, more genetic alterations, and less nativity.

Before the disaster, workers made the mistake of turning off the emergency core cooling system and other critical safety devices in order to execute their maintenance test.

A series of operational errors followed, resulting in a buildup of steam that caused the reactor to overheat.

Only 15 minutes after the Chernobyl disaster, radiation had reduced to one-quarter of its original level. It had plummeted to one-fifteenth after one day.

After three months, it had reduced to less than 1%. The plant did not close until many years later.

The governments of Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus and the nuclear industry spent billions of dollars on Chernobyl.

Plant director Viktor P. Bryukhanov, deputy chief engineer Anatoly S. Dyatlov, and chief engineer Nikolai M. Fomin were condemned to 10 years in a labor camp by Judge Raimond Brize.

Alexei Ananenko, Valeri Bezpalov, and shift supervisor Boris Baranov prevented a disastrous radiation-contaminated steam explosion.

Chernobyl Disaster Timeline

Read about the Chernobyl accident timeline and other facts and figures.

On April 25, 1986, at 1 a.m. Chernobyl's operators begin reducing power at reactor No. 4 in preparation for a safety test, which has been scheduled to coincide with a routine maintenance shutdown.

The same day at 2 p.m., the emergency core cooling system of reactor number four is turned off to prevent it from interfering with the test. Though this does not cause the accident, it does make it worse.

On April 26, 1986, at 1 a.m., power stabilizes, albeit at a lower-than-desired level, and plant officials approve the test. The automatic emergency shutdown system and other safety features are then disabled.

The test officially begins, and there is an unexpected power spike.

Around 1:30 a.m., the first explosion, which is immediately followed by another, blasts the 1,000 t (907 mt) roof right off the reactor and throws a fireball far into the night sky.

At 5 a.m., officials turned down reactor number three, which was followed the next morning by reactor numbers one and two. They are reopened some months later.

At 6:35 a.m. on April 26, 1986, except for a flame in the reactor core, which will burn for days, all fires have been doused.

At 10 a.m. on April 27, 1986, in an attempt to reduce radioactive emissions, helicopters begin pouring sand, clay, boron, lead, and dolomite into the burning core.

On May 4, 1986, to cool the dead reactor, liquid nitrogen is pumped beneath it.

On May 6, 1986, radioactive emissions reduce dramatically, presumably because the fire in the core has burned out.

On May 9, 1986, workers start pouring concrete beneath the reactor.

Unit three, Chernobyl's last operational reactor, is shut down on December 15, 2000.

Units one and two were decommissioned in 1996 and 1991, respectively.

After-effects Of Chernobyl Disaster

The Chernobyl accident and its radiation exposure had an impact in the affected zones and still has a long-lasting after-effect, such as children being born with birth defects.

Residents of the neighboring town of Pripyat were evacuated only around two days after the tragedy. Many people had already been exposed to high quantities of radiation.

As far afield as Ireland, radioactive rain was recorded. Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia were the hardest hit. They were affected by 63% of the radioactive fallout from the Chernobyl disaster.

The true killers appear in the form of radioactive isotopes. The most serious dangers are probably cesium-137 and strontium-90. Their half-lives are 30 and 28 years, respectively.

The hot nuclear fuel particles propelled into the air by explosions caused people to have a metallic taste in their mouths.

The adjacent woodland near the accident is known as the Red Forest because high amounts of radiation destroyed the trees, leaving extensive swaths of pale red dead pine.

Pripyat is a badly contaminated city that was abandoned by humans due to the presence of deadly plutonium leftovers in the vicinity, a material with a half-life of 24,000 years.

Radioactive substances from Chernobyl's nuclear power plant were discovered in many parts of Pripyat.

A special slop-like material called Bourda was sprayed in Chernobyl. This thick, water-like fluid is bound to radioactive particles, allowing for the cleanup of highways, woods, and buildings.

Interestingly, the Chernobyl site has become a tourist attraction. Despite the fact that the exclusion zone is still uninhabitable, Ukrainian authorities opened it up to visitors in 2011.

Since then, guides have taken travelers to see the wildlife and investigate the hastily abandoned ghost villages that dot the terrain.

According to various sources, at least 6 million workers were brought in to fight the fire and clean up the worst of the nuclear plant's contamination.

Some of the scientists died due to radiation exposure.

Following the catastrophe, construction on reactors five and six was halted, and it was finally stopped in April 1989, only days before the third anniversary of the 1986 explosion.

According to some sources, two persons were killed in the initial explosions, while others claim that the number was closer to 50.

Dozens more people contracted radiation sickness as a result of the radiation, and some of them died as a result.

The typical response to when Chernobyl and, by extension, Pripyat will be habitable again is around 20,000 years.

In addition to these acute deaths, thousands of radiation-induced diseases and cancer deaths were projected in the long run.

The episode, which was shrouded in secrecy, was a watershed point in both the Cold War and the history of nuclear power.

Chernobyl's Nuclear Reactor

Learn about the nuclear reactors in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant that caused such a nuclear disaster to come into play.

The first reactor was completed in 1977, followed by reactors two in 1978, three in 1981, and four in 1983.

Two new blocks, numbered five and six, of essentially the same reactor design, were planned for a site about a mile away from the four earlier blocks' continuous buildings.

Reactor number four was the site of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, and the power plant is now located within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, a vast restricted area.

Several explosions generated a massive fireball that ripped off the reactor's hefty steel and concrete cover.

This, together with the following fire in the graphite reactor core, released huge amounts of radioactive material into the atmosphere, which was carried considerable distances by air currents.

A partial meltdown of the core happened as well.

Finally, the nuclear core was revealed, releasing radioactive material into the atmosphere.

Reactors three and four were second-generation units, whilst reactors one and two were first-generation units, similar to those used at the Kursk power plant.

Six more reactors were planned on the other side of the river. By 2010, all 12 reactors were scheduled to be operating.

On September 9, 1982, a faulty cooling valve remained closed following maintenance, resulting in a partial core meltdown in reactor number one.

When the reactor was turned on, the uranium in the tank overheated and ruptured. The extent of the damage was minor, and no one was killed in the disaster.

Shortly after October 1991, reactor number two was permanently shut down when a fire broke out due to a damaged switch in a turbine.

On October 11, 1991, a fire broke out in the turbine hall of reactor number two. While the fourth turbine of reactor number two was being fixed, a fire broke out. A faulty switch sent a surge of current to the generator, burning some electrical cable insulation.

The State Agency of Ukraine for Exclusion Zone Management is in charge of both the zone and the old power facility.

The three remaining reactors remained operating following the disaster but were finally shut down by 2000, while the site is still being decommissioned as of 2021.

One would imagine that the other Chernobyl reactors would be shut down quickly as well.

Instead, the three other reactors of the nuclear power facility were restarted and ran for another 13 years before being shut down in 2000.

According to the NRC, the damaged reactor was quickly enclosed in a concrete sarcophagus meant to confine the leftover radiation.