On April 26th, 1986, an unimaginable disaster took place. It is said to be the worst nuclear accident in the world. The accident took place really early on in the morning of April 26th, when a systems test had just begun. Shortly after the test was started, there was a power surge that shook the entire building, and then a huge explosion, because of the reactor's emergency shutdown that had failed. I have included some pictures below, to give you a better idea.
The Chernobyl nuclear power plant sometime after the accident (Image found on google)
The fuel elements of the reactor had ruptured, blowing the roof of the building off. This of course caused the radioactive material to spill into the atmosphere in the surrounding area. It actually went much, much farther than they had originally thought. It ended up spreading over places like Russia, Northern Europe and Belarus.
The graphite that had been covering the reactor had ignited, causing a fire that continued to burn for 10 days. On the first day, firefighters and emergency responders had tried to put out and contain the fire, not having any idea or knowledge about what had happened or the amount of radiation they were exposing themselves too. Two of the firefighters died on the scene.
The town of Pripyat, long abandoned. Photo credit goes to Ronnie Bassbar.
Of course, the Soviet Union didn't want to admit that the accident had occurred. They tried to deny it, until the high level of radiation had set off alarms at the Forsmark Nuclear Power Plant in Sweden, a good 1,000kms away from the Chernobyl plant. After this, the Soviet Union was forced to publicly announce the accident. However, it was still another at least 30 hours before people were evacuated. They were told it was just a fire at the power plant, not to worry and go on about their lives. So they did, not knowing that they were exposed to the harmful radiation that was 15,000 times higher than normal (and still rising).
What the town looks like today. Image found on Pinterest through a Google search.
Once they were evacuated, people were given 2 hours to pack up and leave. They were told they would be able to return in 3 days, but this was a lie. People were told this so that they wouldn't panic, and be more willing to leave. Most of them had to leave many, if not all, of their belongings and beloved pets behind, never to return. 30 years later, some have returned though. There are about 180 residents that live within the 30km radius, that is still said to contain amounts of radiation. There are also administrative personnel that live within the area. For the most part though, it sits abandoned and has become quite overgrown.
I hope you have enjoyed my very first post! Let me know in the comments if you liked it, or if I missed anything! :) I also run a book blog, with book reviews and such, so if your into books, please check it out at www.addictedtonovels.blogspot.ca 💕
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