The Chernobyl Disaster E-Book

50MINUTES

• Herausgeber: 50Minutes.com
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
• Serie: History
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 30

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Beschreibung

Keen to learn but short on time? Get to grips with the history of the Chernobyl disaster in next to no time with this concise guide.

50Minutes.com provides a clear and engaging analysis of the Chernobyl disaster. When a reactor exploded at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in April 1986, nobody could have known just how devastating the effects would be. Thousands of people died as a result of the catastrophe and even today the surrounding areas are considered uninhabitable. But what makes Chernobyl even more shocking is the mystery that clouds it. The government’s attempts to cover up the accident and the unknown long term-effects of radiation mean that the story of Chernobyl is far from finished.

In just 50 minutes you will:
   • Learn what happened at the Chernobyl nuclear plant and why the reactor exploded
   • Understand why the disaster had such catastrophic effects in Ukraine and the surrounding areas
   • Analyse the actions of the employees and the government and learn how they tried to hide the truth about the accident

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Leseprobe

The Chernobyl nuclear disaster

Key information

When: 26 April 1986Where: Chernobyl, UkraineBackground:The Soviet Union’s civil nuclear programmeThe construction of the Chernobyl nuclear plantKey figures:Mikhail Gorbachev, Russian statesman (born 1931)The Chernobyl nuclear plant staff (engineers and firemen)Impact:A shock to the Soviet regimeHuman and ecological disasterA reassessment of the safety of nuclear power

On 26 April 1986 at 1:22am, the jewel in the Soviet technological crown and symbol of communist success, the Chernobyl nuclear plant was still the biggest nuclear plant in the USSR. Just one minute later, reactor no. 4 exploded, transforming this symbol of prosperity into the nightmarish symbol of just how powerless the human race can be in the face of nuclear disaster. This Ukrainian nuclear plant situated 20 kilometres from the Belarusian border became the epicentre of a huge radioactive cloud which would affect large parts of Europe. Even today the site’s surrounding 30 kilometres are classed as an uninhabitable “no-go zone” and the contaminated areas stretch for tens of thousands of square kilometres.

This tragic accident was the biggest disaster the nuclear power industry has ever known, and has come to hold a particular place in the European collective imagination. The scenario has all the key elements of a crime story; a series of human errors, technology going out of control, political scandal. However, in this story the outcomes were largely unknown at the time. Nothing can be said about Chernobyl with certainty - the cause of the explosion, the people responsible, the amount of radioactive material released, the long-term effects and the true breadth of damage to human life are all shrouded in mystery. Decades on, what do we really know about Chernobyl?

Did you know?

The name Chernobyl is associated with more than one great 20th century tragedy. It is also the name of a Jewish village in Ukraine which was destroyed by German troops during WWII (1939-1945)

Background

The USSR and its programme of nuclear development

In October 1917, the Russian revolution precipitated the fall of the Emperor Nicholas II (1868-1918) and the Tsarist regime. The regime was replaced by a communist system and the new federal state of the USSR was founded in 1922. Only one party was in power, and it took all decisions regarding economic planning and industrial development. It has been noted that Communism was not only the basis for Soviet power but the catalyst for industrialisation and technological development across the entire country.

Between 1947 and 1991, the USA and the USSR were also engaged in an intense and long-winded conflict known as the Cold War. Their political and ideological opposition emerged from the Second World War and led to a seemingly endless arms race in which each country sought to establish technological superiority over the other. After producing its own atomic bomb in 1949, the USSR continued to use nuclear technology for both civilian and military purposes. In 1952, Stalin (Soviet statesman, 1878-1953) announced plans for the development of Soviet nuclear power systems. In this context, nuclear power was seen as one of, if not the, major symbols of communist power. In the mid-1960s, construction began on many new nuclear power plants; Chernobyl was one of them. As is often the case where nuclear power is involved, everything that went on inside the plants was a mystery. Considered as beacons of Soviet technology, these plants maintained an almost mythical sense of absolute reliability and safety.