History is full of tragic events caused by natural disasters, prejudice of human beings or simple carelessness. It really pains the heart to think that the latter ones could have been avoided if appropriate measures would have been taken. But time and tide wait for none, and we are simply left to mourn history and learn from it with the hope that history does not repeat itself. Read here about one such tragic disaster which happened in the former USSR in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant
Introduction
Accidents do happen in the industrial world. As yet they cannot
be avoided in totality no matter how stringently the norms and regulations are
followed. While they can never be eradicated completely, they can certainly be minimised in their impact and range if
proper measures are followed. It is very important to learn lessons from the
history of such accidents such as the Chernobyl nuclear power plant incident. This accident occurred more than two decades ago but still its memory is still fresh in
the minds of affected victims and concerned environmentalists.
The Prelude to the Incident
Nothing happens by chance anymore, not in this highly technical
world, so what were the exact causes that led to the occurrence of such
devastation? We may
never know the real reasons since the accident happened way back in 1986 in the
Ukrainian region of the former USSR near the city of Prypiat. During those days mass media and networking, including the internet, were literally
non-existent, at least in the form that we know them today. Moreover the Soviet
Union followed highly secretive policies which made it difficult to dig out the
actual truth. Reliable sources revealed later on that the basic cause of the
accident was the carrying out of a safety test by inappropriately trained staff.
Disaster Strikes
The plant consisted of four reactors in total and the incident
took place in reactor number 4 on the fateful day of April 26, 1986. The reactor
core simply blew up due to wrong handling techniques followed during the safety
experiment. The construction of the roof of the building with bitumen further
complicated matters as that was a flammable material and gave way for the radiation
to leak into the atmosphere. The radioactive dust soon covered large
geographical areas which spread much beyond the international borders of the
region. The experts estimated that the total fallout from the accident was
nearly 50 times more than that experienced at Hiroshima and Nagasaki cities of
Japan during their nuclear bombardment.
The Damage
It is not easy to quantify the
damage done to human beings as well as the environment from this disaster. Mainly because many radioactive defects are carried over up to several
generations later in the form of mutated genes which cause deformities and diseases
of different types. Chernobyl exclusion zone was created to allow nature to
heal itself without further intervention while catering to the safety of human
beings at the same time
Current Scenario
If you think that the power plant was shut down immediately
after the incident, you are utterly wrong. Of course due to technical faults
and international pressure the final reactor was put to sleep nearly 14 years
after the incident in 2000, but much work still needs to be done before the
power plant is fully decommissioned which might take several years.
We simply hope and Pray that such a disaster never occurs in
the future, and the potentially deadly nuclear power continues to serve mankind in a
safe manner.