The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Ukraine was caused by a faulty reactor design, combined with mistakes made by power plant employees. A surge of power destroyed one of the reactors at the plant and released large amounts of radiation. Helicopters dropped boron and sand onto the reactor to prevent more radiation from leaking into the environment.
Six hundred employees were present at the time of the explosion. Of the 600 employees present, 134 were exposed to high levels of radiation. Two employees died within hours and another 28 employees died within the next four months. An additional 600,000 people who participated in the radiation clean up were also exposed to radiation. Approximately 200,000 of the people who participated in the clean up were exposed to levels of radiation that are deemed unsafe. The radiation exposure from the plant spread far and exposed approximately five million people who lived in the contaminated areas.
Even though most of the five million were only exposed to low levels of radiation, it is impossible to know the amount of health problems that can be blamed on the radiation exposure due to the large number of people exposed and the long term effects. Some deaths and illnesses, however, have been tracked, such as the cases of thyroid cancer in 4,000 exposed children, which have been attributed to the radiation exposure. Of those diagnosed with the painful and life threatening disease at least nineteen died early on.
