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N0KFQ > TODAY 26.04.17 14:47l 70 Lines 3185 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 30617_N0KFQ
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Apr 26
Path: IW8PGT<IZ3LSV<IW0QNL<VE2PKT<N0KFQ
Sent: 170426/1246Z 30617@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ6.0.13
1986
Nuclear explosion at Chernobyl
On this day in 1986, the world's worst nuclear accident to date
occurs at the Chernobyl nuclear plant near Kiev in Ukraine. The
full toll from this disaster is still being tallied, but experts
believe that thousands of people died and as many as 70,000
suffered severe poisoning. In addition, a large area of land may
not be livable for as much as 150 years. The 18-mile radius
around Chernobyl was home to almost 150,000 people who had to be
permanently relocated.
The Soviet Union built the Chernobyl plant, which had four
1,000-megawatt reactors, in the town of Pripyat. At the time of
the explosion, it was one of the largest and oldest nuclear power
plants in the world. The explosion and subsequent meltdown of one
reactor was a catastrophic event that directly affected hundreds
of thousands of people. Still, the Soviet government kept its own
people and the rest of the world in the dark about the accident
until days later.
At first, the Soviet government only asked for advice on how to
fight graphite fires and acknowledged the death of two people. It
soon became apparent, however, that the Soviets were covering up
a major accident and had ignored their responsibility to warn
both their own people and surrounding nations. Two days after the
explosion, Swedish authorities began measuring dangerously high
levels of radioactivity in their atmosphere.
Years later, the full story was finally released. Workers at the
plant were performing tests on the system. They shut off the
emergency safety systems and the cooling system, against
established regulations, in preparation for the tests. Even when
warning signs of dangerous overheating began to appear, the
workers failed to stop the test. Xenon gases built up and at 1:23
a.m. the first explosion rocked the reactor. A total of three
explosions eventually blew the 1,000-ton steel top right off of
the reactor.
A huge fireball erupted into the sky. Flames shot 1,000 feet into
the air for two days, as the entire reactor began to melt down.
Radioactive material was thrown into the air like fireworks.
Although firefighting was futile, Pripyat's 40,000 people were
not evacuated until 36 hours after the explosion. Potentially
lethal rain fell as the fires continued for eight days. Dikes
were built at the Pripyat River to contain damage from
contaminated water run-off and the people of Kiev were warned to
stay indoors as a radioactive cloud headed their way.
On May 9, workers began encasing the reactor in concrete. Later,
Hans Blix of the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed
that approximately 200 people were directly exposed and that 31
had died immediately at Chernobyl. The clean-up effort and the
general radioactive exposure in the region, however, would prove
to be even more deadly. Some reports estimate that as many as
4,000 clean-up workers died from radiation poisoning. Birth
defects among people living in the area have increased
dramatically. Thyroid cancer has increased tenfold in Ukraine
since the accident.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
Winlink: n0kfq@winlink.org
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