Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant example essay topic

Chernobyl, Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant Meltdown The accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukrainian produced a plume of radioactive debris that drifted over parts of the western USSR, Eastern Europe, and Scandinavia. The accident, which occurred on April 26, 1986, was the worst nuclear power accident in history. Large areas of the Ukrainian, Belorussian, and Russian republics of the USSR were contaminated, resulting in the evacuation of roughly 200,000 people. The accident raised concerns about the safety of the Soviet nuclear power industry, slowing its expansion for a number of years, while forcing the Soviet government to become less secretive.

The Chernobyl' Nuclear Power Plant was one of the largest in the USSR. It was located just outside of the town of Pripyat', about 18 km northwest of the town of Chernobyl'. The plant was only 16 km from the border between the Ukrainian and Belorussian republics and roughly 110 km north of Kiev, the capital and largest city of Ukraine. Construction of the plant began in the 1970's, with reactor No. 1 commissioned in 1977, followed by No. 2 (1978), No. 3 (1981), and No. 4 (1983).

Each reactor had an electricity-generating capacity of 1,000 megawatts, and the four together produced about 10 percent of Ukraine's electricity at the time of the accident. Two more reactors (No. 5 and No. 6, also capable of producing 1,000 megawatts each) were under construction at the time of the accident. On the morning of April 26, 1986, reactor No. 4 was operating at very low capacity (6 to 7 percent) during a planned shutdown. Plant personnel intended to monitor the performance of turbine generators, which supplied electric power for the plant's own operation, during a changeover from standard to a backup source of power. The reactor's design made it unstable at low power, and the operators were careless about safety precautions during the test. After a sudden power surge, two explosions destroyed the reactor core and blasted a large hole in the roof of the reactor building.

Radioactive debris moved up through this hole to heights of 1 km. An estimated 100 to 150 million curies of radiation (primarily radioactive isotopes of iodine and cesium) escaped into the atmosphere before cleanup crews were able to bring the fires under control and stabilize the situation two weeks later. Prevailing winds carried the radioactivity northwest from the plant across Belorussia and into Poland and Sweden, where heightened radiation levels detected on April 28 first brought the accident to the world's attention. Subsequently, from May 1 to 5, wind patterns shifted so that the bulk of radioactivity was carried more directly north and northeast, over Belorussia and southwestern Russia. After the explosion, firefighters and other workers arrived on the scene in an attempt to contain the blast.

To reduce emissions, the team bombarded the reactor with 5,000 metric tons of shielding material consisting of lead, boron, sand, and clay. A second concrete foundation was constructed under the reactor to prevent contamination of groundwater. Finally, workers erected an enormous concrete-and-steel shell over the damaged reactor to prevent radioactive materials, including gases and dust, from escaping. Soviet officials placed the death toll at 2 (both workers killed during the explosion at the No. 4 reactor) but by mid-August changed the figure to 31, caused from acute radiation exposure during the cleanup. The No. 1 and No. 2 reactors, in fact, were returned to service in November 1986 and the slightly damaged No. 3 unit was restarted in December 1987. More than 100,000 people were evacuated during the first few weeks after the accident.

The evacuation of Pripyat' (where 35,000 people lived at the time of the accident) and the immediate surrounding area began roughly 36 hours after the accident, on the afternoon of April 27. Evacuation within a larger, officially designated evacuation zone of 2800 sq km, including parts of Belorussia began on May 3. That area became known as the '30-km zone' because it is a circle with a 30-km radius from Pripyat'. At least 50,000 people were relocated in Ukraine and 25,000 in Belorussia during this second-stage evacuation, which continued into June.

The principal environment effect of the Chernobyl' accident has been the accumulation of radioactive fallout in the upper layers of soil, where it has destroyed important farmland. The second most important impact has been the threat to surface water and groundwater. The cleanup in some of the most heavily contaminated areas within the evacuation zone, such as Pripyat', involved the stripping and burying of topsoil and vegetation, the sealing of wells, and the building of structures designed to prevent surface water from entering streams and rivers that drain into the Dnieper River system, which provides Kiev's water supply. Earlier in 1990 the Ukrainian parliament had voted to close the Chernobyl' plant permanently within five years, but closing the plant was repeatedly postponed because of the country's shortage of electricity.

After a turbine fire in October 1991, the No. 2 reactor at Chernobyl' was shut down, leaving only two of the original four reactors at the plant in service. Reflecting mounting safety concerns in the international community, an agreement was concluded in April 1996 between the Ukrainian government and the G-7 countries to decommission the Chernobyl' plant by the year 2000. In conjunction with the agreement, the G-7 countries pledged $300 million to finance programs to strengthen the Dome around the plant, which some fear may collapse, and for additional cleanup work. In November 1996, as part of the schedule for the decommissioning, the No. 1 reactor at Chernobyl' was taken out of service, leaving only the third unit operational. Finally, in December 2000 the plant was totally shut down. This accident was not able to be stopped by any activist but the countries of the world did help finance the decommission of the plant and also helped with clean up and financing a new nuclear power plant.