Accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and its consequences

Journal Article · Sat Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 1986 · Environment; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1080/00139157.1986.9928827· OSTI ID:5492155

Lewis, H W

In the early morning of April 26, 1986, as the culmination of an almost incredible series of errors that began 24 hours earlier, Unit 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear complex, a so-called RBMK-1000 reactor, suffered the worst accident in the history of commercial nuclear power. There was an uncontrolled nuclear excursion, release of a large amount of energy, possibly comparable to hundreds of pounds of TNT, blowing the top off the reactor. There was no containment, in the traditional American sense, so the roof of the building was blown out, an unprecedented amount of radioactivity was released to the biosphere, and a graphite fire was ignited, which burned for days. The radiation that was released spread through Eastern Europe (the world first learned of it through Swedish observations), bringing with it both official and unofficial protests that the Soviet Union had made no announcement of the radiation release until they were, in effect, caught. In fact, after a few days, the Soviets seemed to recognize that nuclear safety is a matter of international concern, and became quite open in their search for cooperation. They invited officials of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to visit the area and to fly over the plant, and agreed, in the end, to make a complete disclosure of the details of the accident at a special meeting of IAEA in Vienna, August 25 to 29, 1986. In preparation for that meeting they distributed a lengthy (400 pages) report on the event. This paper reviews this report.

• Research Organization: Univ. of California, Santa Barbara
• OSTI ID: 5492155
• Journal Information: Environment; (United States), Journal Name: Environment; (United States) Vol. 28:9; ISSN ENVTA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
220900* -- Nuclear Reactor Technology-- Reactor Safety
ACCIDENTS
ACUTE EXPOSURE
ACUTE IRRADIATION
ANIMALS
ASIA
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
BIOLOGICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
BIOSPHERE
CHERNOBYLSK-4 REACTOR
CONTAMINATION
COOPERATION
DELAYED RADIATION EFFECTS
DESIGN BASIS ACCIDENTS
EASTERN EUROPE
ENRICHED URANIUM REACTORS
ENVIRONMENT
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
EUROPE
EVALUATION
FALLOUT
GLOBAL FALLOUT
GRAPHITE MODERATED REACTORS
IAEA
INJURIES
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
IRRADIATION
LWGR TYPE REACTORS
MAMMALS
MAN
MELTDOWN
POLLUTION
POWER REACTORS
PRIMATES
RADIATION EFFECTS
RADIATION INJURIES
RADIATION SYNDROME
REACTOR ACCIDENTS
REACTORS
THERMAL REACTORS
TRANSFRONTIER POLLUTION
USSR
VERTEBRATES
WATER COOLED REACTORS