The Chernobyl nuclear disaster occurred on April 26, 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine. During a safety test on reactor 4, a surge of power caused an explosion that blew the reactor apart and released massive amounts of radiation. Hundreds of thousands of people had to be evacuated and the area remains contaminated. The disaster highlighted issues with the Soviet response and lessons about safety culture, emergency preparedness, and open communication.

1. The
Chernobyl
Disaster
By:
Vedant Gurav
Sarosh Adurkar
Muttahir Gadkari

2. WHERE IS CHERNOBYL ?
-In Northern Ukraine
-16 kilometres away
From Belarus
-128 kilometres North of
Kiev

3. Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.
• Located 11 miles north of the city
of Chernobyl
• Plant consisted of 4 reactors
• Produced 10% of Ukraine’s
electricity
• Construction began in the 1970’s
• Reactor #4 was completed in 1983
• At the time of the accident,
reactors #5 and #6 were in
progress.

4. Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster.
Saturday, 26 April 1986:
The accident at reactor 4 occurred
during an experiment to test a
potential safety emergency core
cooling feature.

5. What Happened ?
Saturday, 26 April 1986
• Reactor #4 was undergoing a
test to test the backup power
supply in case of a power loss.
• The power fell too low, allowing
the concentration of xenon-135
to rise.
• The workers continued the test,
and in order to control the rising
levels of xenon-135, the control
rods were pulled out.

6. How it happened ?
• The experiment involved
shutting down the coolant
pumps, which caused the
coolant to rapidly heat up and
boil.
• Pockets of steam formed in the
coolant lines. When the coolant
expanded in this particular
design, the power level went up.
• All control rods were ordered to
be inserted. As the rods were
inserted, they became deformed
and stuck. The reaction could
not be stopped.

7.  The rods melted and the steam
pressure caused anexplosion, which
blew a hole in the roof. A graphite fire
also resulted from the explosion.
 To save money, the reactor was
constructed with only partial
containment, which allowed the
radiation to escape. 13%-30% of the
material escaped.
 Radioactive material was carried by the
wind and rain into large areas of
Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. The
result was an international ecological,
medical, and economic calamity.
How it happened ? Cont'd

8. The Clean Up
1. “Liquidators”
 These were firemen who helped
put out the fires and helped
clean up the radiation
 Most did not realize the dangers
of radiation.
 Many later died from radiation,
because they didn’t wear
protection.
 An estimated 8,000-20,000 to
date have died (20% from
suicide)

9. The Clean Up. Cont’d
2. “Robots”
 United States supplied
 Specifically designed to
enter reactor core and
help build the
sarcophagus

10. The Clean Up. Cont’d
Approximately 300,000
to 6000,000 liquidators
were involved in the
cleanup of the 3o km
evacuated zone.

11. Evacuation
-Following the accident hundreds of
thousands of people had to be
evacuated and between 1990 and
1995 an additional 210,000 people
were resettled.
-People Evacuated:
more than 160,000 people were
evacuated after 3days after the
accident.

12. Containment.
• Cement
sarcophagus built in
the month after
disaster
• 5,000 tons of sand
thrown on top of
reactor core

13. Effects of Radiation.

14. Effects of Radiation.
• effects from the Chernobyl
disaster on the health of their
people.
• 100% increase in the incidence of
cancer and lukemia.
• “Chernobyl AIDS”—the term
doctors are using to describe
illnesses associated with the
damage done to the immune
system

15. Childrens affected in the
Chernobyl Disaster
• Children were much more
affected by Chernobyl and the
radiation, due to their weaker
immune systems.
• 1991-1992—sickness rate among
children almost tripled
• The following problems have :
• heart and circulatory diseases,
malignant tumors, and disorders
of the nervous system, sensory
organs, of the bone, muscle and
connective tissue system

16. • It is estimated that 1 out of every
4 infants in Belarus will develop
thyroid abnormalities.
• The normal rate of thyroid cancer
would be only one in 1 million.
• In the immediate aftermath of
the disaster, had the authorities
supplied the children with
preventive potassium iodine, it
would have prevented many of
the thyroid cancer cases.

17. Belarus after Chernobyl disaster

18. The Land of Belarus.
• 0 25% of the country’s
farmland and
forestcontaminated at a
dangerous level
• 10% of the land IS unusable
• 1% of the entire land in
Belarus was uncontaminated
• Forests ruined
• Many animals are dying as
well from the radiation

19. • Plutonium’s half life
is 24,400 years.
• The 30—km radius
has been expanded
into a 70-km radius,
covering a portion of
southern Belarus.
• Forest/brush fires
have spread the
radiation through the
air.

20. Crisis Management
Immediate Reaction by the Soviet Government
 Radiation levels on site exceeded dosimeters’ limits -> Assumption of intact reactor
 All fires were extinguished 5 hours after the accident; most involved firefighters perished later on
 Evacuation of Pripyat started only 36 hours after the accident. The town was evacuated within 3
hours, using 1100 buses
 The government only admitted the accident after high radiation levels were measured in Sweden
Further development in 1986
 The government tried to hush up the extent of the disaster, admitting 30 people had died
 600,000 liquidators shoveled most of the debris inside the reactor
 A sarcophagus was erected around the reactor by December 1986
 Blocks 2 and 1 of the power plant were restarted in October

21. Relief Operation Pros and Cons
 Irrational implementation of the immediate operations
• Firemen, unaware of that they were fighting, local defense militia was called in to clean
nuclear fuel from the roof (90sec. = disability pension and cash bonus). -
• The logical thing was to bury the fire and the tons of radionuclides that remained in the ruins
of the reactor. +
• Helicopters with sand, boron, to absorb neutrons, lead, to shield the radiation, and dolomite,
which would break down into carbon dioxide and help smother the flames. +
• The pilots and crews received radiation at a rate of several hundred rad per hour. -
• Fear that the nuclear fuel would become too concentrated and set off a true atomic explosion,
destroying the neighboring three reactors => nuclear fuel carried out by hand -
• Radioactive emission started melting the floor. Danger for getting into contact with the
suppression pool below the reactor, the water there would instantly vaporize and explode. The
water was taken out. +

22. Relief Operation Pros and Cons Cont.
 Errors during the Sarcophagus building:
• No protective clothing or respirators for the workers and had no shower facilities where
they could wash the radionuclides from their bodies.
• Most of the soldiers were later transferred to points throughout the Soviet Union
• No accurate number of soldiers participated in the operations is available
 An unhealthy environment: burning of radioactive objects (clothes, trees, pets,
etc.)
 Information deficiency: manipulated to hide health problems, solders were
dislocated to different parts of the soviet union, lack of info for the population
and that of the countries that might have been affected
 Evacuation – everybody left their houses waiting outside to be evacuated under
an invisible shower of isotopes

23. Past 27 years
Chernobyl Humanitarian Assistance and Rehabilitation Programme (CHARP)
 Program running since 1990 by International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies with local societies
 address basic health needs of those living in the regions of the 3 countries affected (Belarus, Russia, Ukraine)
 core activity is cancer screening, provide psychosocial support, distribute multivitamins to children living in radiation
contaminated areas
Chernobyl Recovery and Development Programme (CRDP)
 developed by the United Nations Development Program, initiated 2002
 Aim:  return to normal life by providing support to the government of Ukraine for elaboration and
implementation of
development-oriented solutions for the regions
 mitigate long-term social, economic and environmental consequences
 create more favorable living conditions and to promote sustainable human development in affected regions
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
 employs a safeguards system which is among the most advanced at any safeguarded nuclear facility
 remote monitoring, on-site inspections, seals to ensure the non-diversion of nuclear material

24. Lessons Learnt
Chernobyl a stepping stone for a new philosophy – new term in nuclear energy
“safety culture”
 Nuclear power plants (NPPs) as units of national importance
 Safety first! Priority given to people’s safety and preservation of the environment rather
than productivity
 Overhaul of current and future projects with focus on risk minimization
 Emergency preparedness and safety measures
• Understand, respect and minimize risk
• International and national emergency response systems, highly involving the community
• Adequate radiation measuring technology in place
• NPP community for knowledge exchange (WANO) and international scientific co-operation
• Constant quality and safety control and measurement
• Continuous improvement of technology and safety measures
• Communication is key!

25. References
UNSCEAR; “The Chernobyl Incident”; Available at: http://www.unscear.org/unscear/en/chernobyl.html
World Nuclear Association; “Chernobyl Accident 1986”; Available at: http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Safety-and-Security/Safety-of-Plants/Chernobyl-
Accident/#.UUR3xRzEOWI
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (2011). Revised Plan 2011
- Chernobyl Humanitarian Assistance and Rehabilitation Programme (CHARP). Available at:
http://www.ifrc.org/docs/Appeals/annual11/MAA6700211p.pdf
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (2011). Annual
Report Chernobyl Humanitarian Assistance and Rehabilitation Programme - Belarus,
Ukraine, Russia. Available at: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/
MAA6700211ar.pdf
United Nations Development Program (2008). UN to continue Chernobyl recovery efforts
until 2016. Available at: http://content.undp.org/go/newsroom/2008/april/un-to-continue-
chernobyl-recovery-efforts-until-2016.en
United Nations Development Program (2013). Chernobyl Recovery and Development
Programme. Available at: http://www.undp.org.ua/en/projects-list-all/37-local-
development-and-human-security-/614-chornobyl-recovery-and-development-programme
United Nations (2008). UN Action Plan on Chernobyl to 2016 - Final Version.
Available at: http://chernobyl.undp.org/russian/docs/UNActionPlan_revised.pdf
International Atomic Energy Agency (2012). Chernobyl - 25 years, 25 Stories.
Available at: http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/focus/chernobyl/25years/
OWT. Chernobyl Timeline. Available at: http://users.owt.com/smsrpm/Chernobyl/tline.html
TESEC. Lessons Learnt from Chernobyl. Available at: http://www.tesec-int.org/chernobyl/Lessons.htm
The Telegraph. Chernobyl anniversary: 5 lessons from the disaster. Available at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/8473439/Chernobyl-anniversary-5-lessons-from-the-disaster.html

26. Thank you for
the attention!