April 26, 1986 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant there was an explosion that went down in history as one of the most terrible of its kind catastrophes. As a result, 10 times more radioactive substances were released into the environment than after the atomic bomb fell on Hiroshima.
The explosion led to the release of radioactive gas into the air, which spread throughout Central and Southern Europe. Thirty-one people died during the accident, and the number of victims of radiation exposure is difficult to calculate. About 350 thousand people were forced to leave their homes in the exclusion zone - this is a 30-kilometer zone around the power plant. The most affected city was Pripyat, which remains deserted to this day. Our photos show how the city looked in 2016.
Why there was an accident
The explosion occurred for two reasons. The first serious problem was that mistakes were made during the construction of the power plant. The American physicist and Nobel laureate Hans Bethe called it "built-in instability."
At the time of the accident, the power plant had four 1,000 MW power reactors. The fifth did not work yet.
One of the many problems is the reactor containment structure. It was completely constructed of concrete and had to be reinforced with steel.
The immediate cause of the explosion was a failed electrical engineering experiment.
Engineers wanted to check whether they can get electricity from the turbo-generators when the reactors are off, but the turbine is still running by inertia.
In order to conduct their experiment, the engineers were forced to disable the automatic control of the safety of the power plant, as well as most of the control rods of the station, which absorb neutrons and limit the reaction.
The problem is that engineers have reduced the reactor power level too quickly.
This fatal error led to a series of other wrong decisions and ultimately to a massive chemical explosion.
restricted area
Pieces of burning metal exploded in the air, causing fires where they landed. Due to toxic radiation, the territory of Chernobyl was declared a prohibited area.
The city of Pripyat, located near the nuclear power plant, was populated mainly by power plant employees and their families.
The day after the explosion, on April 27, the population was given a little time to collect all the things.
What you can see in the city now
In order to enter the city today, visitors must pass a security check and have the appropriate permit and guide.
Inside buildings, you can still see children's gas masks.
The coat of arms of the former Soviet Union was preserved at the top of an abandoned apartment house in Pripyat.
People are still dangerous to live on the territory of Chernobyl, but radiation does not interfere with animals that are now flourishing near the site of the catastrophe.
Radioactive water, soil and air still affect those who are close to the exclusion zone.
In Greenpeace it was estimated that in total from the health problems caused directly by the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, from 100 to 400 thousand people could die.