The Chernobyl accident was a nuclear catastrophe that occurred in the former Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics ( USSR ).

This happened on April 26, 1986, from an explosion in reactor number 4 of the Vladimir Ilyich Lenin nuclear power plant, located near the cities of Pripyat and Chernobyl, present-day Ukraine.

In official figures, this disaster caused 31 deaths in the days after the accident, although more than 50,000 people are believed to have died as a result of radiation during the 25 years since.

Post -accident radiation levels were estimated at 5.6 roentgens per second, which is equivalent to more than 20,000 roentgens per hour , when the lethal dose for humans is around 100 roentgens per hour.

At that time, the temperature was estimated at 2,500 ° C and dense radioactive smoke spread through the atmosphere, spreading radioactive particles at great distances, putting many countries in Europe and Asia at risk, and came to be considered the most serious nuclear accident in history.

It is estimated that more than 100,000 km2 were affected by the radiation received , which is equivalent to about 400 atomic bombs from Hiroshima.

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Causes of the Chernobyl accident

The cause of the Chernobyl nuclear accident was the explosion of reactor number 4 of the Vladimir Ilyich Lenin nuclear power plant , where a test of the inertial range of the turbo generator was carried out,  planned since the previous day during the day shift.

The causes of the accident were the following:

• Due to power outages , it s and delayed the test for night time, which set out to less staff time and preparation to do it .
• Not all safety rules were followed during the test.
• The alarm signals from the equipment, between 12:35 and 12:45 AM, were ignored by the personnel, who continued with the test.

The environmental consequences of Chernobyl

1. It commemorates 30 years of the Chernobyl nuclear accident, considered the most serious in history. The accident left at least 40 direct deaths from radiation and continues to pose a threat to the environment and global health.
2. Many indirect deaths from the tragedy still cannot be calculated after the catastrophe 30 years ago. “The first days we did not feel anything, because we were nervous and we did not feel pain, but a little later a severe sore throat began and heart problems, liver problems and headaches appeared… My daughter suffers a lot of health problems from the accident and my husband was disabled ”, narrates with a broken voice the Ukrainian Lyudmila Panasetska, who lived less than 2 km from the atomic station.
3. Like this, thousands of more testimonies have told around the world the tragedy that his life became after that April 26, 1986, when an overheating of 3,000 degrees in the nuclear reactor caused an explosion of the hydrogen that was inside , releasing at least 300 times more radioactive and toxic material than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
4. A catastrophe of this magnitude cannot mean that 30 years later all environmental and health risks to humanity have been overcome. Currently 2,000 tons of radioactive mass persist under the reactor where the event took place. The ideal would be to remove it, but “a problem is that the material is disintegrating and is fragile, and when it is cut to transport it, it will probably fill the air with radioactive dust,” Serguei Parashin, an engineer at the plant since 1977, told the international press.
5. The expert told el Nuevo Herald that the tragedy that occurred three decades ago represents only 5 percent of the total material that was dispersed in the air, which creates an idea of ​​the disaster that would mean not properly handling the mass that persists in the air. place. “We don’t know how to do it,” Parashin lamented when asked the right way to treat him.
6. But looking back, the effects are incalculable. 10 years ago, the WHO brought together 100 of the most prestigious scientists to evaluate the real results of the nuclear accident and the conclusions were alarming. Catorce6 recalls some of them, which are still very valid:
7. The pollution caused by the accident has caused around 4,000 cases of thyroid cancer, mainly in people who were children or adolescents at the time of the accident.
8.  The move to other areas was a “deeply traumatic experience” for the 350,000 people who were removed from the affected areas, although 116,000 were evacuated from the most severely affected part immediately after the accident.
9. Of the more than 200,000 emergency services and recovery operations workers who were exposed to radiation during the 1986-1987 period, an estimated 2,200 will die from a cause related to that exposure.
10. The structural elements of the sarcophagus built around the damaged reactor have deteriorated, with the consequent risk of collapse and release of radioactive dust.
11. Scientific assessments indicate that at least a 30 km radius of the reactor is heavily polluted and there are dozens of closed lakes and forests with restricted access. The worst thing is that the habitable area that is closed is 16 km.

For now, radioactive waste will remain in the disaster area in the now ghost town of Pripyat, near where Ukrainian President Petro Porochenkoy and hundreds of residents arrived on Tuesday to bring flowers and candles to the memorial for those killed by the catastrophe. It is estimated that the area would be habitable again in at least 10,000 years.

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Other Consequences of the Chernobyl accident

Medical consequences 

It is estimated that as a result of radiation, this nuclear accident claimed the lives of between 4,000 and 90,000 people in the 25 years after the event.

In addition, medical authorities have reported a significant increase in patients with different types of cancer, and  numerous cases of deformities were reported in children born in the years following the accident .

Economic consequences

Just from the accident, the cost of the catastrophe is estimated at US $ 18,000 million . In 2017, the construction of a large structure was completed, in the shape of a sarcophagus, which covers the reactor that still releases radiation, which meant a great cost of construction and currently maintenance.

On the other hand, approximately 115,000 people had to be evacuated and relocated immediately, and only 4% of the population receives financial assistance related to the accident.

In addition, there remains a large unpopulated area in Ukraine that was contaminated with radiation, which makes its production and profit impossible.

Historical consequences 

The accident contributed to the decline of the Soviet Union , which due to its economic repercussions and political mismanagement, ended up dissolving on December 26, 1991.

After this accident, safety regulations were intensified at all nuclear plants around the world .