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It is sad that while environmentalists were sparing no
effort to try to save our Earth, a major disaster
happened to rip it almost completely apart. The
world's worst nuclear accident occurred on Saturday, 26
April 1986 at about 1.25 am in Northern Ukraine. The
Chernobyl nuclear plant was the show piece of the Soviet
Union. It had four massive reactors, each containing
about two thousand tons of nuclear material. The plant
produced 17% of the country's total power. The
explosions started at Reactor Number Four.
Incompetent officers and bad management were blamed
for the cause of the disaster. Investigations showed
that the day before the accident, a series of tests were
being ordered by some officers who wanted to see how far
the reactor could be pushed. Tragedy struck when two
massive explosions blew away the building's roof and
sides and ejected thousands of tons of radio-active
material. The smell of ozone filled the air.
Deadly radiation poisoning spread quickly among both
the firefighters and the people in the surrounding areas
of Chernobyl. More than 15,000 were reported dead. It
was reported that that morning, a man who had been
sunbathing, ran into his house to show his family the
beautiful tan he had acquired in just a few minutes. He
started vomiting less than fifteen minutes later and
died soon after. Like many others, he had been exposed
to radiation.
Over time the toll of those affected by the Chernobyl
accident is expected to reach four million. Birth
defects among people and animals living in the nearby
areas have increased at an alarming rate. Horses were
born with eight deformed legs, pigs with no eyes and
eggs often contained several yolks. Tragically people of
these regions returned to their homes because they did
not believe in the invisible threat of radiation. A
tourist company had even taken advantage of the disaster
and organised tours to the disaster area. |
