The production of electricity using nuclear power was initially thought to be a scientific and engineering miracle. It was predicted that nuclear power would make electricity so cheap that it would be available to everyone. However, on April 25th, 1986, an accident at the nuclear reactor at Chernobyl in the Ukraine changed the future of nuclear power. The nuclear plant at Chernobyl was Soviet built, and according to engineers who investigated the accident, it was not properly constructed or engineered. The results of this accident were widespread. The radioactivity spread all over Eastern Europe. In this report I will discuss the following issues about Chernobyl.

1. Before the disaster
2. During the Disaster
3. Situation after disaster and first fatalities
4. Situation today
5. Political situation
6. People from Chernobyl today
7. Geography of Chernobyl
8. Economy
a) Economy of Ukraine
b) Shutting off Chernobyl electric plant and economic problems.
9. Health effects from Chernobyl on:
a) Ukraine
b) Belarus and surrounding states
10. Radiation effects on human health
11. How to prevent similar accidents
12. Could a “Chernobyl” happen in Hawaii?

1. Before the disaster

Customarily, tests are run on different sections of a new electric plant 6 months after it is finished. However Chernobyl didn’t wait, because the plans stated everything must be completed by the end of 1983.
Director Brjuchanov was forced to sign documents on December 31, 1983 stating all tests were successful.
One of the missed tests was on an emergency operated turbine. When the reactor breaks down, the turbine must make electricity for at least 45 seconds, and then it turns on emergency generators.
This 45 seconds of electricity is a priority for safety reactors because it drives cooling pumps, regulation and accidents bars. This neglected test played a part in the night from April 25-26th, 1986 and this was one reason for the Chernobyl disaster.

2. during the Disaster

It all started one day before the incident. The test was conducted as follows:
The performance reactor was turned down to 25-30% of its production (700-1000 Megawatt warmest).
This is the lowest point of performance for this type of reactors.

The next step was to plug off one of 2 turbines, after turning off emergency cooling (so they don’t start up between tests), and after shutting off the conduction system.
April 25, 1986: How truthful was the test? Because it was determined that the test was an electrical technical matter, it was therefore conducted by electrical engineers and not specialists on nuclear reactors.
1:00 AM: Starting to scale down reactor performance.
1:05 PM: Scaled down reactor performance by half, and after wards plugged off emergency cooling system.
2:00 PM: The production manager UEC (Ukraine Energetic Concerns) discontinued the tests because it was nearing a holiday (1May), so, the test was abandoned after 9 hours. 4:00 PM: The shift-change.
11:00 PM: The evening shift continues to operate the reduced performance reactor.
The team of electrical engineers are tired, and nearing the end of their shift.
April 26: In the routing tests, the Operator’s detect problems with the Steady Stability reactor.
They turn an the biggest performance reactor, that in turn activates the secondary cooler pump. Performance reactor temperature dips to it lowest.
1:22:30 AM: The Operator checks the computer for the status of the reactor. The answer was horrible. It was only half of the acceptable norm for the performance reactor. The technicians decided to the continue with the test.
1:23:04 AM: Start test. The last step was to block up the emergency control, which closed a steam feeder on the turbine for the automatic reactor to turn off. After closing the feeder, the test began. The Reactor is running on performance of no more than 200 Megawatt.
1:23:40 AM: The performance reactor goes a little haywire from the effect of receiving water. In this moment, the fatal disaster is coming. Leonid Tuponov, the operator that was responsible for the reactor, presses the emergency button to shut off the reactor that was showing regulation bars, but it was inactive. 1:23:44 AM: Then came 2 big explosions. The reactor was filled with pressure weighing up to 1000 tons, which caused it to combust. When the air was released, hydrogen was created from the mixture of red hot graphite and stream, which mushroomed, and caused a radiation fire.
The director of night services Alexander Atimov, and operator Datlov didn’t believe the explosion occurred. They send two operators to check the active zone. The two died at the scene immediately from radiation, but sent a message of what happened.
Atimov and Tuponov died from radiation-related illnesses. Datlov and Uskov lived.
2:20:00 AM: The fire on block 4 is kept under control. For 10 days 5% radiation leaked out
5:10:00 AM: From the explosion about 300 SV of radiation was released. (On actual field lungs, need only 0.035 SV).A cloud arose that the wind wafted above Scandinavia, over Poland and Austria, and back to the Ukraine. April 27th: General Pikalov arrived with radiation proof gear, and mechanisms to detect the levels of radiation that were released.

He in turn relayed this information to the Soviet Government, who then evacuated the neighboring city of Pripjat.
April 28: After 8 PM, disaster information is transmitted by means of short message TASS to the world.
May 1: In Gomel, Kiev and the cities surrounding Chernobyl, people are celebrating May First, a Communist holiday. The Government asserts, that everything is OK.
May 2: The firefighters exhausted all the water from storage under the reactor. Every one receives a bonus of 1000 Rubles.
May 4: They pump liquid nitrogen into sinkholes under the reactor in an attempt to freeze the ground.
May 5: The day started with a large leak of radiation. 3. Situation after disaster and first fatalities

In a moment, a nuclear explosion killed two people: the first one was killed in the explosion, and the other person burned to death.
Also, many fireman and solders who sacrificed their lives.
No one knows what radiation is, and what the effect is. The fireman used water to try and extinguish the fire, which was up to 67,600ْ F, so once water came into contact with hydrogen and oxygen, it exploded. For three hours following water is dumped down on the next reactors, and especially on the third reactor, which was shut down after four hours. Around the reactor there were pieces of graphite from the central nucleus. People who lived 15 minutes away died from this area died of radiation effects. Out of 400 employers, 33 people died and 28 showed effects of radiation, and 3 were injured from the explosion. Two hundred, three people from an area of 30 miles around power electric plant died as a result of radiation induced illnesses. One-hundred and sixteen thousand people were evacuated from their homes. The cost of train ticket from Chernobyl to Moscow rose from 15 rubles to 100 rubles a more.
intended for 10 days, more than 50 millions of Curie radiations were emitted from the damaged reactors. (5% of all radioactive substances in reactor)
A Curie (CI) is a base value of unit of radiation. One Curie is 37 million units of radiation substances the whole 1 second. Fifty million Curies are equal to a release of 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 units of radiation. 4. Situation today

Today, the broken reactor from Block 4 of the Chernobyl power electric plant is covered under a large sarcophagus of steel and cement. It cost 2 milliard dollars. Every 40 years it is to be replaced to protect from leakage. Around the power electric plant are zones. The first one is 10 miles, and second is 30 miles, owned officially by the state. The inside zone is totally prohibited for anything that moves. The second zone has been continually being worked on to decontaminate the ground since 1986.

The goal of this decontamination is to purify the top 3” of soil which is contaminated by Cesium and Strontium. Deformed vegetable grow in this area. In the first zone there was a village. Elderly residents returned there after about one year. Today the village population is 600. They live well because the state pays for their living expenses.
In December 15, 2000 Chernobyl turned off its last reactor, at the wish of the EU and neighboring states.
Many people lost work, but some stayed to work on decontaminating the premised.

Next sarcophagi concept. ►

5. The political situation

On December 15, 2000 at 1:20 PM Central European Time, the president of Ukraine, Leonid Kucma, obliged the director of the Chernobyl electric plants request, and turned off the last block of the electric plant.
The shutting down of the Chernobyl electric plant received a mixed reaction. Many rioted in Slavityci, a town set up for the evacuated people from the surrounding area of Chernobyl because they lost their jobs. The director of the plant said that of 1000’s of workers, only 800 returned to work to decontaminate the plant. This would take 7 to 8 years. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the repercussions of Chernobyl still effect the Ukraine government and economy. The EU believed the protection of life was the most important issue and they therefore requested that the plant was shut down. In turn, they offered financial assistance to the Ukraine, because the economy was in crises. Many politicians also believed in shutting down the plant.

▲ Leonid Kucma president of Ukraine

6. People from Chernobyl today

After 1 year, many elderly people returned to the area around Chernobyl. Today approximately 600 live there. Why would people want to return to a contamination zone? Maybe because they are old, and they lived their entire lives there. After the disaster, many of these people were scattered with their families around the Soviet Union. The Communist Soviet government didn’t provide housing for the people who were living in the danger zone. Many young people and their families stay a way from Chernobyl. The old people have only maybe 20-25 years, left to live. And they love their homes which happen to border Chernobyl. 7. Geography of Chernobyl

The Chernobyl region is situated between the Carpathians Mountains from west, and Central Russian uplands from the east. Chernobyl is situated in the Ukraine. Ukraine is the second biggest country of Europe, with an area of 603,700 miles. 48 million people reside there.

This is about 85 people per sq mile (in the USA there are 51 people sq mile). The Capital city is Kiev. The highest point is mount Hoverla, at 6761 ft. The lowest point is the Black Sea, at 0ft. The Ukraine is divided into many areas roughly 24 :Vineyard, Dnepropetrovsk, Volynsk, Doneck, Zitomir, Zporizzja, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kiev, Kirovohrad, Luhansk, Lviv, Mykolaiv, Odessa, Poltava, Directly, Sums, Ternopyl, Charkiv, Cherson, Chmelnyck, Cerkassy, Cernihivsk, Uzhorod and Cernivci. Chernobyl is situated about 80 miles from Kiev, which has a population of about 2.852.700. The Ukraine has 8 neighboring states: Slovakia, Poland, Belarus, Russian Federation, Moldova, Romania, and Hungary.

8. Economy

a) Economy of Ukraine

Chernobyl is situated in Ukraine, and therefore the economy has experience many problems as a result.
The Ukraine has rich mineral potential. They have 2 million tons of black coal deposits, and 4.2 million tons of brown coal deposits. Their metals are very clean. Their steel has a 64% purity krel. They produce 20% of their own natural gas. The industrial area is only 300 sectors. This industry provides the majority of the nations resources. Agriculture is not profitable because the dark farming soil is contaminated throughout the north. This change has increased unemployment, declined production and declined the living standard. The economy of Ukraine has been in a major crisis since the break up of the Soviet Union. b) Shutting off Chernobyl Electric Plant and Economic Problems

The shutting down of the Chernobyl electric plant raised the question: Will the Ukraine have enough electricity? Germany’s OKO institute, anticipates a marked increase in usage of electricity after 2001, because people in Ukraine and Soviet Union didn’t make attempts to in the past, electricity in the Soviet Union was cheaper than today. Currently, about 40 traditional heat and electric plants don’t work because they don’t have fuel. From an economic and ecologic positions it, is best to Ukraine and world economists believe it is possible to reduce electricity usage by 40-60%.
The absence of the 5% of the Ukraine’s electricity that Chernobyl provided shouldn’t effect the Ukraine’s economy

9. Effect on human health from Chernobyl disaster

a) Ukraine

The explosion at the Chernobyl electric plant didn’t cause only radiation, but also cancer. The moment the reactor exploded, it emitted poison and substances that have adverse and even unknown effects on human health.

Some of the chemicals released were Iodine, Molybdenum, Strontium and Plutonium. The break down period for iodine and molybdenum is 3 days. These 3 days had an immense effect in Spreading toxin. The next substances was strontium which a break down time of 29 days. The most damaging element is plutonium, which has half life of 24,000 years, and is the most carcinogenic. After the disaster, many people developed cancer especially children. This number goes up every year. Many people live today in contaminated areas. Chernobyl was 70 times more intense than in Hiroshima or Nagasaki. One of the most common illnesses is thyroid cancer. The World Health Organization WHO estimates that cancer in Ukraine is 6 times more prevalent than before the disaster. b) Belarus and other states

Belarus received 70 % of the radiation from the Chernobyl disaster. Belarus is divided into 7 regions. The most contaminated region is Gomel next to Chernobyl. Every citizen of Belarus was radiated. The contamination spread over 6000 miles of farm land, 20% of the forests, and over 109,000 people. From the National Budget, Belarus allocates 9% for decontamination. In 2002, 574 children developed cancer.
After the explosion, radiation wafted above Scandinavia, Poland, Austria, and Czechoslovakia. In these countries the cancer rate has increased.

Damage value for Belarus Republic between 1986 –2015

Decontamination - 191.7 milliard USD
Obsolescence - 29.6 milliard USD

Cs- Cesium
St- Strontium
Mo- Molybdenum
I – Iodine
Pu - Plutonium

10. Radiation effects on human health

a) What is it radiation?

Radiation is a natural effect. When atoms change their structure and detach, radation is released. This radiation comes from stones, the ground, water, and much more. This is natural radiation and the main substance in it is the gas Radon.
Artificial radiation, made by human activity, is created from nuclear tests, and is in garbage from nuclear electric plants. The most dangerous element of this radiation is plutonium, which is not a substance found in nature.

b) The Effects of radiation on the human body

The human body is comprised of many cells which a fill different purposes.
Radiation destroys the molecules from which the cell is built. If a is cell damaged they are either altered or die.
Radiation affects cells in 3 ways:

1. The cell is healthy and lives.

2. This cell dies or is damaged.
If radiation kills many cells, a person gets sick.

Upon receiving 30 Sv of radiation people died after one hour.
Symptoms: upset stomach and vomiting.

10-30 Sv people died after one week from internal damage.

Rate 1-10 Sv. Damage to bone marrow, death often serial months.
3. Cells live with a high likelihood of developing cancer.

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Radiation damaged human chromosomes

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Healthy chromosomes

11. How to Prevent Similar Accidents

The Chernobyl disaster involved negligence and a disregard for routine safety instructions.
If we want to avoid similar accidents, we need to learn to follow and respect procedures that are there for our safety.
Are nuclear electric plants safe?
By present-day standards the number of people killed in nuclear electric plants is very small. Statistic of deaths per 1 TWh (Tetra Watt hour)

Petroleum electric power plant – 4.4 died / TWh
Black coal electric power plant – 2.4 died / TWh
Brown coal electric power plant – 2.1 died / TWh
Gas electric power plant – 1.9 died / TWh
Nuclear electric power plant – 1.2 / TWh

IAEA (International atomic Energy Agency) are nuclear power electric plants safeties than coals, petroleum and gas power electric plants. People also have choices of various safe types of electricity:
Green energy, Geothermal energy, Sun energy, Water energy, Wind energy.
Why is the most popular from of energy nuclear electric plants? Because electricity from nuclear power electric plant is cheaper and faster than other methods.
What is a greater priority many or health?

12. Could a “Chernobyl” Happen in Hawaii?

Why should people in Hawaii know about what happened in Chernobyl?
The Chernobyl disaster addresses people in everywhere because the contamination not only effected Europe, but the entire world. It contaminated the water, ground and air. The most dangerous from of contamination is in water, which goes into our rivers, seas, and oceans throughout the world. We are all connected by water.
A similar disaster could be repeated anywhere in the world. People should know about this problem and learn from others mistakes.
I’ve accomplished 47.5% on my quizzes. I hope this percent will increase, and that my project will help educate people who are interested in this subject.

Black dots illustrate the atomic power electric plants in the world. ▲.

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The Chernobyl Disaster