Chernobyl- The True Story

The Chernobyl-HBO's five part miniseries was based on an untold true story. Chernobyl was a nuclear power plant located in Ukraine. It's been 30 years since the worst nuclear power plant accident in history has occurred and that was the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. The incident was extremely unfortunate, that it makes Ukraine a radioactive no-go zone. HBO's Chernobyl tells a dramatized version of thr true incident. But there are many true stories still to be told.

• The Chernobyl nuclear power plant was built between the period 1970s-1980s.It was located in Soviet controlled Ukraine. During the time of its collapse it contained four nuclear reactors, which can create electrical power through nuclear fission. Chernobyl provides employment to many people that the power plant workers and their families later forms a community called Pripyat. Pripyat was like any city with schools, factories and hospitals.

• What causes Chernobyl disaster?A combination of human error and design flaws was the reason behind the disaster. It happens on April 26th, 1986.The enginners disabled some of the safety features of the reactors as a part of safety test. Due to some design faliures a fire causes an explosion that blew the lid off of the fourth reactor. This causes the exposure of the nuclear core and released it into the atmosphere. It was a massive explosion accounts for about 400 times more radiation than Hiroshima atom bomb disaster. Even though an attempt to stop the flames and spread of radiation was made, still it burns for ten days spreading radioactive ash and smog.

• The aftereffects of the Chernobyl explosion was severe and long lasting. It killed two plant workers during explosion and 28 engineers and fire fighters died due to acute radiation syndrome. Among the 600 workers 134 are sickened due to radiation poisoning. More than 300,000 people were evacuated away from radioactive region. The Soviets declared a 1,600 square mile no-go zonearound the plant. It was known as Chernobyl Exclusion Zone and the acess to this area is restricted to reduce spread of contamination. Among the population an excess of 15 childhood cancer was reported in 2011.A concrete sarcophagus was placed over the exploded fourth reactor while the other reactors continue to operate. The employees then onwards begin to work five hours a day and spend more than half of each month outside the exclusion zone in order to minimize the exposure to radiation. The plant was completely shut down in 2000, and a steel sarcophagus was placed over the entire site in 201 under the Chernobyl New Safe Confinement.

• Many recover projects was done by different organisations. The Chernobyl trust fund was created in 1991 by United Nations to help the victims of Chernobyl. The Chernobyl shelter fund was established in 1997 at 23rd G8 summit. In 2003 United Nations Development Programme launched the Chernobyl Recovery and Development Programme(CRDP). The Chernobyl disaster is considered as the worst nuclear disaster in terms of cost and casualities. The accident prompted safety upgrades on all remaining Soviet designed reactors.