WHAT MADE CHERNOBYL THE WORST?
The accident at Chernobyl in 1986 is the worst nuclear disaster
in history. It was due to reactor meltdown. The same meltdown was the reason for
accidents at Three Mile Island (1979) and Fukushima (2011). But what is it that
made Chernobyl stand out?
A simple explanation would be 'the absence of a containment
structure around the reactor'. A containment structure is reinforced steel or lead enclosing a nuclear
reactor. It prevents
the spread of radiation to its surrounding in case of plant failure.
Chernobyl was built in 1970, a time when Cold War was
prevalent between the U.S. and Soviet Union. The two did not share their advances
in technology with each other. Due to which the soviet was uninformed about the
necessary containment structure needed to build around a fission reactor. At the
time of the explosion, the radiation spread through Europe causing cancer rates
to go higher.
There were many other reasons which made Chernobyl worse but
the major one being the absence of a containment structure. In the current
world, IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) makes sure all safety measures
are met before a power plant begins to function.
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