26th April, 1986 at 1:23 AM, the Reactor Number 4 of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Soviet Union. The lid on top of the reactor starts shaking, and the shockwaves are felt all throughout the building. The workers present realized that the nuclear reaction in the reactor was completely out of control by then. That reactor had to be stopped quickly. So one of those workers acted fast and pressed the Emergency Shut Down button.
By pressing the button, the control rods were designed to enter the reactors, and prevent the reactions. But they didn’t work as designed. After the button was pressed, the control rods entered the reactor, but as soon as they went in, there was a huge blast. A huge explosion. After this blast, the reactor was engulfed in flames.
The harmful radioactive material present there rose up into the air with the flames. The amount of harmful radioactive material released in this disaster, was equal to 400 Hiroshima atomic bomb. This disaster is still considered to be the World’s Worst Nuclear Disaster.
The radiation spreading through the air, had an effect on not only Ukraine but all over Europre from Spain to Sweden also. There was radioactive rain in the United Kingdom. The radioactive dust which settled on the grass in the hills, were consumed by cows and the amount of radiation in the milk of those cows spiked. Due to this, thousands of children got Thyroid Cancer. Let’s understand why this Chernobyl disaster took place. The reasons behind it, and the effects that were seen all over the world.
