Chernobyl disaster. The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant shocked the whole world, including its consequences.
If many people think that the Chernobyl accident immediately claimed many lives, then this is not so. During the explosion itself, one operator died, whose remains are still buried under the rubble, and the second died from injuries and burns already in the hospital.
When Chernobyl exploded, there were several blows (most eyewitnesses claim that there were two explosions), the exact time is 04/26/1986 at 01:23:47 (Saturday).
The reactor was destroyed in just three minutes.
Already after the explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and in the aftermath of the liquidation work, within 3 months, 31 people died (due to exposure), employed in the first hours of eliminating the fire.
As a result, more than half a million people were involved in the liquidation work. The Chernobyl accident claimed the lives of up to 80,000 people due to remote exposure.
134 of them had an acute stage of radiation sickness (these are the first people who arrived at the call).
What is Chernobyl
The city got its name thanks to the wormwood, in ancient times it was called Chernobyl.
Now, due to environmental conditions (rain, wind, etc.), as well as as a result of human activities on earth, it has significantly decreased.
After time, radioactive substances have already entered the ground and enter agricultural products through the root system.
Berries, mushrooms and forests also pose a danger, because cesium has recycling there and, as a result, it is not excreted. However, the fish is not dangerous.
Many are interested in the mutation after the explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The study showed that it continues, but not to a large extent.
The absence of man and his influence on nature had a beneficial effect on the ecosystem. Now the flora and fauna are fragrant there, the populations of animals and plants have increased.
31 years after the incident, people are still wondering what happened at Chernobyl. After all, this accident surpassed and.
Although it is worth noting that these are still different accidents and incidents.
Chernobyl disaster - an accident at the fourth reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant at 1:23 am on April 26, 1986. This is the most major accident nuclear energy in the world and we can say that Chernobyl tragedy is the biggest technological disaster of the 20th century.
The Chernobyl nuclear power plant (NPP) is located in the city of Pripyat, not far from the center of Chernobyl, practically at the junction of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. That is why these 3 union republics suffered the most from the accident.
Chronology of events
On the night of April 25-26, it was planned to conduct an experiment at the fourth power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The essence of the experiment was to reduce the power of the power unit from 3200 megawatts (nominal power of the unit) to 700 megawatts. It was because of this experiment that the accident happened.
Before starting to understand what the Chernobyl accident is, I propose to dwell on the chronology of the events of April 25 and 26, 1986. This will allow you to track the real events that took place in those days, as well as get facts for further analysis.
- 01:06 - a phased reduction in reactor power began.
- 13:05 - Reactor power reduced by 50% to 1600 MW.
- 14:00 - at the request of the dispatchers, the power reduction was stopped. A few minutes earlier, the reactor's emergency cooling system had been turned off.
- 23:05 - the beginning of a new reduction in power.
- 00:28 - Reactor power drops to 500 megawatts, goes into automatic mode and suddenly drops to 30 megawatts, which is 1% of the nominal power.
- 00:32 - To restore power, the operators remove the rods from the reactor. At this point, there are less than 20 left.
- 01:07 - power stabilizes at 200 MW.
- 01:23:04 - continuation of the experiment.
- 01:23:35 - uncontrolled increase in the volume of reactor power.
- 01:23:40 - emergency button pressed.
- 01:23:44 - the actual power of the reactor was 320,000 MW, which is 100 times higher than the nominal power.
- 01:24 - the destruction of the upper plate weighing 1000 tons and the release of red-hot parts of the core.
The Chernobyl accident is two explosions, as a result of which the fourth power unit was completely destroyed. The accident itself lasted a few seconds, but led to nightmarish consequences and the largest technological disaster of its time.
From the facts given above, it is clear that an experiment was carried out, what first happened sharp drop power, and then a sharp increase in power, which got out of control and led to the explosion and destruction of 4 reactors. The first question that arises in connection with this is what was this experiment and why was it carried out?
Experiment with the 4th reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant
On April 25, 1986, preventive maintenance was carried out at the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, during which a turbogenerator was tested. The essence of the test is whether the turbogenerator will be able to supply power every 45-50 seconds in case of an accident in order to provide the emergency systems with the necessary energy.
The very essence of the experiment was to ensure further safety of use. There is nothing special in this, since experiments are always carried out and at any enterprises. Another thing is that any experiments at objects of such importance must be carried out under strict control and with full preservation of the regulations. In this case, this was not provided. This is the reason for the Chernobyl accident.
Everything was quiet, going on as usual. Then I heard a conversation, turned around - Toptunov was saying something to Akimov. What Toptunov said, I did not hear. Akimov told him to turn off the reactor. But, in my opinion, Toptunov told him that the reactor had reached a normal level. There is nothing unusual or dangerous about this. Akimov repeated to him - turn off the reactor. I translated in my mind the frequency of 35 Hz into revolutions. After that came the first blow. Following him was the second, stronger. It was long, or it was two blows merged into one.
Dyatlov - Deputy Chief Engineer of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. From the protocols of interrogation.
Causes of the accident
Chernobyl accident today overgrown huge amount versions. I will not consider versions that are not supported by anything other than the imagination of the authors, and will focus on the reports of the commissions that were studying the disaster. There were 2 such commissions in total: 1986, 1991. The conclusions of the commissions contradicted each other.
Commission 1986
In August 1986, a commission was set up to study Chernobyl disaster This commission was supposed to establish the reasons for the accident. The main conclusion of this commission is the staff is to blame for the Chernobyl accident, who made several gross mistakes at once, which led first to an accident, and then to a disaster.
The main staff mistakes are as follows:
- Shutdown of the reactor protection means. The work regulations forbade any shutdown of protective equipment.
- Withdrawal of 204 out of 211 rods from the work area. The regulations said that if there were less than 15 rods left, the reactor should immediately be shut down.
Staff errors were gross and inexplicable. They turned off the protection and violated all the main points of the Regulations (instructions).
Commission 1991
In 1991 Gosatomnadzor created a new group to study the accident. To understand the essence of the work of this group, you need to know its composition. The group included almost all NPP personnel. The conclusion in the work of this group was as follows - the designers are to blame for the disaster, since 4th reactor had design flaws.
The event after which the explosion was inevitable - pressing the button A3-5 (emergency button), after which all the rods jammed.
Cleanup
4 minutes after the explosion, the local fire brigade, led by Lieutenant Pravik, began to put out the fire on the roof of the reactor. Additional fire brigades were called from the region and from Kyiv. By 4 o'clock in the morning the fire was localized.
It is noteworthy that until 03:30 on April 26, no one knew about the high level of radiation. The reason is that there were 2 devices operating at 1000 roentgens per hour. One was out of order, and the second was inaccessible due to the explosion. By the end of April 26, iodine prophylaxis of the city of Pripyat began. On April 27, it was decided to evacuate the inhabitants of the city of Pripyat. In total, about 50 thousand people were evacuated. Of course, no one told them why. They only said that it was for 2-3 days, so you don’t need to take anything with you.
In early May, the evacuation of residents in nearby regions began. On May 2, everyone within a radius of 10 km was evacuated. On May 4-7, residents were liquidated in a territory with a radius of 30 km. Thus, an exclusion zone was formed. By July 25, this area was completely fenced and closed to everyone. The perimeter of the zone is 196 km.
On November 14, the construction of the Srakofag was completed. This is 100 thousand cubic meters of concrete, which forever buried the 4th reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
Evacuation of the city of Pripyat
The most important question is why the evacuation began 1.5 days after the Chernobyl accident, and not earlier? The fact is that the leadership of the USSR was not ready in an emergency. But the main claim here is not that people were evacuated only on the evening of April 27, but that on the morning of April 26, when it was known about the high level of radiation, no one warned the city population about it. In fact, June 26, 1986 was an ordinary day for the city of Pripyat, and on April 27 an emergency evacuation began.
610 buses and 240 trucks were sent from Kyiv. Another 522 buses sent Kyiv region. The evacuation of the city, with a population of about 50 thousand people, took place in just 3 hours: from 15:00 to 18:00. At the same time, residents caught the peak of radiation.
Who participated in the liquidation
The cleanup of the consequences of the Chernobyl accident is an important issue, since these activities involved more than 0.5 million people who worked in very dangerous conditions for health. In total, 240 thousand people were involved in the liquidation of the accident in 1986-1987. Taking into account the subsequent years - 600 thousand. For elimination were used:
- Specialists. First of all, specialists in the field of physics and elimination of consequences.
- Staff. These people were used to work on the site, because they knew its structure very well.
- Military personnel. The regular units were assigned the most widely, and it was the servicemen who suffered the main blow (including radiation exposure) and the main load.
- mobilized composition. Literally a few days after the Chernobyl accident, mobilization was carried out and the civilian population took part in the aftermath.
The liquidators worked in a circular pattern. As soon as people reached the maximum allowable norm of radiation, the group was expelled from Chernobyl, and in its place came a new group. And so on until the consequences were localized. Today it is said that the limit value of human radiation a was set at 500 mSv, and the average radiation dose was 100 mSv.
| Group | population | Average dose in mSv | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | 1987 | 1986 | 1987 | |
| Chernobyl nuclear power plant personnel | 2358 | 4498 | 87 | 15 |
| Shelter Builders | 21500 | 5376 | 82 | 25 |
| Mobilization personnel | 31021 | 32518 | 6,5 | 27 |
| military personnel | 61762 | 63751 | 110 | 63 |
These are the data that statistics provide today, but it is important to note here that these are averages! They cannot reflect the true picture of the case, since this requires data on each person individually. For example, 1 person worked on liquidation without sparing himself and received a dose of 500 mSv, while the other was at the headquarters and received a dose of 5 mSv - their average value will be 252.5, but in fact the picture is different ...
Consequences for people
One of the most scary story Chernobyl disaster is the consequences for human health. Today it is said that 2 people died in the Chernobyl explosion, 134 people were diagnosed with radiation sickness, 170 liquidators had leukemia or blood cancer. Among the liquidators, compared with other people, diseases are more often recorded:
- Endocrine system - 4 times
- Cardiovascular system - 3.5 times
- Psychiatric disorders and illnesses nervous system- 2 times.
- Diseases of the musculoskeletal system - 2 times.
If you think about these figures, it becomes clear that almost every person who took part in the liquidation of the consequences of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant suffers from one disease or another. People who did not take part in the liquidation also suffered. For example, from 1992 to 2000, 4,000 cases of thyroid cancer were detected in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. It is believed that 99% of these cases are associated with the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
Which countries are affected the most
The Chernobyl accident is a catastrophe for the whole of Europe. The following table is sufficient to demonstrate this.
| City | Irradiation power in μR/h | the date |
|---|---|---|
| Pripyat | 1 370 000 | April 28 |
| 2 200 | April 30 | |
| Novozybkov | 6 200 | April 29 |
| Gomel | 800 | April 27 |
| Minsk | 60 | April 28 |
| Salzburg (Austria) | 1 400 | May 2 |
| Tavastehaus "Finland" | 1 400 | April 29 |
| Munich, Germany) | 2 500 | April 30 |
If we imagine that the total loss from the Chernobyl disaster is 100%, then the distribution of radioactivity was approximately as follows: Russia - 30%, Belarus - 23%, Ukraine - 19%, Finland - 5%, Sweden - 4.5%, Norway - 3.1%, Austria - 2.5%.
Object "Shelter" and exclusion zone
One of the first decisions after the Chernobyl accident was the creation of an exclusion zone. Initially, the city of Pripyat was evacuated. Then, on May 2, residents were evacuated for 10 kilometers, and on May 7 - for 30 kilometers. This constituted the exclusion zone. This is the zone, the admission to which was carried out only with passes, and which was subjected to the maximum exposure to radiation. Therefore, everything that was possible was demolished and buried in the ground, including civil buildings and residential buildings.
Object "Shelter" - the program of isolation of the 4th nuclear reactor in a concrete structure. Any objects that were somehow connected with the operation of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and were contaminated were placed in the area of the 4th reactor, over which they began to build a concrete sarcophagus. These works were completed on November 14, 1986. The Shelter object is isolated for 100 years.
Trial of the perpetrators
On July 7, 1987, in the city of Chernobyl, the trial of Chernobyl employees charged under Article 220, paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code of the Ukrainian SSR (violation of safety regulations that entailed human casualties and other serious consequences) and under Articles 165 and 167 of the Criminal Code of the Ukrainian SSR (abuse of official position) began. and irresponsibility in the performance of official duties).
Defendants:
- Bryukhanov V.P. - Director of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. 52 years old.
- Fomin N.M. - Chief Engineer. 50 years.
- Dyatlov A.S. - Deputy Chief Engineer. 56 years old.
- Kovalenko A.P. - Head of the reactor of workshop No. 2. 45 years.
- Laushkin Yu.A. - Inspector of GAEN at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. 51 years old
- Rogozhkin B.V. - shift manager at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. 53 years old.
The trial lasted 18 days, and the verdict was delivered on July 29, 1987. According to the court's verdict, all the defendants were found guilty and sentenced to 5 to 10 years. I would like to quote the last words of the accused, because they are indicative.
| Defendant | guilty plea |
|---|---|
| Bryukhanov | I see that the staff made mistakes. The staff lost their sense of danger, largely due to a lack of instructions. But an accident is the probability of circumstances, the probability of which is negligible. |
| Fomin | I admit my guilt and repent. Why did I fail to ensure the safety of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant? I am an electrician by training! I didn't have enough time to study physics. |
| Dyatlov | My violations were unintentional. If I had a video danger, I would have stopped the reactor. |
| Rogozhkin | I do not see evidence of my guilt, because the accusations are nonsense, I did not even understand why they were put forward to me. |
| Kovalenko | I believe that if there were violations on my part, they are administrative, but not criminal liability. I could not even think that the staff would violate the Regulations. |
| Laushkin | I didn't do what I'm being accused of. I am completely innocent. |
At the same time, the following people lost their positions: the chairman of Gosatomenergonadzor (Kulov E.V.), his deputy for energy (Shasharin) and the deputy minister of medium machine building (Mashkov). In the future, the issue of responsibility and the transfer of the case to the court against the official was to be decided by the Party, but there was no trial of them.
Literature:
- Transcript of court hearings. Chernobyl, 1987, Karpan N.V.
- 3. Extract from the criminal case No. 19-73 (Vol. 50, pp. 352-360).
- Chernobyl radiation in questions and answers. Moscow, 2005.
Closed Ukrainian nuclear power plant, famous for the accident that occurred on April 26, 1986. Power units: 1.RBMK-1000 800MW (closed); 2.RBMK-1000 1000MW (closed); 3.RBMK-1000 1000MW (closed); 4.RBMK-1000 1000MW (closed).
The first stage of the Chernobyl NPP (the first and second power units with RBMK-1000 reactors) was built in 1970-1977, the second stage (the third and fourth power units with similar reactors) was built on the same site by the end of 1983. In 1981, 1.5 km to the southeast of the site of the first-second stage, the construction of the third stage was started - the fifth and sixth power units with the same reactors, which were stopped after an accident at the fourth power unit at high degree readiness of objects.
Directly in the valley of the Pripyat River to the south-east of the NPP site, to provide cooling for turbine condensers and other heat exchangers of the first four power units, a bulk cooling pond with an area of 22 km² and a water level 3.5 m below the NPP site layout mark was built. To ensure the cooling of the heat exchangers of the third stage, it was planned to use the cooling towers being built next to the fifth and sixth units under construction.
The design generating capacity of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was 6000 MW, as of April 1986, four power units with RBMK-1000 reactors with a total generating capacity of 4000 MW were put into operation. At the time of the accident, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, along with the Leningrad and Kursk, was the most powerful in the USSR.
After 23 years and one day of operation, on December 15, 2000, the station stopped generating electricity. Currently, work is underway to decommission the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and transform the fourth power unit destroyed as a result of the accident into an environmentally safe system.
On April 26, 1986, at 1:23:59, during the design test of turbogenerator No. 8 at power unit No. 4, an explosion occurred that completely destroyed the reactor. The building of the power unit, the roof of the engine room partially collapsed. More than 30 fires broke out in various rooms and on the roof. The main fires on the roof of the turbine hall were suppressed by 02:10 and on the roof of the reactor compartment by 02:30. By 5 o'clock on April 26, the fire was eliminated. After the fuel of the destroyed reactor was poisoned, at approximately 20:00 on April 26, a fire of great intensity broke out in different parts of the central hall of Unit 4. To extinguish this fire due to the severe radiation situation and significant burning power, regular means did not start. Helicopter technology was used to eliminate the fire and ensure the subcriticality of the disorganized fuel. In the first hours of the development of the accident, the neighboring 3rd power unit was shut down, the equipment of the 4th power unit was shut down, and the state of the emergency reactor was reconnoitered. The accident resulted in the release of environment, according to various estimates, up to 14 10 18 Bq, which is approximately 380 million curies radioactive substances, including isotopes of uranium, plutonium, iodine-131, cesium-134, cesium-137, strontium-90. Directly during the explosion at the fourth power unit, only one person died, another one died in the morning from his injuries. On April 27, 104 victims were evacuated to Moscow Hospital No. 6. Subsequently, 134 Chernobyl employees, members of fire and rescue teams developed radiation sickness, 28 of them died over the next few months.
To eliminate the consequences of the accident, by order of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, a government commission was created, the chairman of which was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR B. Ye. Shcherbina. The main part of the work was carried out in 1986-1987, about 240,000 people took part in them. The total number of liquidators (including subsequent years) was about 600,000. In the early days, the main efforts were aimed at reducing radioactive emissions from the destroyed reactor and preventing even more serious consequences.
Then work began on cleaning up the territory and burying the destroyed reactor. The fragments scattered around the territory of the nuclear power plant and on the roof of the turbine hall were removed inside the sarcophagus or concreted. Around the 4th block, they began to erect a concrete "sarcophagus" (the so-called. object "Shelter"). During the construction of the "sarcophagus", over 400 thousand m³ of concrete was laid and 7,000 tons of metal structures were assembled. Its construction was completed and by the Act of the State Acceptance Commission, the mothballed fourth power unit was accepted for maintenance on November 30, 1986.
On May 22, 1986, the Decree of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 583 set the deadline for commissioning power units No. 1 and 2 of the Chernobyl NPP - October 1986. In the premises of the power units of the first stage, decontamination was carried out; on July 15, 1986, its first stage was completed. In August, at the second stage of the Chernobyl NPP, the communications common to the 3rd and 4th units were cut, and a concrete dividing wall was erected in the engine room. After the work on the modernization of the station systems, provided for by the measures approved by the USSR Ministry of Energy on June 27, 1986 and aimed at improving the safety of nuclear power plants with RBMK reactors, on September 18, permission was received to start the physical start-up of the reactor of the first power unit. On October 1, 1986, the first power unit was launched and at 16:47 it was connected to the grid. On November 5, power unit No. 2 was launched.
On November 24, 1987, the physical start-up of the reactor of the third power unit began, the power start-up took place on December 4. On December 31, 1987, by the decision of the Government Commission No. 473, the act of acceptance into operation of the 3rd power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was approved after repair and restoration work.
The construction of the 5th and 6th blocks was stopped at a high degree of readiness of the facilities. There was an opinion about the expediency of completing the construction and commissioning of the 5th unit, which had insignificant levels of radiation contamination, instead of carrying out a large-scale decontamination of the 3rd unit for its further operation.
In the first days after the accident, the population of the Chernobyl satellite city - Pripyat and residents were evacuated settlements within a 10 km zone. In the following days, the population of other settlements was evacuated 30 km zone. On October 2, 1986, a decision was made to build a new city for permanent residence of the workers of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and their families after the Chernobyl accident - Slavutych. March 26, 1988 issued the first warrant for the settlement of apartments.
As a result of the accident, about 5 million hectares of land were withdrawn from agricultural circulation, a 30-kilometer exclusion zone was created around the nuclear power plant, hundreds of small settlements were destroyed and buried, about 200,000 people were evacuated from contaminated areas.
The accident was rated according to level 7 of the INES scale.
On February 17, 1990, the Supreme Council of the Ukrainian SSR and the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR determined the deadline for decommissioning the power units of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1995; on May 17, the Council of Ministers of the USSR issued an order to develop a program for decommissioning the power units. On August 2 of the same year, the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR announced a moratorium on the construction of new nuclear power plants and on increasing the capacity of existing ones for a period of five years.
The fire on October 11, 1991 at the second power unit served as the basis for the decision of the Supreme Council of Ukraine on the immediate closure of the second power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, as well as on the closure of the first and third power units in 1993. However, already in 1993, the 1990 moratorium on the construction of new nuclear power plants was lifted ahead of schedule and, at the suggestion of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, a decision was made to continue the operation of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant for a period determined by its technical condition.
Under the influence of the world community and the obligations assumed, the final decision was made to decommission the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. By the Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated December 22, 1997, it was recognized as expedient to carry out early decommissioning of power unit No. 1, which was shut down on November 30, 1996. By the Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated March 15, 1999, it was recognized as expedient to carry out early decommissioning of power unit No. 2, which was stopped after the accident in 1991.
On March 29, 2000, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted a decision on early decommissioning of power unit No. 3 and the final closure of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant before the end of 2000. In the Measures approved on October 19, 2000 by the President of Ukraine for the closure of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, as well as in the Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated November 29, the deadline for the final shutdown and transfer to the decommissioning mode of the 3rd unit of the Chernobyl NPP was determined - 12:00 on December 15, 2000.
On December 5, 2000, due to malfunctions in the protection system, the reactor of the third power unit was shut down. On December 14, the reactor was launched at 5% power for the shutdown ceremony and on December 15, 2000 at 13:17, by order of the President of Ukraine, during the broadcast of the Chernobyl NPP - National Palace "Ukraine" teleconference, by turning the key of the fifth level emergency protection (AZ-5) the reactor power unit No. 3 of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was shut down forever, and the station stopped generating electricity.
power units
| power unit | Type of reactors | Power | Start construction | Network connection | Commissioning | closure | |
| Clean | Gross | ||||||
| 1 | RBMK-1000 | 740 MW | 800 MW | 01.03.1970 | 26.09.1977 | 27.05.1978 | 30.11.1996 |
| 2 | RBMK-1000 | 925 MW | 1000 MW | 01.02.1973 | 21.12.1978 | 28.05.1979 | 11.10.1991 |
| 3 | RBMK-1000 | 925 MW | 1000 MW | 01.03.1976 | 03.12.1981 | 08.06.1982 | 15.12.2000 |
| 4 | RBMK-1000 | 925 MW | 1000 MW | 01.04.1979 | 22.12.1983 | 26.03.1984 | 04/26/1986 (Destroyed) |
| 5 | RBMK-1000 | 950 MW | 1000 MW | 01.01.1981 | |||
| 6 | RBMK-1000 | 950 MW | 1000 MW | 01.01.1983 | Construction stopped 01.01.1988 | ||
Video
Another major accident occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which until now few people have heard of. Meanwhile, it was this accident that served as the final impetus to the fact that the Ukrainian authorities decided to completely stop the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and decommission the plant.
As in the case of the tragedy of 1986, as a result of the accident in 1991, radioactive substances got into the air (albeit in much smaller quantities), and the cause of these events (just like in 1986) was the power units of the RBMK type reactors. As they wrote later in the reports on the investigation of the disaster, the cause of the accident was "the initial event, not foreseen in the design of the nuclear block, which was accompanied by failures of security systems".
So, in today's post - a story and unique photographs from the Chernobyl accident in 1991, which you probably have not heard anything about.
02. First, a little background. After the accident in 1986 and the performance and work of the Chernobyl NPP continued to operate normally - as far as it is generally possible at a plant with one damaged power unit and an existing local "exclusion zone" in the former work area. After the accident in 1991, an early decision was made to immediately stop the Second Unit (where the accident actually occurred), as well as the gradual decommissioning of the Third Unit.
What happened in 1991? October 11, 1991 The second power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was put into operation after a major overhaul. During reaching the set power level spontaneously turned on one of the turbine generators of the power unit, it happened at 20:10 Kyiv time.
03. How could it happen that one turbogenerator suddenly started working on its own? An investigation into the causes of the accident found that a significant defect was made during the construction of the station - signal and control cables were placed in one cable tray, which is categorically unacceptable. Due to the loss of insulation between the two cables, the turbogenerator spontaneously turned on.
The turbogenerator managed to work for only 30 seconds, after which it began to collapse from the received loads - the bearings of the turbogenerator shaft "flew" first, the installation was depressurized, as a result of which a large amount of oil and hydrogen was released, and a fire started. The Chernobyl fire department was the first to put out the fire in the turbine hall:
04. From exposure to high temperatures (tons of machine oil burned in the engine room), the roof collapsed over the burning turbogenerator. This is what the site of the fire looked like the next morning after the accident, behind the wall on the right is the reactor hall itself, and in the background you can see the famous ventilation stack of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
05. The most terrible thing was that the collapsed elements of the roof damaged equipment important for controlling the reactor. Under the worst set of circumstances, the reactor of power unit number two could go into an uncontrollable state, and then explode - it would be a repeat of the 1986 disaster. The reactor of the Second power unit was immediately shut down, but it was still necessary to carry out its proper cooling down - and this was not so easy to do, since water pumps were damaged due to fire and roof collapse.
06. In the process, another design flaw of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant surfaced - the pumps for emergency make-up of the water circuit (so necessary for cooling down the reactor) and the usual feed pumps were in the same room, and as a result of one event - a fire - the reactor was actually deprived of all high-pressure make-up sources. The reactor was cooled down, in fact, only using one main circulation pump, which worked only at half the required power, and during this cooldown there was a non-zero probability that the reactor could explode from overheating.
07. Did the radiation levels increase during the 1991 accident? Yes, it happened. The main reason for this was radioactive aerosols that were formed during the combustion of roof elements with traces of the 1986 accident. All the liquidators who dealt with the consequences of this accident worked in the necessary protection. In the photo - analysis of the collapsed roof structures in the engine room.
08. The scale of the accident was quite serious - during the fire, 180 tons of turbine oil and 500 cubic meters of hydrogen burned out, almost 2500 meters of the roof of the engine room collapsed, the mass of the collapsed structures exceeded 100 tons.
09. The liquidation of the consequences of the accident was somewhat reminiscent of Chernobyl-1986 in miniature. The liquidators again had to find highly active garbage, collect it in special bags and containers and take it to a landfill.
10. 63 participants in the liquidation of the consequences of the 1991 accident received increased doses of radiation - however, relatively small - from 0.02 to 0.2 Rem. If it weren’t for the well-coordinated actions of the firefighters and the competent actions of the personnel to cool down the reactor, the accident of 1991 could well have led to overheating and explosion of the reactor at the Second Power Unit, and the phrase would now mean not radar antennas at all, but had a completely different meaning ...
All photos: Igor Kostin.
Such an accident occurred in Chernobyl in 1991. Admit you've never heard of her.
This accident is regarded as the largest in the history of nuclear energy, as well as the estimated number of people killed and affected by its consequences. During the first three months after the accident, 31 people died, the consequences of the accident over the next 15 years caused the death of 60 to 80 people. 134 people suffered from radiation sickness of varying severity, more than 115 thousand people from the 30-kilometer zone were evacuated. More than 600,000 people participated in the liquidation of the consequences of the disaster.
OPINION OF ACADEMICIAN
It never occurred to me then that we were moving towards an event of a planetary scale, an event that, apparently, will go down in the history of mankind as the eruption of famous volcanoes, the death of Pompeii, or something close to it.
Academician Valery Legasov
TASS MESSAGE
There was an accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. One of the reactors was damaged. Measures are being taken to eliminate the consequences of the incident. The victims received the necessary assistance. A government commission has been set up to investigate the incident.
CHRONICLE OF THE ACCIDENT AND ITS OVERCOMING
On the night of April 26, 1986, the mistakes of the personnel working at the 4th unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, multiplied by the mistakes of the designers of the RBMK reactor (high power reactor, channel), namely this type of reactor was used at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, led to the most serious accident in the history of the world nuclear energy. This accident became a major man-made and humanitarian disaster of the 20th century.
On April 25, 1986, the personnel of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant were preparing to shut down the fourth power unit for scheduled preventive maintenance, during which the experiment was supposed to be carried out. Due to dispatcher restrictions, the shutdown of the reactor was delayed several times, which caused difficulties in controlling the reactor's power.
On April 26 at 0124 there was an uncontrolled increase in power, which led to explosions and the destruction of a significant part of the reactor plant. As a result of the accident, a large number of radioactive substances.
Despite the obvious scale of the accident, the possibility of serious radiation consequences near the nuclear power plant, as well as evidence of the transboundary transfer of radioactive substances to the territory of Western European countries, during the first few days the country's leadership did not take adequate actions in the field of informing the population of both the USSR and other countries .
Moreover, already in the first days after the accident, measures were taken to classify data on its real and predicted consequences.
As a result of the accident radioactive contamination only in Russia, the territory of 19 subjects with a population of about 30 million people was affected. The area of territories contaminated with cesium-137 amounted to more than 56 thousand square kilometers, where about 3 million people lived.
In the first and most acute period, more than 100 thousand citizens of the USSR were involved in the elimination of the consequences of the accident in the Chernobyl zone. In total, in the first three years after the accident, 250,000 workers visited the 30-kilometer zone. These people did everything possible to minimize the consequences of the accident. In the subsequent period, all work to control the radiation situation, reduce radiation doses to the population, rehabilitate contaminated areas, provide medical care and social protection for the population of the affected areas were carried out within the framework of state targeted programs.
A day after the accident, the government commission decided on the need to evacuate residents of nearby settlements. In total, by the end of 1986, about 116 thousand people were resettled from 188 settlements (including the city of Pripyat).
In mid-May 1986, the government commission decided on the long-term conservation of Unit 4 in order to prevent the release of radionuclides into the environment and reduce the impact of penetrating radiation at the Chernobyl site.
The Ministry of Medium Machine Building of the USSR was entrusted with "work on the disposal of the 4th power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and related structures." The object was named "Shelter of the 4th unit of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant", it is known to the whole world as a "sarcophagus". On November 30, 1986, an act was signed on its acceptance for maintenance.
In autumn 1993, after a fire, the second power unit was shut down. On the night of November 30 to December 1, 1996, in accordance with the Memorandum signed in 1995 between Ukraine and the G7 states, the first power unit was shut down.
On December 6, 2000, due to malfunctions in the protection system, the last operating reactor, the third, was decommissioned. In March 2000, the government of Ukraine adopted a resolution to close the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. On 14 December 2000, the reactor was started up at 5% power for the shutdown ceremony on 15 December. Chernobyl was stopped on December 15, 2000 at 13:17.
Ukraine is seeking from international donors to start construction of the Shelter confinement, the construction of a spent nuclear fuel storage facility, which has been repeatedly postponed before, which should turn the Chernobyl nuclear power plant into a safe facility. The Shelter object, designed to turn Chernobyl station into a safe system, will be an arch-shaped structure 105 meters high, 150 meters long and 260 meters wide. After erection, it will be “pushed” onto the fourth block of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, over which, after the accident on April 26, 1986, a sarcophagus was built. The donor assembly of the Chernobyl Shelter Fund includes 28 countries. It is managed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which on May 15, 2008 decided to allocate 135 million euros to the Shelter Fund, and on July 15 of the same year, at a meeting of the council of donor countries, a decision was made to provide another 60 million euros . In April 2009, the United States allocated $250 million to Ukraine to ensure the safety of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
In April 2011, a donor conference was held in Kyiv, which managed to raise 550 million euros. Prior to this, the Ukrainian authorities stated that about 740 million euros were not enough to complete the Chernobyl projects.
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine approved the program for the decommissioning of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. According to the program, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant will be completely eliminated by 2065. At the first stage, from 2010 to 2013, nuclear fuel will be removed from nuclear power plants and transferred to long-term storage facilities.
From 2013 to 2022 the reactor installations will be mothballed. From 2022 to 2045, experts will expect a decrease in the radioactivity of reactor plants. For the period from 2045 to 2065. the installations are dismantled, and the place where the station was located will be cleaned.
It is planned that as a result of the implementation of the program, the Shelter object will become environmentally safe.
EYEWITNESS MEMORIES
1. Somewhere around 8 am, a neighbor called me and said that her neighbor had not returned from the station, there had been an accident. I immediately rushed to my neighbors, godfathers, and they have been sitting “on their bags” since the night: their godfather called them and told them about the accident. By eleven o'clock, our children ran home and said that all the windows and doors were blocked at school, and they were not allowed to go anywhere, and then they washed the territory and cars around the school, let them out into the street and told them to run home. Our dentist friend said that they were all alerted at night and called to the hospital, where people were taken from the station all night. The irradiated people were very sick: by morning the whole hospital was in vomit. It was creepy! By 12 o'clock, armored personnel carriers began to enter the station and the city. It was a terrible sight: these young guys went to their deaths, they were sitting there even without “petals” (respirators), they were not protected at all! The troops kept arriving, more and more militia became, helicopters flew. Television was turned off for us, so we did not know anything about the accident itself, what exactly happened and what the scale was.
The radio said that by 15.00 the entire population must be ready for evacuation. To do this, you need to collect the things and products you need for three days and go outside. We did just that.
We lived almost on the outskirts of the city, and it turned out that after we left, we stood on the street for more than an hour. In each yard there were 3-4 policemen who made door-to-door rounds, they went into every house and every apartment. Those who did not want to evacuate were taken out by force. Buses drove up, people loaded and left. That's how we left with 100 rubles in our pocket and things and food for three days.
We were taken to the village of Maryanovka, Polessky district, which is no longer on the map today either. We stayed there for three days. By the evening of the third day, it became known that radiation background grows in Maryanovka. It became clear that we had nothing to wait for and we needed to decide something ourselves, because we had three children in our arms. On the same evening, on the last bus from Polessky, we left for Kyiv, and from there my husband took me with the children to my mother in the village.
I was in the sanitary squad for many years and clearly knew that the first thing to do upon arrival to my mother was to wash and wash. So we did. Mom and I dug a hole, threw everything in there and filled it with everything that was.
It was difficult, but there was no way out. I was also lucky that my mother was - there was where to go. For others who had nowhere to go, it was even more difficult. They were settled in hotels, boarding houses, sanatoriums. Children were sent to camps - their parents then searched for them all over Ukraine for months. And we survived thanks to neighbors and relatives. Sometimes I wake up, go outside, and on the threshold of the house there is already milk, bread, a piece of cheese, eggs, butter. So we lived there for six months. It was very difficult and scary, because we did not know what would happen to us. When some time had already passed, I began to understand that we would not return back, and I told my mother about this. And my mother (I will never forget) said: is there really no more of this fairy tale in the middle of the forest? I say: there will be no mother, there will be no more. After the accident, the radiation cloud stood over Pripyat for a long time, then dissipated and moved on. I was told that if it had rained then, there would have been no one to evacuate. We are very lucky! Nobody told us anything, what level of radiation, what dose we received, nothing! And we stayed in this zone for 38 hours before the evacuation. We were soaked through it all! And all this time no one gave us any help. Although we had a lot of sanruzhins in the city, and in each department there were boxes in the warehouse, for each member of the family, antidotes, potassium-iodine, respirators and clothing. All this was, only no one took advantage of it. They brought us iodine only on the second day, when it was already useless to drink it. So we carried radiation throughout Ukraine.
Lydia Romanchenko
2. On the evening of April 25, my son asked me to tell him a story before going to bed. I began to tell and did not notice how I fell asleep with the child. And we lived in Pripyat on the 9th floor, and the station was clearly visible from the kitchen window.
The wife was still awake and felt some kind of shock at home, like a slight earthquake. I went to the window in the kitchen and saw above the 4th block, first a black cloud, then a blue glow, then a white cloud that rose and covered the moon.
My wife woke me up. There was an overpass in front of our window. And along it, one after another - with the alarm turned on - fire engines and ambulances raced. But I could not think that something serious had happened. Reassured his wife and went to bed.
3. On April 25, we went to Kyiv to take professional exams. We returned to Pripyat late. I lay down, began to read, in my opinion, Bunin. Then she looked at her watch, it was late. Turned off the light. But did not sleep. Suddenly I felt a push at home, I heard a dull bang from the street, sort of like a “boom”. I was scared, I immediately thought about nuclear power plant. I lay down for another ten minutes, and then I decided to open the window and take a look. And I lived on the 2nd floor, from where the nuclear power plant was not visible. Look, everything seems to be fine on the street. The sky is clear and warm. People are walking quietly. The bus has passed.
4. I felt the first blow. It was strong, but not the same as the one or two seconds later. He was already like one long blow or two, but following each other. Initially, I thought that something had happened to the deaerators above the control panel of Unit 4. Facing tiles fell from the false ceiling following the sound of the impact. I looked at the instruments. The picture was bad. It became clear that an accident of extreme severity had occurred. Then he jumped out into the corridor to go to the central hall. But there is dust and smoke in the corridor. I went back to turn on the smoke exhaust fans. Then he went to the engine room. The situation there is terrible. From broken pipes different sides whipped hot water, she soared a lot. Flashes of short circuits of electric cables were visible. A significant part of the engine room was destroyed. A slab that fell from above interrupted the oil pipeline, oil flowed out, and there was up to 100 tons of it in special containers. Then he went outside, walked around the 4th unit, saw destruction, fires on the roof.
5. There was a blow. I thought that the turbine blades flew. Then another blow. Looked at the cover. It seemed to me that it should fall. We went to inspect the 4th block, saw destruction and glow in the reactor area. Then I noticed that my feet were slipping on some kind of suspension. I thought: is it not graphite? I also thought that this was the most terrible accident, the possibility of which no one described.
6. At the station's central control panel, we heard a thud, similar to the sound of a very heavy object falling. For 15-18 seconds we thought: what fell? And then the instruments on the console showed a system failure. Some lines of communication have been disconnected. Then the instruments showed failures in the operation of electric generators at the station. Emergency sirens went off, lights flickered. After some short time, the generators "calmed down". I called the Kyivenergo dispatcher and asked: "What do you have?" I thought that power outages come from the center. But the dispatcher replied: “You have something. Understand." The phone rang. I picked up the phone. A paramilitary guard asked: "What happened at the station?" I had to answer that I needed to figure it out. And immediately the head of the security guard calls. Reports that there is a fire on the 4th unit. I told him to open the gate and call the firemen. He answered - the gates are open, the fire engines have already arrived.
Here I see that the alarm signal about the accident from the 4th block is turned on. I ran there. The guys met. They were very dirty and excited. Finally, the turbine hall. He interested me in the first place, since there are reserves of hydrogen and engine oil - all this is flammable. I see the roof has collapsed. Then he ran to the control panel of the 4th unit. He asked: "Do you pour water to cool the reactor?" I was told that they were pouring, but they themselves did not know where she was going.
A dosimetrist appeared and said that his device was weak and could not measure the full power of radiation. I see the guys are carrying a burnt man, it turned out to be V. Shashenok. He was dirty, in a state of shock, moaning. I helped carry the guy to the shield room of the 3rd block. From there I called Moscow, VPO Soyuzatomenergo, and said that the most serious accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Then he called the telephone operator to announce a general emergency for the station.
