Chernobyl Flashcards
Who noticed that something was wrong?
The first warning came from Sweden at morning on Monday April 28 1986, technicians in Stockholm noticed disturbing signals that revealed high levels of radiation
What did they do at first?
At first they thought one of their reactors were leaking , when they found nothing they turned their suspicions southward to the Soviet Union.
When did the soviets announced it?
The Soviets announced there had been an accident at 9 p.m. on April 28. It was the worst crisis in 30 years of commercial atomic power.
How did they try to stop the fire?
Military helicopters flew over the site and dropped wet sand, lead and boron on the burning reactor. It could take decades for them to decay.
Why did it happen?
On April 25, 1986, routine maintenance was scheduled at the fourth reactor, and workers planned to test whether the reactor could still be cooled if the plant lost power. During the test, however, workers violated safety protocols and power surged inside the plant. Despite attempts to shut down the reactor entirely, another power surge caused a chain reaction of explosions inside. Finally, the nuclear core itself was exposed, spewing radioactive material into the atmosphere.
How many people died?
At least 28 people initially died as a result of the accident, while more than 100 were injured. Scientists has reported that more than 6,000 children and adolescents developed thyroid cancer after being exposed to radiation from the incident, although some experts have challenged that claim.
What happened to the wild life near the reactor?
Due to the exclusion of human activity around the shuttered power plant, the numbers of some wildlife, have increased a lot.
