Examining the environmental, social, and political impacts of major disasters around the world
April 26, 2023
The 1986 Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident released radioactive material 100 times more than the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs combined, forcing the evacuation of entire cities. This article examines the long-term environmental and health effects in Ukraine, Belarus, and beyond.
April 26, 1986
On April 26, 1986, Reactor No. 4 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant suffered a catastrophic meltdown during a safety test. A flawed reactor design, coupled with operator errors, caused an uncontrolled nuclear reaction. The explosion and subsequent fire released vast amounts of radioactive particles into the atmosphere, spreading contamination across the Soviet Union and Europe
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April 26, 2023
On April 26, 1986, a botched safety test at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Soviet Ukraine triggered a massive reactor explosion and fire. The disaster forced the evacuation of entire cities and continues to impact the region today.
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March 11, 2023
A decade after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami led to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, we examine the ongoing environmental cleanup, health concerns, and lessons learned compared to Chernobyl.
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February 18, 2023
In the aftermath of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, a number of former residents defied the evacuation orders and returned to their homes inside the exclusion zone.
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January 15, 2023
Both the Chernobyl disaster (1986) and the Fukushima Daiichi disaster (2011) are classified as Level 7 nuclear accidents – the most severe on the International Nuclear Event Scale. Despite this similarity, the two incidents unfolded in different political contexts and geographic settings, leading to notable differences in crisis management, long-term impacts, media coverage, and policy outcomes
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December 8, 2022
Ionizing radiation is radiation with enough energy to knock electrons out of atoms, which can damage living tissue and DNA (Radiation Basics | US EPA). The major types of ionizing radiation are alpha particles, beta particles, gamma rays, and neutrons. Each type interacts with matter (and the human body) differently in terms of penetration and damage:
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November 14, 2022
Reactor No. 4 at Chernobyl was an RBMK-1000 type reactor – a Soviet-designed “High Power Channel-type Reactor” (Reaktor Bolshoy Moshchnosti Kanalniy). It was a unique design, quite different from the reactors used in the West. In simple terms, an RBMK is a graphite-moderated, water-cooled nuclear reactor. This means it used large blocks of graphite to slow down (moderate) neutrons and ordinary water to cool the fuel and carry heat away
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November 14, 2022
Ionizing radiation from the 1986 Chernobyl disaster has had profound genetic effects on organisms in the Exclusion Zone. Radiation can break chemical bonds in DNA, causing double-strand breaks and other damage; when cells attempt to repair this damage, errors can lead to mutations
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November 14, 2022
The Soviet authorities’ first instinct was secrecy. No public announcement was made for two days as leaders scrambled to contain information about the nuclear disaster. In the immediate aftermath, local officials hesitated to take action without Moscow’s approval – even delaying the evacuation of Pripyat for 36 hours
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November 14, 2022
On April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster unleashed a radioactive nightmare. In the days, months, and years that followed, nearly 600,000 men and women – the “liquidators” – battled to contain the fallout
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November 14, 2022
The blast blew apart the 1,000-ton steel and concrete lid of the reactor, exposing the core and releasing a plume of radioactive debris into the night sky. What followed was a desperate scramble by plant workers and firefighters to contain an unprecedented nuclear disaster
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