Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant named after V.I. Lenin - Ukrainian nuclear power plant, which ceased its operation in connection with the explosion at power unit No. 4. Its construction began in the spring of 1970, and 7 years later it was put into operation. By 1986, the station consisted of four blocks, to which two more were completed. When the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded, or rather, one of the reactors, its work was not stopped. Currently under construction is the sarcophagus, which will be completed by 2015.
Station Description
1970-1981 - during this period of time, six power units were built, two of which did not have time to start before 1986. A bulk pond was built between the Pripyat River and the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant to cool turbines and heat exchangers.
Before the accident, the generating capacity of the station was 6,000 MW. Currently, work is underway to transform the Chernobyl nuclear power plant into an environmentally friendly design.
Start of construction
To select a suitable site for the construction of the first nuclear power plant, the design institute of the capital of Ukraine examined the Kiev, Zhytomyr and Vinnitsa regions. The most convenient place was the territory on the right side of the Pripyat River. The land on which construction soon began was unproductive, but it fully met the requirements for maintaining a nuclear power plant . This site was approved by the USSR State Technical Commission and the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine.
February 1970 was marked by the beginning of the construction of Pripyat. The city was created specifically for power engineers. The fact is that in the first years the station servicing staff had to live in dormitories and rental houses in villages nearby the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. To provide work for members of their families, various enterprises were built in Pripyat. Thus, over the 16 years of the city’s existence, it has been equipped with everything necessary for a comfortable stay of people.
1986 accident
At 01:23 a.m. on April 26, 1986 , the design test of the turbo-generator of the 4th power unit was started, due to which the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded. As a result, the building collapsed, there were more than 30 fires. The first victims were V. Hodemchuk - the circulation pump operator, and V. Shashenok - the employee of the commissioning plant.
A minute after the incident, the Chernobyl guard was informed of the explosion. As soon as possible, firefighters arrived at the station. The head of the liquidation was appointed V. Pravik. Thanks to his skillful actions, the spread of fire was stopped.
When the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded, the environment was contaminated with radioactive substances such as:
- plutonium, uranium, iodine-131 (half-life lasts about 8 days);
- cesium-134 (half-life - 2 years);
- cesium-137 (from 17 to 30 years);
- strontium-90 (28 years).
The horror of the tragedy lies in the fact that for a long time they hid from the inhabitants of Pripyat, Chernobyl, and also the entire former Soviet Union why the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded and who was to blame for this.
Accident source
On April 25, the 4th reactor was supposed to be shut down for the next repair, but instead they decided to conduct a test. It was to create an emergency in which the station itself would cope with the problem. There were already four such cases by then, but this time something went wrong ...
The first and main reason for the explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is the negligent and unprofessional attitude of personnel to a risky experiment. Workers maintained the power of the unit at 200 MW, which led to self-poisoning.
As if nothing had happened, the staff watched what was happening, instead of taking the control rods out of operation and pressing the A3-5 button - for emergency shutdown of the reactor. As a result of inaction in the power unit, an uncontrolled chain reaction began, due to which the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded.
Towards evening (at approximately 8 p.m.) a more intense fire took place in the central hall. This time people were not involved in extinguishing the fire . It was eliminated using helicopter technology.
For all the time, except for firefighters and station personnel, about 600 thousand people were involved in rescue operations.
What caused the Chernobyl nuclear power plant to explode? There are a number of reasons that contributed to this:
- the experiment was to be carried out at all costs, despite a sharp change in the behavior of the reactor;
- decommissioning of working technological protections that would stop the power unit and prevent the accident;
- the silence of the station management on the scale of the catastrophe, as well as the reasons why the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded.
Effects
As a result of the elimination of the consequences of the spread of radioactive substances, 134 firefighters and employees of the station developed radiation sickness, 28 of them died within a month after the accident.
Signs of exposure were vomiting and weakness. First, first aid was provided by the station’s medical staff, and after that the victims were transported to Moscow hospitals.
At the cost of their own life, the rescuers did not allow the transition of the fire to the third block. Thanks to this, it was possible to avoid the spread of fire in neighboring blocks. If the extinguishing were not successful, a repeated explosion could exceed the power of the first 10 times!
The accident of September 9, 1982
Until the day the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded, a case of destruction was recorded at Unit 1. During a trial run of one of the reactors at a capacity of 700 MW, a peculiar explosion of the fuel assembly and channel No. 62-44 occurred. The result was the deformation of graphite masonry and the release of a significant amount of radioactive substances.
The explanation of why the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded in 1982 is as follows:
- gross violations of the personnel of the shop when regulating the flow of water in the channels
- the remainder of the internal stress in the walls of the channel zirconium pipe arising as a result of a change in technology by the factory that produced it.
The government of the USSR, as usual, decided not to inform the population of the country why the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded. Photo of the first accident was not preserved. It is even possible that it never existed.
Station Representatives
The following article presents the names of employees and their posts before, during and after the tragedy. In 1986, the director of the station was Viktor Bryukhanov. Two months later, E. Pozdyshev became the manager.
Sorokin N.M. was Deputy Operational Engineer from 1987-1994. Gramotkin I.I. from 1988 to 1995 held the post of head of the reactor shop. He is currently the General Director of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.
Dyatlov Anatoly Stepanovich - deputy chief engineer for operation and one of the perpetrators of the accident. The reason for the explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was to conduct a risky experiment, led by this particular engineer.
Exclusion Zone Currently
Long-suffering young Pripyat today is contaminated with radioactive substances. They are collected most often in soil, houses, ditches and other depressions. Of the existing facilities in the city, there remained only a fluoridation station, a special laundry, a check point and a garage for special equipment. After the accident, Pripyat, oddly enough, did not lose the status of the city.
With Chernobyl, the situation is completely different. It is safe for life, people who serve the station live in it, and the so-called self-settlers. The city today is the administrative center for the management of the exclusion zone. Chernobyl concentrates enterprises that support the surrounding area in an environmentally friendly state. The stabilization of the situation is to control radionuclides in the Pripyat River and airspace. The city has personnel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, which protects the exclusion zone from illegal entry by unauthorized persons.