By Collin DonaldsonChemistry

Pd.3-4

The city of Chernobyl is located in the Ukraine, formerly of the soviet union.

The faculty is between the city and the town Pripyat.

Borders the Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus.

Chernobyl/Chornobyl=Russian/Ukrainian. Chorno=black Byllia = grass blades or

stalks. Pripyat is a small town on the outskirts of

the Chernobyl faculty. Chernobyl was annexed multiple times.

Purpose: to produce radioactive isotopes for energy, exports, and weapons.

Over 100 different types of radioactive isotopes.

Roughly 10% of world’s uranium supply.

Flimsy protection dome. Negative void coefficient- doesn’t absorb

neutrons and split uranium well enough. Control rods were too short and made of

graphite and boron carbide. Automatic safety systems were

disengaged during testing.

Several test were initiated over the 80s to increase efficiency and safety- particularly in the turbine.

April 25, 1986. The crew did a routine test to see how long the turbine would keep spinning (and supplying power) after a power outage.

When they went to shut down the unstable reactor, a cooling system flaw caused a massive power surge.

The power surge broke the control rods and caused uncontrolled steam build-up, leading to a steam explosion.

This blew the protection dome off and released radioactive elements and fission into the air.

Tons of Granite in the Faculty caught fire, than exploded, sending hot granite and metal fragments flying.

This caused the core to explode.

The faculty burned for nine days, releasing over 100 different radioactive isotopes into the atmosphere.

Firefighters rushed to the scene to douse the flames.

Helicopters dumped tons of cement, lead, sand, clay, and other substances on the plant.

Surrounding areas were evacuated in the middle of night.

People from Pripyat, Kiev, and obviously Chernobyl left their homes, some never to return.

Unlike TMI in the U.S, the soviets attempted a cover-up.

People that were evacuated were not told anything.

The government did not announce the disaster until 3 days afterward, and called it a “minor incident”.

This negligence led to millions of people being unknowingly exposed to radiation.

Virtually all of Europe was exposed to Chernobyl’s fallout.

The Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia were worst effected.

Plutonium-241 Strontium-90 Iodine-131 Cesium -137

28 emergency workers died from acute radiation poisoning.

15 deaths due to thyroid cancer. 4,000 deaths relating to chernobyl

radiation. 600,000 people exposed to high-level

radiation. *Some data is estimated.

Increase in nuclear power plant safety in U.S.S.R and the rest of the world.

Several countries discontinued nuclear power.

Panic among radiated people.

Belarus is now using Chernobyl’s radioactive soil to produce bio-fuels, mainly ethanol.

Some areas of Chernobyl are still closed, some are open.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/chernobyl/

inf07.html http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/

2005/pr38/en/index.ht http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/

articlerender.fcgi?artid=1570049 http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf45.htm http://www.edie.net/news/news_story.asp?id=16683