Chernobyl

On April 26, 1986, a major accident occurred at Unit 4 of the nuclear power station at Chernobyl, Ukraine, in the former USSR. The operating crew was planning to test whether the turbines could produce sufficient energy to keep the coolant pumps running in the event of a loss of power until the emergency diesel generator was activated. To prevent any interruptions to the power of the reactor, the safety systems were deliberately switched off. To conduct the test, the reactor had to be powered down to 25 percent of its capacity. This procedure did not go according to plan and the reactor power level fell to less than 1 percent. The power therefore had to be slowly increased. But 30 seconds after the start of the test, there was an unexpected power surge. At this point, the power level of the reactor was 100 times more than normal, and the reactor began to explode. Two explosions happened, and they blew off the upper radiation shield. The contents from the reactor core erupted outwards, and air from the outside reacted with the carbon monoxide gas in the reactor to start a fire that lasted for nine days. The building that housed the reactor was badly damaged.
The entire town of Pripyat (population 49,360), which lay only three kilometres from the plant was completely evacuated 36 hours after the accident. During the subsequent weeks and months an additional 67,000 people were evacuated from their homes in contaminated areas and relocated on government order. In total some 200,0000 people are believed to have been relocated as a result of the accident. This left the city a mere shell of what it once was. Families left behind every thing during the rush to leave the radioactive city. The city is the definition of a ghost