The Reasons of Chernobyl Accident
1. INTRODUCTION
Throughout the world there are several different designs of nuclear reactor to power turbines to generate electricity for a national grid. The reactors at Chernobyl, of which there were four by April 1986, with two more planned for the future, are known as RBMK-1000 and are only to be found in the ex-Soviyet Union. Building work began in 1971, and first reactor went critical in August 1977. By December 1983 all four were on steam.
On the night of 25-26 April 1986, there were on the power plant site 176 duty operational staff and workers from various departments and maintenance services. In addition to this number, there were also 268 builders and assemblers working on the night shift of the constructions of units Nos.5 and 6. The fatal accident sequence was initiated by a decision of the plant 's management and specialists to make an overnight experiment to test the ability of the turbine generator to power certain of the cooling pumps while the generator was freewheeling to a standstill after its steam supply had been cut off. The purpose of the experiment was to see if the power requirement of unit No.4 could be sustained for a short time during a power failure.
The nuclear power plant staff conducting the experiment knowingly departed from the experimental programme which was already of poor quality. This created the conditions for the emergency situation which no one believed could ever happen.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE CHERNOBYL ACCIDENT
2.1 Introduction
At 01.23 hours on 26 April 1986, Unit No.4 of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station was operating at low power prior to a scheduled shutdown when a sudden, very rapid and uncontrolled power increase occurred
. This resulted in the destrution of the reactor core and severe damage to the reactor building. The accident occurred as a result of a test which was being carried out by the operators. The manner in which the test was conducted, including the diabling of all the
Throughout the world there are several different designs of nuclear reactor to power turbines to generate electricity for a national grid. The reactors at Chernobyl, of which there were four by April 1986, with two more planned for the future, are known as RBMK-1000 and are only to be found in the ex-Soviyet Union. Building work began in 1971, and first reactor went critical in August 1977. By December 1983 all four were on steam.
On the night of 25-26 April 1986, there were on the power plant site 176 duty operational staff and workers from various departments and maintenance services. In addition to this number, there were also 268 builders and assemblers working on the night shift of the constructions of units Nos.5 and 6. The fatal accident sequence was initiated by a decision of the plant 's management and specialists to make an overnight experiment to test the ability of the turbine generator to power certain of the cooling pumps while the generator was freewheeling to a standstill after its steam supply had been cut off. The purpose of the experiment was to see if the power requirement of unit No.4 could be sustained for a short time during a power failure.
The nuclear power plant staff conducting the experiment knowingly departed from the experimental programme which was already of poor quality. This created the conditions for the emergency situation which no one believed could ever happen.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE CHERNOBYL ACCIDENT
2.1 Introduction
At 01.23 hours on 26 April 1986, Unit No.4 of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station was operating at low power prior to a scheduled shutdown when a sudden, very rapid and uncontrolled power increase occurred
. This resulted in the destrution of the reactor core and severe damage to the reactor building. The accident occurred as a result of a test which was being carried out by the operators. The manner in which the test was conducted, including the diabling of all the
Bibliography: LEWIS, H.W., The Accident At The Chernobyl Nuclear Power And Its Consequences, Environment, vol.28, No.9, November 1986. MUOLD, R.M., Chernobyl: The Real Story, Pergamon Press, 1988. PARK, C.C., Chernobyl: The Long Shadow, Routledge, 1989. WORLEY, N., LEWINS, J., The Chernobyl Accident And Its Implications For The United Kingdom, Watt Committee Report, No.19, 1988.