Was Chernobyl the Most Detrimental Nuclear Disaster in Nuclear History?
Over centuries humans have always continued to try and find new ways of converting one form of energy into one which humans can manipulate for their own use. One of the most recent forms of converting energy, which is gaining in popularity is nuclear energy. With 14 percent of the world using it today it is a viable alternative to burning fossil fuels. To give you a basic idea on how the process of converting energy works according to the Canadian Nuclear Association is as basic as, “splitting the uranium atom to generate the heat that is used to produce steam for the production of electricity”(www.cna.ca). However things do not always run so smoothly, and the leakage of the nuclear material could have devastating consequences to both the land and its inhabitants. One of the bigger well know events of this nature, came from the power plant Chernobyl. To put simply it is a plant that exploded releasing nuclear waste into the atmosphere. Although this is detrimental to the environment the significance behind this event is because of this accident, we have now learned from our mistakes and are taking more precautions so that history is not repeated. I will prove that history will not be repeated through some background knowledge of the plant, what happened during the meltdown and how it effected the land and inhabitants, and finally what insight we have gained from this event and its significance to history.
The Chernobyl plant is a nuclear power plant that is located approximately 20 km from the city of Chernobyl, which is located near the border of the Ukraine as well as Belarus. The Construction of the plant began in 1970 with the first reactor operational in 1977, and was the first ever nuclear power plant in Ukraine. In pursuit of the construction of the first reactor the second was built in 1978, the third in 1981 and the infamous fourth one in 1983. The first and second units were considered first generation units, and the third and fourth units the
The Chernobyl plant is a nuclear power plant that is located approximately 20 km from the city of Chernobyl, which is located near the border of the Ukraine as well as Belarus. The Construction of the plant began in 1970 with the first reactor operational in 1977, and was the first ever nuclear power plant in Ukraine. In pursuit of the construction of the first reactor the second was built in 1978, the third in 1981 and the infamous fourth one in 1983. The first and second units were considered first generation units, and the third and fourth units the