This sub-page seeks to provide a basic summary of the events of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. From the lead up to the explosion to the brave man and women from the Soviet Union who fought the blazing fires around the radioactive ruins of the reactor building. This sub-page will describe the major events of those days.
A quick summary of the events of April 26, 1986 and the following days are written here. Certain conditions led up to reactor number 4 in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploding. This explosion blew a giant hole in the side of the reactor building and with it radioactive dust and other particles. The town of Pripyat was unaware of the explosion for some time before they were evacuated. So, it is highly likely that some, if not all, of the residents were exposed to some radiation. The Soviet Union evacuated the town around 48 hours after the order was given. Residents were allowed to take only what they needed and leave everything else behind. That is why if you went to Pripyat and looked in some of the houses you would find many reminants of a town that once was. After all residents were evacuated, a large military operation was activated. The Soviets tried to keep the news of the explosion quiet and contained but the radiation cloud blowing towards central Europe gave their secret away. Historians believe that most of the time outsiders knew more about the accident than the people living within the Soviet Union. Many firemen and Soviet military personel fought the fire raging within the building, risking exposure to lethal amounts of radiation. A large amount of brave people died fighting the fire. After the fire was put out, a large construction project began which was the building of a steel 'sarcophagus' which encased the whole reactor building. After all the action died down the Soviet Union established a large radius around the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant called the 'exclusion zone.' The zone was supervised by the military to keep people out and safe. Looter and scrappers went into the ruins of the cities to strip them of anything left behind and metal, many met their demise due to the radioactivity of the area and the radioactive particles set into any loot they took out with them, making any people they sold to sick as well. More recently, a new and modern sarcophagus is being built to contain the radioactive substances still in the building that the old one is starting to fail to contain. The exclusion zone will remain uninhabbited and radioactive for some time, however they do allow some tourists in for a limited amount of time. Scientists tell us that because of the slow decay of the radioactive substances in the reactor building, Chernobyl nor Pripyat won't be safe for human habitation for another 20,000 years. This is considered to be the worst nuclear disaster in history to date, by far.
The main cause of the disater was the bad design and function of nuclear reactors built in the Soviet era. This combined with human error lead to the disaster and directly to the explosion in reactor number 4 in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.
