About Chernobyl

On the 26th of April, 1986 at 01:23 Am, The fourth reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power plant in the Soviet Union (Today Ukraine) exploded as a result of a failed safety test. The Chernobyl Disaster is described as being the worst nuclear disaster in history.

Due to the radiation, hundreds of people suffered from Acute Radiation Poisoning, and hundreds of thousands of people suffered from Radiation related health problems in the years following the disaster. The official death toll is 31. This number is still commonly used to explain "how safe" nuclear power is. However this number is very underestimated. We will never know exactly how many people died as a direct or indirect result of the Chernobyl Disaster. 

After the disaster, the nearby city of Pripyat had to be evacuated. The people of pripyat were told it was only a temporary precaution, however they were never allowed to return. Today, nature is slowly taking over and the abadoned buildings are slowly falling apart. Just before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in February 2022, the Ukranian military held military exercises in the city. 

All reactors in Chernobyl were of the Soviet RBMK type, it is easily recognices for it's metal lid that you could walk ontop of, in comparison to most other types of reactors. During the Soviet-era, many RBMK type reactors were built and is not a reactor that is being built anymore. However there are still a few operational in Kursk, Leningrad & Smolensk. 

The Chernobyl Disaster is both a wide & sensitive topic, we at TCE definetly does not claim to know everything about the chernobyl disaster. There are a ton of historians & authors that have written good books on the disaster. 

We recommend these 2 books to read about the Chernobyl Disaster!

'Chernobyl: The History of a Nuclear Catastrophe' by Serhii Plokhy

'Voices from Chernobyl' by Svetlana Alexievich