Chernobyl nuclear accident, April 26, 1986
April 2011 marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of the nuclear accident at Chernobyl, Ukraine. This page links to material about the event, news coverage through the years and health and environmental effects.
About Chernobyl
The Chernobyl nuclear power plant is located in Ukraine at the settlement of Pryp'yat, 16 km northwest of the city of Chernobyl (Ukrainian: Chornobyl) and 104 km north of Kiev, Ukraine (20km south of the border with Belarus).
The disaster
On April 26 1986 operators of the power plant ran a test on an electric control system of one of the reactors. They shut down the reactor’s power-regulating system and its emergency safety systems, and they withdrew most of the control rods from its core while the reactor was still running. Other mistakes compounded the problem, and at 1:23 AM on April 26 the chain reaction in the core went out of control. Several explosions triggered a large fireball; this and the ensuing fire in the reactor core released large amounts of radioactive material into the atmosphere. Most contamination occurred around the reactor in areas that are now part of Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine.
Source
Chernobyl accident, Encyclopædia Britannica Online. [Accessed April 19 2006].
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Chernobyl — 25 years later (2011)
- Chernobyl 25 years on: learning the lessons of nuclear disaster
- Twenty-five years ago, the Chernobyl nuclear plant in the Ukraine suffered a catastrophic explosion. The real lessons are still being learned, says Roger Highfield in the Telegraph, 26 April 2011.
- Is Chernobyl a Wild Kingdom or a Radioactive Den of Decay?
- By Adam Higginbotham April 14, 2011 Wired May 2011
- In Pictures: Inside the Chernobyl nuclear power plant
- A BBC photo gallery
- Nuclear power mapped
- BBC interactive map showing how nuclear energy has spread across the world since the 1950s.
- Timeline: Nuclear plant accidents
- The nuclear crisis in Japan has revived fears over the safety of nuclear power and the potential danger posed to public health when things go wrong. BBC 12 April 2011
- Ukraine marks Chernobyl nuclear disaster
- Al Jazeera, 26 April 2011
- UN honours victims of Chernobyl nuclear accident, stresses need to help region
- UN News release, 26 April 2011
Chernobyl — 20 years later (2006)
Many news organisations visited Ukraine 20 years after the Chernobyl disaster to assess its impact and effect on the environment and population.
- Chernobyl 20 years later
- International Atomic Energy Agency In Focus series featuring reports, stories and background documents.
- Chernobyl: 20th anniversary
- A platform for international cooperation on Chernobyl containing a depository of UN (United Nations) official documents on Chernobyl nuclear accident as well as the updates from UN Coordinator of international cooperation on Chernobyl. From The United Nations and Chernobyl which was launched by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
- Chernobyl 20 years on
- A BBC News website team visited Ukraine to assess the legacy of the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl 20 years after it spewed radiation across Europe.
- Chernobyl 20 years on
- Two decades after the world’s worst nuclear accident, Adam Higginbotham entered the 30km exclusion zone. From the Observer Magazine.
- Inside Chernobyl
- National Geographic feature on the 20th anniversary of the disaster. Includes photo gallery.
Health and environmental effects
Reports were released on the 20th anniversary of the disaster examining its health and environmental impacts. There has been controversy as Greenpeace has criticised a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency claiming it underestimates deaths resulting from the radiation released.
- The Chernobyl Catastrophe: Consequences on Human Health [2.06 MB PDF]
- Greenpeace document, published April 2006
- Chernobyl’s Legacy: Health, Environmental and Socio-Economic Impacts and Recommendations to the Governments of Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine (also Russian version) [793 KB PDF]
- Report from The Chernobyl Forum: 2003–2005 (Second revised version).
- Environmental Consequences of the Chernobyl Accident and their Remediation: Twenty Years of Experience [9.17MB PDF]
- This report from the International Atomic Energy Association provides an up to date evaluation of the environmental effects of the accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Even though it is now nearly 20 years after the accident, there are still many conflicting reports and rumours concerning its consequences.
- Health effects of the Chernobyl Accident and Special Health Care Programmes (2006) [1.66 MB PDF]
- In commemoration of the accident’s 20th anniversary this report was produced as a result of a series of expert meetings. In addition, a fact sheet summarizes the main health effects of the accident as outlined in the report. From the World Health Organization.
- How many more lives will Chernobyl claim?
- Rob Edwards, New Scientist, 08/04/2006, Vol. 190 Issue 2546, p11-11
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