chernobyl fact and opinions please

[Kapitan]

in 1986 the worlds worst ever nuclear disaster took place in a small town in the ukrain a former republic of the soviet union.

the name of the place was chernobyl and in chernobyl was one of the newest nuclear power plant in the whole of the land.

during the night a routine saftey check failed and the staff lost control of reactor number 4 shortly after 1am reactor number 4 hit critical and went into a full scale meltdown.

just seconds after the entire roof including the 2000 tonne cap of the reactor blew apart throwing radio active debris for miles around shortly after the entire populace of pripriat and other towns were totaly evacuated officals pull the death toll between 300 and 300,000 how ever no one knows for sure.

after a few months a sarcophicas was built around the reactor to prevent any more nuclear matter spilling out into the atmosphere.
today it is crumbeling and falling apart america and britian has jointly pledged $750 million for a new encasement of the reactor

a 50km no mans land was set up and today only permitted people are alowed to enter this area with strict written permission by the government.


after the disaster chernobyl did carry on producing power in reactors one and two.

in 2000 chernobyl shut down her two remaining reactors for good and was written off for decommissioning and is now totaly out of action.

scientist estimate that the area cannot be inhabited untill 2525 when radiation levels are sufficent for people to return

the powerplant itself is totaly off limits to any tourist short tours are allowed but accsess to the powerer plant is prohibited.

where was you when this accident happend?
what you think of it ?
tell us all please share emotions facts opinions ect ect

[thanos]

1986, first challenger blows up then chernobil blows up...

I was 9 at the time, so I don't remeber too much. However, I DO remember people going to get radiation measurements. I also remember people being afraid/reluctant to eat vegetables.

Oh and all this was in Greece, where I was at that time.

[gdogghenrikson]

I was only 7 and I never even heard of that. Sounds kinda crazy that they still used it even after 2 reactors blew

[TLAM Strike]

I was about 4 when this happend so I have no clue where I was.

[mog]

I highly recommend that people check out this site:

http://www.kiddofspeed.com/chapter1.html

It has plenty of photos taken by a woman motorcyclist who has ridden through the dead zone.

[gdogghenrikson]

interesting site with alot of interesting pics

[Kapitan]

didnt she used to live there and that site inspired the post

[Skybird]

We didn't buy or pick mushrooms for years to come (Berlin, I was 19). Also various vegetables from certain european areas were "ticking", and plenty of jokes about these, I think. Was a strange feeling to know one was living under the shadow of this mysterious and unvisible stream of radiation that was moving westward like sort of a smoke fan. Fortunately, although the fallout was measurable in western Europe, the level of radiation did not hit unhealthy levels. Also the first Space Shuttle desaster in that year, and the LaBelle. But also - my first love.

[Kapitan]

wow a short and sweat post from skybird you ok skybird?

[Damo1977]

Originally Posted by thanos

1986, first challenger blows up then chernobil blows up...

I was 9 at the time, so I don't remeber too much. However, I DO remember people going to get radiation measurements. I also remember people being afraid/reluctant to eat vegetables.

Oh and all this was in Greece, where I was at that time.

I was 8 or 9 too. I remember Challenger, watching the launch on TV at 6:30am. Was the first Shuttle launch I saw live. Than I decided I didn't want to be an astronaut.

With Chernobyl, I remember it, Just remember alot of people fleeing, and than the empty towns afterwards. I still remember seeing on TV an Old Russian Grandma in tears because she had to leave her home. The dead and dying animals I also remember. I can't really say what I felt because I was only a pup and the USSR was far away and all I cared about was the world of "Transformers".

Also in 1986;
Crocodile Dundee came out
150 years of the state of South Australia, so we had Golden Jubilee celebrations.

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Kapitain

wow a short and sweat post from skybird you ok skybird?

Sometimes radiation still affects my brain, that's why.

[Catfish]

Hello,
what bothers me most is that - depending on the source - there have been 40 to 50 kg of Plutonium being blown into the atmosphere during the explosion. I do not know whether those are reliable numbers, but if you know what it is able to - a spoonful of this stuff dispersed over England would kill anything, not because of radiation but toxicity. Luckily Plutonium is a quite heavy stuff, so it was washed down quickly, but it still accumulates in plants, mushrooms etc. and makes its path through the food chain. Scientists believe it is a time bomb for the next some 10.000s of years.
Greetings,
Catfish

[micky1up]

it wasnt a routine saftey check the were experimenting with the turbines to see if the could draw power from them just after the reactor was offline to do this they(read fools) switched off most of the saftey features and the result was what happened

[Kapitan]

those types of tests were done anualy on every nuclear plant making them routine

[micky1up]

yes shuting down the reactor is routine the experiment to draw power was not nor was disabling the safety features