Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (Chornobylʹsʹka Atomna Elektrostantsiya)

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

The explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant on April 26, 1986, is considered the worst nuclear accident in world history. On the International Atomic Energy Agency's International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale, it shares the highest rating with only Japan's 2011 Fukushima Daiichi disaster. In the early hours of Saturday, a botched safety test caused a series of explosions and fires in Reactor 4.

Images

Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Reactor 4 (taken from helicopter in 1986)

Black and white image of destroyed industrial building

Machine room under the Chernobyl Sarcophagus of Reactor 4, June 1992

Black and white image of destroyed industrial machine

The remains of Chernobyl Reactor 4, from the roof of the Reactor 3 (June 1986)

Color image of debris on roof of building

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

Sources

[1] Frequently Asked Chernobyl Questions, IAEA. November 7th, 2016. Accessed August 25th, 2024. https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/focus/chernobyl/faqs#:~:text=1.,of%20radiation%20into%20the%20atmosphere..

[2] Forsmark: How Sweden Alerted the World about the Danger of the Chernobyl Disaster, European Parliment. May 14th, 2014. Accessed August 25th, 2024. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/topics/en/article/20140514STO47018/forsmark-how-sweden-alerted-the-world-about-the-danger-of-chernobyl-disaster..

Image Sources(Click to expand)

IAEA Image Bank, Creative Commons

Igor Kostin (Atomic Photographers Guild)