the
in
the
history
of nuclear
ACCIDENT AT CHERNOBYL IN THE SOVIET UNION
On April 26, 1986 at the Chernobyl nuclear power station in Soviet Union there occurred the most serious accident so far
The core
electricity
generation.
suffered a melt-down,
the graphite bed burnt,
a large volume of
power station
radioactive matter escaped and 31 workers at the
died.
The radioactive matter escaping after
Norway
the
accident was mainly composed
of
inert
gases
and
volatile
fission
products
and such as iodine
cesium
and other volatile fission products.
Sweden
Polad
Finland.
Leningrad
Soviet Union Moscow
Kiev
These
radioactive
dusts
disappear
within one or two weeks,
different from the radioactive
produced by atmospheric nuclear tests
They
are
dust
Pripyat' River Dnieper River
Site of power station:
30 km evacuation
zone
Chernobyl
which exist
for many
years
before
Kiev Reservoir
disappearing.
Kiev
The accident
raised the
radioactivity in neighbouring
atmospheric
parts
of the Soviet Union as well
as in
countries such as Finland, Sweden and
This is
Poland to levels 4 -10 times higher than natural levels. only equivalent to a few per cent of the maximum permitted annual values. The water supplies of the nearest large city to the power
station Kiev were not contaminated.
radiation
The maximum
level was 20 times greater than the normal
discharge. The lives of the people were not affected.
atmospheric
level of
33