Summary
The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the No. 4 reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, near the city of Pripyat in the north of the Ukrainian SSR in the Soviet Union. The initial emergency response, together with later decontamination of the environment, involved more than 500,000 personnel and cost an estimated 18 billion Soviet rubles—roughly US$68 billion in 2019, adjusted for inflation.
Key Learnings / Issues
- Flawed reactor design (in particular the “positive scram” effect due to the control rods’ graphite tips that actually initially increased reactivity when control rods entered the core to reduce reactivity).
- Inadequately trained operators. Especially with regards to safety.
- The poor quality of operating procedures and instructions, and their conflicting character, put a heavy burden on the operating crew, including the chief engineer.
- Unapproved changes in the test procedure were deliberately made on the spot.
- The accident flowed from a deficient safety culture, not only at the Chernobyl plant, but throughout the Soviet design, operating and regulatory organizations for nuclear power.
Quote
“Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. Sooner or later, that debt is paid.”
Valery Legasov