The Nuclear Accident of Chernobyl Engineering Research Paper

Chernobyl Accident
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Chernobyl Accident
Background Information
Chernobyl Disaster occurred on April 26th 1986. The disaster is recorded as the worst nuclear power accident in the history of nuclear energy, with irreversible impacts on the people and the surrounding environment. The catastrophe took place at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, which is located near the city of Pripyat in the north of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, resulted from the inaccurate Soviet reactor’s plan. The inaccurate plans were integrated with the negligence of plant operatives, causing an explosion of the No. 4 nuclear reactor of Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. It is perceived that as a direct result of Cold War segregation, there were inadequate safety practices in the nuclear plants. Chernobyl Disaster is considered a unique accident in the history of civilization and commercialized nuclear power, with many injuries resulting from radiation. The design of the reactor was specific, but as a result of this accident, various precautionary and mitigation measures were implemented in nuclear power investments. The accident severity was enhanced by technical issues, human factors, social factors, and political factors.
The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant structure consisted of four chain reactors of the RBMK-1000 design. The 1st and 2nd units were assembled between 1970 and 1977 while the 3rd and 4th units of similar design were completed in 1983. When the accident occurred, two additional RBMK reactors were being constructed. The site of the plant also had an artificial lake on some 22 square kilometers located to its southeast next to the river Pripyat, a side stream of Dniepr.  The lake was designed on the Chernobyl plant zone to assist in cooling the reactors whenever there was a need. The population surrounding the nuclear plant zone was ranging between 115,000 to 135,000 people within a 30km radius.
The reactors on-site were manufactured from graphite regulated RBMK-1000 pressure tube and were applied with moderately enhanced Uranium dioxide fuel (2% u-235). A vital feature of the RBMK reactor is its capability to hold a ‘positive void coefficient,’ where an increase in the voids (steam bubbles) corresponds to an increment in the reactivity of the core. When the disaster occurred, the combustion of the reactor’s fuel, the arrangement of the control rod, and the amount of power created a substantial power that exceeded other controlling elements on power coefficient (Mosey, 2014).
Until today, decontamination is still going on. It is believed that the disaster released radiation that was 100 times more than that released by the nuclear bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the radiation is believed to have affected parts of Scandinavia. Withal, there was also widespread irritation because the Soviet authorities were secretive about its causes. However, it was the Chernobyl disaster that led to the fall of the Iron Curtain. The horrors and aftermath of the accident are deeply etched in the history of humanity (Mosey, 2014).
In the process of safety system tests, Chernobyl 4 was destroyed as a result of a power outage. Based on its design, the RBM...