Soviet nuclear power plants soared
On June 27, 1954, the Soviet Union suddenly issued a news:
With the combined efforts of scientists and engineers, the Soviet Union built the world's first 5,000-kilowatt nuclear power plant, which has provided the required electricity for Soviet agricultural production projects.
The news announced the birth of mankind's first nuclear power plant, the Oblingsk Nuclear Power Plant, located in Kaluga Oblast, Soviet Union. Its construction was a secret at the time, so the news shocked the whole country and the world.
It embodies the wisdom of Soviet scientists and engineers and marks the arrival of the era of human nuclear power. The move also cemented the Soviet Union's post-World War II world leadership.
Subsequently, the United Kingdom built nuclear power plants in 1956 and the United States in 1957.
By the 1960s, France, Canada, Germany, Japan and other countries had built nuclear power plants.
Since the emergence of the problem of the use of nuclear energy in the 1940s, due to its special political and military significance, it has influenced the strategy of major powers and the world pattern.
At the end of World War II, in order to enhance its military and political strength, the Soviet Union countered the capitalist camp headed by the United States, and vigorously developed nuclear technology and nuclear industry in an all-round way while restoring the national economy.
As a result, the Soviet Union, based on a highly centralized economic system, quickly developed atomic bombs, nuclear missiles, nuclear-powered ships, and so on.
Moreover, compared with common thermal power stations, the use of nuclear energy to generate electricity is economical, environmentally friendly and safe. Therefore, although the Soviet Union has a vast territory and abundant natural energy resources, nuclear power occupies an important position in energy development planning.
After the exploration and experimental stage, the construction of nuclear power plants in the world entered a period of rapid development in the 1970s.
The Soviet Union, the United States, Japan and Western European countries all developed huge nuclear power development plans. The oil crisis of 1973-1974 pushed the development of nuclear power in the world to a climax.
The Soviet Union and the United States chased after each other and became the leaders of nuclear power construction.
In 1973, the Soviet Union selected kiev oblast in Ukraine to start construction of the country's largest nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, near the town of Pripyat.
It is located in the middle of nowhere, about 120 km from the city of Kiev (the capital of Ukraine). It is sparsely populated, the terrain is open, and it is close to a river. Ideal place to build a nuclear power plant.
Like many major projects, the largest nuclear power plant in the SOVIET Union was named "Vladimir Ilyich Lenin Nuclear Power Plant" in honor of the main founder and national leader of the Soviet Union.
It was only later that people used to call it the Chernobyl nuclear power plant after the place where it was located.
The nuclear power plant was soon completed. In September 1977, the nuclear reactor began operations. Electricity generation began the following year.
Six years later, in December 1983, Unit 4 of the plant was completed and put into operation. As a result, a total of four units are networked to generate electricity.
After the completion of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, it became another model for the peaceful use of nuclear energy and became famous all over the world.
After several years of operation, it is considered the safest and most reliable nuclear power plant in the world.
This once again became the pride of the Soviet people.
However, all this was good, and soon after, it went to the other extreme, becoming a negative image and becoming famous all over the world.
The leak of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant has left a nuclear haze hanging over the world
In April 1986, the personnel of the nuclear power plant carried out regular maintenance of Unit 4 as planned.
However, due to repeated violations of operating procedures by the staff, the reactor was very unstable and the energy increased.
At 1:23 a.m. on the 26th, two dull and huge explosions suddenly broke the silence of midnight.
The reactor melts, burns, and explodes.
With the sound of the explosion, the protective shell of the reactor was broken, and the column of fire more than 30 meters high rushed into the night sky.
At the same time, the surrounding protective structure and various equipment were swallowed up and melted by flames up to 2000 ° C, and the plant caught fire.
The highly radioactive material in the reactor then leaks outward and disperses.
Nearby firefighters heard the news and quickly arrived. Taking into account the high temperatures and nuclear radiation, only helicopters were relied upon to drop lead and boron sandbags from the air to seal off the reactor and prevent the leakage of radioactive material.
What is even more frightening is that the smoke and dust mixed with highly radioactive materials drift with the wind to the surrounding areas and countries.
On April 27, the day after the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, workers at the Forsmark nuclear power plant in Sweden, about 1,100 kilometers from Chernobyl, suddenly noticed that abnormal radiation particles were glued to their clothes.
Forsmark nuclear power plant personnel tested and found that the radiation particles did not come from nearby. Immediately, they investigated and suspected that the source was a problem with the Soviet nuclear power plant.
The Swedish government attached great importance to this and asked the Soviet Union through diplomats, but it was not confirmed.
However, this matter has not gone away and has been valued by all countries. It was finally confirmed that an accident had occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Soviet Union.
At this point, the Soviet government could not hide it, and could only accept the intervention and supervision of the international community.
The Chernobyl nuclear power plant urgently suspended the operation of units 1, 2 and 3, and evacuated and evacuated nearby residents.
At this time, the accident has already caused 2 people to die on the spot.
On 9 May, the Soviet government invited IAEA personnel to inspect the accident site. However, they can only take a helicopter to view the situation of the nuclear power plant and its surroundings from a high altitude.
At this time, the local nuclear radiation intensity was as high as 15 millilengen per hour, and the city of Kiev, more than 100 kilometers away, also reached 0.2 millilentine.
Roentgen (R), named after the German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen who discovered X-rays (also known as Röntgen rays), is a unit of radiation produced by radioactive material, indicating the amount of radiation present.
The safe range of X-ray radiation is generally considered to be about 0.1 mlengen/h. However, long-term acceptance will also be detrimental to physical health.
After this amazing news came out, it shocked the world.
Western countries have rushed to urge the evacuation of expatriates and tourists in Kiev.
Countries near the Soviet Union detected extraordinary radioactive dust, and some European countries immediately imposed food restrictions, especially on fungi and milk.
Among them, the French government claimed that the radioactive dust only drifted to the border between Germany and Italy, and in order to avoid causing panic among the people, there was no fasting regulation.
Of course, the worst victims are in the area around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
According to scientific testing reports, the explosion completely damaged the unit, more than 8 tons of strong radioactive material leaked, and the concentration of nuclear fuel leaked at the time of the explosion was as high as 60%. And it wasn't until 10 days and nights after the accident that the reactor was sealed.
During this period, radioactive elements have been released in excess, and dust has drifted with the wind.
Residents were evacuated three days after the accident. These three days have caused many people to suffer from the erosion of radioactive materials.
It is estimated that the radiation pollution generated after the nuclear accident is equivalent to 100 times that of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in Japan.
Immediately after the accident, 203 people who approached the scene were taken to hospital for treatment, resulting in 31 deaths, most of whom died of excessive radiation. Most of the dead were front-line firefighters and ambulance crews.
In the two years since the accident, the Soviet government has sent hundreds of thousands of people to clean up the site. They are bound to be poisoned by nuclear radiation pollutants.
And this accident has left endless legacy.
In the seven years since the accident, more than 7,000 people have died. 40 per cent of the workers involved in the medical rescue have suffered from mental illness or permanent memory loss.
As of 2012, of the 834,000 people involved in the rescue effort, 55,000 had lost their lives and more than 300,000 had died from nuclear radiation injuries.
This is not counting some chronic diseases and invisible diseases caused by nuclear radiation.
At the same time, as radioactive soot drifts around with the air currents, the whole of Europe is also shrouded in a haze of nuclear pollution.
In some European countries and regions, wild game (including wild boar, deer, etc.), wild mushrooms, berries, and carnivorous fish salvaged from lakes. Cesium-137 content reaches several thousand becks/kg. In Germany, some wild mushrooms even have cesium-137 levels of 40,000 becks/kg.
According to the 2006 TORCH report, the average in these regions is about 6,800 becks/kg, more than ten times the 600 becks/kg standard set by the European Union.
Thus, even 20 years after the accident, some European countries have been closely monitoring food living in natural and near-natural environments, such as grains, vegetables, dairy products, fruits, animals, etc., especially some imported foods, to prevent nuclear radiation contamination of food from entering the human food chain.
As a result, agricultural production in Europe has suffered huge losses, and people's daily life consumption has been greatly affected.
For this worst nuclear accident in human history, there are several reasons for it. It boils down to the following points:
First, the RBMK graphite boiling water reactor design used in the nuclear power unit itself has safety hazards and is the internal cause of this accident.
Second, the operation error of the staff in the process of regular maintenance is the direct cause of this accident.
Third, after the accident, the Soviet government's blockade of the news and the slowness of the emergency response made the consequences of the accident expand and cause irreparable huge losses.
In the light of this tragic accident, the Ukrainian government decided to shut down the nuclear power plant forever.
This accident has also made nuclear power safety widely concerned by the international community, resulting in the cooling and speeding down of the development of nuclear power in the world.
Chernobyl is tens of kilometers in circumference, which has long been a no-man's land, always warning mankind.