Nuclear reactors have caused two of humanity's worst disasters. The first was the Chernobyl accident in 1986, from which there is no way to recover. Twenty-five years later, in 2011, an explosion occurred at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant. But which of these disasters is stronger, more terrible, and more terrible?
Why do these accidents happen?
It seems that the causes of these two accidents are completely different. Chernobyl carried out scheduled tests, as a result of which there was an explosion. The explosion at the Fukushima nuclear power plant was caused by a natural disaster.
In Japan, an earthquake caused the necessary cooling system to malfunction in an emergency. Before that, all modes of power supply and various generators of the station completely stopped working. In Chernobyl, some serious irregularities and errors were found during the tests.
But the main reasons for these two tragedies are human negligence, greed and the desire to build economically. This led to errors in reactor construction and in the future caused terrible accidents.
Leakage of radioactive material
According to the conclusions of the International Commission, both Chernobyl and Fukushima had reached the highest levels of radioactivity. This is a combination of the amount of radiation in the air, the number of people exposed to radiation and the number of victims of the population.
But if we compare the consequences of two catastrophes, then Chernobyl is still in the lead. After all, the explosion affected not only Ukraine, but also Russia, Belarus, and radioactive dust clouds even affected some European countries, including Sweden. Only Japan was affected by the Fukushima nuclear explosion.
The actions of the authorities
It is well known that the consequences of Chernobyl are even more serious, since the situation has been covered up for a long time. For example, the city of Pripyat, closest to Chernobyl, began evacuating people only a few days after the explosion.
Information about what happened is kept secret for a long time. In Kiev on May 1, normal demonstrations were held despite radioactive clouds.
Soviet citizens can only learn what happened through the foreign press. This is mainly due to reports in the Swedish media.
On April 28, elevated levels of radioactivity were detected at nuclear power plants in Sweden. After several hours of investigation, the Swedes understood that the "leak" did not happen to them. The nearest nuclear power plant was in the USSR.
The disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant taught the Japanese something. For example, the Japanese authorities immediately evacuated nearby settlements. And the situation did not calm down.
However, the Japanese authorities have long been reluctant to acknowledge the possibility of decomposition of the reactor's active zone. It takes them two months to change their minds.
How is it today?
Of course, both places are closed today. At one point, the authorities established a quarantine zone to isolate the people there. The radius of the Chernobyl blockade stretches for 30 km. The Fukushima nuclear power plant has a 20-kilometer blockade radius, but it could be extended by another 10 kilometers.
In both accidents, about the same number of people were affected. According to official statistics, the number of people affected in Japan is about 300,000, while Chernobyl has 500,000.
However, after the Chernobyl accident, the authorities quite quickly provided housing for the evacuated, while in Japan the situation is much more complicated.
Many still have to live in temporary shelters. Sometimes, they are allowed to visit their homes located in the lockdown zone. A person can only be allowed to stay in the lockdown zone for a maximum of five hours.
In conclusion, it can be said that Japan learned a lesson from the USSR: they evacuated their inhabitants and revealed to the whole world what happened. Nevertheless, one can imagine that if in 1986 there had been the Internet and photographic technology, the USSR would have had to immediately recognize the catastrophe.