The impact of the Chernobyl disaster lasts even up to now.

The Chernobyl Disaster

The Chernobyl Power Plant -- Photo courtesy of the BBC

Chernobyl is a small town in Ukraine, Russia.

What made this town so famous was the explosion of its nuclear power plant on Saturday April 26 1986, which resulted in widespread suffrage of cancer and the contamination of livestock and agriculture.

It was undoubtedly the world's greatest nuclear accident.

What Caused the Incident?

There are a few causes for this disaster which are identified and still under speculation . They are:

OPERATORS' OVERCONFIDENCE

It was said the operators in reactor no. 4 were too overconfident in their decision making.

DESIGN FLAW

Some specialists say that the design of the reactors are ineffective.

INADEQUENCY OF SAFETY SYSTEMS

The adequacy of the safety systems and its implementation during the disaster were questioned.

What was the impact of the incident?

HEALTH

Many people who were exposed to radiation acquired cancer and other radioactive illnesses. To make things worse, of those who survived, they were most likely to pass the cancer to the subsequent generations. Some were disabled by the accident and a large number remained invalid for the rest of their lives. Recent scientific research has also found that the radiation doses had resulted in "an unexpectedly high (sevenfold) increase" in mutations among children born after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, and that these doses can cause multiple changes in human DNA that are passed on to future generations.

AGRICULTURE

Many agricultural products were rendered unusable and banned in East Europe due to the contamination by radiocaesium and radioiodine. There were also livestock which suffered mutation and died soon after birth.

EXTERNAL EFFECTS

The winds carried plumes of radioactive particles to surrounding countries - even across the Arctic Ocean to parts of North America! Thus, the area covered by radioactive clouds was extended and this instilled fear in many people outside Russia.