Kelly-Anne Kidston
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On April 26, 1986, the Number Four RBMK reactor at the nuclear power plant at Chernobyl, Ukraine, went out of control during a test at low-power, leading to an explosion and fire that demolished the reactor building and released large amounts of radiation into the atmosphere 🙈 Safety measures were ignored, the uranium fuel in the reactor overheated and melted through the protective barriers. RBMK reactors don’t have what is called a containment structure. This dome, made of concrete and steel, was designed to protect the plant from radiation in case of an accident. Radioactive elements such as plutonium (iodine), strontium, and caesium are scattered across a large area 🙈 In addition to the graphite block used as a moderating substance in the RBMK setting fire to high, temperature as air The reactor core was flooded with radioactive material, which led to the emission of radioactive substances into the atmosphere. [1]
These uranium atoms make up the fuel rods. As rogue neutrons move around in the core, the uranium-atoms create a net and pass through the graphite surrounding them. These neutrons are “slowed down” by graphite, just like water. This makes it more likely that they will be caught up in the net of uranium. This net may allow for more neutrons to escape by colliding. The process can produce a lot more heat when it happens in a series of repeated reactions. This is how the water from the channel boils and turns into steam. It then becomes power. Camilo Burdick, Wroclaw (Poland) last modified this page 80 days ago [2]
They are working on the roof to remove radioactive material from the blast and return it into the station. They discovered minesweeper robots would fail almost immediately under the bombardment of electromagnetism – the Soviet authorities had lied to the West German suppliers about how much radiation the robots would need to withstand – so they’re have sending conscripted citizens up to do the job instead. These radiation levels meant that men couldn’t work more than 90 seconds per shift. Ever. It had taken 90 seconds to reach the roof, which was enough time for a whole lifetime of radiation exposure. This was highlighted by Roxana Banuelos, a Surat-based Indian woman. [3]
Whatisnuclear.com The operator at Chernobyl noticed power instability due to RBMK’s inherent positive coolant void factor. They retracted control rods until they reached the core. The rods’ tips were made of graphite which displaces water and does not introduce neutron poison. This allowed for a massive power excursion that resulted in the death of 30 workers. [4]
As the cooling pumps require electricity to cool the reactor, in the event of a power failure, Chernobyl’s reactors had three backup diesel generators; these would start up in 15 seconds, but took 60–75 seconds to attain full speed and reach the 5.5‑megawatt output required to run the main pump. The possibility that rotating energy from the steam engine (while it is still under residual steam pressure), could be used to produce the electricity required to close this gap of one minute, which has been deemed unacceptable. This residual momentum combined with steam pressure may be sufficient to operate the coolant pumps 45 seconds. It would bridge the gap between external power failures and the full power of the emergency generators. Filisha Clifton, Pingxiang Jiangxi in China edited this article 34 days earlier. [5]
Additional reading at world-nuclear.orgThe unit 4 reactor would be closed for routine maintenance, 25 April 1986. To determine if the slowing turbine was capable of providing enough power in an event of power loss, it was decided that the shutdown would be used. Water circulating pumpsThe diesel emergency power source was operational until then. This test was designed to verify that the cooling of the core can be maintained in case of loss of power. Following the completion of this test, we arranged power supply to four of the eight pumps using station power. Four pumps were powered by unit power. Terry Murphy (Brighton, United Kingdom) edited this article on July 23, 2021. [6]
Article references
- https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/focus/chernobyl/faqs
- https://www.cnet.com/news/chernobyl-miniseries-by-hbo-and-sky-prompts-searches-on-nuclear-explosion-fission/
- https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a27641118/chernobyl-explosion-explained-meltdown/
- https://whatisnuclear.com/chernobyl-main.html
- http://www.chernobylgallery.com/chernobyl-disaster/cause/
- https://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/safety-and-security/safety-of-plants/appendices/chernobyl-accident-appendix-1-sequence-of-events.aspx
