Computer Button Malfunctions, Nuclear Plant Explodes and Kills 60,000 People
The development of nuclear technology requires stringent safety systems, both in terms of equipment quality and human resource capabilities. If these aspects are neglected, a major disaster like the Chernobyl Nuclear Explosion on 26 April 1986 could recur.
The incident caused immense humanitarian impacts. Around 60,000 people were reported dead, while hundreds of thousands others were forced to leave their homes for years due to radiation exposure.
For context, the Chernobyl nuclear facility was built as part of the Soviet Union’s ambition to become the world’s largest nuclear power owner. In 1977, the local government successfully operated a 1,000-megawatt nuclear reactor capable of supplying large-scale electricity needs for an extended period.
From there, the Soviets continued to develop nuclear power. By 1986, there were four large-scale nuclear reactors at Chernobyl with similar capacities. However, some nuclear reactors were still in the testing phase.
Cited from The Guardian, the test in question involved continuous cooling. Nuclear reactors must remain cool, so water supply must be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If not, the reactor could overheat and trigger an explosion.
In the Chernobyl case, the Soviet nuclear team attempted to test the activation of a generator that would continuously discharge water to cool the nuclear reactor.
The test occurred on 26 April 1986. In theory, water would be discharged from the turbine to continuously cool the reactor core. From this, the team would determine how long the turbine could remain operational.
Unfortunately, during the test, the involved personnel were incompetent. They were in denial and unreceptive to advice. This occurred with Deputy Chief Engineer Anatoly Stepanovich Dyatlov and Chief Engineer Nicholai Fomin.
Quoting Chernobyl: 01:23:40 (2014), Fomin was negligent and seemed to cover up the fact that the cooling power was sufficient. In reality, it was far from adequate. Fomin knew the reactor’s power was only 200 megawatts, below the minimum threshold of 700 megawatts.
Meanwhile, Dyatlov insisted the test must be conducted that day. On the test day, the technicians had already given up. They were unable to proceed. However, due to Dyatlov’s insistence and threats of dismissal, the technicians eventually complied.
This is where the catastrophe began. As night turned to morning, the technicians activated the generator. The water turbine successfully engaged. However, midway through, the generator’s power dropped dramatically. It could not sustain continuous operation. As a result, the reactor core’s temperature rose rapidly. When this happened, the technicians hurriedly pressed the SCRAM button on the computer.
This button is a computer command to the system to activate the generator. Unfortunately, the button did not function because it had never been checked. Thus, the disaster unfolded. The nuclear reactor heated up to 3,000 degrees Celsius. Shortly thereafter, the nuclear plant exploded violently.
As nuclear radiation spread, many residents were still fast asleep. Consequently, they could not escape and were exposed to extremely high radiation levels. At the time, the radiation from the explosion could not be detected by instruments. The devices could not measure the radiation levels due to their intensity.
It was only when the sun rose that people were shocked to see dust scattered around. However, it was not ordinary dust, but nuclear dust particles. Thus, the people there met their end.
The BBC recorded 90,000 people who died from nuclear radiation in the long term. Then, there were 600,000 people exposed to radiation but did not die. The WHO noted that nuclear radiation reached 200,000 km to Europe. Meanwhile, Chernobyl itself cannot be inhabited by humans for 20,000 years due to the severe radiation effects.