14/02/2022
How the tragedy began 💥
Almost 36 years ago, the whole world was shocked by the terrible news of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. In a short time, the name of the small Soviet city of Chernobyl has become for the entire world the personification of a terrifying man-made disaster.
On April 26, 1986, at 01:23 an explosion and fire occurred at the 4th power unit of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, which completely destroyed the reactor. The building of the power unit partially collapsed, a fire broke out in various rooms and on the roof.
☢️As a result of the accident, radioactive substances were released into the environment, including isotopes of uranium, plutonium, iodine-131 (half-life - 8 days), cesium-134 (half-life - 2 years), cesium-137 (half-life - 30 years), strontium - 90 (half-life - 28 years)
👨👩👧👧 On April 27, the city of Pripyat (47 thousand 500 people) was evacuated, and in the following days, the population of the 10-kilometer zone around the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. In total, during May 1986, about 116 thousand people were resettled from 188 settlements in the 30-kilometer exclusion zone.
💥 The release of fission products of nuclear fuel from the damaged reactor continued for 10 days from April 26 to May 6, 1986, during which time the total release of radioactive materials into the environment amounted to about 14 exabecquerels (about 380 million curies)
😔More than 200 thousand square km were exposed to radioactive contamination, 70% of which - on the territory of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia.
❕The total number of ""liquidators"" (including subsequent years) amounted to more than 500 thousand people from all over the former USSR.
The feat of the Chernobyl heroes will always serve as an example of courage, the highest professionalism and devotion to one's duty for us.