-This unfortunate disaster took place in Chernobyl, Ukraine on April 26th, 1986. A major mishap took place in the Unit 4 of the the Nuclear Power Plant due to a power surge that occurred during a testing procedure. The glitch caused the reactor to lose power very quickly and the emergency shut down system completely failed. Thus, the core overheated and led to a reaction between the graphite control rods and the hydrogen(being highly flammable) caused a massive explosion. This explosion released 50 tons of radioactive material into the environment. The surrounding area was contaminated with radiation.
Nuclear power plants harness the heat produced by splitting of Uranium atoms through a process called Nuclear Fission. The heat produced is then transferred to the running water which in turn produces steam and spins the turbines to generate electricity.
The Chernobyl Disaster did not cause many casualties as the testing was done secretly. The people living near the area were evacuated. However, about 60,000 people were affected by radiation and very quarantined in the hospitals to prevent the spread.
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