We consider the Chernobyl disaster as the

worst nuclear disaster in history. It occurred

on 26 April 1986 near the city of Pripyat in
the north of the Ukrainian SSR in the Soviet
Union. During a test at low-power the No 4
RBMK reactor at the nuclear power plant at
Chernobyl, Ukraine, got out of control,
leading to an accidental explosion that
destroyed the reactor building which caused
release of large amounts of radiation into the
atmosphere. There was ignorance of safety
measures, the uranium fuel in the reactor
overheated results in melting of it through
the protective barriers. Immediately
firefighters were sent to extinguish the fire to
protect reactor number 3 and also to keep
the core cooling systemsfine. They put large
confinement shelters there to prevent further
escape of radioactivity. In Europe huge areas
were affected by this accident. 2 people were
killed on the spot after the explosion, some
say that the figure was closer to 50. Many
people contracted radiation sickness which
are serious; some of these people later died.
Also years later thousands of deaths from
cancer and radiation illnesses were
expected.
We have learned many lessons from the
accident. Behind a decade of IAEA
assistance to the former Soviet Union and
the countries of Central and Eastern Europe
it was a significant driving force. To identify
the weaknesses and improve the design
safety of VVR and RBMK reactors much of
this work was focused.All RBMK units were
upgraded to eliminate the design deficiencies
which caused the Chernobyl accident.