“Today Bulgaria” recalls: 38 years since the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl

Today the world marks 38 years since the worst nuclear disaster in history.

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In the early hours of Saturday, April 26, 1986, an explosion occurred in reactor number four at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, spewing clouds of radioactive material. The accident has devastating consequences.

At the time of the 1986 crash, Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union. Pripyat is a city built for the nuclear power plant workers and their families. 200,000 people were evacuated within hours.

The incident occurred while engineers at the plant were conducting a test to see what would happen in a power outage. The reduced power slows the turbines that push cooling water to the reactor. With less water to cool the system, what’s left turns into steam, creating enormous pressure. By the time the operators realize what’s going on, it’s too late. The explosion was so powerful that it dislodged the reactor’s 1,000-tonne steel cover – the weight of three Boeing 747 passenger jets. The explosion also causes a fire that burns uncontrollably.

According to a 2006 Greenpeace report, the Chernobyl disaster resulted in over 250,000 cases of cancer, of which almost 100,000 were fatal. In 2011, the Union of Concerned Scientists, a non-governmental organization, suggested that the death toll from Chernobyl would range around 25,000 – six times the UN estimate. And according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the incident will claim the lives of 16,000 Europeans by 2065.

The scale of the disaster became clear in the days after the crash. “Liquidators” – the name given to the workers who help contain the explosion and the exposed nuclear core – have been dispatched. Exterminators face high doses of radiation to do their job. They are helped by firefighters and miners from nearby areas.

Scientists fear that another explosion could occur, producing a force of three to five megatons and exposing all of Europe to massive radioactive contamination. The work of liquidators is vital to stopping future explosions. As a result of their actions, many workers suffer severe health problems due to the radiation.

In the days following the disaster, the leadership of the Soviet Union tried to cover up the incident. However, it wasn’t long before other countries realized that something was wrong. Monitoring stations in Europe are reporting unusually high levels of radiation. It floats over many European countries, including Bulgaria.

Officials pressed the Soviets for an explanation, and Moscow eventually acknowledged the Chernobyl accident. This causes international outrage around the world. The political and economic implications are enormous. In the following years, the Soviet Union came under great pressure and underwent serious changes.