Chernobyl

Why in news?

• After a brief but fierce battle, Russian troops were able to capture the Chernobyl nuclear plant in northern Ukraine, the site of one of the worst nuclear disasters in human history.

Location of Chernobyl

• It is a partially abandoned city in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, situated in the Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine.
• Chernobyl was chosen as the site of Soviet Ukraine’s first nuclear power plant in 1972.
• With the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Chernobyl remained part of Ukraine within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone which Ukraine inherited from the Soviet Union.

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Nuclear accident at Chernobyl Nuclear Plant

• World’s deadliest nuclear accident occurred at the nuclear plant in April 1986.
• Then, a nuclear reactor exploded and spread radioactive radiation across Europe.
• This plant is located in Pripyat, which is at a distance of 130 from Kyiv.
• The reactor has now been covered with a protective device in order to prevent radiation leakage. Entire plant has been disabled.
• After the Chernobyl accident, 18 million Soviet rubles were required to be spent to free environment from nuclear radiation.
• After explosion, effect of radiation spread up to 2600 sq. km. According to scientists, no human can live in this place for the next 24 thousand years. It acts as a storage centre for nuclear waste.

Add ons:

• According to military analysts, seizing Chernobyl was a strategic decision that gave Russian troops quick and easy access to Kyiv from Belarus, which is an ally of Moscow.

PRACTICE QUESTION:

The city of Chernobyl, recently discussed in news, is located in:

(a) Russia

(b) Belarus

(c) Ukraine

(d) Poland

Answer