Answer to Question #114800 in Electricity and Magnetism for neyola

Question

Two major nuclear disasters occurred in recent history: Chernobyl in 1986 and Fukushima in 2011. In Chernobyl the accident occurred while they were conducting a safety test and in Fukushima the disaster occurred due to an earthquake which was quickly followed by tsunami. Regardless of why the disaster occurred, in each case safety measures in place were unable to contain the radioactivity and major leaks occurred.
Choose ONE of these disasters and answer the following questions.
1. Describe the safety measures (equipment and/or protocols) that failed during this disaster.

2.Is the site still considered to be dangerously radioactive?

3.What was the impact on people, animals and the environment close to the area of the accident?

Answer 1

1. The plant was not designed to safety standards in effect and incorporated unsafe features. "Inadequate safety analysis" was performed. There was "insufficient attention to independent safety review". "Operating procedures not founded satisfactorily in safety analysis". Safety information not adequately and effectively communicated between operators, and between operators and designers

The operators did not adequately understand safety aspects of the plant. Operators did not sufficiently respect formal requirements of operational and test procedures. The regulatory regime was insufficient to effectively counter pressures for production. There was a "general lack of safety culture in nuclear matters at the national level as well as locally"

2. Yes, it is still dangerous there

3. In the accident's aftermath, 237 people suffered from acute radiation sickness, of whom 31 died within the first three months. It is difficult to establish the total economic cost of the disaster. According to Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet Union spent 18 billion rubles (the equivalent of US$18 billion at that time, or $35.7 billion in today's dollars) on containment and decontamination, virtually bankrupting itself. In 2005, the total cost over 30 years for Belarus alone was estimated at US$235 billion; about $297 billion in today's dollars given inflation rates.