10 Shocking Facts About The Chernobyl Disaster

Back on April 26, 1986, the entire world was shocked as everyone witnessed one of the worst man-made disasters in all of history. The Chernobyl Disaster is still affecting the area today, as nuclear material continues to leak out of the destroyed facility. Some areas are growing, but others remain uninhabitable and deadly for anyone who enters for extended periods of time. Today, you can visit certain areas, but there are some facts you should know beforehand.

Level 7

The Chernobyl disaster is, today, the only level 7 incident on the official international Nuclear Event Scale, making it the largest man made disaster of all time. That probably won’t be changing any time at all.

Unimaginable Amount Of Radiation

The explosion released 100 times more radiation than the two atom bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima combined. That is devastating to simply consider.

Nuclear Rain

When the reactors in the facility exploded, the radiation caused nuclear rain to fall from the sky. This rain ended up reaching as far away as Ireland, which is thousands of miles from the disaster site.

Costly Business

Obviously, having a nuclear reactor explode in your face is going to be a highly costly matter. The Soviet Union, Russian Federation, and Ukraine paid out hundreds of billions of dollars thanks to the ensuing disaster and relief requirements.

Lives Risked

Over 800,000 men risked their lives delving into the radiation in an effort to contain the situation. Out of those men, 25,000 died during the incident and another 70,000 are completely disabled from the radiation.

Sarcophagus

Out of everything that happened that dreadful day, 97 percent of the radioactive materials remains within a crumbling sarcophagus that is simply sitting in place in Ukraine right now.

Cancer

After the radiation exposure, a lot of individuals developed various forms of cancer. Another 9,000 deaths from said cancer are expected by the UN-led Chernobyl Forum. This number, however, remains controversial.

Live Reactor

The reactor that exploded is not completely dead as of today. As much as 200 tons of radioactive material lies inside of the reactor still, making it highly dangerous for anyone entering the area.

Final Reactor

It took the government of Ukraine almost twenty years to shut down the final reactor in Chernobyl. The last nuclear reactor was only put to rest recently, in the year 2000.

100 Years

Local officials have said it may take as many as 100 years until the nuclear station has been completely decommissioned. That means all of the radiation will remain for quite a long time.