The test of the backup cooling system took place in reactor number 4. And it was reactor number 4 that exploded at night – at exactly 1:23.
At night at 1:23, reactor 4 exploded. 8 tons of radioactive debris was released into the atmosphere.
In the introductory video, you can see an animation that maps the causes of destruction and its consequences.
In the video below you will find how the Soviet media reported on the accident. Ukraine was then part of the Soviet Union. It took days, weeks and months to get trusted information.
No terrible destruction occurred, the Soviet media reported. (Video: Milan Šíma, Connexionblog)
The battle to put out the fire inside the nuclear power plant lasted 15 days. More than half a million soldiers and civilians took part in the aftermath of the accident. 31 firefighters and employees of the power plant died after several days of radiation sickness.
The toxicity of the radioactive cloud was equivalent to 400 explosions in Hiroshima.
As a result of the accident, 115,000 people were evacuated from a 30-kilometer distance from the power plant.
How do those who stay in the area live today?
Most of the victims were farmers. The radioactivity has not yet seeped into the ground and these people were breathing radioactive dust, says a Chernobyl resident. (Video: Milan Šíma, Connexionblog)
And in this report from 2018, you can look directly inside the Chernobyl facility. Inside the sarcophagus that covers the entire Chernobyl reactor number 4.
Inside the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (Video: Milan Šíma, Connexionblog)
