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As a
result, the city of
Chernobyl
(population of ~ 14,000) was largely abandoned, the larger city of Pripyat
(population ~ 49,400) was completely abandoned, and a 30 km exclusion zone
was established.
Several years after the incidence, some people have argued
that thousands of deformed babies were reportedly born of those people
exposed to the radiations at Chernobyl accident. Chernobyl accident is
considered the worst nuclear accident in human history and it was given
INES ratiing of 7.0 (the maximum). The other nuclear accident with INES
rating 7.0 is the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear
Accident of March, 2011. There have
been changes to the nuclear reactor designs, since the Chernobyl
accident, to prevent such accidents from occurring in the future.
Chernobyl reactor is said to be of the ex-soviet union old
design called RBMK. RBMK’s are boiling water reactors using graphite as
the liquid moderator. These reactors do not have a secondary circuit and
are not equipped with a containment structure. That is why the accident at
Chernobyl had such damaging effects on people and the environment. After the Chernobyl
accident, pressurized water reactor (PWR), capable of preventing or
minimizing the effect of similar accidents in the
future, were designed and manufactured.
Other Sites:
International Nuclear Events Scale (INES)
World Nuclear Association - Chernobyl Disaster
Japan Travel and
Living Guide
Nuclear Energy
International Nuclear Events Scale
(INES) - pdf version
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