On April 26, 1986, the unthinkable happened when during a test of a poorly designed reactor coupled with woefully trained personnel led to an explosion in reactor no. 4, and resulted in a meltdown that destroyed the reactor building.
WIKI: “The disaster occurred during a test to simulate cooling the reactor during an accident in blackout conditions. The operators carried out the test despite an accidental drop in reactor power. A design issue when attempting to shut down the reactor in those conditions resulted in a dramatic power surge. The reactor components ruptured and lost coolant, and the resulting steam explosions and meltdown destroyed the reactor building. This was followed by a reactor core fire that spread radioactive contaminants across the Soviet Union and Europe.”
The best and most chilling adaptions of the Chernobyl disaster appeared on HBO Max in a five part miniseries simply called “Chernobyl.”.
As I watched it, I was filled with as much dread as any top notch horror movie.
Three men went on a suicide mission into the radioactive basement and manually opened valves which successfully drained the water tank, which prevented a massive steam explosion.
Open thread.
