Period+8+-+Chernobyl

__**Major Details of Incident**__ ·    Occurred on April 26, 1986 ·  Located at Chernobyl nuclear power plant in northern Ukraine ·  Worst nuclear power plant accident recorded in history ·  Reactor number 4 of the power plant had a massive power excursion which tore the top of the reactor, exposing tonnes of combustible graphite moderator ·  As graphite moderator burned, more radioactive material was released ·  Reactor number 4 finally exploded ·  Radioactive debris was carried across international borders by wind ·    After entire incident: Four hundred times more fallout was released than had been by the atomic bombing of Hiroshima
 * __The Chernobyl Incident- Soviet Union 1986__ **

__** Reactor number 4 of the power plant was scheduled to be shut down for maitenance. It was scheduled for a safety test on an emergency core cooling feature. As reactor output rapidly increased, the operators ordered a SCRAM (a shutdown of the reactor, fully inserting all control rods). During this, there was a flawed graphite-tip control rod design, which initially was to displace the coolant. The control rods are one of the main causes of this disaster because of their graphite tip designs. This problem, along with the SCRAM, increased the reaction rate. This then triggered a massive energy spike and the core overheated. The rapid increase in steam caused the first steam explosion only 20 seconds after the SCRAM was ordered. This explosion tore the top of the reactor off, releasing the radioactive material. Then shortly after the first explosion, the second steam explosion occured. __** Aftermath **__ A full 24 hours after the explosions, Russia ordered an evacuation of Pripyat (city that housed workers of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant) saying that the evacuation will last only three days. Since the evacuation was longer and permanent, personal belongings are still found in Pripyat. To contain radioactivity and to allow further operation of the power plant, a concrete "sarcophagus" was built around reactor 4. Because of further problems with the plant, it was shut down completely. Around the area of explosion, several kilometers of pineforests were turned red/brown. Pripyat is now a haven for wildlife.
 * __ Causes of the Incident

Because of the Chernobyl Incident, a zone called The Zone of Alienation was created to keep people out of the radioactive area. This zone allows only for the functioning of the power plant and scientific installations related to studies of nuclear safety. It is controlled by the Administration of the Alienation Zone and policed by MVS (Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs). Because of the amount of wildlife flourishing in the zone, poaching of wildlife and looting of personal belongings left behind (toilet seats, electronics, etc.) is a concern in this area as well.
 * __Laws and Policies__**

http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761563993/chernobyl%E2%80%99_accident.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Chernobyl_Disaster.jpg
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This group had very good information and explained their topic very well They could of put captions under their pictures**
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