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Week 8 [03.12-09.12.18] The Catastrophic Nuclear Accident in Chernobyl



The Catastrophic Nuclear Accident in Chernobyl


This video shows what caused the catastrophic nuclear accident in Chernobyl that happened on April 26, 1986, during a reactor systems test.


  1. Have you heard about the nuclear accident in Chernobyl before?
  2. If you will have an opportunity to visit Chernobyl for free would you go?
  3. Do you think that nuclear power stations should be banned because of their disadvantages?

Comments

Yes, I have heard about this nuclear accident. Such topics are really interesting (especially when games, books, and movies are created on a base of that event). I think that the radiation cloud have also impacted Poland. If I only had such an opportunity, I would visit Chernobyl because of the history connected with this place and only a few people visiting those areas at the same time. I think nuclear power stations shouldn't be banned, they produce huge amounts of energy, and the possibility of this kind of accident happening again is extremely low.
I heard about this accident, it is studied in schools in our country. Still I do not think that power plants should be banned, hence you cannot ban everything that can cause a calamity. Everything can, actually. And power plants produce a lot of electricity, the alternative is yet to be found.
Unknown said…
In the world we have s omany system of generate enegry. Begin from source fossil-fuel power station, wind turbines, hydropower plants and nuclear power plants. We have to create new Energy source and human will find it. One of this search was Chernobyl. I heard about Chernobyl and as idea was great but people are reckless. If staff had one’s feet on the ground anything could happen. World has great place to visit and I willingly travel to beautiful and exotic place. So I won’t go to Chernobyl. If they banned create nuclear power stations we couldn’t develop and our future will be endangered.
Unknown said…
Yes of course.
The place is, of course, gloomy, especially according to the description that is used in games "a place where zombies live, after the explosion of a nuclear power plant." But I would go there to look, I know that it is forbidden for children under 18 to go there.
To be honest, the worst thing for me in this accident is that children have disabilities and adults who have died before they reach 40.
Once I rested in a sanatorium, where they brought children who were small, or whose parents lived in the territory of Chernobyl. These children were already born sick, different things happened from radiation. For example, the bones stopped growing, or the limbs refused, or problems with the brain, the eyes. But I knew that they were real people, not zombies from the game.
I am sure that the nuclear power plant is not the most secure. I am glad that now there are alternative energy supplies, and I'm ready to pay more in order to leave in a safe place.
Unknown said…
Well, I am from Kiev, of course I've heard about this catastrophe. My grandfather was a liquidator there.

I'd go there. I consider Chernobyl as the monument of the human stupidity and especially the stupidity of the soviet mentality. I'd like to see it with my eyes.

Nuclear power stations should not be banned, because the nuclear energy synthesis has a lot of potential. If you want to ban something, ban the people, who don't take care while working in such potentially dangerous place.
Yes, I have heard about nuclear accident in Chernobyl. In fact i am quite interested in this topic, I have read few articles about it and I like post nuclear books and games (especially Staler series).
Yes, I would like to visit Chernobyl. I think it would be amazing experience.
In my opinion nuclear power stations shouldn’t be banned. First of all they very few disadvantages in fact. Nuclear energy is one of the most environment friendly and stable energy in the world (only hydro-electric power station can match them, because all others renewable energy sources like wind or sun are more or less unpredictable and tons of resources must be used to produce proper equipment). If nuclear power plant is well design, nothing wrong should happen. Dramatic events like this in Chernobyl happens but it is mostly human fault, in this case, it was a bad reactor design, unstable process at low power production level, the end of control rods made of graphite and much more. What is more, such events are well known and it is, in a way, quite easy to estimate number of deaths. In my opinion, coal power plants can be much more dangerous, because it is hard to count how many people are ill or died because of the environment pollution.
Yes, I'm from Ukraine and I think all Ukrainians knows about Chernobyl. I don't know exactly, probably no. I don't know why people want to visit it, maybe because it's exclusion zone. I heard about "stalkers" people who can help you to visit Chernobyl. They know the ways how to get there and can show you interesting places. It would be great if we can ban it, because nothing good we can't get from it and I think there is a way how to refuse from using nuclear power.
Iman Masjedi said…
Yes, I have heard about the Chernobyl nuclear accident.Unfortunately, one of the worst events in human history has been.
No, I would never do this if I had the opportunity to go there for free, because, as many scientific sources have said, there are still radioactive harmful radiation in the Chernobyl zone, which is a very dangerous factor for types Diseases and cancers.
Yes, in my opinion, the issue is not just the nuclear phenomenon, there is the issue of nuclear waste that the power plant produces and these garbage should be buried somewhere, if all countries have their own nuclear power plants, because of the existence of Excessive nuclear waste will become unaffordable. In my opinion, the damages of the nuclear power plant are higher than its benefits. The same incident occurred in Japan and Japan's tsunami and nuclear disaster, but it was milder.
Yes, I heard about it. The Chernobyl accident is mentioned in Polish schools as well since the radiation from Chernobyl has impacted all central Europe. ;)

Personally, I don’t find it interesting to go to Chernobyl. I’ve seen many photos, documentaries and video game adaptations of „the zone”. I don’t think I would benefit more if I see it with my own eyes, although I agree that it might be an exciting experience.

I strongly disagree that nuclear plants should be banned. Its advantages in terms of energy efficiency and environmental impact and safety are far greater than disadvantages in terms of safety.

I like to compare them to airplanes — catastrophes are usually fatal for all people aboard and are often picked up by the media. However, they are so rare that the overall number of fatalities (less than 200 a year) are literally insignificant to the number of deaths on roads (more than a million a year), thus making them the safest mode of transportation. This analogy can be applied to nuclear plants vs. traditional power plants.
Unknown said…
For as long as I can remember, the Chernobyl topic always appears. Many myths and videos on youtube are able to interest enough to go there and see it with your own eyes.
Chernobyl is one of the places I would like to visit and feel the climate on my own skin. I'd go there even if I had to pay.
The technology we have today and the security measures used to build a nuclear power plant don't allow us to create any dangerous situation. We don't have to worry about anything anymore and in my opinion, we should invest to nuclear power plants, because we can save money and care much more for the environment.
Artem Lipovatyi said…
1. Of course, it is a part part of my country’s history and we studied it at the school.

2. Yes. It’s really interesting for me to visit different abandoned places.

3. No, because nowadays scientists have learnt the Chernobyl’s mistakes and became to develop new stations more safety than before. The disaster was caused due to the man’s mistake so they can see what the uncertain decisions can lead to and what they should to avoid.
1.Have you heard about the nuclear accident in Chernobyl before?
Yes, I have. As other students have said: all Ukrainians are aware of this catastrophe.

2. If you will have an opportunity to visit Chernobyl for free would you go?
Yes, I like to visit new places with history, but I have not been to Chernobyl yet. I will want to do this soon with my friends.

3. Do you think that nuclear power stations should be banned because of their disadvantages?
I think that would be great, but the main problem is a irresponsible people in management. I hope that in the near future all countries will switch to renewable energy sources.
Chernobyl reactor actually exploded when I was 11 years old. My family was lucky to have some friends who worked at the UMCS university in Lublin, on the physics and chemistry department. As soon as the radioactive cloud has reached Poland, they knew something was going on - even if press and TV did not report anything for another few days, those scientists already had all the data regarding the radioactive cloud. That's why I received treatment for it right away, without waiting for our government to act.
I don't think I'd like to go there, but it looks like an interesting place to visit. I've seen some TV programs showing the deserted city and the animals roaming there. And scientists find it a very interesting location for study how radiation affects flora and fauna.
Regardless of the panic it caused in Europe, I still think we need to use more nuclear power then we do. People learned from this catastrophe and we are no longer using the technology which was responsible for this explosion, so nuclear power is much safer now. But people are still afraid it might happen again. I still prefer nuclear power over coal any day.
Unknown said…
Probably everyone has heard about it, it happened a long time ago.

Yes of course. I was looking for trips organized to "Chernobyl" myself. I know that „Allegro” in Poland organizes such trips several times a year.

What defects?! Nuclear power plants are much better than the rest. Problems that happened, for example, in Chernobyl were caused only by human error.
Unknown said…
Have you heard about the nuclear accident in Chernobyl before?
Many many times :/ The "accident" was a huge problem for Europe at the times when our parents were teenagers. Heard a lot of stories from family and media.
If you will have an opportunity to visit Chernobyl for free would you go?
Of course, even paid I'd like to go. I know it's a risk, but oppurtunity to see the biggest nuclear disaster from few meters is just unbelievable!
Do you think that nuclear power stations should be banned because of their disadvantages?
No, nuclear power have a lot more pros than cons and cons can be fixed with additional security and "brain".
Have you heard about the nuclear accident in Chernobyl before?
Yes i did, countless times actually.
Even for free i dont think i would ever step on Chernobyl's grounds. I value my life over any interest i have in Chernobyl.

Unless we find an reliable energy source that would rival nuclear power plants, i dont think we can allow ourselves to ignore or straight out abandon nuclear potential. There are finite resources on earth that can be used as energy sources and all of them are bound to be exhausted withing our lifetime, nuclear power is one of them just less "limited" as of now(when we re talking about performance vs quantity ratio).
This comment has been removed by the author.
The Chernobyl incident is well known to the extent of becoming a part of pop culture, so it would be rather hard to miss it. I remember reading quite a few articles about it over the years, and I always found the subject interesting. Given a chance, I’d definitely pay the place a visit, if only to see the massive concrete bunker, a testament to the destructive power and dangers of nuclear power. I think that it is a rather accurate depiction of the saying “with great power comes great responsibility”. At the same time, this way of generating power has incredible potential and if wielded by competent people I believe it can be safely harnessed for the good of humanity.
Thank you for your opinion! Glad to know that you think this topic is interesting.
Yes, I heard about the accident in Chernobyl. If I had an opportunity to visit that place, I think I would do it. Just out of pure curiosity. When it comes to banning nuclear power stations I am completely against it. I am convinced that every source of energy has advantages and drawbacks. It all comes down to how you harness that energy. You have to remember that Chernobyl power plant was an old one. Designed in earlier soviet days. If you are interested in history you would know that often the quality was sacrificed in order to achieve political and propagnda goals. I doubt in safety of power plants designed over 30 or 40 years ago but nowadays technology allows us to design much safer contructions. To sum up, I think that we should try to diversify our sources of energy instead of banning some of them.
Yes, I have heard about the Chernobyl nuclear accident.

No, because I would like to live and I wouldn't like die from radiation sickness. Of course, most people say that the threat and radiation is no so big, but I think that we still live in a sufficiently polluted environment...

No, nuclear energy is very cheap, so in my opinion there should be more and more of them.
I have heard about such situations with kids too.
My grandpa also had a problem with the skin after this accident, but thanks to God, not a big one
Mostly have the same opinion as you. The advantages of nuclear plants are far greater than disadvantages not only in terms of safety, but in many others too.
Thank you for sharing your opinion!
One of the biggest problems of this accident was the fact, that the government was trying to keep this in secret. And for the few first days, nobody knew about it.
There are a few disadvantages of using nuclear power plants. But I agree with you, that that disadvantages are not comparable to advantages.
Vladlen Kyselov said…
Yes, I know about Chernobyl, I lived near it for several years a would not recommend to go there, because who knows how radiation could influence your health. By the way did hear about amazing game called "STALKER"? There are 3 parts of the game which helps you to investigate areas that are looking exactly like places in Chernobyl.
Unknown said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said…
Yes, I heard about the nuclear accident in Chernobyl before many times. Some of my friends have been there, I watched some movies and documents about this place too. It's a really good lesson for us. I'd love to go there myself to see all these empty buildings and reactors myself and to experience this feeling of almost post-apocalyptic nature.

I don't think that nuclear power stations should be banned because of their disadvantages. I think we should invest in this technology to make it safer, more efficient and reliable. Accidents that happened to nuclear power stations in many cases were caused by us humans. Nowadays, when we more and more switch to robots, I think it is worth exploring. Robots do not make as many mistakes as we produce. In a long-term, I mean in 20-30 years I hope we will either switch to the new source of energy or will use only nuclear power.
I lived in Ukraine for many years, of course, I heard about the accident that occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. I think many people would not have refused to go there for free. Unfortunately, I had to pay for the trip. Enough years have passed for the radiation to leave Pripyat. But this city remains a ghost. There are very few such abandoned places on earth, they cause inexpressible emotions.
Anna Moskalenko said…
Of course I've heard about it. It was an enormous tragedy for Ukraine, which harmed a lot of people, not only those that lived near the nuclear plant and those that were liquidators, but also a giant amount of people, that have problems with health caused by radiation till those days. It is a scar on our history, and we must not forget it. And we must not allow something like this to happen again.
I would go if I've had a chance. Actually, it is in my plans for future. But only with the qualified guides, that would never let me go somewhere where radiation is still high, because there are dangerous places still. My friend is a "stalker" and he showed me photos of dosimeter which shows results, that are much more higher, than should be.
I'm not sure if we have another way to produce as much energy as nuclear plants give. But if we are, that would be great if nuclear plants would be banned. It's just too dangerous.
Marcin Zając said…
1. Have you heard about the nuclear accident in Chernobyl before?

Yes, of course.

2. If you will have an opportunity to visit Chernobyl for free would you go?

Yes, I would like to visit this place, if it's safe. I've never been there.

3. Do you think that nuclear power stations should be banned because of their disadvantages?

Nuclear accident in Chernobyl happened 32 years ago. I think technology changed a lot in the mean time, but I'm not an expert in this topic. We should not forget about benefits of nuclear power stations.
Unknown said…
1. Even some days ago I watched some interesting document about that.
2. I will go there even not for free. ;) I heard that this place is mostly safe now and going there will be interesting adventure!
3. I don't think so. The nuclear power is our future and we should use it but we have to build it in a way which can protect generators from such accidents like in Czarnobyl.
Yes, of course I've heard. It was very infamous natural disaster.
YES! Actually going to chernobyl is my plan for future vacations, i think this is awesome place to visit of course you need to preserve some cautions but there are trips orgised there.
Yeah, I don't think world need nuclear power , we don't have such a power demand to "play with fire".
Illia Lukisha said…
Have you heard about the nuclear accident in Chernobyl before?

Of course I heard. My father, when he was a child lived in Chernobyl, and my grandfather was working in construction on power plants. But their family was evacuated from that zone after accident.

If you will have an opportunity to visit Chernobyl for free would you go?

It's easy to went to Chernobyl zone, many of my friends were there. But I don't think that it make any sense to travel to Chernobyl.

Do you think that nuclear power stations should be banned because of their disadvantages?

I think that we can start closing nuclear plants after we will close coal and gas stations. Because nuclear stations are more effective and eco-friendly than traditional fuel stations.

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