Chernobyl AKA The Chernobyl Zone of AlienationΩ
A catastrophic nuclear accident at the No. 4 reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, located near the city of Pripyat in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. The event, which occurred on April 26, 1986, resulted in the release of over 400 times the radiation of both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs combined. A veritable bevy of errors ultimately led to the disaster, including a flawed reactor design, operator errors [1], and startingly inadequate safety protocols. The resultant explosion and subsequent fire at the reactor released substantial amounts of Polonium-210 into the atmosphere and clouded skies throughout central eastern Europe for almost 180 days. In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, approximately 116,000 residents in the vicinity of the power plant were evacuated. The total number of deaths attributed to the disaster is estimated to be around 7,000, with thousands more suffering from various illnesses and deformities related to radiation exposure. Immediately following the initial explosion, the Soviet government, in an effort to contain the radioactive materials, enthusiastically but ineptly constructed a massive concrete "sarcophagus" around the damaged reactor. While mildly effective in containing radioactive materials upon its hasty completion, the sarcophagus began to deteriorate mere weeks after its employment, leading to the substantial broadening of the Chernobyl Zone of Exclusion [2] and mandating the evacuation of an additional 220,000 residents. Scientists estimate the vacated area will be safe for human re-habitation in the year 22,000 AD.
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- ↑ An independent study by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) estimated that, due to the plant's isolation, the mundane nature of the work, and the unregulated availability of cheap vodka, around 30-40% of Chernobyl's staff was likely intoxicated at the time of the incident.
- ↑ The purported setting for Tarkovsky's masterpiece Stalker, despite the fact that the film was shot in 1979.