Man Made Diasters

A presntation by Virat Singh Class 7c St, Mary s Convent Inter College, Manak Nagar, Lucknow, India

The disaster at Chernobyl

The worst manmade disaster in human history

By Virat Singh Class 7 C St, Mary s Convent Inter College, Manak Nagar, Lucknow, India

Where is Chernobyl?

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Chernobyl

Built in 1978-1979 Chornobyl

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Background
Reaktor Bolshoy Moshehnosty Kipyashiy

RBMK, a Russian acronym translated roughly means reactor (of) high power (of the) channel (type) It was a reactor cooled by water and moderated by graphite
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RBMK Reactor

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Fuel assemblies

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Reactor Plant Scenario

1. As the reaction occurs, the uranium fuel becomes hot 2. The water pumped through the core in pressure tubes removes the heat from the fuel 3. The water is then boiled into steam 4. The steam turns the turbines 5. The water is then cooled 6. Then the process repeats

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The day of disaster

25 April 1986
01:00 The preparation for the test 13:47 Lowering of the reactor power halted at 1,600 MWt 14:00 The ECCS was isolated 23:10 The power reduction resumed
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26 April 1986
24:00 Operation shift change 24:28 Power level is now 500 MWt and kept decreasing to 30 MWt 24:40 The operator withdrew some control rods 01:00 Power had risen to 200 MWt 01:03 Connecting the fourth main cooling pump to the left loop of the system 200 MWt 01:07 Connecting the fourth main cooling pump to the right of the loop system - this was a violation of NOP
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26 April 1986
01:19 Increased feed water flow to the steam drums and removed more control rods -violation of NOP 01:23 The test was started 01:23:10 Automatic rods withdrawn from the core 01:23:21 Two groups of automated control rods were back to the core
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26 April 1986
01:23:30 01:23:40 01:23:44 01:23:48 01:23:55 Power kept increasing Emergency button pushed Power is at 300000 MW th 1st thermal explosion 2nd explosion

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Human Errors
Isolation of the emergency core cooling system Unsafe amount of control rods withdrawn Connection of the four main cooling pumps to the right and left of the system

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Human Errors
The mental model The operator did not have a good mental model of the system itself The overconfidence By having an electrical engineer on site for an electrical test The confirmation of cues not obtained from the system The beta was too high Many signals were missed before the accident

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Accident Prevention

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System Analysis
Use of graphite as a moderator Lack of a well-built containment structure Inadequate instrumentation and alarms for an emergency situation There were no physical controls that prevented the operators from operating the reactor in its unstable state

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Summary of Facts
April 26, 1986: Chernobyl nuclear power plant Operator errors caused a reactor explosion Explosion released 190 tons of radioactive gasses into the atmosphere Fire started that lasted 10 days People: 7 million people lived in the contaminated areas and 3 million of them were children Wind: Carried radiation to far distances
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Far Reaching Radiation

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Radioactive fallout

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Direct Casualties
5.5 million people still live in contaminated areas 31 people died in 3 months of radiation poisoning 134 emergency workers suffered from acute radiation sickness 25,000 rescue workers died since then of diseases caused by radiation Cancer afflicts many others Increased birth defects, miscarriages, and stillbirths

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Indirect Casualties
By the year 2000 there were 1800 case of thyroid cancer in children and adolescent High number of suicide and violent death among Firemen, policemen, and other recovery workers

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Environment Impact
Areas still impacted today: Soil Ground Water Air Food Crops Livestock

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Problems Today
The Sarcophagus
After the disaster, a huge cement box was built around the radioactive material It is falling apart! According to a 2003 report by the Russian Atomic Energy Minister, Alexander Rumyantsev, "the concrete shell surrounding the Chernobyl nuclear reactor is in real danger of collapsing at any time." A new Sarcophagus is scheduled to be completed in 2012
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Recommendations
Have proper Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for both normal and emergency situations Have scheduled trainings and practices for normal and emergency situations

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Recommendations
A reactor expert must be always there on site Any cues from the system must be confirmed by operators before making hypothesis or take action An environment of team work must be formed so that every body is involved

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