On this day in 1986, a terrible accident happened in the morning. A devastating environmental disaster occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine. The explosion and fire released a large amount of radioactive material into the atmosphere.
31 people lost their lives in this accident. 3 lakh 40 thousand people were affected by this accident. The Chernobyl nuclear power plant had four nuclear reactors. The accident occurred on this day during a test on safe cooling of the fourth nuclear reactor. A nuclear reactor’s turbines produce less steam when night shift workers mistakenly add extra cooling water to the turbines. As a result, the furnace heated up and a huge explosion occurred at one stage.
The 1,000-ton concrete cover on top of the furnace was removed and the roof collapsed. After 20 hours outside air came in contact with combustible material and fire started. This fire lasts up to 10 days. It is considered to be the worst nuclear reactor accident in the history of the world.
On this day in 2004, the drug for Sars virus was discovered. French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau was born on this day in 1712. In addition, Jack Henry Webb Fingleton was born in 1908, who was an Australian cricketer, journalist and commentator. Professor Humayun Azad was born in 1947.
