In order to ensure the reasonable length of this paper, we will assume that one of the reactors is in a very unstable state during the test. For a long time, operators ignored most warnings issued by the system and surpassed many automatic safety systems that tried to prevent the system from exploding. This is actually a proof of the safety system, that is, the life of the reactors they handle is as long as that of the reactors they handle. These safety systems will not automatically try to offset what humans are doing-they inadvertently create a positive feedback loop in the reactor-and the explosion will happen faster.
As the expert Valerie Le Gasov said, what they did was "test the engine like a pilot in flight." The International Nuclear Safety Advisory Group, which investigated the matter, later agreed with this view, saying:
The developer of the reactor nuclear power plant thinks that both cases are impossible, so it is not allowed to establish an emergency protection system that can prevent the combination of events that lead to the crisis, that is, deliberately disable emergency protection equipment, which is a serious violation of operating procedures. Therefore, the main cause of the accident is extremely unlikely to violate the rules and the operating procedures allowed by the power station staff.
Even after the explosion, the staff managing the explosion reactor were told to keep other reactors online and continue working. It was not until several hours later that one of the engineers, Yuri Bagdasarov, decided to overthrow his boss, Nikolai Fuming, shut down the reactor adjacent to the explosion reactor and let everyone who didn't need to run the emergency cooling system leave.
Although the mistake was not limited to this, Alexander Akimov, the crew leader of the explosion reactor, thought that the reactor was still intact, even though graphite and reactor fuel were everywhere around the building after the explosion. Therefore, he made everyone work on the exploded reactor core all night, and many workers, including akimov, paid the price of their lives.
One of the problems is that of the two dosimeters that can measure the radiation level they have experienced, one cannot be accessed and the other cannot be turned on. All other instruments cannot read such a high reading; In fact, their readings are not very high at all, so they only know that the radiation level is above 3.6 rem per hour, which is a relatively high ratio, but it will certainly not kill people who work there. When they finally brought an instrument that could read the correct level, akimov thought it must be out of order because they got a very high reading.
Once again, you would think that nuclear fuel and graphite were lying around the building, and two explosions would let me go, but here we are. In his defense, about 5000 rem, the brain began to be damaged by radiation, and nerves and small blood vessels were killed. He is unlikely to experience these levels at work, but a low level of high level, although it will not cause brain damage, will lead to memory problems, confusion, information processing problems and cognitive decline. So this may be one of the reasons why he made the wrong decision after the explosion, or even a big reason.
The next mistake was the rescuers who arrived at the scene. Some of them know little about the hazards of ionizing radiation, some even deal directly with radioactive debris around them, and some are as high as 15000 rem per hour, but not everyone is unaware of these hazards. As firefighter Antali zakharov said:
I remember joking with others and saying, "The amount of radiation here must be incredible. If we are still alive in the morning, we will be very lucky. " ..... If we follow the rules, we will never go near the reactor. But this is a moral obligation-our responsibility. We're like kamikaze.
The mistake didn't end there. As the Soviet Union seemed unwilling to admit that the accident had happened, the evacuation of nearby residential areas was delayed. Although the accident was not announced until two days later, its extent was underestimated. Once they started to evacuate nearby residents, they were told that they could go home in a few days. However, part of the reason is to let them leave faster, instead of packing. They were just told to bring their ID cards or something.
Finally, it is estimated that 60,000 people were exposed to high radiation, and about 5,000 of them died of radiation-induced problems within five years after the explosion. Since then, the total number of deaths caused by the accident is estimated to be between 9000 and 27000. Self-reminder: When you are working in a nuclear reactor, thousands of warning lights will go out in a few hours, telling you not to do what you are doing, perhaps not to disable those warnings and automatic safety systems, but to stop what you are doing. I'm just talking nonsense here
The following additional facts:
The Three Mile Island nuclear power plant accident near Middleton, Pennsylvania is the worst nuclear power plant accident in American history. It caused no casualties to factory workers or nearby communities. It is still rated as level 5, although it really should be rated as level 2. If you camped in the accident of 1979 at Three Mile Island nuclear power station, you could only get 80 millirem of radiation in the accident. For reference, if you have had an X-ray examination of your spine, you will get about twice the exposure within a few seconds of the X-ray examination. When the accident happened, you were about 10 miles away from the reactor, and you would be exposed to ionizing radiation of about 8 millirem, which is equivalent to eating 800 bananas. Banana itself is radioactive. At present, the accident at Three Mile Island has not caused death/cancer. The public's reaction to the Three Mile Island incident is far from the actual incident, which is mainly due to the misinformation of the press, the public's misunderstanding of ionizing radiation, and the fact that the film "China Syndrome" was not released 12 days before the incident. The plot of the movie is how unsafe the nuclear reactor is. Everyone in the movie is like this, but one of the protagonists tries to cover it up. The title of the movie "China Syndrome" comes from the premise that if the core of an American nuclear reactor melts, it will melt the center of the earth to China. Aside from the fact that the Indian Ocean is on the other side of the globe and comes from the United States instead of China, and the premise of "the earth melts", due to the Three Mile Island incident, the free advertisement of this film in the media is perfect. The film was nominated for several Oscars, including the jane fonda for Best Actress. [Image from Hellen Sergeyeva/shutterstock.com.