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Chernobyl power plant. Picture By Jorge Franganillo from Barcelona,

Top 10 Interesting Facts about Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant

Chernobyl power plant, officially the Vladimir Lenin Nuclear Power Plant, is a nuclear power plant undergoing decommissioning. ChNPP is located near the abandoned city of Pripyat in northern  Ukraine.

On 26 April 1986, the Chernobyl disaster occurred at reactor number four, caused by a catastrophic power increase resulting in core explosions and open-air fires.

This caused large quantities of radioactive materials and airborne isotopes to disperse in the atmosphere and surrounding land. The disaster is regarded as the worst accident in the history of nuclear power.

Let’s look at some of the exciting facts about Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant;

1. Battle of Chernobyl occurred at Chernobyl Nuclear Plant

The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone was the site of fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces during the Battle of Chernobyl as part of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

On 24 February 2022 Russian forces captured the plant. The resulting activity reportedly led to an increase of 20-fold in radiation levels in the area due to the disruption of contaminated soil.

The increase in radiation levels was published on an online map maintained by a Ukrainian NGO, but the corresponding sensors at the plant itself exhibited no increase.

2. Chernobyl has become a spooky tourist attraction

Wild animals inhabit Chernobyl after humans are Evacuated. By Timothy Akolamazima

Although the exclusion zone is still uninhabitable, the Ukrainian authorities opened up the area to tourism in 2011. Since then, guides regularly take in visitors to view the wildlife as well as to explore the hastily abandoned ghost towns that pepper the landscape.

Pripyat, for example, once had a population of more than 45,000, including most of the plant workers and their families. In order to minimize exposure to radiation, the guides carry dosimeters and instruct their customers not to eat or smoke outside.

Following the airing of the 2019 HBO miniseries “Chernobyl,” tour agencies have reported a forty percent increase in tourism.

3. A new safe confinement installed in Chernobyl nuclear power plant

The New Safe Confinement at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Picture By Tim Porter

Chernobyl didn’t have a couple of important safety measures in place. There was no containment building or a gas-tight shell that surrounded the nuclear reactor.

The structure is usually dome-shaped and made of steel-reinforced concrete. It is designed to confine fission products that may be released into the atmosphere during an accident. 

 A chain of operating mistakes then ensued, resulting in the buildup of steam that caused the reactor to overheat.

To mitigate all these, new safe confinement was installed to reduce risks in the environment as well in the plant.

4. The Soviet Union attempted to cover up the Disaster

Remember, 1986 was still during the cold war. In the immediate aftermath of the Chornobyl reactor meltdown, the Soviet authorities largely kept their own citizens in the dark and did not attempt to alert neighboring countries.

On April 28, 1986, the cover-up began falling apart when Swedish air monitors detected large amounts of radiation in the atmosphere. It took days for the Soviet Union to tell the West what was happening.

It wasn’t until the world pointed out their Satellites towards what was now northern Ukraine, that people realized what had happened. Sweden sent the first alert.

5. The level of Radiation is Relative at Chernobyl

Those exposed to radiation when Chernobyl reactors exploded are believed to have received about 45rm of radiation on average,45similar to the average dose received by survivors after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. While 45 rem is not enough to cause radiation sickness (which usually occurs at about 200 rem), it still increases the risk of cancer by almost two percent.

6. People still reside illegally in Chernobyl

Although the vast majority of the exclusion zone remains devoid of humans, a few hundred residents have resumed illegally. Even after the evacuation of thousands, some people have never left.

Despite its illegality, about 130 to 150 people still reside in the area. Many of those residents are women who still farm their ancestral land in their 70s and 80s. And, just outside of the exclusion zone, there are a number of new arrivals.

7. The clean-up after the fallout was much deadlier than the initial blasts

Although reports vary, there were at least 600,000 sent in to fight the fire and clean up the worst of the nuclear plant’s contamination.

Those people 鈥� who became known as 鈥渓iquidators鈥� 鈥� were given a special status that meant they would receive benefits such as extra healthcare and payments. They were all exposed to elevated radiation levels. 

A contentious report published by members of the Russian Academy of Sciences estimated that between 112,000 and 125,000 of these “liquidators” 鈥� around 15 percent 鈥� had died by 2005.

8. Greatest harm ended within weeks of the blasts

Reactor 4 in Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Picture by Pawe艂

The greatest harm from radiation after the blast happened within the first few weeks. Just 15 minutes after the Chernobyl explosion, the radioactivity had dropped to one-quarter of its initial value.

After one day it had dropped to one-fifteenth. And, after 3 months it had dropped to less than one percent. The plant didn鈥檛 actually close until years later.

When the Unit 4 reactor exploded, the other three reactors at the Chernobyl nuclear power station were also shut down. But they were all restarted within a year and a half or so, despite international condemnation.

Thousands of plant operators continued going to work, only to see a turbine hall fire prompt the closure of Unit 2 in 1991.

9. The USSR built a protective Sarcophagus

New Safe Confinement is colloquially known as the second sarcophagus. Picture By Tim Porter

The design of the sarcophagus started on 20 May 1986, 24 days after the disaster. Subsequent construction lasted for 206 days, from June to late November of the same year.

Due to high radiation levels, it was impossible to directly screw down the nuts and bolts or apply any direct welding to the sarcophagus, so this work was done remotely where possible. The seams of the sarcophagus, however, could not be fully sealed.

10. Abortions were performed on women after the disaster

It’s been estimated that anywhere from 100,000 to 200,000 abortions were performed on women after the incident because doctors told them their babies were exposed to radiation and could be born with birth defects.

There was “radiophobia,” but the WHO says there is no evidence that birth defects were more common in babies delivered by women who were near Chernobyl.