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Event

Chernobyl disaster

The explosion of reactor 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Soviet Ukraine on 26 April 1986.

3 links, 2 backed by primary records

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Dates
26 Apr 1986
Place
Chernobyl
Also known as
Chernobyl accident, Chornobyl disaster

On 26 April 1986 reactor 4 at Chernobyl exploded during a test. The Soviet government evacuated about 115,000 people that year. In 2006 Mikhail Gorbachev wrote that the disaster, even more than perestroika, was “perhaps the main cause” of the Soviet collapse.

Connections 3

involved

  • Soviet government plant operator; evacuated about 115,000 people in 1986 Primary record 1

caused

located in

Timeline 1 date
  1. 26 Apr 1986 Chernobyl disaster
Proof 2 sources
  1. Backgrounder on Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Accident, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Primary record
    The Soviet (and later on, Russian) government evacuated about 115,000 people from the most heavily contaminated areas in 1986, and another 220,000 people in subsequent years
    On April 26, 1986, a sudden surge of power during a reactor systems test destroyed Unit 4 of the nuclear power station at Chernobyl, Ukraine, in the former Soviet Union.
  2. Turning Point at Chernobyl, Project Syndicate, 14 Apr 2006. Scholarship & press
    The nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl 20 years ago this month, even more than my launch of perestroika, was perhaps the main cause of the Soviet Union’s collapse five years later.
Page history 1 change
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