In an RBMK reactor, water has two jobs: Keep things cool and slow the reaction down. By Naomi Gordon On 26 April, 1986, reactor four at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, which was located close to … The Chernobyl incident, as it's commonly called, was the largest man-made disaster in world history. What Happened at Chernobyl? Chernobyl plant operators concealed the accident from authorities and the local population, and thus the government did not even begin limited evacuations until about 36 hours after the accident. Share. The water is critical to understanding what happened at Chernobyl. In the case of Chernobyl, the evacuations happened on short notice, and they were permanent. Chernobyl series: The real people the characters are based on, and what happened next The Emmy-winning HBO series follows the aftermath of the nuclear disaster. I think if you have to permanently leave your home on short notice, that's a … In the weeks and years following the Chernobyl disaster, Anatoly Dyatlov would come to be known as the person who was largely at fault for what happened that day. Chernobyl – separating fact from fiction in the hit HBO TV show. On April 26, 1986, a major accident occurred at Unit 4 of the nuclear power station at Chernobyl, Ukraine, in the former USSR. What happened at the Chernobyl power plant? What happened at Chernobyl? Nobody knew what had happened. Chernobyl has been a critical success on HBO, we spoke to experts in the nuclear industry about how accurate the show actually was. Chernobyl disaster, accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power station in the Soviet Union in 1986, the worst disaster in nuclear power generation history. Between 2 and 50 people were killed in the initial explosions, and dozens more contracted serious radiation sickness, some of whom later died. The Chernobyl disaster: What happened, and the long-term impacts The accident at a nuclear power plant in Ukraine shocked the world, permanently altered … Jump to media player Yuriy Andreyev worked at the Chernobyl nuclear plant and was one of the engineers who helped contain the fallout of the accident. Chernobyl: What happened 30 years ago? As the engineer in charge of the nuclear reactor that exploded in April 1986, he was accused of taking unnecessary risks during an experiment involving the reactor. What happened in Chernobyl on April 26, 1986. Jack Unwin 10 June 2019. But first, it's important to understand exactly what happened on April 26, 1986. A routine exercise to test whether an emergency water cooling system would work during a power loss started at 1:23 a.m. on April 26. News > World > Europe Chernobyl: How did the world’s worst nuclear accident happen? The horrific consequences of that can be seen in Chernobyl . A view of Chernobyl's unit 4 reactor from the abandoned town of Pripyat. Nobody wanted to believe the worst could have happened, so they treated it like a regular fire. It occurred at the Chernobyl … The Chernobyl nuclear disaster has had some unexpected consequences, including radioactive cow's milk and the salvation of an endangered species. By Jack Unwin.