On the 25th and 26th of April, 1986, the Chernobyl Nuclear power plant exploded, the explosion held such force that the fireball blew off the concrete roof of the reactor. The Chernobyl power plant is located in Ukraine, 80 miles north of Kiev. The power plant held four reactors, the accident occurred whist the number four reactor was being tested and numerous safety procedures were ignored.
The organisations that were responsible for the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant lacked what was called ‘safety culture’, this resulted in the inability to correct designs weaknesses. These weaknesses were known about before the accident, and there are secret memorandums in the Russian archives. One of the reactors at Chernobyl known as the ‘RBMK’ reactor, suffered from instability at low power and because of this it was in danger of experiencing rapid, uncontrollable power increases. Excess steam pockets in the RBMK reactors design lead to increased power production. This excess production is known as a ‘positive void co-efficient’. Also while tests where being run on the number four reactor numerous safety the station technicians disregarded procedures. For example. Only 6 – 8 control rods were used during the test despite the fact that there is a standard operating order stating that a minimum of 30 rods was required to retain control. Also at the time of the reactors over heating, the reactor's emergency cooling system was disabled. There was also a breakdown in communications between the team that was incharge of the test and the personnel who were responsible for the running of the nuclear reactor.
