Chernobyl Nuclear Explosion Disaster Explained (Hour by Hour)

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ค. 2022
  • The Chernobyl nuclear accident is one that haunted many of the survivors until their painful deaths from radiation poisoning. Just what went wrong that day at the nuclear facility that would change the lives of so many? Check out today's epic new video that breaks down the events that led to one of the biggest nuclear accidents in history!
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ความคิดเห็น • 1.9K

  • @gamer749
    @gamer749 ปีที่แล้ว +8420

    The most dangerous thing throughout the whole tragedy was the amount of denial from the people in charge.

    • @OfficialTacoGod
      @OfficialTacoGod ปีที่แล้ว

      Withholding truth from the public should be treason and domestic terrorism. Lotta lives could've been saved during the ordeal.

    • @stevencarr5294
      @stevencarr5294 ปีที่แล้ว +387

      Looking at the people in charge in Russia now, nothing has changed.

    • @chernovbrichtofen4767
      @chernovbrichtofen4767 ปีที่แล้ว +149

      You didn’t see graphite

    • @Whitpusmc
      @Whitpusmc ปีที่แล้ว +50

      It was just a x ray

    • @jonathanfleischer7379
      @jonathanfleischer7379 ปีที่แล้ว +48

      Is it really a lot different than the USA though? I feel like the Baltic nations are way ahead of the USA on this.

  • @marcopohl3236
    @marcopohl3236 ปีที่แล้ว +2436

    "If you can't hold the state accountable, the state is broken" Those are some true words

    • @GwladYrHaf
      @GwladYrHaf ปีที่แล้ว +19

      Very relevant to the early 2020's

    • @marcopohl4875
      @marcopohl4875 ปีที่แล้ว +16

      @@GwladYrHafEspecially in Russia still

    • @GwladYrHaf
      @GwladYrHaf ปีที่แล้ว +20

      @@marcopohl4875 I wouldn’t say Russia is any more or less guilty of this than Ukraine, USA, Australia, Iran, UK etc.
      My comment wasn’t to score points against a single nation, as most are guilty.

    • @marcopohl4875
      @marcopohl4875 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      @@GwladYrHaf Yeah, but I as taliking about accountability. You can hold the US president accountable by just not voting for him next election season, how are you gonna hold the russian president accountable?

    • @lacylu7881
      @lacylu7881 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Yep.

  • @GODEYE270115
    @GODEYE270115 ปีที่แล้ว +4808

    Chernobyl 2019 still resonates with me to this day. The hospital scenes alone are more horrifying than any horror movie can ever hope to be

    • @tcmcclure2323
      @tcmcclure2323 ปีที่แล้ว +265

      Agreed. That was one of the best limited series I’ve ever watched.

    • @lordeddardstark769
      @lordeddardstark769 ปีที่แล้ว +215

      For me it’s the scene with the “volunteer” scuba divers. The whole show was just epic

    • @Infinite-void908
      @Infinite-void908 ปีที่แล้ว +95

      I can't agree more especially when I saw Vasily ignatenko's and Leonid Toptunov irradiated bodies

    • @pinkstargalexy865
      @pinkstargalexy865 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      I totally understand.

    • @dthomaswilliamson33
      @dthomaswilliamson33 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Tv eh, ultra MK, Z

  • @R1_Lazz.
    @R1_Lazz. ปีที่แล้ว +2619

    Honestly, We shouldn't forget those brave fire-fighters that were the first ones in the scene. They weren't warned about the radiation. Their looks just accelerated from looking like a 25 - 30 year old to a 70 - 80 due to some change in their inner organs.

    • @ikawba00
      @ikawba00 ปีที่แล้ว +93

      And we'll never know how it feels to experience radiation aging.

    • @alishasanchez4140
      @alishasanchez4140 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      I'm gonna guess you ilife will change alot and suffer from radtion

    • @davelowets
      @davelowets ปีที่แล้ว +85

      Probably a GOOD thing that they were totally uneducated. Imagine going into a situation like that KNOWING you're going to be doomed.

    • @decentish8546
      @decentish8546 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@davelowets if they knew what they were going into they would never have gone. Their lives would’ve been saved. They weren’t able to put out the fire anyways, their water evaporated before it could actually reach the core fire.

    • @ethanweeter2732
      @ethanweeter2732 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Some of them would have known the danger though.

  • @oceanman6887
    @oceanman6887 ปีที่แล้ว +2357

    It was amazing how much criminal negligence was going on in the Soviet Union at this time in history

    • @samnite3
      @samnite3 ปีที่แล้ว +78

      In 2022 as well

    • @mattycapone4281
      @mattycapone4281 ปีที่แล้ว +71

      We really aren’t any better. If we are being honest with ourselves

    • @surfingbrrrd
      @surfingbrrrd ปีที่แล้ว +66

      Both in USSR AND the US. Not even just negligence with the US, but just pure criminal behavior

    • @Racko.
      @Racko. ปีที่แล้ว +28

      @@mattycapone4281 True but it's not a competiton

    • @ChrissPBacon-mo4hy
      @ChrissPBacon-mo4hy ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Just like in Germany right now.

  • @zephyr8072
    @zephyr8072 ปีที่แล้ว +737

    It should be noted that this wasn’t the first accident at Chernobyl, just the most catastrophic.
    Not only was there an incident at one of the other reactors but according to some former residents of Pripyat, incidents were so frequent that cleanup crews were a fairly regular sight in the city.
    This whole operation was a litany of negligence and a disaster was inevitable.

    • @hayorge27
      @hayorge27 ปีที่แล้ว +24

      That's what I've always gathered. I was almost 12 when this happened. I also think this because I never hear anyone say what would've happened if they HADN'T dropped the control rods? Sounds like a disaster was a certainty regardless of what happened at that point? Was just a matter of how bad it would be, is what I think is obvious?

    • @zephyr8072
      @zephyr8072 ปีที่แล้ว +22

      I think it almost certain it would've been a disaster at that point.
      The latest the reactor could've been saved would've been when the power dropped due to the neutron poison.
      They should have shut it down and ended the test right there, but Dyatlov insisted it continue. However, he only did so because he thought the control rods would solve any issues, and claimed that he had no idea of any design flaws.
      I tend to believe him. The man was a hardass and a hothead, but not suicidal. And it fits with the typical Soviet scheme of lies and cutting corners.

    • @mikehurt3290
      @mikehurt3290 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      ​@Zephyr I still blame him though there was many chances to stop even after he was warned and he still continued

    • @KenBober
      @KenBober 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      The Chinese use that same style of reactors. It's only a matter of time.

    • @NixHarpinger
      @NixHarpinger 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@KenBober I'm pretty sure they would have fixed the issue with the cheap graphite control rods that caused the explosion, no? I mean they do have a pretty strong sense of self-preservation and the country is doing way better economically than the USSR did in its final years. I would imagine they made sure that can't happen in their reactors. While I doubt the Chinese would do that out of the concern for her people, but surely nobody wants the hassle of an exploding nuclear reactor?

  • @unicornglitterfart5201
    @unicornglitterfart5201 ปีที่แล้ว +993

    A quick way of determining just how much radiation you've been exposed to (if you can't get an accurate figure in a timely manner) is how quickly the headache and vomiting set in. If it sets in almost immediately, it's always indicative of a fatal dose. The longer it takes to set in and the milder the headache/vomiting are, the better your prognosis of survival.

    • @davelowets
      @davelowets ปีที่แล้ว +15

      Yea, that's just common sense... 😕

    • @PoochieCollins
      @PoochieCollins ปีที่แล้ว +170

      @@davelowets no it isn't? Nothing about radiation is "common sense."

    • @PoochieCollins
      @PoochieCollins ปีที่แล้ว +97

      Such a pragmatic and intellectually interesting comment is very juxtaposed to your screen name, lol.

    • @mikehurt3290
      @mikehurt3290 ปีที่แล้ว +21

      I think in the chernobyl podcast they said throwing up in an hour is a pretty good tell of a fatal dose as well

    • @Gallagerstan
      @Gallagerstan ปีที่แล้ว +1

      thank

  • @SSG64
    @SSG64 ปีที่แล้ว +1025

    I went to the Chernobyl in 2016 before they rolled on the new sarcophagus. Went to both the destroyed reactor and the city Pripyat. Was picked up in Kiev by a guy and was given a geiger counter.
    In Kiev the radiation was 0,16 units. When i got to Pripyat it was 20,35 units and the geiger counters alarm went off like crazy, especially when i was inside the old hospital where the firemen had been treated. Their clothes are still in the basement and are highly radioactive.

    • @dontkillmyvibee
      @dontkillmyvibee ปีที่แล้ว +67

      @@cold_servo_pie not for short durations so he is prob ok :)

    • @j_4ck761
      @j_4ck761 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Wait did u take the pictures of the hospital base ment??

    • @SSG64
      @SSG64 ปีที่แล้ว +90

      @@j_4ck761 no the stairs down to the basement was filled with sand to prevent looters for stealing the clothing as souvenirs. This has apparently happened recently before and they didn’t realize that it was still radioactive af. One piece of clothing the looters dropped in the lobby of the hospital with was still there and we could look at but no get too close to.

    • @warrenmason1582
      @warrenmason1582 ปีที่แล้ว

      Wouldn't doubt it considering they were at ground zero. What people don't understand about radiation is that it is culminating. Those firemen were exposed to thousands of rads over a few hours and I wouldn't be surprised if their corpses were encased in lead and concrete

    • @bartdegryse9345
      @bartdegryse9345 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      @@SSG64 not very smart, init?

  • @Fake_Reality_
    @Fake_Reality_ ปีที่แล้ว +794

    Those people who were willing to actually stay or go to the Chernobyl power plant to save lives risking theirs are really brave. Most probably also forced by the government but still brave.

    • @revolutionaryleader9615
      @revolutionaryleader9615 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      if it happened in America you wouldn't have said they were forced, the western double standard is beyond imagination. 🙄🙄

    • @razercortex9292
      @razercortex9292 ปีที่แล้ว

      West is literally lying on propaganda.

    • @leeenfield2602
      @leeenfield2602 ปีที่แล้ว +57

      @@revolutionaryleader9615 it was the USSR. literally enough said

    • @jennymiles8609
      @jennymiles8609 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      @@revolutionaryleader9615 that depends on if the people doing the clean up were in the military or not. If they were then yes I would say they were told to do it because that’s what would be the truth in the United States military. Retired Sgt Army

    • @revolutionaryleader9615
      @revolutionaryleader9615 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@leeenfield2602 the US is 100× worse than the USSR.

  • @That_one_edgy_metalhead
    @That_one_edgy_metalhead ปีที่แล้ว +2848

    Everyone who see this comment Have a good week

  • @bizichyld
    @bizichyld ปีที่แล้ว +209

    I knew something wasn’t adding up when I heard the story of the baby “absorbing” the radiation for the mother and saving her life. Thanks for clearing that up.

    • @simoncohen9323
      @simoncohen9323 ปีที่แล้ว +28

      The baby didn't fully absorb it however it is possible it died of radiation due to it being very vulnerable while the mother can handle much more

    • @Shortstacksandticktacks
      @Shortstacksandticktacks 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      It makes sense to an extent because radiation effects quickly dividing cells. That's why high turnover cells like skin and intestine have cancer more than muscle cell cancers.

  • @user-sw9iu7gp7v
    @user-sw9iu7gp7v ปีที่แล้ว +515

    There's actually a game that's called Liquidator where you will be doing what the liquidators really do inside the facility, you'll have a better understanding to what the liquidator experienced and think if what would you do if you were the one inside that facility, It is dedicated to the people who volunteered to be a liquidator and commemorate the braveness and selflessness act of those heroes.

    • @honiahakaa
      @honiahakaa ปีที่แล้ว +10

      there is a term now called liquidi used to try to get away from people or kicking them

    • @Acheron666
      @Acheron666 ปีที่แล้ว +21

      My wife was born in Pripyat, then moved to Poland.
      Her mother is originally from Kiev.
      Her father died of leukaemia and her mother married a Polish guy and fell pregnant with my sister in law.
      My wife ended up with thyroid cancer as a child and even though she got the all clear, she’s still having to take Levothyroxine and other meds for the rest of her life.

    • @MEERKAQ
      @MEERKAQ ปีที่แล้ว +10

      Ye markiplier played it, its terrifing

    • @MEERKAQ
      @MEERKAQ ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @sun dancer cringe detected, opinion denied

    • @bluerose379
      @bluerose379 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@sundancer4630 why do you hate him? what has he done? i am not a fan myself nor know who he is tbh

  • @Acheron666
    @Acheron666 ปีที่แล้ว +971

    I remember this.
    Loads of birds dropped dead in a park in my town, due to the radiation that had traveled over to Scotland and the birds flew through the radioactive plume.
    It also effected some farming land that still cannot be used to this day.
    Makes it worse that this flaw was know about and had happened a year or so before Chernobyl at the ignalina power plant during a similar test, but it fortunately didn’t end like Chernobyl and there was no explosion, just the power surge with the emergency shutdown working in this case.

    • @tomcattanach3594
      @tomcattanach3594 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      😥

    • @oracleofdelphi4533
      @oracleofdelphi4533 ปีที่แล้ว +18

      If I may ask, how old were you at the time?
      I'm just trying to imagine what it would be like if I saw it at different ages in my life. Like as a really young kid, then as a tween, then a teen. Basically, the older I would have been, the more I would have crapped myself.

    • @Acheron666
      @Acheron666 ปีที่แล้ว +21

      @@oracleofdelphi4533
      I would have been 6 at the time.

    • @Candy_Man.
      @Candy_Man. ปีที่แล้ว +19

      You were in Scotland? well the radiation wouldn’t be able to damage farmland to the point of not being able to be used for 35 years

    • @Candy_Man.
      @Candy_Man. ปีที่แล้ว +5

      I understand the birds, but not the farmland, oh and were the birds black?

  • @princeps6241
    @princeps6241 ปีที่แล้ว +764

    I’ve always wanted to visit Chernobyl. Honestly it is truly a monument in humanity’s ever turbulent path. This war may sadly prevent me from pursuing that dream.

    • @Thoralmir
      @Thoralmir ปีที่แล้ว +67

      There are still plenty of hotspots. Like this one forest, all the wood is dead and dry leaves litter the ground. They haven't decomposed since the disaster, since the radiation killed all the bacteria and fungus, and kills the worms in the ground.
      Imagine what would happen if it caught fire.

    • @minekush1138
      @minekush1138 ปีที่แล้ว +55

      @@Thoralmir the red forest has caught fire multiple times and as long as you're not a Russian soldier trying to walk and then dig in the red forest you will be fine if you go there legally they will actually drive you through the red forest to get to Chernobyl

    • @PORRRIDGE_GUN
      @PORRRIDGE_GUN ปีที่แล้ว

      I was planning a group visit with work colleagues for this year. Cheers Putin, yakhunt...

    • @minekush1138
      @minekush1138 ปีที่แล้ว +18

      also there's videos of radioactive fungus like mushroom and veins in Chernobyl on TH-cam so the radiation isn't killing everything still that's completely false although it's definitely effecting how some plants are growing for sure.

    • @arturkiller
      @arturkiller ปีที่แล้ว +33

      I feel you. On February 21st when I was in Ukraine, I got a birthday present from my wife and friends, a tour to Chernobyl. February 24th the war started.

  • @alyharris2889
    @alyharris2889 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +131

    Can we give a round of applause to Valery Legasov and his team of scientists who exposed the Soviet Union and knew how dangerous it really was. The fact that this man killed himself to make sure his voice and the voice of others werent silenced. Rest peacefully to the fallen.

    • @Rairii62
      @Rairii62 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

      But he’s still alive tho

    • @Jeyserlovesyou
      @Jeyserlovesyou 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

      He killed himself in 1988 ​@@Rairii62

    • @socialdeviant13
      @socialdeviant13 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@Rairii62 he's not. He killed himself the day after the 2nd anniversary of the disaster. A lot of Soviet scientists tried to say that he was depressesed, or he was being overlooked for promotions and harassed by peers because of his presentation to the UN. Those closest to him stated he was very clear-headed, and he did it deliberately.

  • @flickcentergaming680
    @flickcentergaming680 ปีที่แล้ว +237

    I'm glad I'm able to see the picture of the fire and radioactive beam of light 100% safely. It truly was a beautiful sight.

    • @PORRRIDGE_GUN
      @PORRRIDGE_GUN ปีที่แล้ว

      The radioactive beam of light was Cherenkov Radiation. It is caused by emitted alpha particles smashing into oxygen and releasing a flash of visible light.

    • @tealsquare
      @tealsquare ปีที่แล้ว +10

      On HBO? 😉

  • @DKrueger1994
    @DKrueger1994 ปีที่แล้ว +61

    "50,000 people used to live here, now it's a ghost town. Never seen anything like it."
    -Captain McMillan, 1996

  • @persona2grata
    @persona2grata ปีที่แล้ว +133

    The dog population around Chernobyl actually adapted surprisingly well and their numbers are on the rise. This was a total surprise and scientists have been studying DNA samples of the animals. The research is still in the early stages, but it appears that the surviving dogs have activated genes that adapt the animals to the new environment. The findings suggest that life can actually find methods to survive in higher radiation environments, not by becoming mutants but rather by kind of the opposite: putting more work into repairing genetic damage as it occurs. As I said it's still early, but the insights gained from studying the wild dogs could potentially one day be put to use finding ways for humans to survive in higher radiation environments like space.

    • @dudewithnolifepoop
      @dudewithnolifepoop 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

      "Is it possible to learn this power?"

    • @persona2grata
      @persona2grata 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      @@dudewithnolifepoop If you mean learn as in a matter of willpower, then I would say definitely not. If you mean learn as in figuring out physically how genetics adapts to survive hostile environments, then almost certainly yes, given some very smart people and science way above my head lol. I mean, our DNA already devotes a lot of energy into repairing genetic damage, probably an amount tuned to our typical environment on earth. The interesting bit is that appears not to be the most it can do, as in the high radiation environment around Chernobyl it seems to have adapted to put even more work into repairing DNA damage so the dogs can survive there.

    • @simonafflerbach3388
      @simonafflerbach3388 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

      ​@@dudewithnolifepoopnot from the Jedi...

    • @ScoopDogg
      @ScoopDogg 6 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

      All the dogs were dead within 4 years, the ones that bred and had pups none lived over a couple of years, other people felt sorry for the dogs in the cut off areas and fed them, this attracted more dogs to come in the area and breed. The dogs were in a bad way under acovid lock down when people were not allowed on the feeding missions. The dogs didn't thrive they suffered until they sterilised them. All dogs alive came from bred lines of dogs that never were contaminated. Until the feeding and lowering the numbers the dogs didn't thrive they were having it hard with cold climate and starvation, the dna line are all hardy breeds that made it the first year and none were wild because they kept in contact with the feeders. A normal dog lives over a decade the Chernobyl dogs didn't live a couple of years on average. But one were radiated, those died, you have to remember how huge the area was and farms never irradiated were closed and their dogs lived through extermination. The dna and radiated dogs is all a myth about them becoming strong at fighting the radiation,

    • @ScoopDogg
      @ScoopDogg 6 หลายเดือนก่อน

      True memory a sad memory of when I was put to task for destroying these pets around the area 2mnths after catastrophe...1st day. I saw this female dog was in the middle of the room with her puppies. She went for me - I put a bullet in her. The puppies were licking my arms, being all sweet and playful. We had to shoot at point-blank. Saints preserve us! There was this one dog, a little black poodle. I still feel sorry for it. We heaped the tipper full of them. Taking them to the burial site. To tell the truth, it was just a plain old deep pit, though you were meant to dig it taking care not to reach the ground water and line the bottom with plastic. You're meant to find some spot fairly high up, but you know how it is. The rules were broken all the time: we had no plastic, and we didn't spend long looking for the right spot. If you wound them rather than killing them, they'll squeal and cry. They were tipping them out of the truck into the pit, and this little poodle began scrabbling about. It climbed out. Nobody had any cartridges left. Had nothing to finish it off with, not a single cartridge. They shoved it back into the pit and covered them all up with earth. Still feel sorry for it. It's a disaster which, as of 2020, is still affecting crops and animals - in Sweden (the first country to learn of the explosion), mushrooms, reindeer, and wild boar are still screened for Cesium-137 contamination and occasionally declared unfit for sale.

  • @mechajesus948
    @mechajesus948 ปีที่แล้ว +116

    I consider myself agnostic, but the three members of the Chernobyl Suicide Squad living long healthy lives has to be a miracle. They deserved more for what they did in my eyes.

    • @MessianicMermaid
      @MessianicMermaid 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

      Read about Anatoli Burgorski and then pick up The Case for Christ, in which an atheist examines the evidence for Jesus in a scientific manner. He attempted to disprove the Bible, but when he was done, converted instead.

    • @mikkurzhal7390
      @mikkurzhal7390 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +10

      It was actually because of the water. The Chernobyl Suicide Squad had to traverse mostly through flooded areas and even underwater, and we learned *because* of their experiences that water is an excellent insulator against radiation.

  • @DeviousMous
    @DeviousMous 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +44

    Man i want to thank the three men who risked their lives so much. The explosion happened when my mom was a child, and the radiation permenatly damaged her thyroid and her siblings. Too this day she still has problems and my aunt and uncle have already had thyroid surgery. If those men hadnt risked their lives my mom and family would have been killed and i would have never been born. They are the reason i am alive. I send prayers to their family.

    • @Infinite-void908
      @Infinite-void908 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +10

      The three men: Alexei Ananenko, Valery Bespalov, and Boris Baranov all survived the mission to go down under and drain the tank. Alexei and Valery are still alive to this day, but Boris Baranov died of a heart attack in 2005 at 65 years old.

  • @GoldRaven-oe4by
    @GoldRaven-oe4by ปีที่แล้ว +221

    Human negligence is the only dangerous thing about nuclear energy

    • @serialshitposter186
      @serialshitposter186 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      Literally this. ^

    • @seestill3801
      @seestill3801 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      👍

    • @Trainman10715
      @Trainman10715 ปีที่แล้ว +16

      and crummy reactor designs that explode when you press the shut down button

    • @johnh8546
      @johnh8546 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      @@Trainman10715 it's partly the reactor design but the RMBK reactor is sort of genius in its design. The issue more than design is operating the reactor outside of safe parameters.
      They pulled too many rods out more than was allowed by operating guidelines. Which pulls more moderator rods into the reactor. At that point the reactor is way over moderated and the xenon and water acting as neutron absorbers are the only things keeping the reactor from going prompt critical. As the xenon kept decaying away which is to be expected the reactor power started rising. There were not enough control rods still in the reactor to keep power from spiking. The power spiking in regions of the core cause the light water in those areas to flash to steam. Which cause the reactor to not have that water acting as a neutron absorber in those regions. So the reaction speeds up in those regions.
      They drop the rods which have the graphite moderators at the bottom of the rods. When all the rods drop at once because almost all were pulled out, the moderator rods which are shorter than the fuel rods to maintain stable lines of neutron flux. You have the bottom of the reactor sudden massively over moderated. The heat spikes to insane levels. The water boils off in the bottom of the reactor. You now have no water acting as a neutron absorber, nor xenon for that matter. Reactivety spikes to ridiculous levels and then there is nothing you can do.
      As much as the reactor design isn't the most inherently safe which is how you want reactors to be designed. It was more improper operation that doomed reactor 4. There are still 10 RMBK power plants in operation to this day. They just follow the rod extraction rules much better now.

    • @Trainman10715
      @Trainman10715 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @@johnh8546 believe me, im aware of how the power excursion unfolded and how the AZ5 system caused the reactor to explode. i wouldnt call the RBMK genius, yes there are several good qualities about it, how cheap it is, its ability to run on low enrichment uranium, produce lots of plutonium and to be refueled while running. but those good qualities come at a cost, the fact that you end up with an enormous graphite pile, moderated by a solid object that wont boil away with heat and cooled with water resulting in a very high positive void coefficent (unlike magnoxs and AGRs) and you need silly moderator ends on the control rods to allow them to do anything as without them the water that would otherwise fill the channel vacated by the control rod acts as a control rod anyway. this results in a design thats very easy to make unstable in certain situations and id say that cost overweights the benefits.
      i agree operator error also played a big part in the disaster, it was a combination of a flawed design and operator error, and i agree that when RBMKs are being operated properly and the safty systems are switched on they are perfectly safe (especially after their post chernobyl modifications) but in my opinion reactors need to be totally fail-safe and fool proof, so that operator error can not result in an accident. starting with a positive void coefficient is therefor going in totally the wrong direction unless massive precautions are taken such as with the CANDU reactors which use neutron poison injection instead of their control rods as their SCRAM system.
      perhaps while none of the individual quirks of the RBMK were of particular concern if alone, put together they resulted in an overall poor (and in some cases, fail-deadly) design

  • @GamerGabe876
    @GamerGabe876 ปีที่แล้ว +208

    They said the man buried was still radioactive, the correct term is the man was still irradiated. Radioactive is something that produces radiation, like uranium and Plutonium. Irradiated means something that has been exposed to radioactive material and can release radiation but will stop as it dies down and leaves.

    • @velarde3412
      @velarde3412 ปีที่แล้ว

      So that means all that Cements was unnecessary as it will just go away

    • @GamerGabe876
      @GamerGabe876 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@velarde3412 eventually yes

    • @averagejoe112
      @averagejoe112 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      No, being bombarded by radiation makes you irradiated. When the salts and metals in your body change isotope due to neutron irradiation, they can become radioactive, which makes your body radioactive.
      Also, inhaling/ingesting radioisotopes can also make your body radioactive.

    • @tenor1190
      @tenor1190 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@velarde3412 the body is still dangerous because other people may be exposed whilst they’re still irradiated. It’s important that people exposed to extreme radiation are buried carefully.

    • @calebgagner8749
      @calebgagner8749 ปีที่แล้ว

      🤓🤓

  • @flamingphoenix1425
    @flamingphoenix1425 ปีที่แล้ว +118

    It's scary how the Soviet Government kept so much information hidden from the people, and the exact same thing is happening here in the US with the train derailments.

    • @honestgenz4413
      @honestgenz4413 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Could be sabotage

    • @dennisreynolds6915
      @dennisreynolds6915 ปีที่แล้ว

      You do realize train derailments happen and happens all the time. You think it's happening more often now but only because the news media is picking it up and running with it.

    • @RunOfTheHind
      @RunOfTheHind ปีที่แล้ว +14

      Didn't Trump deregulate train speeds through built up areas? It's always deregulation. Profit over people.

    • @CaptainTexas92
      @CaptainTexas92 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +7

      @@RunOfTheHindwasn’t it the democrats who refused to Agree to a pipeline that is much safer than rail transport? We all ask political questions but in the end Red or Blue Republican or Democrat they don’t have our interest in mind only their wallets.

    • @iraqiimmigrant2908
      @iraqiimmigrant2908 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

      And the 💉💉💉

  • @aleksdreeve8878
    @aleksdreeve8878 ปีที่แล้ว +112

    The idea that radiation had an effect on the fetus was still prevalent to as late as 2009. I was diagnosed with a brain tumor and my doctor concluded that it was my mother taking on the radiation from the Chernobyl disaster. My mother was born in 1971 in Ukraine but was god knows how far from Chernobyl and I was born in 1997 also god knows how far from Chernobyl, yet they still said I got enough radiation to get that brain tumor in 2009. Like what?

    • @djbeatty449
      @djbeatty449 ปีที่แล้ว +26

      This happens because rapidly growing cells, such as fetuses and young children are more sensitive and more affected by radiation than older people.

    • @lauramurray615
      @lauramurray615 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      My uncle Colin had a similar experience, he had a seizure and got diagnosed with a brain tumor.

    • @windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823
      @windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

      ​@@djbeatty449Not just radiation, lead, too. If it were on your cookware (Pyrex, toys, dishes, Tupperware of the day) was LOADED with lead. Bad is 90, they were finding HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of lead units in Pyrex and Fisher Price toys. It sheds lead as you use it

  • @nightfireox
    @nightfireox ปีที่แล้ว +77

    I have a friend who was born in Ukraine and later adopted. This disaster still took from people even years later. My friend suffered birth defects which were later corrected. It's crazy to think that we consider this history. It's still a really recent event, that has many repercussions still to this day.

    • @frankwallace5174
      @frankwallace5174 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      that's a very good point

    • @micahhurley4146
      @micahhurley4146 5 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      Everything is history even yesterday

  • @theminingassassin16
    @theminingassassin16 ปีที่แล้ว +360

    The most important things to remember from this disaster is that we shouldn’t fear nuclear energy, but learn from the mistakes to improve it. Also, keeping secrets during a time like this will only cause more harm.

    • @marniekilbourne608
      @marniekilbourne608 ปีที่แล้ว

      No, we should fear nuclear energy. It is never safe, ever. Even just existing. There is always millions of things that could go wrong. You do not have to worry about poisoning and destroying humanity and the planet if you choose solar, water or wind derived power for example. Even if it is not as powerful or as cheap it is a better choice overall. Not all science is good science should be used. It is simply not worth the risk. The planet has existed for millions of years without the existence of something created that could destroy it. Only natural disasters. In a relatively short period of time we have created a lot of things that will lead to our destruction.

    • @theminingassassin16
      @theminingassassin16 ปีที่แล้ว +22

      @@marniekilbourne608 I disagree. Nuclear energy is far safer than most people realize. However, just like anything else in existence, what matters is the ones using it. In the right hands, it can do great things. In the wrong hands, it can do horrible things. The problem with disasters like Chernobyl and Fukushima wasn't the nuclear power, but the fact that the ones in charge were idiots. Three Mile Island was a freak accident that has been thankfully sorted out, so there's that.
      The point is that yes, nuclear power can cause great harm if not used correctly, but that doesn't mean it should be feared. What we should fear is people wielding it irresponsibly.

    • @lanac5793
      @lanac5793 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      @TheMiningAssassin16 and who's gonna handle it responsibly, bro? The government? Ofc it's dangerous

    • @theminingassassin16
      @theminingassassin16 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@lanac5793 Trusting humanity with anything is dangerous, from what I've learned. Talk to anyone about the most dangerous thing on the planet, and they may say hurricanes, tornadoes, cancer, AIDS, snakes, nukes, and whatever else. Me, I say humans, because humans create world-ending devices with no regards for anything other than what they might get out of it.
      But hey, sometimes you just have to make a choice. Will you live in fear, or will you not? I choose not to live in fear.

    • @BetaProtogen
      @BetaProtogen ปีที่แล้ว +9

      i still really think we should work on making fusion energy because it is FAR safer and works FAR more efficiently with absolutely no waste

  • @Red-py5to
    @Red-py5to ปีที่แล้ว +144

    At 2:20 it should be noted that for reactors 1,2, and 3 it was successfully demonstrated but was not for reactor 4

    • @giacomoneri1782
      @giacomoneri1782 ปีที่แล้ว

      Yeah as i got it, it was a normal omologation test they did before the reactor is put online. Reactor 4 was used both for civil and military purposes, it wasn't a normal reactor, so they powered it up without passing the mandatory test.
      That's also the reason why it didn't had a containment structure, had a crane on the roof, graphite tips and probably also why part of the manual was blacked out also for the people operating it.

    • @danceyrselfkleen
      @danceyrselfkleen ปีที่แล้ว

      This is incorrect

  • @TheLoneTerran
    @TheLoneTerran ปีที่แล้ว +202

    I know a lot of people still get caught up in Cold War nationalism, and Russia is absolutely a pariah state for what it's currently doing, these Soviet civilians did what they thought had to be done to not only save the surrounding area, but Europe and Soviet Bloc countries as well. And with all the unknowns back then, a lot more people suffered far more than they needed to because everyone was ignorant of the dangers of not only that amount of radiation, but of the situation. The fog of war had descended onto the power plant and they still managed to stop things from getting even worse. o7 I regret they had to suffer the way they did.

    • @harrietharlow9929
      @harrietharlow9929 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      Me, too. The liquidators and others are heroes in my book and always will be. I include KGB personnel in the helicopter who took pictures of the damage because pilots and photographers took lethal amounts of radiation, because the damage needed to be documented.

  • @_exolite
    @_exolite ปีที่แล้ว +20

    This always annoys me, because nuclear power is rather safe, its just due to mismanagement that it got this bad. The criminal negligence is insane.

    • @henrysanecdotes5323
      @henrysanecdotes5323 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Yeah. It’s important to know what happened in these accidents, but it’s also important to know that these accidents are way way less likely and the consequences will be less if something this extreme happened to a nuclear power plant today.

    • @TheFirstCurse1
      @TheFirstCurse1 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Wrong. Nuclear energy is incredibly dangerous. It's not risky though. If everything is fine then it's okay, but it has the potential to be by far the most dangerous form of energy.

  • @LoneTiger
    @LoneTiger ปีที่แล้ว +17

    3:15 Legasov's explanation in Ep5 of Chernobyl series, on how the RBMK reactor works is just beautiful, clear, simple and easy to understand.

  • @johnb9573
    @johnb9573 ปีที่แล้ว +34

    This is one of the most tragic things I’ve ever heard of. I always knew this happened but I never really looked into or understood just how horrific it would be for this to happen to a place you call home, or be on the scene working there. But I suppose all we can do is learn from it, and mourn those we lost too soon.

  • @captaindiabetes5385
    @captaindiabetes5385 ปีที่แล้ว +47

    It’s just horrible to thing that all these victims suffered severally for something they couldn’t control, but their sacrifices must be remembered for as long as we can remember what they done to keep others safer that what wouldn’t happened, it’s still horrible to know that so many close to the disaster slowly suffered when they didn’t didn’t deserve it

  • @sodog44
    @sodog44 ปีที่แล้ว +88

    I was living at Bitburg AFB West Germany when that happened. I remember my dad coming home everyday wearing his full MOPP gear for a full week, telling us he was doing training exercises, but in reality he was working on the flight line on a front line air base where they needed constantly ready F-15s on stand by, so they wore their MOPP gear until they were told otherwise.

    • @brandonlebourdais1888
      @brandonlebourdais1888 ปีที่แล้ว

      OKas Play is it OK Siri

    • @brandonlebourdais1888
      @brandonlebourdais1888 ปีที่แล้ว

      A

    • @brandonlebourdais1888
      @brandonlebourdais1888 ปีที่แล้ว

      Okay ✅ I’m

    • @vikinggoddess2126
      @vikinggoddess2126 9 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      My dad was stationed in Germany when this happed. We had to cover the windows and weren't allowed to play outside for a while. Two active toddlers I'm sure really tested my parents patience.

  • @jdawg8487
    @jdawg8487 ปีที่แล้ว +165

    Crazy how 36 years later Chernobyl made headlines again with Russia seizing it early in the war in Ukraine.

    • @minekush1138
      @minekush1138 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      Great a ahhh.. anyways profile picture (end qoute)

    • @bobbysenterprises3220
      @bobbysenterprises3220 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      I think they were trying to wake up the Russian woodpecker.

    • @n8archy121
      @n8archy121 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      Yep and they were seen digging foxholes in the fallout area

    • @AchtungPanzerr
      @AchtungPanzerr ปีที่แล้ว +4

      It actually made headlines in 2019 when HBO released the mini series “Chernobyl”.

    • @minekush1138
      @minekush1138 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      @@n8archy121 yeah those guys that went into the red forest and dug trenches am not so sure there alive anymore because unless you sneak under the lid dome on reactor number 4 the red forest is probably the most radioactive place near Chernobyl except probably els liquidator's gear.the tress are red for a reason

  • @newadventures9940
    @newadventures9940 ปีที่แล้ว +45

    Infographics is one if the best channels,always been loyal subscriber

    • @sakurakitsunestar
      @sakurakitsunestar ปีที่แล้ว +1

      What do you subscribe to the their other 2 channels?

  • @sonyafonger3456
    @sonyafonger3456 ปีที่แล้ว +85

    Note: the pic he used for the sarcophagus is actually called the ark, The ark was built after, so that nearing the end of of the lifetime of the actual concrete sarcophagus underneath, it could be safely dismantled without harmful materials from flying in the air. (Not to mentioned it lowered the general radiation level of the surrounding area)
    Note 2: the people who cleaned the roof were called Bio robots

    • @corinneamani8823
      @corinneamani8823 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Fun fact about the NAC it’s designed with crane claws to dismantle the sarcophagus and to have a negative atmospheric pressure so if it gets punctured air will rush in so the radioactive dust stays inside

  • @robynsegg
    @robynsegg ปีที่แล้ว +58

    I was a teenager when this happened. Yet, I could never understand what went on. Thanks to The Infographics Show, I now understand. And I can finally finish the mini series on cable.

    • @silviasalazar2969
      @silviasalazar2969 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      The scientist explained it very well, I watched the series like 5 times and felt for all the lost souls

  • @harrisonrouse-osborne9644
    @harrisonrouse-osborne9644 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +27

    I am so shocked at how well detailed this is, and the narration is incredible! Kudos to the team behind this

  • @jameskranig8922
    @jameskranig8922 ปีที่แล้ว +10

    One key thing that is rarely mentioned in any of these documentaries is that in the USSR/Russia (unlike in the West) nuclear reactors do not have a containment vessel. The reactor has shielding around it but no concrete containment vessel. This meant that the explosion, once it occurred, allowed radioactive material and gasses to immediately escape into the open air. The arrogant Russians thought their RBMK reactor flawless - no accident could happen. The Three Mile Island reactor did have a containment vessel and therefore there was extremely limited release of radioactivity.

  • @quahmeilrobinson7953
    @quahmeilrobinson7953 ปีที่แล้ว +16

    50,000 people used to live here now it’s a ghost town

  • @dddripz
    @dddripz ปีที่แล้ว +25

    I still don't understand how this channel manages to post 2 high quality videos *DAILY*

    • @Akshay13134
      @Akshay13134 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Because they are team not a single person

    • @minekush1138
      @minekush1138 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      It's not that hard to understand multiple people work to make these videos

    • @simoncohen9323
      @simoncohen9323 ปีที่แล้ว

      I wouldn't call this video high quality when there's a few inaccuracies

    • @whatthenpc
      @whatthenpc ปีที่แล้ว

      @@simoncohen9323 they mean the animation and editing and partly the facts

  • @Fitchy-ke3wz
    @Fitchy-ke3wz ปีที่แล้ว +24

    I love how a TV show makes dozens of people experts in nuclear science

    • @MisterChernobyl
      @MisterChernobyl ปีที่แล้ว +1

      yeah then they claim bogus things

    • @adamhutchins1981
      @adamhutchins1981 ปีที่แล้ว

      Some of us actually are, lol. I am a licensed nuclear reactor operator, and I have been operating reactors for 23 years now, both in the US Navy and in the commercial nuclear power industry. I find myself often joining in the comments sections of videos like this, trying to clear up misconceptions and point out and explain the things that people have gotten wrong or don't understand.

    • @Fitchy-ke3wz
      @Fitchy-ke3wz ปีที่แล้ว

      @Adam Hutchins so is it true that we're all mistaken, and modern day reactors don't explode?

    • @adamhutchins1981
      @adamhutchins1981 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @@Fitchy-ke3wz There were very unique vulnerabilities in the RBMK (Chernobyl) design that Western reactor designs just aren't susceptible to. I say "Western" reactor designs, meaning the PWRs and BWRs, and I am not calling them "modern" designs, because they're not modern. The PWRs and BWRs we operate are really a 1960s-1970s design. But despite being an older design, they are indeed extremely more of a safe design than Chernobyl.
      The biggest difference is the inherent stability. The basic concept is that the RBMK design has what is known as a positive void coefficient of reactivity. I'll try to make it simple, here. Due to the design of an RBMK, it relies heavily on neutron absorption in the water to regulate the fission rate. Let's say for some reason power starts to rise. It creates more heat, the water expands and is less dense. More of the water begins to form steam bubbles which is even less dense. That means it is absorbing fewer neutrons, and so the fission rate goes up more. More heat, more steam bubbles, less neutrons absorbed, more fissions, more heat, etc. For the RBMK design, any power increase will make power rise more and more and faster and faster, until the operators and/or control systems use control rods to stop and stabilize the power. The problem is, under certain situations, like what happened at Chernobyl, it happened so fast there was no way to control it, because they pushed the reactor so far away from its operating limits.
      The big difference in Western designed reactors is that we do not use graphite as a moderator. When you have neutrons born from fission, they're moving way too fast to really be absorbed and cause more fission, and they usually just zip right out out of the reactor. If you want to maintain a stable fission rate, (known as criticality) you have to slow these neutrons down so they can cause fissions. You have to use what is called a moderator. In Chernobyl, they used graphite. Neutrons hit the carbon atoms in the graphite and by bouncing around, they slow down, and then they can make the uranium fission. Water also works really well as a moderator, but water can also absorb neutrons, too. Since Chernobyl had graphite, it was what we call "over-moderated." You could take out all of the water, and it still had enough moderator in the graphite for the reactor to operate. So in Chernobyl, the water was acting more like an absorber, since you already have "too much" moderator anyway. When the water formed steam bubbles in Chernobyl, it was taking away neutron absorbers and making MORE neutrons available and making MORE fissions happen.
      In our reactor designs, we don't have graphite. We have a lot of water in the core, flowing through the core. It does two main things. Primarily, it is the coolant that is cooling the reactor and taking heat out to the rest of the plant to make steam. PWRs generate steam in big heat exchangers called steam generators, and BWRs are basically designed where the top of their reactor is a steam generator like design and they make steam directly in the reactor. But the other main purpose is that the water is our moderator. If the water goes away, you have fewer thermalized neutrons, and you have less fission.
      It makes the reactor self stabilizing, and here's how that works. Let's say you withdraw some control rods (which absorb neutrons). You are now absorbing fewer neutrons in the control rods, and you have more neutrons to cause fission, and power will rise. More fission means you make more heat. As you make more heat, the water expands, and if it's a BWR, it will also make some more little steam bubbles. But when that water heats up and expands or makes more steam bubbles, that means you are losing your moderator by that much. It can't slow down as many neutrons. So as power rises, more heat, moderator is less dense, fewer neutrons are thermalized, and the fission rate stabilizes and stops rising.
      Basically, in a PWR or BWR, any power rise will cause power to go up, but that makes your moderator less dense and makes it harder to slow down neutrons, and your fission rate will stabilize. The same thing happens in the opposite direction, when you lower power. Less heat means the moderator is more dense, and will thermalize more neutrons to help raise the fission rate to stop power from continuing to fall.
      RBMK reactors act with a positive coefficient, so each power rise will make power rise more and rise faster until you do something to stop it. That's because in an RBMK, the moderator doesn't change, a power rise makes one of your neutron ABSORBERS, the water, go away. PWRs and BWRs have a negative coefficient, and any power rise will make the moderator less dense and slow the power rise and stabilize it on its own. You don't have to do anything to stop it. That's because in a PWR or BWR, the moderator is the thing that is changing. Raise power, your moderator is now not able to moderate as well, and power stabilizes. I know this is very complicated, and I'm trying to give an easy to understand explanation, and I would be happy to explain more if you have questions and it's not clear.
      But the big picture is an RBMK is designed so that if power rises, it continues to rise more and more and faster and faster until you do something to stop it from rising. In our Western reactor designs, if you raise power, it raises a little bit, then the power rise slows and stops and it stabilizes at a new higher power level. Basically, our reactors in the West have always been self stabilizing like this. That's the biggest difference. You simply can't get this runaway power excursion in our reactors like you can in an RBMK. That's not to say there aren't other accidents that can happen, but they are much less severe. And the good news is that there are newer designs that are even safer. The new AP1000 design is built with a lot more passive safety systems. You can have a loss of power at AP1000 for 72 hours and the plant is kept safe through passive cooling. It practically eliminates the vulnerability of what we saw at Fukushima. And there are other even more advanced designs in the works where the fuel is constructed of materials that physically cannot get hot enough to melt.
      So the big takeaway is that no, Chernobyl is not possible in our Western reactors. The reactors are fundamentally designed differently. Our PWRs and BWRs are incredibly safe, but the good news is that if we can clear away the red tape and begin developing and building the newer Generation IV reactor designs, they are even more safe with passive cooling designs and even safer fuel designs.

  • @evanlarsen9418
    @evanlarsen9418 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Thank you so much, I needed to study for this in history. Thank you this REALLY HELPED!

  • @AC_VC
    @AC_VC ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Really good timing of the video, just last week I started thinking about that Chernobyl show and decided to watch your Chernobyl videos

  • @AtoMiCM0nkies
    @AtoMiCM0nkies ปีที่แล้ว +48

    The tips being made of graphite was only a small part of it. The biggest issue with that design is that there was water pooled at the bottom of the reactor channel, acting as a little bit of a moderator. When the rods went in, they displaced that water and that little moderation that the water was providing was gone.

    • @Rat-du2mv
      @Rat-du2mv ปีที่แล้ว +1

      The positive void coefficient right?

    • @ubiergo1978
      @ubiergo1978 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      I'll always remember a book that kinda resumed this in: Imagine designing cars in which, in a moment of need as in a steep, the brake pedal works like an accelerator for some seconds, imagine not saying anything and when an accident happened, putting the blame in the driver saying he didn't understand how brake pedals work". O.O

    • @Rat-du2mv
      @Rat-du2mv ปีที่แล้ว

      @@ubiergo1978 that puts it in a great way

    • @adamhutchins1981
      @adamhutchins1981 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      You're half right. I have been a nuclear reactor operator for 23 years, both in the Navy and in the US commercial nuclear power industry, and I want to clear up some confusion. The issue is that the graphite tips of the rods displaced the water, but that's exactly why the RBMK design has graphite tips anyway. I think you misunderstand neutron moderation. U-235 is a thermal fuel, meaning you have to have slow neutrons in order to be absorbed and cause U-235 fission. The neutrons born from fission are always fast neutrons, and have much too high of an energy level to be readily absorbed by U-235 and cause fissions. You have to have a moderator to moderate, ie slow down the neutrons, in order to cause fission. Basically more moderator means more fission, and less moderator is less fission.
      Graphite is the main source of neutron moderation in an RBMK reactor. Whether it is the graphite blocks surrounding the channels in the core, or you're talking about the graphite tips on the rods, both of these bits of graphite moderate the neutrons and make the fission rate go up. So what about the water then? Well, in most Western design reactors, water is the moderator. It is the collisions of the neutrons hitting the hydrogen atoms in the water molecules that slows the neutrons down so they can cause fission. But water is also pretty good at absorbing neutrons, too. That's how you get deuterium and tritium. Those same hydrogen atoms in the water molecules can absorb your neutrons to become H-2 (deuterium) and H-3 (tritium).
      Everything in a reactor is a game of balancing all of these different effects. In most Western reactors, you have no graphite, water is your only moderator, and you balance everything out with control rods and/or boron dissolved in the coolant. In the RBMK style reactor at Chernobyl, there was so much moderation from the graphite, that the moderating effect of the water did not matter, and their "balance" was that water acted more as a neutron absorber. The control rods are also a neutron absorber, which is how they work to function as control rods. So in an RBMK reactor, if you withdraw control rods, you're removing a neutron absorber, and it is filling up with water, which, in their reactor functions primarily as another type of neutron absorber. It doesn't really do much. So in order to make their reactor work, when they withdraw control rods, the absorber section is pulled out of the core, and it pulls a graphite section into the core. Less absorber material means more neutrons, and more graphite means more neutron moderation which means even more neutrons causing fission, and this is how they control power. Need more fission? Pull out some absorber material (control rods) and pull in some more graphite for more neutron moderation. Need less fission? Push the extra graphite out, and push absorber material back in.
      The problem with Chernobyl, is due to xenon buildup, they had withdrawn way too many rods, and withdrawn them too high up in the core. That meant that all of those slugs of graphite were in the middle of the core, and there was a section at the bottom of the core where there was only water in the control rod channels. Still, they had just managed to keep the reactor critical (meaning a stable chain reaction). So the bottom part of the core was filled with neutron absorber (water), and when they hit the infamous A3-5 button, the rods began to fall in. The bottom part of the core that was critical with water in the control rod channels, now had the absorber/water pushed out, and had moderator/graphite pushed in. Less absorber means more neutrons. More moderator means more neutrons thermalized in order to cause fission. The bottom of the core that was initially critical (stable reaction) while being filled with water, now went extremely supercritical (in this case prompt critical) in a fraction of a second, because you shoved in more moderator and shoved out all of the neutron absorbing water.
      Chernobyl also had a positive void coefficient of reactivity. The water, being an absorber for them, is what causes this positive coefficient. As soon as the power spiked due to the graphite being shoved into the bottom of the core, temperature rose almost instantaneously and the water immediately became steam vapor. Steam is much less dense than liquid water, and it essentially meant you removed the neutron absorbing water from the rest of the core, as well. More power, more heat, more steam, less neutron absorbing water, more power, more heat, more steam...repeat. Within a small fraction of a second, power rose exponentially to the point that heat generation caused a massive steam explosion. As the head of the reactor blew off, there was now an in rush of air into this core with superheated graphite and hydrogen being produced from the accident, and this caused a second, even larger combustion explosion. This blew the roof off of the building and started a massive fire as all of this graphite burst into flames.
      So I don't mean to nitpick your response, but I just wanted to make sure the terminology was correct, because a lot of people don't understand. The big picture of your answer is correct, but I wanted to clear up what neutron moderation means. For a thermal fuel like U-235, more moderation means MORE fission, because the moderator has to thermalize the neutrons in order to cause fission. It is moderating (slowing down) the neutrons to produce more fission. It's NOT moderating the reaction (lowering power), it's moderating the neutrons (raising power). The confusion also comes about from the fact that in most Western reactors, water acts primarily as a moderator, enabling fission, where in the RBMK, the water acts primarily as a neutron absorber. For most reactor designs, you'll hear water referred to as a moderator, which leads to the confusion, but it's not the case for an RBMK, where it acts primarily as an absorber.
      I know this was long, but I hope some find it interesting and I hope it helps explain things.

    • @AtoMiCM0nkies
      @AtoMiCM0nkies ปีที่แล้ว +7

      @@adamhutchins1981 that actually makes perfect sense. I was using the term “moderation” when I should have been using “neutron absorber” or something to that effect. I understand now that “moderation” has a different connotation. It’s slowing the neutrons down, but because it’s slowing them down, fission is occurring due to the decreased neutron flux, right? I guess in my head at the time, I equated the “slowing down” aspect of moderation to “decreasing reactivity”.
      Thank you for the response. I genuinely read the entire thing and I appreciate you nitpicking. All of this is about facts and if I don’t get something right, I am happy to stand corrected. Thank you

  • @DavidSuncuravens
    @DavidSuncuravens ปีที่แล้ว +20

    RBMK reactors don’t explode, there is no graphite. I’ve been told the amount of radiation is the same as a chest X Ray

    • @minekush1138
      @minekush1138 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Said by a dead Soviet man that made nuclear energy stigma for decades to come

    • @jgonascar
      @jgonascar ปีที่แล้ว +2

      They do with lies

    • @annarainexo
      @annarainexo ปีที่แล้ว +4

      3.6 not great, not terrible!

    • @arturobuitron6420
      @arturobuitron6420 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      "What is the cost of lies? It's not that we'll mistake them for the truth. The real danger is that if we hear enough lies, then we no longer recognize the truth at all."

  • @mykahmoustakis989
    @mykahmoustakis989 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Thanks! Was looking for this

  • @xanmontes8715
    @xanmontes8715 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +8

    3.6 reontgen... Not great, not terrible.

  • @DanielDuintjer
    @DanielDuintjer ปีที่แล้ว +39

    Decent video, gets the overarching picture, but there are quite a few small mistakes. One of the more "glaring" ones is at the end: There are two structures that cover reactor 4. The first one is the Shelter Structure AKA the Sarcophagus. This was constructed the same year but just a few years later it was clear that it would need very heavy maintenance in just a couple of decades and such maintenance is both dangerous and difficult.
    The ''solution'' is the newer of the two structures: the New Safe Confinement, or NSC for short. Compared to this new structure, the Sarcophagus is absolutely primitive. The inside of this mammoth of a megastructure is kept at a slight negative pressure to ensure that no radioactive dust can exit (pressure always wants to flow from high to low, in this case from the outside to the nside, thus stopping particulate from leaving the NSC). Air heaters and dehumidifiers keep moisture low to prevent condensation so water won't drip into the interior of the structure, both prolonging the life of all parts and reducing risks of any contaminated water leakage should the structure at any point fail in some way. It also has an internal crane system for the purpose of dismantling unstable parts of the Sarcophagus, thus aiding in preventing potential collapses as a result of corrosion from the years it was exposed to weather. In the event of such a collapse occuring anyway, the NSC will stop the large amount of dust that would be created from escaping into the surrounding areas.
    If you want to hear from someone that actually knows what they are talking about, I recommend Kyle Hill. He has many videos about the power plant and recently one of them heavily featured the New Safe Confinement.

    • @johncarter9054
      @johncarter9054 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      So nothing lasts forever but what are the people alive going to do when the structure in place now deteriorates ?
      What if the world is a different place then, and the technology isnt availible to them when needed to repair/upgrade this mess ?
      Many are beating the drums for massive new nuke plants these days. And what is the half life of this type of radiation ... ?

    • @ryu3180
      @ryu3180 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Literally *THIS* - I am so disgusted by the "nUcLeAr pOwEr iS sAfE!"
      No, it's not. It's one of the most hazardous and long damaging sources of energy we have. Half-life of spent fuel rods is 10's of THOUSANDS of years. To boil water to spin turbines. MOST of the massive energy released is lost instead of harnessed. It's like using superheated plasma to light a campfire.
      Ffs we are so incredibly ignorant.

    • @adamhutchins1981
      @adamhutchins1981 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@johncarter9054 The idea is that the New Safe Confinement is designed to last 100 years or more, and the plans are to dismantle and decontaminate the remains of Chernobyl Block 4 during that time period. The NSC was designed and built with the equipment inside it to allow for the slow process of dismantling and decontaminating and cleaning up the site. It is also important to realize that while current dose rates are still dangerous, it has been 30 years since the accident and the radiation levels have lowered significantly. That's not to say there is no concern. But it is to point out that in 1986, there was no possible way to dismantle and decontaminate the site, but now levels are low enough (but still dangerous, of course) that will allow for the slow dismantling and removal and cleanup.
      The idea is that the site should be essentially cleaned up and safe by the time the NSC reaches it's end of life. That is the plan, anyway. All of the materials at the site can be slowly broken down and removed, and transferred into safe long-term storage, just like we do with the used fuel from any of our other reactors. It is a big project, but the plan is to clean everything up, not just cover it up and forget about it.

  • @TheKulu42
    @TheKulu42 ปีที่แล้ว +132

    Well done! You've brought up some details I've never heard before now. For those who want more, I recommend "Midnight in Chernobyl : The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster" by Adam Higginbotham.

    • @TheKing0fChaos
      @TheKing0fChaos ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Ooo, sounds interesting, I’ll be sure to look into it! Thanks for the recommendation!! ❤️

    • @TheKulu42
      @TheKulu42 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@TheKing0fChaos You're welcome! It's a very good read.

    • @brod7053
      @brod7053 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@TheKulu42 Another good read on the topic is "Chernobyl. The history of a nuclear catastrophe" By Sehrii Plokhy, an Ukrainian historian!

    • @TheKulu42
      @TheKulu42 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@brod7053 Thanks! 😀

    • @LittleMissCrackers
      @LittleMissCrackers ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Great book! I have it and will read again at some point 😁

  • @Alcor151
    @Alcor151 ปีที่แล้ว +53

    You guys are amazing, thanks for the content

  • @thegasmaskguy---
    @thegasmaskguy--- ปีที่แล้ว

    Ty I have been waiting for this topic

  • @jeffbrooks8024
    @jeffbrooks8024 ปีที่แล้ว +10

    Much was learned from this which was applied at Fukashima and probably saved many people, particularly the creation of radioactive iodine and strontium causing secondary irradiation post accident which causes thyroid cancer in humans particularly children

  • @curlpop
    @curlpop 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

    This was really really well explained. I'm reading midnight in Chernobyl right now and this video is a great accompaniment

  • @jamesmkay
    @jamesmkay ปีที่แล้ว +28

    This reminds me of the accident here in Idaho that didn’t get as much popularity. They couldn’t find one of the people that were in the room for hours because he was pinned between one of the 700 pound control rods and the ROOF

    • @corinneamani8823
      @corinneamani8823 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      You mean the SL-1?

    • @jamesmkay
      @jamesmkay ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@corinneamani8823 I think it was the SL-1, thank you!

    • @simoncohen9323
      @simoncohen9323 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      That incident still had no where near the impact and radiation as Chernobyl

    • @jamesmkay
      @jamesmkay ปีที่แล้ว

      @@simoncohen9323 agreed, there are similarities, but chernobyl had a much bigger impact

    • @snot4389
      @snot4389 ปีที่แล้ว

      The only common part in the SL-1 and Chernobyl is the fact that there were both incidents involving the fuel rods, if I can even call it that. The scram button vs. pulling the main control rod out by hand? But they don't really have any similarities other than both being radioactive lol

  • @QuanNguyen-on2xf
    @QuanNguyen-on2xf ปีที่แล้ว +15

    i love the surviving 100 days of a neclear war video

  • @ColeChapman205
    @ColeChapman205 ปีที่แล้ว +19

    You said radiation can’t be spread person to person because it is not contagious. If that’s the case then bodies wouldn’t be buried in lead and concrete. Also the CDC says you are wrong.

    • @Jaws10214
      @Jaws10214 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      that's what some understood at the time.
      that isnt what they still believe.

    • @simoncohen9323
      @simoncohen9323 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@Jaws10214 but it is scientist and many others who study radiation still say that radiation can be transmitted between people just like between objects

    • @samurphy
      @samurphy 9 หลายเดือนก่อน

      A person with long term exposure, such as Mme Curie and the Radium Girls, have incorporated radioactive material into their bones and are radioactive and dangerous even after scrubbed. There have also been cases of people involved in nuclear lab accidents who have had large amounts of radioactive material driven into their skin by an explosion, who would remain radioactive after cleaned. However a person with brief, acute exposure, such as the Chernobyl firefighters, once stripped and scrubbed, would be minimally radioactive, if at all, and not dangerous.

  • @davelowets
    @davelowets ปีที่แล้ว +9

    2:40 The slowing turbine was NOT supposed to power the "generators". It was supposed to power the COOLING PUMPS as it wound down, UNTIL the generators were up to speed, and could then take over powering the pumps.

  • @Dirtsword888
    @Dirtsword888 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Very informative, video was the perfect length and easy to understand.

  • @epicgameruk87
    @epicgameruk87 ปีที่แล้ว +18

    Xenon is the chemical element of atomic number 54, a member of the noble gas series. It is obtained by distillation of liquid air, and Xenon is used in certain specialised light sources. It produces a beautiful blue glow when excited by an electrical discharge. Xenon lamps have applications as high-speed electronic flash bulbs used by photographers, sunbed lamps and bactericidal lamps used in food preparation and processing

  • @TobiDyLetsPlay100
    @TobiDyLetsPlay100 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    (German here)
    The Generation of my Parents are still in fear of Radiation to this day.
    The went out on the Street protesting during the ''Atomkraft? Nein Danke!'' Movement which was going on years before the disaster,
    you couldn't eat cabbage, Mushrooms and other Vegetables,
    Sandboxes were thrown away because of partially iradiadet sand and such,
    many flocks of deer were whiped out because of radiation,
    the fear they had during the ongoing cold war became even worst,
    my Parents couldn't even watch the Chernobyl Netflix show without having some sort of uneasy feeling

  • @Troubledboy88
    @Troubledboy88 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Just smiling and bobbing our heads while having cancer and acute radiation sickness. No problem just smile it away. These are facts I’ve been told from survivors in this video.

  • @cayshorts
    @cayshorts ปีที่แล้ว +5

    That’s the best simple explanation of nuclear reactions I’ve ever heard

  • @ColCurtis
    @ColCurtis ปีที่แล้ว +14

    You glossed over my favorite parts the technical aspect of why it exploded.

    • @beejereeno2
      @beejereeno2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      There are a lot of problems with this video

    • @kyon-kyon-
      @kyon-kyon- 11 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@beejereeno2the music is the first thing. i can’t concentrate on what he’s saying.

  • @skitteryboospeedpaint6782
    @skitteryboospeedpaint6782 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    This was real good ^^ wish the elephants foot had been mentioned more, but there’s other videos for that

  • @TBR.21
    @TBR.21 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Lol uploaded 7mins ago and 1k plus views already! Shows how good the content is :)

  • @XaetaCore
    @XaetaCore ปีที่แล้ว +7

    The quality of information in this show really went up after the years

  • @tylerblast
    @tylerblast ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Please keep doing your by hour or 30 min vids I love them

  • @motofreak525
    @motofreak525 ปีที่แล้ว +11

    Love all your videos! You should use some sort of de-esser plugin for the voiceover to make it a little less sibilant. Keep up the good work!

  • @_20_yoanptrv_20_
    @_20_yoanptrv_20_ ปีที่แล้ว +5

    A sad thing is that my grandfather died because of the Chernobyl disaster not directly but because we are from Bulgaria which is kinda close and as the radiation carried over to different countries it reached Bulgaria and we believe he got cancer from the radiation and that was before I was even born.

  • @Knowth1ng
    @Knowth1ng ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Looking for this in infographics
    Thanks!

  • @regularstan6212
    @regularstan6212 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Thank you for covering this FACTUALLY

  • @jtpzaza7639
    @jtpzaza7639 ปีที่แล้ว +49

    Love your content can you make more videos on Greek mythology?

    • @barbiquearea
      @barbiquearea ปีที่แล้ว +4

      I would love for them to cover Homer's Odyssey if they already haven't done it.

  • @michaellynes3540
    @michaellynes3540 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    “Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. Sooner or later, that debt is settled.”
    - Valery Legasov

  • @roughhappynezz
    @roughhappynezz ปีที่แล้ว +19

    I don’t watch a lot of sole education videos but the infographics show is the one thing I will never not watch

    • @RichJD13
      @RichJD13 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Yup yup yup

  • @StevenBaer-zv6lq
    @StevenBaer-zv6lq 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Some of those guys who knew that he was actually gonna be exposed to deadly amount of radiation saved others and trying to stop the spread of the radioactive ☢️ fires. Some of them didn't know that the fire was actually radioactive with no protective suit and gas mask.

  • @awetistic5295
    @awetistic5295 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

    The Babushka who said she wasn't scared of radiation, but of starvation, probably lived through Holodomor.

  • @imrantahir1678
    @imrantahir1678 ปีที่แล้ว +69

    I'm going to be honest: the HBO series Chernobyl was incredibly accurate and a lot easier to watch and understand

    • @donturner3239
      @donturner3239 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      I watched that mini series the past week. In the west, they build containment buildings around the reactor. In the Soviet Union they don't because it is cheaper to build that way. There is a video of an old F4 Phantom jet smashed into a wall built to the same specifications of a containment building to test it. The F4 lost.

    • @mikehurt3290
      @mikehurt3290 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      ​​@@donturner3239 I heard most people think that even a containment building wouldn't have stopped the explosion at Chernobyl it was literally the worst case scenario possible

    • @user-zb9lv3gh8s
      @user-zb9lv3gh8s 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      ​@@mikehurt3290possibly, but the chain of events that led to the explosions at Chernobyl could not happen in western reactors. We don't use graphite moderator, we use water.
      This is much safer because if cooling is lost the water boils, which deprives the reactor of a moderator, thus slowing the reactor and preventing a runaway reaction.
      We can still experience meltdowns from residual heat, but that's very different from having explosions

  • @domsigno41
    @domsigno41 ปีที่แล้ว

    Your amazing you make all the videos!

  • @H4TTOR1_H4NZO
    @H4TTOR1_H4NZO ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Some more outstanding content 👍✨

  • @ahmedtubegamingvlogs5412
    @ahmedtubegamingvlogs5412 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    This is my favorite education channel and I am subscribed to MANY channels like this also Early gang

  • @jamespittser6400
    @jamespittser6400 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    To everyone who died that day may the rest in peace

  • @AttilatheThrilla
    @AttilatheThrilla 6 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    The extreme low amounts of meltdowns is actually incredibly impressive

  • @Alvarezproductions
    @Alvarezproductions ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I LOVE your content.
    Can you please do Fukushima disaster?!??

  • @daynawithawhy
    @daynawithawhy 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    Excellent video, thank you for your hard work. There seems to be a lot of disagreement regarding the firefighters being radioactive themselves. After people accused her of murdering her baby by staying near her husband, Lyudmila Ignatenko was approached by some American and British hematologists and radiation medicine specialists and reassured that once Vasily had been stripped and washed, there was no further danger to her or her unborn daughter. I'd like to know what to know

  • @Boop__Doop
    @Boop__Doop 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    "the pressure cooker incident"

  • @Londonmomvlog
    @Londonmomvlog 13 ชั่วโมงที่ผ่านมา

    Thank you

  • @aga1769
    @aga1769 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    Great video! Thank you ^^
    And I couldn't help but recommend the book Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham, it's a very interesting read, full of information but easy to digest, when I was reading it I literally couldn't stop, it also contains some photos and schematics, not the most important part but it's always nice, and I found myself turning pages back and forth to consult the RBMK-1000 schematic while reading the book. I'm not the best at describing stuff but honestly if you have some time and a little money to spare buy the book, it's truly amazing and also heartbreaking.

  • @eXecu7or
    @eXecu7or ปีที่แล้ว +22

    I'm actually surprised by the level of details presented here. Big kudos. One thing though - I believe the helicopter crashed later than few hours, on October 2nd

  • @tiredallthetime1636
    @tiredallthetime1636 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    It’s so scary how their first concern was keeping things under wraps instead of the workers, the citizens near by and even the world at large. None of it mattered as much as USSRs image. I know many disasters all I’ve the world have been downplayed but for their immediate reaction to be how do we conceal this over the safety of your own people is horrifying. Not surprising but still so sad

  • @Boondock980
    @Boondock980 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I used to work and live in Bucha back in 2019. Interesting fact, my place of work used to be a camp that was built as a officers and ncm retreat for their families. It was supposed to have its grand opening July 1986. It never was opened, due to CHERNOBYL. Some years later it was bought by some investors and opened as a hotel and spa back in 2000s. What is eery is the old buildings not being used as part of the resort or where I work are still there. Never once used.

  • @vk7898
    @vk7898 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Very well explained.

  • @pgrant7688
    @pgrant7688 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    This is so cool!
    It shows the tremendous power of fear and disinformation.

  • @jordanongelstern
    @jordanongelstern 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    50,000 People Used to Live Here. Now It's a Ghost Town

    • @Glorg783
      @Glorg783 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Bush did 9/11

    • @johnzino8558
      @johnzino8558 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Yet this is the first place the Russians went to when they invaded Ukraine ? Why?

  • @davegillett7135
    @davegillett7135 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    I’d like an explanation of xenon poisoning and ‘burning off’. This was overlooked on the miniseries.

  • @whymustwefight6878
    @whymustwefight6878 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

    A year later and I still love watching this

  • @serialshitposter186
    @serialshitposter186 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Finally 1 video to debunk all myths and tell the facts.

  • @Thxtnt
    @Thxtnt ปีที่แล้ว +7

    There are several inaccuracies in this video but I will name two of them.
    1. While it is often shown and talked about, prior to hitting AZ-5 there was no power surge, all of this power was actually building in a hotspot at the bottom of the core. Now you may ask "Then why did they hit AZ-5", in the actual steps for the rundown test it is to end with the SCRAM of the core, not only that but the SKALA computer log did not display anything bad happening at that time, and the operators claimed that everything was calm at this time.
    2. It is mentioned that the individual caps of the reactor "jumped up and down", this is actually not true, firstly there was no one in the room when it happened, meaning no one could've seen it happening, secondly the physics makes it impossible, for the pressure to of been high enough to do that the lid would've already come off, however it is possible that the caps shook and it is likely that before the lid got completely blown off that the entire lid would've been lifted a few centimeters.

  • @sevenjust4740
    @sevenjust4740 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I was just watching shorts and saw this right when u uploaded this

  • @awetistic5295
    @awetistic5295 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    It is true that at least some people were staring at the ray of light emerging from the reactor. Maybe they were night owls like me. I knew someone who lived in Pripyat as a child and he told me that his parents woke him up to show him the beautiful light. It was the first time I had ever heard about this phenomenon and it was back in 2000. At that time, he was a young man, but he had suffered from Leukemia, among other health issues. It was absolutely heartbreaking and I wonder if he is still alive.