GS Paper 3:
Topics Covered: Disaster management.
Context:
After a brief but fierce battle, Russian troops were able to capture the Chernobyl nuclear plant in northern Ukraine, the site of one of the worst nuclear disasters in human history.
What is Chernobyl disaster?
The Chernobyl tragedy was the result of a nuclear accident on 26 April 1986 at reactor No. 4 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, near the town of Pripyat in the Ukrainian SSR (Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic).
- There were nearly 8.4 million people exposed to radiation in the three nations.
- It occurred when a group of technicians in what was then Soviet-controlled Ukraine carried out a botched safety test that led to a series of explosions.
- It is said to have released 400 times more radiation than the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima in Japan.
What’s the concern now?
Since the Chernobyl is under Russia’s control now, damage to the nuclear waste storage facility could lead to radioactive dust spreading across Ukraine, Belarus and parts of Europe.
Insta Curious:
Did you know that Chernobyl catastrophe is considered one of the key factors that led to the collapse of the Soviet Union a few years later? Find out what were the other reasons?
In 2016 the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution designating 26 April as International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day.
Sources: Indian Express.
