On April 26, 1986, in modern day Ukraine, the Soviet Union’s Chernobyl Power Complex nuclear reactor 4 exploded. This week on Reactions, we talk about the chemistry behind this catastrophic event.
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Credits:
Producer: Andrew Sobey
Writer: Samantha Jones, PhD
Scientific Consultants: Roger N. Blomquist, Ph.D. Michael P. Short, Ph.D., Najmedin Meshkati, Ph.D., Harry Elston, Ph.D.
Executive Producer: George Zaidan
Music:
Deep Space Dissolves
By Si Phelps, Neologist
Sources:
www.compoundchem.com/2016/04/...
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hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/...
www.unscear.org/unscear/en/ch...
www.belfercenter.org/publicat...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/a...
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i watched so many vids on this reactor....and this is the only one that actually made any sense....thank you 😭
I was first against nuclear power after this horror 1986 I was 9. Now, with all the studies of the incident showing it was obviously a badly designed event at a not so well designed reactor one can just say understanding the science of this can make people see.
@@martintheiss4038 To bad there's such a stigma against nuclear energy. If it is researched more, it can be made safer. Imagine if ships were banned after the Titanic sank. That killed a lot of people, but ships are safer now because they were still researched.
This is basically what Valery Legasov explained in Vienna
There was a great presentation on it by an American nuclear engineer. He explained the how the why and also showed how that same type of failure can't happen in western style reactors.
I have a degree in nuclear physics from hbo university 😎
The clearest and simplest explanation about Chernobyl. Thank you.
@Carlo Noccioli agreed
Illinois Energy Professor has an excellent video on Chernobyl too
I find it pretty lacking tbh. Maybe it seems simple to understand if you don´t know anything about nuclear reactors, but there is quite a bit more to it than explained in this video, however short and condensed it is.
“Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. Sooner or later that debt is paid” -Dr. Valery Legasov, **Chernobyl**
@A Malevolent That's why I included Chernobyl at the end for the show.
"What is the cost of lies?"
@A Malevolent another lie has been told
Dr Gonzo but the truth is still there
@@Bludgeoned2DEATH2 lol after he made the comment idiot
This is the 8th video that I’ve watched about Chernobyl and the first time I have understood what actually happened! I can’t thank you enough for explaining it so well!! Amazing! 👏👏👏
really true
This isn't an entirely accurate explanation, nor was the HBO series. The rods were not "graphite" tipped. Almost half of a rod was made of graphite, with almost another half being made of boron, with space in between. The rods would go in and out exposing either the graphite end, or the boron end. The problem with Chernobyl is that once the Xenon gas ran out, the reaction spun out of control damaging the rod movement system and locking the rods in a position where mostly graphite was exposed.
Without exaggeration, this is the best explanation of the incident I have seen. It lacks some deeper technical details, but it manages to perfectly summarize what others cannot in less than 40--60 minutes.
A very clear concise explanation of what happened at Chernobyl causing a very sad and avoidable event.
The tips weren't made of graphjite, there were whole graphite rods attached to the control rods, so that when removed, there would be a moderator. When the control rods were lowered, the graphite rod at the bottom displaced water, that was inhibiting the reaction, which in turn accelerated it.
3.5 m rods count as tips, don't the?
@@KarlKarpfen No.
Correct.
@@KarlKarpfenno fuck the tip means "the end of the rod" going into the bottom gap...
The reactor is designed too continuously "burn off" the xenon (actually, to transmute it with neutrons into a less poisonous xenon isotope) created when it is running at 80-100% of rated capacity. When running at below 50% rated, the xenon starts building up faster than it is burned. When the reactor gets loaded with xenon, there are two things that can be done. The first is to simply stop the reactor. The xenon will decay away in about three days, and the reactor can then be started up normally. The other is to raise the power to burn the extra xenon. With the xenon present acting like control tods, that can only be done by withdrawing the control rods maximally. When the burn starts, the xenon is being converted and the reactor has to be closely watched, inserting rods to replace the xenon as the power rises, but not so many as to quench the reaction. They were on the slope of another positive feedback, which ran away and ultimately took them to 3,000 times the full rated power of the reactor for a few milliseconds, long enough to wipe out all the rest of the xenon "control" and boil all the coolant water away.
Should of left the water on.
I understand it more now thanku
Another thing this video overlooked is that Xenon-135 is rarely created directly from fission, rather it is a decay product of the heavier isotopes typically created when fission occurs. Once it absorbs a neutron, it becomes the extremely stable non-absorbing isotope Xenon-136, and it is always present in an operating core. At a stable power level, it is at an equilibrium value, where it is being converted to Xenon-136 at the same rate it is being produced by fission-product decay. When you drop from nearly 100% power to 7% or so as Chernobyl did, it builds up as the fission-products that will create it are already in the core, but the reactor is no longer creating enough neutron flux to burn it out.
The other issue is a large (power) plant using low enriched U. On the power reduction, a situation could arise in which the control rods become separated from the region where reactions are taking place, in part because of where the xenon is generated. This coupled with the control rod tips being graphite. I might disagree with the positive coefficient because this is inherent in large reactors running on low enrich. Had they a different rod sequence strategy and perhaps a graduated graphite-boron in the rod tips, it would not have produced initial positive reactivity resulting in prompt criticality
@@jimfrazier8104 Well, the largest problem with Xenon is it's a gas. As it expands it cracks and breaks up the solid fuel rods in all reactors that use solid fuel. It is the primary reason why these rods can never be "burned" for more than around 2% of their potential before being discards, which is a pathetically stupid design. In a LiFTR reactor Xenon simply boils out of the molten salt and can be captured since it is commercially valuable, but even if it does escape it's a noble gas.
This was the best easy-to-understand explanation I've come across about Chernobyl and how reactors work. Thanks!
I've watched lots of videos attempting to explain the Chernobyl disaster. This is the only one that does so in an easy to follow fashion. It explains the physics of fission in a very clear way.
Really well written and the graphics are terrific...combined to create a great explanation.... Kudos to Sam and the team
I've watched dozens of vids on the exact steps of this disaster - even the movie. This one is by far and away the best layman's explanation!
Ah I finally get it, thanks for the explanation
excellent explanation, very informative.
Don't bother watching the video, it seems all the nuclear experts are in the comment section
They stayed at the Holiday Inn last night.
Mofs all nuclear scientist became youtuber here, so chrnobyl disaster happened
Every McJob moron is a nuclear engineer.
Lol
@Jeremy Kirkpatrick you said it.
7:27 They didn’t do that. They instead had a graphite rod attached to the control rod in order to make the control rods a better controller of the nuclear reactor's reactions. The graphite rod was also shorter at the top and at the bottom to balance neutron flux levels (neutron movement). So when that rod goes into the bottom half of water, the power went up and jammed the rods in the position.
but why this construction? i see the befit in a normal reaction but again what happen, if u have to scram the reactor? and ok they have driven it beyond all safety protocols.
It’s cheaper for one, since you have the benefit of having the neutron-absorbing, reaction-slowing boron and the neutron-moderating, reaction-accelerating graphite in one assembly. The emergency stop procedure “””should””” have worked in basically most circumstances, but “most” doesn’t include the edge case of ALL of the control rods being put in at once. If only some of the control rods are simultaneously inserted, the ones that are *already in* are generally enough to stop the spike from being catastrophic. In ‘86 though since all the control rods were being put in at the same time, there wasn’t anything to stop the spike.
The graphite tipped rods were an effort to increase the reactor's efficiency because, when the rods were fully pulled from the core, the boron still had the effect of slightly blocking the reaction. The graphite, which is a moderator, would isolate the tips of the boron rods. Reinserting the graphite tipped control rods therefore initially cause a spike in reaction...in this case...BOOM.
@@bambam144 It gave them a way to both accelerate and decelerate the chain reaction's intensity with one assembly. Nuclear power plants are expensive as hell, so in a bid to reduce costs the USSR designed it to have both on one assembly. Now, the reason they did this is because it's graphite and not water moderated, which was done intentionally because graphite is a far better moderator than water and allowed the reactor to run on (much cheaper) naturally occurring or lower enriched Uranium (~0.72% U-235 is natural, as opposed to power-grade enriched which is usually in the area of 5% U-235). Water acts as an absorber here because the graphite is far more effective at thermalizing neutrons (i.e. slowing them down) and is not as good at absorbing them when compared to water. Water can be used as a moderator (see: PWRs, BWRs, SCWRs), but it needs (higher) enriched fuel. As for the SCRAM problem... Yep. Big problem, one that had to be rectified post-Chernobyl. Every other RBMK received major updates to the control rods (as I understand it) to prevent this from happening in the event of another loss-of-coolant event.
The flash steam didn't allow the rods to move down further...
Excellent explanation I have been trying to find a video like this that made what occurred more understandable Thanks
Ive watched quite a few videos to better explain this process and many only talk about it. This video visually and verbally explains it simultaneously which is way more effective in the understanding of the concepts! Amazing video, thanks!
This video is a lie. I commented above...in newest comments. You do not know how a reactor works and neither does she. I am coming out with a website called DISSECTING PROPAGANDA..and we will be exposing the lies of COVID and these alleged "accidents" with Chernobyl and Fukushima. but...this young woman....does not know how a Nuclear Reactor Plant Operates. I do. I was in the US navy's nuke program and have operated power plants in subs and at on land facilities. I have been inside a Reactor room where a "core" sits. It does not operate as shown here.
By far the best video to explain. Thanks a lot!!
As far as I can tell this video explains the complicated stuff that went on in the best and simplest way. Not an easy task = Amazing! 😊💚
One thing that was missed, mentioning the lack of a containment structure. Fukushima had 3 meltdowns, compared to Chernobyl's 1, only releasing 10% of the amount of radiation into the surrounding area and atmosphere. The RBMK had no containment structure, hence its massive level of contamination.
After searching for dozens of videos, this was the stop for me. Thanks a lot for explaining in such a wonderful way.
This is the best video explaining the complicated events that struck the disaster Thanks for explaining it in a nutshell👍
@@crist0000s lol moron
Actual Its not the Best explanation, this video just copys the mini serie from hbo, The control rod tips made from graphite where not exactly the cause of the disaster, The control rods where also the acceleration rods not like shown here, 7 meters where boron and 4 metere graphite and worked togheter not separatly like shown în here, The cause of disaster was that AT the bottom of the reactor because of graphte tips got stuck, water boiled and create uneven fission which ultimatly provoked the events, sorry for my bad gramar, i am a nuclear scientist from a forme comunist country
Amazing explanation!
Great explanation. Wonderful job. Thank you.
Excellent summary. Thank you.
Of the many videos on this event that I've watched ... after watching this video... I now actually understand what happened and how it happened. Thank you for making it.
Awesome explanation! Thank you!
3.6 roentgen - not great, not terrible
It's not 3.6 Roentgen, it's 15000.
@@sumeetdadwal9313 This man's delusional, get him to the infirmary.
that stuff was pure propaganda, i'm waiting for the series on the gulf of tonkin, the wtc-7, or the lusitania, or the unnecessary nuking of Japan
ankit gupta you’re delusional.
Ankit... he is just quoting the remark the Chernobyl inquiry guy's said!
finaly , watched so many , finaly i could understand thanks to u
Thank you, using this in a project
Very nicely presented! Very good video!
That was an excellent explanation.
A nice expansion on Episode 5 of the Chernobyl series, Thanks guys :)
jeez you're braindead
@@galvanizedcorpse Y'know, a lot of people in the west were born AFTER Chernobyl and the HBO series may have been their first close exposure to it (so to speak).
Straight forward explanation of Chernobyl...thanks so much. 👍👍
Samantha you are a really good presenter. Love your channel and your clear voice. You earn my sub.
Excellent explanation 👍
Seriously, a very big thanks to u😭🙏🏻. It was one of the BEST and the most informative video i could find to understand what actually happened at Chernobyl. Ur way of explaining is soo simple and clear. U were a savoir to me today💖. Once again, thnqq soo much💓 and i mean it by heart💕💕🙏🏻🙏🏻💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💗💗💗💗💗💗 keep going🤗
The best and only video that actually help to understand what had happened in Chernobyl! 🙏
the best explanation of what happened..... i watched the series, many videos but got confused...this video made it very clear
Great explanation!
Your video is spot on... More concise and indeed a no nonsense one
It’s sufficient for a non-technical audience. Some things were left out or glossed over, but you get the general idea.
Ultimately, they tried to ramp it too quickly. Ramping refers to increasing or decreasing the power output of a power plant. You can ramp a hydro electric dam within minutes. A coal plant can be ramped over an hour or two. Natural gas and oil a bit quicker. Nuclear plants need to be ramped very slowly. Optimally, you use your nuclear plants for base loading and run them as close to full capacity as you can, and when the grid requires higher capacity during peak hours, you use more conventional power plants to make up the difference. The operators at Chernobyl attempted to ramp too quickly, with disastrous results. Once the reactor output dropped and refused to increase they should have re-inserted the control rods and let the xenon burn off and then began the day long process of ramping up again. Instead someone panicked and tried to strong arm the reactor back to it's normal capacity. RBMKs are possibly the most temperamental reactors ever developed. The only other reactor that even comes close in my mind was the reactor in the Alfa Class soviet nuclear submarines. They used lead cooled fast reactors. If you had to SCRAM one of those reactors, the lead would cool and solidify rendering the entire reactor a giant useless pile of nuclear waste. This happened to more than a few of these submarines.
I read a story about an Alfa that sprung a coolant leak leading to not only a loss-of-coolant accident but also a reactor compartment knee-deep in solidified lead. It might have been a decent idea for a reactor but it was also a complete pain in the arse to clean up if something ever went wrong.
The other downside of the Alfa's was that lead (well, lead-bismuth) is Dense-as-fuck™ and the reactor alone composed around 30% of the overall weight of the sub, making them a bitch to surface if anything ever went wrong. But they had a stunning career.
Lead cooling sounds like a good safety system,in reality the reactor can't have 'problems' like a car! it is more like an aeroplane,only one chance - stay in the air. If it gets upset,best lock it up in lead.
so basically a lousy design badly operated by Homer Simpsonski , obeying comrade Burnski
I would not be surprised that Dyatlov forced the power back up because he believed that it could be easily and safely done with RBMK reactor, just as it could be with a small submarine reactor. Dyatlov has worked on submarine reactors prior coming to Chernobyl and probably never received proper training for RBMK reactors ("as he already knew how to operate reactors from his previous job").
Excellent video 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
Excellent documentary.
You’re godam right madam ! Thank you for clear explanation and a great video
Amazingly explained
Best explanation ever 👍🏼
Well done! Thank you!
Very well explained. Defective design and improper operation.
Great vids cheers🙏
Excellent description of a complicated scenario! Wow, ( if history truly repeats itself I'm so getting a dinosaur.)....
One problem with the command structure was that the support town 3 km away was just that. If a reactor technican got that guy mad you basically ended what was a good life for yourself.
Excellent video
was about to go and watch the actual movie but thought it would be better if i had an idea at least of what happened, nice vid and thanks.
CLEAR & EFFECTIVE explanation
Clear & wrong explanation you should say. Control rods don't have any graphite tips at all and the real cause of the explosion was the neutron flux that built up at the bottom because rods couldn't be inserted fully
@@akiratablet2281 great point
a very good explanation of answering the " what " went wrong with the reactor design question ...but as to answering the " why " it went wrong question, it seems to be that all to common work pressure environment from upper level management , to get it done and disregard safety protocol if needed...........which unfortunately still goes on to this day.............
Great explanation of the accident. It unfortunately set back the acceptance of nuclear energy by the general public, though it’s still the ‘cleanest’ energy choice we currently have available.
Very nicely explained👌👌
Very good explanation
Amazing video! I rate this video 15 000/3.6.
hahaha love it.
Best explanation ever!!!!!
Most explainable and understandable video to clear incident of chernobyl...
nice video and thanks.
One of the best explanation videos out there. Again they messed up with the "graphite tips". They were not "tips". There were about 4.5 meters worth of graphite. That's not a "tip".
The "graphite tip" she's referring to is a few meters long. It's the moderator rod, attached to the control rod. One goes in, the other is pushed (or pulled) out.
I finally understand what happened, thank you!
The cover-up by the Russians was one of the most disgusting parts, aside from sacrificing people to clean up the mess.
worse than using an atom bomb?
@@jojojimys, Apples and oranges. The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment is closer to that mark imo.
@@jojojimys IQ of 42 spotted.
@@jojojimys I read somewhere that the explosion fallout was worse than the effects of many hydrogen bombs. I think it was 100 times worse but I can't recall exactly. I'm a non-scientist, interested in learning how the accident happened.
*Soviets.
7:49 you forgot the haunting words "The chain of desaster is now complete!"
Very clear! Thanks for making this video
thanks a lot for explain very well.
You missed 1 important detail. When the rods went it, they take 18 seconds to be fully inserted at that time (now it has been reduced to 4 seconds), there was a hot spot already in the core by the time the rods were being reinserted into the core. Which then blew up the core making it so the rods could not be fully inserted and the graphite tips remained in position increasing the reaction.
That is the best breakdown I have seen on the subject. All the videos I have watched about Chernobyl focus mainly on the aftermath.
I'm glad to know that you watched Chernobyl by HBO, but you shouldn't take an explanation from episode 5 as the basic truth. Actually power was at relatively low level and had low rate of increase before AZ-5. It started increasing momentarily AFTER pressing AZ-5. This action wasn't an emergency one.
You missed out the fact that the workers Akimov and Leonid (who were in the reactor control room moderating the power output) actually considered to slowly raise the power in the reactor over the period of 24 hours considering xenon poisoning of the core... They even suggested it to Anatoly Dyatlov. However, Comrade Dyatlov violated the safety regulations and protocols and went forward with the testing, unaware of the design flaw of the control rods(graphite tips). They tried to bring up the power output, it starts to increase drastically. Trigger was pulled when AZ-5 was initiated which lowered all the *graphite tipped* control rods at once into the core. That's when RBMK reactor exploded. Everything else was covered well in this video.
I read that the team doing the test were not nuclear experts but experts on the (non-nuclear) back-up test areas only. They did not consult with the nuclear experts and weren't aware of the nuclear risks from what they were doing. When the explosion happened, we were visiting Wales at the time and I remember some fallout cloud eventually came over Wales because some of the grass and sheep there could not be consumed afterwards as they were radioactive. It's ironic that the disaster was a consequence of a 'safety test' which wasn't safely carried out.
7:43 The cause of the second explosion could have been ignition of hydrogen which had been produced by the reaction of steam with zirconium fuel cladding. The explosions at Fukushima were from hydrogen.
It was said there were two primary explisions. One when the lid popped off from steam build up enough to blow a 200 ton lid high enough to take the roof off above and then come down to rest sideways and then a much larger bammo when the oxygen rushed in the crucible reactor vessel and the rest is history. The entire real bad part of the event was within roughly 45 seconds. Although far fetched, I'm looking forward to the Russian take on the event that they plan to make. It is quite a coincidence that the iron curtain fell soon after. I can't help but wonder if Dyatlov and or others in the program had other motives.
@@gstyle1911 Oxygen by itself does not cause an explosion. It must combine with something else (e.g., hydrogen) to cause an explosion.
I can’t wait for the video on how Vlad’s sleepover was the week before the accident. Lol. Awesome graphic
thank you
1:38 also wrong the chernobyl reactor had all the right safety features on it except for 2, external shielding of a reactor which is commonly left out from nearly all reactors built even today, but the main one in question was the graphite didnt cover the bottom of the rods. so once they were inserted into the core to cool the core down and force it to shut down it caused any water beneath the rods to immediately turn into steam instead of it being able to cool the rods down. this was mostly done to save money but also because at the time it was considered impossible for meltdowns to ever occur in a npp
This is incorrect, they are explaining what happened in the accident of the HBO series, not what happened in reality. The tips of the control rods were not made of graphite... That was an oversimplification they did in the series
well, this was made in part with PBS, so really, not much better than the reactor design itself...
Most interesting, educational and the best detailed explanation I've seen in years. Please forgive me for saying so and most respect, I really love your cute freckles.
Huge theory explained in simple terms
The accident that happened at the Fukusima plant was the eventual lack of cooling water to the reactor cores (obviously because of the tsunami and systematic loss of emergency power). Units 1, 2 & 3 reactor cores eventually melted. Is the BWR reactor a negative coefficient reactor. No water, no problem. One thing for sure, if a catastrophic accident does occur, the clean-up is going to cause multiple deaths and decades before the contaminated area is fully safe.
This is by far the best explanation regarding the physics of Chernobyl. Thank you.
I saw a documentary on a experimental VLF atmospheric test that was being conducted the same night only 40 KM away from Chernobyl. Engineers knew that this high power VLF had in the past interfered with Chernobyl instrumentation in the past. They had not told each other the either testing that evening. Did the VLF test interfere with the instruments in the control room of Chernobyl?
When did the operators have any erroneous readouts or their equipment failed to respond during the accident?
Why do so many people keep saying the control rods were “tipped” with graphite? They weren’t. They had a graphite rod which was pulled into the core when the control rod was pulled out. That’s what allowed them to have better control of the reactor. It was a hot spot that developed at the bottom of the reactor, due to the low water flow, that caused the problem. As the control rods were inserted, the water in the bottom of the reactor was displaced by the descending graphite part of the control rod. This caused a huge change in neutron flux which had the consequence of breaking some of the fuel rod channels and preventing the control rods from moving further. From then on, it was simply a run-on chain reaction.
This video maybe old, but I have to point out that the control rods did not have graohite tips. Yes, they were designed with graphite, but the whole lower sections of each rod were made of graphite. Like, half od the whole rod. Once those rods were lowered into the reactor, the graphite sent the reaction skyrocketing, destroying the interior and causing a near instantaneous build-up of pressure that caused the initial explosion and it all fell down from there.
Excellent video, though follow up study would be required to fully explicate the specifics.
That's not exactly what happened. There is so much information missing.
Tips were not made out of graphite. Neither water pumps were shut down (point of test was to just redirect power to the pumps). Actually rods did not have tips at all instead a different rod made out of graphite to accelerate reaction. When they pulled out boron rods they pulled in graphite rods. Flaw was the emergency shut down system. When they clicked the shut down button all the rods started moving down at once creating neutron flux spike at the bottom. That's what caused explosion. This tv series is no less lie then soviet union. In fact you can listen to actual Legasov tapes and find out for yourself.
You did not explain why the Xe135 was still increasing at the low power level because of the I135 left over from when the RBMK was running at full power and why bringing it up slowly allows time for the I135 to decay and the Xe135 to both decay and burn up from the increasing power. Slow buildup after a power reduction is of course required for safe operation of any reactor.
To give you and idea how fast the nuclear reaction spiraled out of control.All boilers have safety valves dimensioned for their size,these are very large valves that open up by pressure and release the pressure and protect the boiler(reactor) from overpressure and thus rupture.The rmbk reactor has 12 safety valves,although all of these valves should have opened the reactor managed to build up heat and boil water at that rate that the pressure build up until the whole reactor ruptured.Its quite mindblowing, it had to create so much heat that all the water boiled to steam in an instant .Also a boiler/reactor is built in with a safety margin,a boiler will withstand a pressure much higher than its normal operating pressure.I work on a powerplant with a low pressure boiler with a maximum operating pressure of 8 bars,the safety valves will open at 9 and 10 bars respectively and it is pressure tested at 16 bars,but it would probably take at least 50 bars or much more for it to rupture.Applying that to the rmbk reactor which at my knowledge operates at something around 70 bars its most likely built to withstand pressure many many times that.Yet it still managed to build up pressure to rupture with all of its safety valves open.
This was wayyyy better than a movie drama.
good video, nothing about Fukushima in comparison, maybe in the next video
Fukushima is a much different reactor design than Chernobyl. Fukushima meltdowns were a result of a total loss of power when electrical equipment and backup generators were flooded by a huge tsunami. Chernobyl was caused by a multitude of human errors and bad decisions starting with reactor design. The Chernobyl reactor core was blown apart by the explosion and laid open to the environment. The Fukushima cores melted but are still mostly confined to their respective containment structures. Chernobyl had no containment structure.
@@jonr9858 , nazi's were known for experimenting because they didn't know what they were doing obviously who knows what's going on now, possible Chernobyl was deliberate or an inside job? how deep has the fuel rods gone and have they been recovered they should be dumping that xe=135 down in the hole it's made , by the ton at Fukushima
@@vincenttelfer4206 Chernobyl was caused by incompetence on multiple levels. Much of its fuel was scattered when the reactor blew apart. What remained in the core melted and ended up in lower levels of the structure.
''... like all modern reactors??'''
Schematics for the control rods are not correct - they were half boron and half graphite, so essentially when the rood is completely out it actually means that graphite water displacer is in. The problem is they had gaps above and beneath them tho move neutron flux to the center of the reactor. When water boiled out beneath the rods and they started to move down, displacing steam instead of water, that caused instant flux displacement to the bottom and reactor acceleration, and increased pressure has ruptured the channels, and rods were jammed in acceleration position. Designers were well aware of positive feedback systems dangers, but that type of reactor was required for growing USSR industry not only because it was cheaper to build, unlike PWRs it could also been built in sight, produced twice more power, used regular water as coolant and unenriched uranium as fuel and could be refueled while running, which allowed it to be used as an isotope factory for chemical and medical industries. Being not able to calculate all extreme conditions, designers introduce various safety systems and strict instructions. The main reactor flaw was actually that operators had an access for shutting down safety systems - which they did, considering unexplained restrictions as unnecessary. The most ironic is that after the Leningrad RBMK incident they in fact figured out the problem and how to fix it, but because of how unlikely the repeat chance was (as no one was supposed to push the reactor beyond the limits), it was decided to improve reactors at their next scheduled shutdowns, which was supposed to occur right after the safety test. So the disaster was an insanely improbable combination of reactor flaw, safety system flaw, global power management fault, local test management fault and very bad timing - if only only one link of that chain if disaster was not there, no one would ever hear of Chernobyl... Reality is far more sad then fiction - it were not lies and conspiracy caused the disaster, it were everyday carelessness and negligence, as no one thinks his actions could be combined into a tragedy...
I was an industrial safety manager for over thirty years. There has never been a safety system designed that operators have not figured out a way to override and did not try to do so, for even the most irrational reasons. There are Homer Simpsons everywhere. Fubars in nuclear energy plants are bigger and more expensive.
@@jackfanning7952 true, but when you're designing a vehicle that becomes extremely uncontrollable over 100mph, you have only two choices - to make a system that will under no circumstances allow it to reach that speed or don't make such vehicle at all. And in a first case you shouldn't make a switch for it and definitely shouldn't place it to the dashboard. Btw, a lot of scientists familiar with RBMK back then had the same point, including Legasov, but now we have what we have...
@@evilbabai7083 I vote for Plan B. Don't make the vehicle.
@@jackfanning7952 It would be the case it's there was such an option. But, as I explained, there basically wasn't - bunch of low cost/high power power plants needed to be built like yesterday. They wanted to help country's wealth growth, but in the end made an opposite. The road to hell is paved with good intentions...
I am no expert, but another cost cutting measure was there wasn’t a containment structure around the reactor. (The proper materials on the beginning of the video) This is steel reinforced concrete (think bomb shelter material) that keeps the nuclear fuel inside and not escape into the atmosphere. Three mile island, Fukushima and literally every nuclear reactor in the world have this.
5:40 xe 135 was only being created because it hadnt been given the chance to power down properly due to running longer the night before than initially intended. its important to mention these things as youre otherwise implying that other safety systems and routines were not being followed due to x y or z occurring which inadvertedly leads to lies and or deceit occurring over the whole event
1) The tips weren't graphite. The entire bottom part of the control rod was graphite. The top was the boron part and the bottom was the graphite part. When the rods were lowered, the boron would be at level with the fuel and the graphite below the fuel. When the rods were raised, the graphite would be at level with the fuel and the boron above the fuel. 2) The control rods also had their own water cooling system. This is where the key to the major flaw was. If the water got heated enough, the pressure would prevent the control rods from fully lowering.