Chernobyl disaster Chernobyl disaster The Chernobyl disaster, also referred to as the Chernobyl accident, was a catastrophic nuclear accident. It occurred on 25–26 April 1986 in the No. 4 light water graphite moderated reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant near the now-abandoned town of Pripyat, in northern Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Union, approximately north of Kiev. The event occurred during a late-night safety test which simulated a station blackout power-failure, in the course of which safety systems were intentionally turned off. A combination of inherent reactor design flaws and the reactor operators arranging the core in a manner contrary to
Effects of the Chernobyl disaster species. Studies suggest the 19-mile (30 km) "exclusion zone" surrounding the Chernobyl disaster has become a wildlife sanctuary. Animals have reclaimed the land including species such as the Przewalski’s horse, Eurasian lynx, wild boar, grey wolf, elk, red deer, moose, brown bear, turtle, voles, mice, shrews, European badger, Eurasian beaver, raccoon dog, red fox, roe deer, European bison, black stork, golden eagle, white-tailed eagle and eagle owl whose populations are all thriving. When the disaster first occurred, the health and reproductive ability of many animals and plants were negatively affected for the first six months. However, 30 years later, animals