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
Deaths due to the Chernobyl disaster by the accident are small compared to background rates of cancer. Theoretical estimates must rely instead on controversial models such as LNT or hormesis models. In the list following are 37 people whose deaths are officially directly attributable to the Chernobyl disaster. Of these, two died at the scene, four died in a single helicopter accident, 29 died within a few months of Acute Radiation Syndrome (ARS) and three died later from medical complications possibly caused by the accident. Of these people, one was a cinematographer, one a physician, five military personnel (four in a single helicopter), seven firefighters, two