answersLogoWhite

0


Best Answer

Chernobyl, in the Ukraine, was the site of a nuclear reactor fire and radiation leak on April 26, 1986.

User Avatar

Wiki User

8y ago
This answer is:
User Avatar

Add your answer:

Earn +20 pts
Q: In the 1980s a nuclear reactor exploded and burned near which town?
Write your answer...
Submit
Still have questions?
magnify glass
imp
Continue Learning about Physics

How much does a B-52 bomber weigh?

Around 180,000 lbs empty. Loaded, around 250,000 lbs average. Update: 250,000 lbs would only be 70,000 lbs of fuel. A standard ramp load for a B-52G in the 1980s was 150,000 lbs of fuel putting the aircraft at 330,000 lbs. A nuclear alert B-52G loaded with maximum fuel, 12 cruise missiles, 4 B61 nuclear gravity bombs, and 8 Short Range Attack Missiles (SRAMs) mounted on a rotary launcher had a gross weight of 492,000 lbs.


When was wind power discovered?

Wind power was used throughout antiquity to power sailing ships and later windmills. Modern wind generators appeared in the 1980s.


How can you protect yourself and others from radiation?

There are multiple types of radiation, and there are different means of protecting yourself from them. Solar radiation is, by far, the most common as it comes from the sun. Even though we depend on the sun and it has always been there, solar radiation can cause serious problems or even death with overexposure. Staying indoors and away from sunlight going through windows (including sunlight reflecting off of glaciers, snow, glass or water) is the surest way to avoid damage from solar radiation. Second to that would be clothing to cover as much of one's skin as possible and sunglasses to prevent solar radiation damage to one's eyes. Any skin that is exposed should have sunblock with both UVA and UVB protection, and an SPF factor of at least 30 before becoming exposed to sunlight. Radioactive material, such as radium or xenon, is another source of radiation exposure. Any element with an atomic number higher than Bismuth is radioactive (technically Bismuth itself is radioactive, but the half-life of Bismuth is a billion times the estimated age of the universe, so it emits such a tiny amount of radiation that it would not register on most geiger counters) as well as heavier isotopes of lighter elements. Most smoke detectors use a tiny amount of radioactive material, but the radiation emitted by the material is slight and usually does not penetrate outside the shell of the smoke detector. Cell phones may have radioactive materials in them, but unfortunately it is not yet known how much of a problem they cause. Although the amount of radioactive material is small, it is a concern because of how close cell phones are kept to our bodies; even when not in use, most people keep their cell phone on their belt or in a pocket and when in use, its right against your head. Using Blue-Tooth or other wireless technology with your cell phone instead of directly putting a cell phone to your ear to handle a call can, at least, prevent whatever radiation might emit from being in such direct contact with your most vital organ: your brain. Almost all nuclear fission reactors emit radiation that is higher than normal background radiation during normal operation. Ongoing research has found statistically higher incidences of cancer and other known side effects of radiation even when radiation emission from reactors do not exceed currently established safety limits. Unfortunately, the constant emission of radiation saturate broadly around the reactor over time. The only sure-fire effective way to avoid radiation damage from a nuclear reactor is to never live, travel or be near one. Nuclear fission reactors are complex machines, and human error (such as occurred at Chernobyl and Three Mile Island) or natural disaster (such as the Fukushima reactor in Japan) can trigger the unintentional and potentially catastrophic release of radioactive material into the air and water in a meltdown or near-meltdown incident, contaminating the air and ground for dozens of miles. Radioactive dust can be breathed in, or water or food (plants, dairy, poultry, meat, etc.) produced in or transported through areas contaminated with airborne byproducts of runaway nuclear reactions may be contaminated with radiation. When disaster strikes a nearby nuclear reactor, it is a good idea to use a dust mask to avoid breathing in radioactive dust. If possible, get at least 20-30 miles from the reactor and not downwind of the reactor. Do not eat food or drink liquids harvested after the radiation release (generally, the stuff that was already in your fridge before the incident is okay; your house blocks some radiation and prevents most radioactive dust from getting inside except through ventilation or air conditioner, and refrigerators tend to be air-tight such that it is unlikely radioactive dust would get directly inside). Water that was already bottled before a nuclear reactor incident should be safe unless it was very close to really intense radiation. Nuclear weapons are almost the worst radiation exposure that one can get, as there is an intense blast of pure radiation at the moment of detonation ... it does not need to be carried by wind as dust, the first dose of radiation will emit out. Some can be blocked by normal, healthy skin; some need a thin sheet of metal before it will be blocked, but some radiation emitted by a nuclear weapon detonation would need several inches of lead to be stopped. Avoid looking into the blast, and place yourself to put as much as you can directly between you and the blast. Draw curtains over a window and stay behind a wall or large object like a car, if possible. A nuclear blast will generate a lot of smoke (the immense heat from the detonation can cause spontaneous fires miles from the point of detonation, depending on the detonation yield) and dust which will be contaminated with radiation. A cloud-like plume will rise from ground zero (the spot the weapon detonated) and will be carried by prevailing wind (the wind driving normal weather clouds); dust and moisture will cause radiation to essentially fall from this cloud, so you want to avoid being beneath this cloud with any means available. Any device containing electronic circuitry may be disabled by an invisible electromagnetic shockwave emanating from the nuclear blast, so a car exposed to this invisible shockwave may not start, and even if a cell tower survived the direct blast, a mobile phone or computer may not work at all; if you want to get away from the danger zone, you may have to do so solely on foot or with means not involving any electronic components (such as a bicycle or horse). The longer you are in the area of a nuclear blast, the greater your chances of serious radiation exposure, so get out when and how you can safely do so. To date, only two nuclear weapons have been detonated in hostile acts: upon Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan some 66 years ago. There were a number of terrifying moments of the cold war between the United States and the then-Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR, aka the Soviet Union), and for a long time (especially early on) a lot of Americans believed or were lead to believe that a nuclear war between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. was inevitable. The U.S. and the U.S.S.R. engaged in a very worrisome nuclear arms race, racing with each other to build more and bigger bombs. Fortunately, in the 1980s, the cold war ended ... by that time, the crazy doctrine appropriately acronymed M.A.D. -- Mutually Assured Destruction -- had reduced the threat most Americans have felt about the likelihood of the U.S. becoming the target of a nuclear strike ... and after the fall, it seemed improbable, a silly, forgotten paranoia of a by-gone era. Unfortunately, the world has changed and not for the better. Nuclear weapons have proliferated to smaller, less stable governments that seem to have less interest in self-preservation. The United States has incurred several terrorist acts in Oklahoma City, New York and our national capital. With the number of billions of people living in the world upticking higher and higher, and nuclear weapons being spread to less civilized places more and more despite stockpile reductions in the U.S. and Russia, the cold, hard fact is the United States is vulnerable to a nuclear weapon and it is a real and valid concern. Whether a crackpot state dictator, stateless terrorist or even domestic terrorist, the best missile defense we have can't protect against some guy lugging around a bomb in a box. Equipment and manpower to detect radiation from terrorist bombs is well beyond the budget of our government to constantly scan 100% of all incoming cargo (to say nothing of a homegrown bomb from a domestic terrorist). Add to the mix, the world economy being what it is and getting worse for some, those with a nuke on hand might be tempted more and more to make a buck pawning it to a nasty person ... so it might seem silly and paranoid because its never really happened on U.S. soil, but it is still sensible to plan for the contingency of a nuclear weapon detonation.


How are solar cells of today superior to solar cells of the 1980s?

Advances in technology - coupled with the discovery of more efficient materials, make today's solar cells much more efficient than earlier models.


How do energy efficient windows work?

The energy efficient windows work using multiple layers of glass instead of just one, which was common for the beginning of the 1980s. Since conduction is one of the main reasons for heat loss, with multiple glass layers, this effect is reduced to the minimum.

Related questions

In the 1980s a nuclear reactor exploded near which town?

chernobyl


Where in Europe was there a nuclear reactor meltdown in the 1980s?

Nowhere as far as I can find. Perhaps you are thinking of the 1986 Chernobyl steam explosion and graphite fire. This was in the USSR and although the graphite fire melted much of the core, it was not a meltdown in the usual sense associated with nuclear reactors.


What country disassembled all their nuclear weapons in the 1980s?

south Africa


What nation in the cold war possessed more nuclear weapons?

from 1945 until the 1980s, the US.since the 1980s, the USSR and now Russia.


What nuclear disaster did CNN have exclusive video on in the early 1980s?

The Chernobyl disaster


Why was the Hanford nuclear site a matter of concern in the 1980s?

Because it was changing people's DNA


In 1950 which country had the most nuclear weapons?

From 1945 until the late 1970s or early 1980s the United States always had the most nuclear weapons. After then the USSR/Russia has had the most nuclear weapons.


How impossible to use nuclear energy?

Using nuclear energy is possible, and in fact being done. It has been done since the 1940s. The first nuclear electric plant came on line some time after that, but I worked at one in the 1980s.


What event caused the US to slow its construction of nuclear power in the 1980s?

The accident at Three Mile Island on March 28, 1979. Also, storage of the leftover nuclear materials became a problem as no state wanted it stored within their borders.


What event caused the US to slow it construction of nuclear power plants in the 1980s?

The accident at Three Mile Island on March 28, 1979. Also, storage of the leftover nuclear materials became a problem as no state wanted it stored within their borders.


What caused widespread health problems in the mid 1980s and for years to come in northeastern Kazakhstan?

Nuclear Test Site in Semipalatinsk caused major environmental and health problems.


How many atomic bombs or nuclear weapons are there in the world today?

In the late 1980s it peaked at somewhere over 20,000 warheads. As of 2012 the total has declined to roughly 10,000 warheads.