Chernobyl Lessons

From Yahoo:

"Lessons of Chernobyl disaster, 30 years on"

 Ukraine next week marks the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, when human error and flawed Soviet reactor technology led to the world's worst nuclear accident. Ahead of the April 26 anniversary, AFP looks at the steps taken since 1986 to improve nuclear safety around the world and -- as Fukushima showed in 2011 -- the challenges that remain. Experts say a big factor behind the disaster was the unusual and poor design of the reactor, known as RMBK, particularly its propensity to sudden power surges -- as happened at Chernobyl. In addition, and unlike elsewhere outside the Soviet Union, there was no containment structure shielding the reactor to stop radioactivity escaping.

But there was also human error. According to the World Nuclear Association, the accident was also due to "the violation of operating procedures and the absence of a safety culture". The aftermath was also poorly handled, with officials slow to evacuate locals and Moscow sending 600,000 "liquidators" with little or no protective gear to put out a fire that raged for 10 days. The first alarm was raised on April 28, 1986, not by Russia but by Sweden after it detected an unexplained rise in radiation levels. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev did not admit the disaster had occurred until May 14. With enormous public outrage around the world Chernobyl, suddenly a household name, spurred an international push -- even overcoming Cold War divisions -- to improve atomic safety and reassure the public. One of the most important steps was the 1989 creation of the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO), which carries out "peer reviews" of 430 reactors around the world to detect problems. "The industry has undoubtedly learned the lesson that we are stronger together," WANO chief executive Peter Prozesky told AFP. The demise of the Soviet Union and the end of its Cold War isolation has also removed barriers to international cooperation. Ex-communist eastern European countries, many now EU members, have also been helped to adapt their Soviet-built plants. Of the 17 RMBK reactors in operation in 1986, six have been permanently shut down. In addition the role of the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency was beefed up. It expanded and revised safety standards and member states were required to report swiftly any incidents with potential cross-border effects. A number of international agreements were signed, the most important being the IAEA Convention on Nuclear Safety (CNS). Others covered nuclear waste and early warning systems for accidents.

^ Chernobyl is the embodiment of the Soviet Union and Communism in general. Soviet Communists were more concerned with quantity than quality and so rushed the building of the Chernobyl without regards to safety . It was more important to them that they build it quickly to show how "great" Communism was. The fact that Chernobyl occurred a few years before the Soviet Union itself collapsed enhances its symbolism. From the 1970s to the early 1990s the Soviet system was stagnant with poorer quality products, buildings, food, etc. available. The Soviets focused their attention on military means (which Chernobyl was part of) but they kick corners so they could meet their quotas and not look bad to their superiors back in Moscow. Even after the disaster at Chernobyl the Communists tried their best to act as though nothing happened. They risked the lives of millions of their own people (as well as people in the rest of Europe) just so no one would question the achievements of Communism or the Soviet state. That was part of their own downfall. The world came together to stop the spread of radioactivity from Chernobyl and while that was happening internationally the Soviet people themselves saw first hand how inept their Communist leaders were and how their were out-rightly lied to. Those were not that new to the Soviets since their Communist leaders had lied and censored them from the beginning (1917) but this time it was not over a political prisoner arrested in the middle of the night and sent to the Gulag or about the world around them, but of something as extreme as a radioactive disaster that risked everyone's life and from which there was very little escape from. Chernobyl is the beginning of the end of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and of Communism working in practice. Both were explosive, affected millions of people and still haunt the world 30 years later (for Chernobyl) and 25 years (for the Soviet Union.) ^

https://www.yahoo.com/news/lessons-chernobyl-disaster-30-years-154245318.html?ref=gs