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Vaasha Ramnarine

Delin Bixha

Ralph Sylvain

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On April 26, 1986, reactor four at theChernobyl Nuclear Power plant inUkraine exploded. This event was one ofthe worst nuclear events in history

reaching level 7 on the internationalnuclear event scale.

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Several accidents and emergency shutdowns before the major explosion.

Most of these shutdowns were unscheduled shutdowns and errors made

by several employee's. Some cases were covered up as well.

The reactor was scheduled for maintenance

and was temporarily shutdown.

During the examination of the turbines, one

of the operators made a lethal mistake with

the regulators which resulted in power crash.

This lead to an increase in power beyond limits.

The shift supervisor attempted to control the situation, however several

seconds later a series of explosions followed by braking pressure tubes,

containment lids, and chunks of graphite and radioactive elements went

flying causing as many as 30 roofs to catch on fire.

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They considered that the set up of the plant as a model of the

RBMK type plant, was to be worthy of copying and did so.

As a result, its operators felt that they are an elite crew and

became overconfident and acted in a hazardous unethical

manner.

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The evaluation was realized as an electrical test only

and so, the test was under the supervision of the

turbine manufacturer and not the regular operators

Effects on the reactor were not thought up carefully

enough which to begin with

Displayed as an unethical act which contributed to

the disaster.

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 Out of 71 technical breakdowns in 1980 to 1986, no

investigation was carried out in search of the causes at

all in 27 cases.

 Many cases of equipment malfunction had not been recordedin the operation logs.

In this disastrous case there is a breach of many ethical codes

but also in relation to the leading up of the Chernobyl disaster

There is a concealment of events which should have been

ethically taken into consideration

Whistle-blowing should have taken place to unravel the cover-

up of the many unresolved and unscrutinised dilemmas.

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Tenets Code of Ethics no. 6 which asserts that “Membersshall, where relevant, take reasonable steps to informthemselves, their clients and employers, of the social,

environmental, economic and other possibleconsequences which may arise from their actions” hasbeen breached in this catastrophe.

Violation of Tenets Code of Ethics no. 5 which states that“Members shall apply their skill and knowledge in the

interest of their employer or client for whom they shall actwith integrity without compromising any other obligationto these Tenets” automatically leads to infringement ofEthical Code no. 3 which declares that “Members shallact only in areas of their competence and in a carefuland diligent manner ”. 

The operator error was probably due to their lack ofknowledge of nuclear reactor physics and engineering, aswell as lack of experience and training.

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According to these allegations, at the time of the accident the reactor was being

operated with many key safety systems turned off, most notably the Emergency Core

Cooling System (ECCS), LAR (Local Automatic control system), and AZ (emergency

power reduction system).

Personnel had an insufficiently detailed understanding of technical procedures involved

with the nuclear reactor, and knowingly ignored regulations to speed test completion.

The developers of the reactor plant considered this combination of events to be

impossible and therefore did not allow for the creation of emergency protection systems

capable of preventing the combination of events that led to the crisis, namely the

intentional disabling of emergency protection equipment plus the violation of operating

procedures.

Thus the primary cause of the accident was the extremely improbable combination of

rule infringement plus the operational routine allowed by the power station staff.

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In this analysis of the causes of the accident,deficiencies in the reactor design and in the

operating regulations that made the accidentpossible were set aside and mentioned only casually

Serious critical observations covered only generalquestions and did not address the specific reasons for

the accident.

Several procedural irregularities also helped to makethe accident possible. One was insufficientcommunication between the safety officers and the

operators in charge of the experiment being run thatnight. Once again, the human factor had to be considered

as a major element in causing the accident.

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The operating crew's deviation from the test program thatwas mostly to blame. "Most reprehensibly, unapprovedchanges in the test procedure were deliberately made on

the spot, although the plant was known to be in a verydifferent condition from that intended for the test.“ 

Deficiency in the safety culture was inherent not only atthe operational stage but also, and to no lesser extent,during activities at other stages in the lifetime of nuclearpower plants (including design, engineering, construction,manufacture and regulation).

The poor quality of operating procedures and instructions,and their conflicting character, put a heavy burden on

the operating crew, including the Chief Engineer.

 "The accident can be said to have flowed from adeficient safety culture, not only at the Chernobyl plant,but throughout the Soviet design, operating andregulatory organizations for nuclear power that existed at

that time."

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30km Radius had to be evacuated City of Pripyat and cities in the 30km radius had to be evacuated

instantly after explosion and were never to return for belongings. 330,000 people were affected immediately after the explosion. Due to such a catastrophic event and evacuation many of the

evacuees had mental health problems, alcohol and tobaccoabuse, and etc

100,000 people are considered to be premanetly disabled as aresult

7 million people receive compensation 5-7% of Ukraine and Belarus government spending is allocated to

various Chernobyl related compensations. First generation of wildlife offspring had malformations Flourishing biodiversity Contamination of groundwater and downstream water-ecosystems

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Cost of ensuring safety of nuclear facilities significantlylower than that of dealing with accidentconsequences.

Caused psychological problems and deterioration in

public health and quality of life. Importance of strict compliance with the basic and

technical safety principles for nuclear power plants.Continuously checking on safety of operating nuclearpower plants and their early upgrading in order toeliminate deviations.

Need to establish and support a high level nationalemergency response system.

Implementation of agricultural countermeasures hasrevealed even the smallest amount of radionuclides inthe soil can make animals and plants contaminated.

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Early clinical effects in the few months afterwere attributable to radiation and nonradiation factors. (living conditions, ionizing

radiation) Probability of nuclear accident will never

be zero, therefore need to be prepared tominimize losses through timely response.

Public needs to be informed immediately ofthe accident and needs to be taughtprecautions and effects of such acatastrophe.

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THANK YOU!