THE CHERNOBYL DISASTERAND ETHICS

West Virginia University

EE 481 Group #10

Spring 2014

Floyd Baker - Matt Logue - Stuart Christie

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Saturday, 26 April 1986 Reactor #4 of Chernobyl Plant Near the city of Pripyat, Ukraine Close Proximity to Belarus and the Dnieper River

Actual modern location is in the Ukraine Widely considered to be worst Nuclear Power Plant accident in history

The only other comparable event is the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster

THE DISASTER

Began as a systems testUnexpected power surgeEmergency shutdown was attemptedLarger power spike occursReactor rupture and steam explosionsGraphite explosionNuclear falloutEffects continue today

EFFECTS OF THE ACCIDENT

31 deaths attributed to directly to accident 64 confirmed deaths from radiation as of 2008 Many more could die from effects of radiation 400 times more radioactive material than Hiroshima

Immediate and long lasting effects of flora and fauna

Thyroid cancer is a major issue in the affected areas

Massive economic effects

ETHICAL VIOLATIONS OF CHERNOBYL

The staff and engineers violated the following NSPE code of ethics:

“Engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public”

ETHICAL VIOLATION PREVENTION IN CHERNOBYL

The nuclear engineers should have contained the reactor area properly in case of the explosion.

This would contained the radiation and kept it from spreading to such a large area

ACCIDENT PREVENTION OF CHERNOBYL

The Engineers at Chernobyl could have designed the RBMK reactor very differently:

Avoid positive temperature coefficient of reactivity

Not putting moderator on the tips of control rods

Use a SCRAM system that responds in seconds instead of minutes

Add automatic lockouts to prevent operators from performing actions known to create unstable operating conditions

Provide a containment building

POTENTIAL ETHICAL ISSUES IN OUR PROJECT

Tracking food expiration dates

Users who have food allergies

Users on diet plans

Users on a budget

User data privacy

PREVENTION OF ETHICAL VIOLATIONS

Provide early warning to users that foods they have are going to expire soon

Warn users if a food they are buying contains an ingredient they are allergic to

Warn users if they are buying foods that are outside of their diet plan restrictions

Warn users if they are spending more than the budget they set for themselves

Implement database security