On April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine exploded and created the worst nuclear disaster the world has seen. The chemical explosion released over 520 dangerous radionuclides in the atmosphere and the contamination spread in the areas around. The effects were so disastrous, affecting over 8 million lives in the Soviet Union because of the radiation. In the year 2016, on the 30th anniversary of this accident, the United Nations adopted a resolution to declare April 26 as the International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day. The General Assembly observed that long term consequences of the disaster are still seen. On this day, we tell you some interesting facts about this nuclear disaster which you probably didn't know. Chernobyl Photo Shoots Are the In Thing According to Instagram Influencers After HBO Show's Popularity; Gets Mocked by Social Media Users.

The Chernobyl power station was situated at the settlement of Pryp’yat, northwest of the city of Chernobyl. The station consisted of four reactors, each of which was capable of producing 1,000 megawatts of electric power. The disaster occurred on April 26, 1986, occurred because of human error by technicians. It caused a chain reaction and resulted in several explosions, which blew off the heavy steel and concrete lid of the reactor. This and the ensuing fire in the graphite reactor core released large amounts of radioactive material into the atmosphere. On the International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day 2020, check some of the interesting facts. Ukraine: Smoke From Wildfires Near Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Engulfs Capital Kyiv.

  1. At the time of the disaster, the cold war was still going on and the Soviet Union did not tell the world what had happened. Even their own cities were kept in darkness about the incident. Sweden released the alert that something has happened after the Swedish Nuclear plant workers sensor’s read high levels of radiation.

  2. The explosion killed only two plant operators and the third one due to heart attack but more than 28 workers and firefighters succumbed to the radiation while working on the cleanup. Over a dozen others got horribly sick.

  3. The death toll because of this disaster is still unknown. A lot of deaths took place because of the radiation entered the food chain. Speculative figures say the death toll could be about 90,000.

  4. The level of radiation was similar to Hiroshima atomic bombs in the year 1945.

  5. After Unit 4 exploded, the three other reactors were shut down. But they were restarted within a year and a half. The last Unit 3, to close down was in the year 2000.

  6. Chernobyl has become a spooky tourist attraction, where people can observe the ghost towns landscape at the spot. Following the series made on it, tourism grew by almost 40%.

  7. The exclusion of complete human activity from the region, made it thriving for wildlife. Red deer, wolves, lynx, bears, eagles and other megafauna reportedly began taking refuge in the exclusion zone around Chernobyl.

  8. Some say there was a prophecy about Chernobyl too. It is said an angel predicted 'wormwood' star would bring a doomsday. Chernobyl gets its name from the wormwood plant.

A lot of movies, documentaries and literature are written about this nuclear disaster. The grave disaster has left the region in a ghost town and some of the plausible effects are still seen today.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 26, 2020 08:30 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).