...and now for another Human Factors Minute! The Chernobyl disaster was caused by a nuclear accident that occurred in April 1986, in the north Ukrainian SSR and is considered the worst nuclear disaster in history.

The accident occurred during a safety test on an RBMK-type nuclear reactor, commonly used throughout the Soviet Union.

The test was a simulation of an electrical power outage to aid the development of a safety procedure for maintaining reactor cooling water circulation until the back-up electrical generators could provide power. This gap was about one minute and had been identified as a potential safety problem that could cause the nuclear reactor core to overheat.On the fourth testing attempt, an unexpected 10-hour delay meant that an unprepared operating shift was on duty.

During the planned decrease of reactor power in preparation for the electrical test, the power unexpectedly dropped to a near-zero level. The operators were able to only partially restore the specified test power, which put the reactor in a potentially unstable condition. This risk was not made evident in the operating instructions, so the operators proceeded with the electrical test. Upon test completion, the operators triggered a reactor shutdown, but a combination of unstable conditions and reactor design flaws caused an uncontrolled nuclear chain reaction instead, releasing a large amount of energy that killed two, and hospitalized 134 station staff. 28 died in the days to months afterward and approximately 14 suspected radiation-induced cancer deaths followed within the next 10 years.This has been another Human Factors Minute!Be sure to check out our main show at our official website: https://www.humanfactorscast.media

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