Talk:Chernobyl disaster

Questioning the Standard Explanation

I ran across an article by Judith Pereira "Russian Design Reactors; A Different View on Chernobyl" in Nuclear Engineering International , p. Volume: 44 Issue: 534 Page: 27. (1999.01.31) In it, she quotes Dr. Konstantin Checherov of the Kurchatov Institute as questioing the official explanation. Checherov says that some operators reported something akin to an explosion 'before' the reactor was SCRAMmed, and of seeing the stars through holes in the roof. He also says that his investigations of the site indicate "it is clear that the explosion occurred 60 metres above ground, although still within the building. The overheating of the fuel elements due to coolant loss caused changes in pressure within the reactor which effectively ejected the core into the air where it exploded." Personally, I'm not qualified to discuss this, but it's interesting and appears in what I assume is a reputable publication (I found it in a Lexis/Nexis search, which is why I can't link to it, but I don't think they archive fringe material). I encourage someone better qualified than I to look at it and see if there's a place for it in this article. If so, I'd appreciate a quick note on my Talk page, since I don't get to Wikipedia nearly as often as I'd like these days: can't go from work, and when I get home I'm doing homework, not browsing the 'pedia.

*Septegram*Talk*Contributions* 01:20, 25 July 2011 (UTC)

Typo: critically accident.) under Fire COntainment — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.216.171.111 (talk) 18:05, 20 September 2011 (UTC)

Edit request on 2 December 2011

Please change spelling from "Chernobyl" to "Chornobyl". Since the city is in Ukraine, the spelling should conform (not the Russian version).

174.115.204.226 (talk) 21:48, 2 December 2011 (UTC)

Not done: We use the common name in English which, according to the lazy Googlehits method, is overwhelmingly Chernobyl (20 million to 670000, if you're interested). More on the policy at WP:AT. --Old Moonraker (talk) 22:13, 2 December 2011 (UTC)

Request for comment

In Ukraine there are currently demonstrations and (even) hunger strikes by former Chornobyl cleanup workers against a government decided of late September to cut there pensions. Read more here or/and here. Should/can this be mentioned in this article (or one of the related Chernobyl articles) or is it to "newsy" or insignificant? — Yulia Romero • Talk to me! 18:12, 8 December 2011 (UTC)

Edit request on 2 January 2012

The first line of paragraph Evacuation Developements is: "The nearby city of Prypiat was not immediately evacuated after the incident, for the general population of the Soviet Union was not informed of the disaster until Monday, April 28, 2 days later, with a 20 second announcement in the TV news program Vremya."

This gives the feeling that the evacuation didnt take place until Monday, April 28, while the evacuation order was given (according to the same article) at Sunday 27, 14:00.

I believe that the paragraph should change to something like: "The nearby city of Prypiat was not evacuated until April 27, 14:00 more than 36 hours after the incident. The general population of the Soviet Union was not informed of the disaster until Monday, April 28, 2 days later, with a 20 second announcement in the TV news program Vremya." Edit made by User:46.103.183.150

Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. --Bryce (talk | contribs) 05:40, 3 January 2012 (UTC)

i am not disputing any of the facts that the article present, I only say that the way they are presented might not make this facts clear so I am proposing a alternative presentation of the same facts. Edit made by User:46.103.183.150

Again, a reference to a reliable source needs to be provided. If we can Cite It, we can Write It. HarryZilber (talk) 18:47, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

Re 'the second explosion resulted from a nuclear excursion'

I would question the bit saying 'evidence indicates that the second explosion resulted from a nuclear excursion' - does the paper cited suggest that? To me it seems to be calculating the amount of core involved in the initial, unquestioned excursion. IE from the observed Xe ratios its calculated that the whole core was not involved in the excursion which caused the first explosion, but only a small part of the core. Nowhere in the abstract (although I dont have access to the full paper) does it seem to suggest any second excursion. If the full paper does suggest that then fair enough. Zwitt.the.twitt (talk) 17:50, 2 February 2012 (UTC)

Distance between Forsmark NPP and Chernobyl NPP

In the article, it states the distance between Forsmark NPP and Chernobyl is 1,100 Km (680 miles) but according to Google Maps the distance between the two, as the birds flies, including great circle calculations, is 1,250 Km (780 miles). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.0.167.171 (talk) 22:19, 6 February 2012 (UTC)

Anyone able to verify?

Read some rumors that the first explosion was due to the Boron in the control rods being converted to Lithium. The lithium detonated in the water. Without any means of slowing the reaction, a steam and hydrogen explosion occurred next, taking the roof off.89.242.105.129 (talk) 03:37, 4 March 2012 (UTC)