On April 26, 1986, at precisely 1:24 A.M., the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded, releasing large amounts of radioactivity into the environment. The power station is located 9 mi (14.5 km) northwest of the town of Chernobyl, with a population of 12,500, and less than 2 mi (3.2 km) from the town of Pripyat, which contains 45,000 inhabitants. The explosion and its aftermath, including the manner in which the accident was handled, have raised questions about the safety and future of nuclear power.

The Chernobyl accident resulted from several factors: flaws in the engineering design, which were compensated by a strict set of procedures; failure of the plant management to enforce these procedures; and finally the decision of the engineers to conduct a risky experiment. They wanted to test whether the plant's turbine generator—from its rotating inertia—could provide enough power to the reactor in case of a power...