The Power Plant
Welcome to the Chernobyl power plant, Ukraine – the epicenter of Chernobyl nuclear disaster. In this section, I'll show you how the power plant operated before the disaster as well as giving you an insight of the sheer power nuclear plants can fathom.
The Chernobyl power house
The reason why the Chernobyl power plant was not only built was to accommodate the Soviet Union's (which Ukraine was part of until 1991) growing demand for electricity, but was also to boast their technological advancements.
A nuclear power plant was selected after it was decided by the government that the Soviet Union did not readily have enough coal or oil to run coal/oil power plants, however did have a large amount of uranium at hand.
Althrough there was already a town Chernobyl near the site, a more suitably positioned city named Pripyat was built nearby to house the plant's many workers and their families.
A vast majority of nuclear power plants are fuelled by uranium, which like coal, is mined from the earth. Through fission reactions, rods of uranium are used to produce heat which is subsequently converted into electricity.
Map of Europe, showing location of Ukraine with Chernobyl marked
Photo of Chernobyl power plant before 1986
How nuclear reactors work
- Nuclear fission reactions occur inside the core, producing heat. The control rods control the system by absorbing stray neutrons which in turn slows down the rate of reactions.
- The heat from the core is transferred to the water through conduction, which then turns into steam with a temperature of 580°C.
- The pressure of the steam turns the turbine, powering the generator.
- The generator converts the turning motion of the turbine into electrical energy, which now can be injected into the national electricity grid.
- This steam is then cooled by water from the cooling lake which then causes the steam to condense back into water. The cycle then repeats.
A doodle of a typical nuclear reactor
Power plant comparison
Just to give an indication of the power of the Chernobyl power plant, I have shown a comparison with New Zealand's Huntly power station.
| Power plant | Location | Lifespan | Fuel | Units | Power output | Coolant* |
 |
Chernobyl, Ukraine | 1977—2000** | Nuclear fuel (uranium oxide) | 4 reactors generating 1000 MW each | Total of 4000 MW (enough to power 32 million light bulbs all year round) | Pripyat artificial lake |
 |
Huntly, New Zealand | 1982—today | Coal (50% from NZ and 50% from China) and Gas | 4 coal fired units and 1 gas turbine, generating 500 MW each | Total of 1050 MW (enough to power 8.4 million light bulbs all year round) | Waikato river |
* Coolant is used to prevent overheating through the transfer of heat from the power generator into the coolant.
** Although the incident occurred at reactor 4 in 1987, Ukraine's need for more power meant that reactor 1 was operating until 2000.