To understand the 1986 Chernobyl accident, we need to understand a bit of the background of the Chernobyl energy complex and the surrounding area. The Chernobyl energy complex was located about 210 miles north of Kiev, Ukraine, and somewhere about 32 miles south of the border with Belarus. The energy complex consisted of a total of four RBMK-1000 nuclear reactors, and at the time of the accident two more reactors were under construction nearby. Reactors one and two were built between 1970 and 1977. The third and fourth reactors were built in 1983. The facility also consisted of a man-made lake covering approximately 35 square miles, built to provide cooling water to the reactors. around the power complex is described as a forest with very few people living in the area. There is a city about three kilometers from the complex called Pripyat, also known as the new city. It has a population of approximately 49,000 people. There is also the old town of Chernobyl located about 24 miles southeast of the nuclear power plant. It has a population of approximately 13,000 people. The total number of people living within a 50-mile radius of the nuclear power plant exceeds 115,000. Just to better understand the type of reactors used in the nuclear power plant, we will explore how the RBMK-1000 works. . The RBMK-1000 is a Soviet design and constructed of graphite. It is a moderate pressure tube reactor using slightly enriched uranium dioxide fuel. (World Nuclear 2014) It has a water reactor, with two circuits that feed steam directly to the turbines, without an intermediate heat exchanger. Water is pumped into the fuel channels to start the boiling process. As the process continues... middle of paper... outstanding work; they basically gave their lives for the rest of the country. It may seem callous, but the world is better because of the Chernobyl accident. He thought the world of what happens when things go wrong with nuclear power. Works Cited (NRC 2013). Retrieved from http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/chernobyl-bg.htmlUNSCEAR.org. (UNCSCEAR 2008). Retrieved from http://www.unscear.org/unscear/en/chernobyl.htmlUnited Nations, UNSCEAR (2011). UNSCEAR 2008. Retrieved from New York website: NATIONS, U. (2011). Sources and effectiveness of ionizing radiation. 11, 179. Excerpt from (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Safety-and-Security/Safety-of-Plants/Chernobyl-Accident/(World Nuclear 2014). Retrieved from http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Safety-and-Security/Safety-of-Plants/Chernobyl-Accident/