The faulty design of reactor no. 4 combined with human error caused the disaster. That morning, the engineers put the plant into operation at very low power. When operating at low power, the reactors are very unstable and the engineers did not take adequate precautions or coordinate their procedure with safety personnel. Suddenly, there was an increase in heat, causing some of the pressure pipes with fuel to burst. ¹⁾

The Chernobyl explosion is one of only two nuclear power accidents classified as level 7 on the international scale of nuclear incidents. The second one is the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan in 2011. ²⁾

Before being contained on May 4, 1986, an open-air reactor core fire that followed the core explosion released considerable airborne radioactive contamination. For about nine days, the contamination spread over parts of the USSR and Western Europe, especially Belarus, where around 70 percent landed. ³⁾

The Red Forest is named for the ginger-brown color of its pine trees. The pines died following the absorption of high levels of radiation from the Chernobyl accident on April 26, 1986. It covers 4 square miles surrounding the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant within the Exclusion Zone located in Polesia. ⁴⁾

Some sources say two people died in the initial explosions; others say the number was closer to 50. Dozens of people developed severe radiation sickness; some later died. ⁵⁾

Long-term observations of both wild and laboratory animal populations in heavily contaminated areas show significant increases in mortality, increased incidence of cancer and immune defects, shortened life expectancy, premature aging, cardiovascular changes, malformations, and other factors affecting animal health. ⁶⁾