The worst nuclear power plant accident in history changed the course of European history. EuroparlTV takes a look back at the Chernobyl disaster in April 1986.

History: Chernobyl nuclear disaster

https://api.multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/documents/20125/15962727/v001-0020-en_mf.srt

In the middle of the night,  1:23am local time,

two massive explosions occur in reactor 4  of the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine.

A controlled shutdown experiment  at the reactor has gone wrong.

What follows is a nuclear disaster  without precedent.

The explosions have dislodged the over  1,000-tonne top cover of the reactor.

As the facility lacks a reinforced shell,  the reactor core is exposed.

and spews out tonnes of highly  radioactive material into the atmosphere.

The accident can be attributed  to a chain of human errors,

inefficient administration and design  deficiencies of the RBMK reactor type.

We saw it as a failure  of the Communist system.

Everyone knew that the Soviet  power plants and equipment in general

were in a very poor state,  nuclear power plants included.

It was also proof, a foretoken  of the end of the Communist regime.

They were incapable of managing the  economy, nuclear power plants, anything.

Yes, but it was of course  known even at the time

that there were also serious incidents  at German nuclear plants.

Think of the major failures at Biblis  where the worst nearly happened.

And previously, there was also  Harrisburg in '78.

So you couldn't say,  'This can happen only in Russia.'

Fukushima really  put an end to this myth.

Near the plant the radiation is so strong  that some workers die within minutes.

Thousands of 'liquidators'  are exposed to radiation doses

now known to be lethal  in a short period of time.

The Soviet Union sent people  to put out the fire at Chernobyl

The neighbouring town of Pripyat is only  evacuated 36 hours after the accident.

Residents had no idea what lethal dose  of radiation they were exposed to.

During the following weeks, a radioactive  cloud drifts over much of Europe.

Even 2,000 kilometres away in Turkey,  there is an increase in thyroid cancer.

A radius of 30 kilometres around the plant  is declared a restricted area,

remaining uninhabitable  for many generations to come.

The disaster  and its long-term consequences

Throughout Europe, the disaster turned  public opinion against nuclear energy

and provided a boost  for the Greens as a political power.

Chernobyl was important for me  as it made me realise

that it's all about the energy industry  and about nuclear power.

I remember well  how important an influence that was,

furthering my involvement  in the environmental movement.

26 years after Chernobyl, 196 nuclear  reactors are operating in Europe.

11 reactors, all in Russia, are of  the same type as reactor 4 at Chernobyl.