Ep. 16 Chernobyl: How the Soviet Union’s Desperation to Prove Itself Almost Ended the World
- Author
- Shea LaFountaine
- Published
- Sun 25 Jun 2023
- Episode Link
- None
It’s April 1986. Alarms at the Forsmark Nuclear Power Plant in Sweden start going off unexpectedly, warning of high levels of radiation. Operators are confused. The power plant is fully operational. Nothing is amiss. The radiation detectors shouldn’t be going off. Soon, other nuclear power plants in Scandinavia start reporting the same thing. Their alarms are going off too. A dangerous amount of radiation is spreading throughout northern Europe, but where is it coming from? They narrow it down to an area in Ukraine, which is part of the Soviet Union. They reach out. What’s going on? But the Soviets deny any issues with their nuclear facilities. “All good here,” they say, “no problems at all.” But that’s a lie - a big one. In reality, the most devastating nuclear disaster in history is underway at Chernobyl and it’s worse than anyone realizes. The Soviets may be keeping a poker face, but did you know their desperation to prove themselves to the world almost destroyed it entirely? Let’s fix that.
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Sources:
- Scientific American Article "Lenin's Body Improves With Age"
- Duke Energy "Nuclear Energy"
- MIT "The Fission Process"
- World Nuclear Association "The 1986 Chernobyl Accident"
- The Sun "Suicide Squad"
- BBC "Ukraine War: Chernobyl power supply cut off, says energy operator"
- Encyclopedia Britannica "Vladimir Putin"
- war.ukraine.ua "Why is Russia Invading Ukraine?"
- History "USSR Established"
- Forbes "This Is How Propaganda Works: A Look Inside a Soviet Childhood"
- A Short History of podcast episode "Chernobyl"
- Deathbed Confessions podcast episode "Valery Legasov"
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