Can anyone please explain to me the causes of Chernobyl disaster ?

Question

I have looked in wiki but I cannot understand the reasons. It will be better if you will explain to me in your own words.

Answer 1

The Soviet Union didn't have much money.  They spent a lot of what they had on weapons.  They built a cheap nuclear reactor to make cheap power.  It broke.

Answer 2

The reactor cores contain massive levels of radiation as a result of the energy created.  Because the shells were not well maintained, a large amount of pressure built up and caused an explosion which opened up the core to the outside air.  Lots of radiation spilled out and winds which were blowing at the time, carried the radiation to a very far distance which, acting as nuclear fallout, scarred the land forever and is responsible for a lot of birth defects, cancer, and deterioration of the body of the neighboring peoples.

Answer 3

i think it was a nuclear reactor melt down . . . then the radioactive element leaked into the air...

Answer 4

They were doing a test of low power settings.  The tests had been done before but it was risky and this time,  the worst happened.  

It was a graphite moderated reactor.  (The USA only made one like this and it is not in operation anymore.)   Once the graphite started to burn,  they had a chemical fire to deal with as well as the heat of the nuclear reaction.  



No containment building around the reactor.   (All American reactors have a concrete containment building to prevent or at least reduce release of radiation in case of an accident.) Since they had no containment building,  the radioactive material was free to float in the wind.