Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
Chernobyl disaster
Table of Contents
References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics
Images & Videos
Chernobyl disaster helicopter inspection of the Chernobyl nuclear power station destroyed reactor Unit 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear power station
What really happened in the Chernobyl nuclear disaster?
Chernobyl disaster monument to emergency workers who responded to Chernobyl disaster Chernobyl disaster Pryp'yat, Ukraine
A journey through the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone
For Students
Chernobyl accident summary
Quizzes
Back to 80s banner (1980s, retro)
The Totally ’80s Quiz
Warm water fuels Hurricane Katrina. This image depicts a 3-day average of actual dea surface temperatures for the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean, from August 25-27, 2005.
Disasters of Historic Proportion
Related Questions
Read Next
Wide angle view of Pripyat from Polissya Hotel. Chernobyl nuclear power plant zone of alienation.
30th Anniversary of Chernobyl
Germans from East and West stand on the Berlin Wall in front of the Brandenburg Gate in the November 10, 1989, photo, one day after the wall opened.
Timeline of the 1980s
Abandoned school in Pripyat in the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear plant
Nuclear Exclusion Zones
Community service - volunteers picking up garbage in a park during a spring cleanup. Environmentalism
A Timeline of Environmental History
Communism - mosaic hammer and sickle with star on the Pavilion of Ukraine at the All Russia Exhibition Centre (also known as VDNKh) in Moscow. Communist symbol of the former Soviet Union. USSR
Why Did the Soviet Union Collapse?
Discover
African Americans demonstrating for voting rights in front of the White House as police and others watch, March 12, 1965. One sign reads, "We demand the right to vote everywhere." Voting Rights Act, civil rights.
Timeline of the American Civil Rights Movement
Horses. Equus caballus. Horse stable. A brown horse looks out from his stall through the window.
Horsing Around: 7 of the Weirdest Racehorse Names in History
Attack on Pearl Harbor. December 7, 1941. Pearl Harbor infographic. World War II. Hawaii. United States. Japan. SPOTLIGHT VERSION
Attack on Pearl Harbor Timeline
Shah Jahan. Taj Mahal. Mughal architecture. Emperor Shah Jahan fifth Mughal Emperor (reigned 1628-1658) India, Himachal Pradesh, Basohli or Jammu and Kashmir, Mankot, circa 1690 Drawings; Opaque watercolor, gold, and ink on paper (see notes)
6 Important Mughal Emperors
Remarkable new details of Pluto's largest moon Charon are revealed in this image from New Horizons' Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI), taken late on July 13, 2015 from a distance of 289,000 miles
Why Is Pluto No Longer a Planet?
Orange basketball on black background and with low key lighting. Homepage 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society
The 10 Greatest Basketball Players of All Time
earthquake. Heavily damaged school in the town of Yingxiu after a major earthquake struck China's Sichuan Province on May 12, 2008.
The 6 Deadliest Earthquakes Since 1950

Chernobyl disaster: Facts & Related Content

verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Share
Share to social media
URL
https://www.britannica.com/facts/Chernobyl-disaster
Written and fact-checked by
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

The Information Architects maintain a master list of the topics included in the corpus of  Encyclopædia Britannica, and create and manage the relationships between them.
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica
A drone strike at Chernobyl has raised Ukraine's nuclear ghosts. What are the dangers? • Feb. 14, 2025, 12:09 PM ET (AP)

Facts

Also Known As Chornobyl accident
Date April 26, 1986 - May 4, 1986
Location Ukraine

Photos and Videos

Chernobyl disaster
helicopter inspection of the Chernobyl nuclear power station
destroyed reactor Unit 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear power station
Chernobyl disaster
monument to emergency workers who responded to Chernobyl disaster
Chernobyl disaster
Pryp'yat, Ukraine
What really happened in the Chernobyl nuclear disaster?
A journey through the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone
See All Videos and Images →

Related Topics and References

Topics
Dig Deeper: More Articles That Discuss This Topic

Related Quizzes and Features

Quiz
Back to 80s banner (1980s, retro)
The Totally ’80s Quiz
Warm water fuels Hurricane Katrina. This image depicts a 3-day average of actual dea surface temperatures for the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean, from August 25-27, 2005.
Disasters of Historic Proportion