Accident at the Chernobyl (Ukraine) nuclear power station in the Soviet Union, the worst in the history of nuclear power generation.
On April 25–26, 1986, technicians attempted a poorly designed experiment, causing the chain reaction in the core to go out of control. The reactor's lid was blown off, and large amounts of radioactive material were released into the atmosphere. A partial meltdown of the core also occurred. A cover-up was attempted, but after Swedish monitoring stations reported abnormally high levels of wind-transported radioactivity, the Soviet government admitted the truth. Beyond 32 immediate deaths, several thousand radiation-induced illnesses and cancer deaths were expected in the long term. The incident set off an international outcry over the dangers posed by radioactive emissions.