Kursk Crisis & Zaporizhzhia Attack: Ukraine's Bold Move Sparks Global Fear of 'Chernobyl 2.0’

Oneindia

The escalating conflict between Russia and Ukraine has reached new heights with Ukraine's daring incursion into the Kursk Region and renewed concerns over the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant. As Ukraine's offensive intensifies, fears of a catastrophic nuclear disaster reminiscent of Chernobyl are growing. With the Zaporizhzhia plant already facing heightened scrutiny following recent attacks, the possibility of a severe nuclear incident looms large, threatening global security and reigniting Cold War-era fears."    #KurskCrisis #ZaporizhzhiaAttack #UkraineConflict #Chernobyl2 #NuclearThreat #GlobalFear #RussianInvasion #UkrainianOffensive #NuclearDisaster #EnergySecurity #ColdWarFears #InternationalConcern #KurskOffensive #ZaporizhzhiaPlant #CrisisAlert

Transcript

00:30it at first it resembles the foot of an elephant and you will be convinced it's just that.

00:36When you look at it the first thought that might cross your mind is what an elephant foot is doing

00:40in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. But this is no ordinary elephant foot though it may look like

00:46one. After just 30 seconds of exposure dizziness and fatigue will find you a week later. Two

00:52minutes of exposure and your cells will soon begin to haemorrhage. Four minutes vomiting,

00:58diarrhea and fever. 300 seconds and you have two days to live. Today in this video we will be

01:04telling you about this dangerous discovery which was made by the scientists and why the elephant's

01:09foot could be the most dangerous piece of waste in the world. First let us go back to April of 1986

01:17and recall what happened at Chernobyl. The Chernobyl nuclear power plant is located about

01:23130 kilometers north of the Ukrainian capital Kiev and about 20 kilometers south of the border

01:29with Belarus. It is made up of four reactors that were designed and built during the 1970s

01:34and 1980s. On April 26, 1986 during a routine test reactor 4 at the Chernobyl NPP experienced

01:42a power surge that triggered an emergency shutdown. Instead of shutting down the reactor

01:48kept surging power and in no time at all the plant was in full disaster mode. The control

01:55rods used to manage the coarse temperature were inserted too late into the process. Instead of

01:59cooling down the rods cracked in the rising heat from the core and locked into place. Further the

02:05water used to cool the entire reactor vaporized resulting in a massive explosion thereby

02:11exacerbating the crisis. There were two explosions. The first explosion from the steam inside the

02:17reactor was enough to send the four million pound lid of the reactor assembly through the roof of

02:22the building. A second explosion even more massive followed shortly after the first emitting the

02:27broken core material into the air spreading fire and radioactive detritus. Without the tons of

02:33steel and concrete typically used to shield it the core of the reactor began to melt. The result of

02:38the melting process was a substance called corium which cooled enough to solidify at Chernobyl.

02:44After six months of investigation researchers discovered the elephant's foot. Workers who

02:50entered a corridor beneath the damaged number four reactor months after the Chernobyl disaster

02:54discovered this startling phenomena. The corium that had hardened into a large black mass had

03:00taken the shape of the foot of an elephant and hence the crew nicknamed it the elephant's foot.

03:06This formation stood half as tall as a man and weighed as much as two tons. In one hour the

03:12elephant's foot would expose you to the radiations of over four and a half million chest x-rays.

03:17That dose is almost thousand times stronger than exposures that have been clearly linked to

03:22increased cancer risk. In the days and weeks after the Chernobyl disaster in late April 1986

03:28simply being in the same room with the elephant's foot would have killed you within five minutes.

03:34And yet in spite of the elephant foot's toxic presence in Chernobyl something strange is

03:38happening there. As strange and bizarre as it may sound many different kinds of animals aren't

03:44simply living in the radiated area they are thriving in it. The camera spotted gray wolves,

03:49red foxes, wild boars, moose and deer. It's not that the area isn't still dangerous to humans

03:56but instead the animal life seems to have found a way to thrive in spite of it. And even more

04:01important than that the flourishing animal life shows just how destructive the presence of human

04:05beings can be on the animal population of any given area. Whatever the reason the area of the

04:11Chernobyl disaster has become a kind of wildlife refugee for many different species of animals.

04:17At least some small amount of good was able to come out from one of the worst disasters in the

04:22last three decades. Other major disasters being the Fukushima and Three Mile Island disasters.

04:28Born of human error, continually generating copious heat, the elephant's foot is still

04:34melting into the base of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. If it hits groundwater it could

04:39trigger another catastrophic explosion or leach radioactive material into the water nearby

04:44residents drink. Long after bleeding from the core this unique piece of waste continues to be a

04:49testament to the potential dangers of nuclear power. The elephant's foot will be there for

04:54centuries sitting in the dark basement of a concrete and steel sacrifice, a symbol of one

05:00of the humankind's most powerful tools gone awry. This was all you needed to know about this

05:05dangerous discovery which owes its origin to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, the elephant's foot.

05:11If you like this video do let us know in the comment section below and do not forget to hit

05:15the subscribe button. If you want to know about other such nuclear disasters in history stay

05:19tuned to our channel. Thank you for watching.

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