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deaneIt's always been a given with me, and in most popular accounts that I've read about the Chernobyl disaster, that the accident was a result of poor design and lack of maintenance. But apparently those were only contributing factors. The main problem was that they were trying to do a scientific experiment on a reactor which was designed for commercial energy production. In order to perform the experiment they had to disable safety features which would have prevented the explosion.
A better design would have reduced the impact on the surrounding people and environment, but most designs1 become vulnerable if their safety measures are disabled.
A better design would have reduced the impact on the surrounding people and environment, but most designs1 become vulnerable if their safety measures are disabled.
1As far as I know, there's is no way for a CANDU reactor to go critical or explode because of its use of water as a moderator. About the worst that can happen is for the operators to scoop up bits of the core and throw it at people.
