The Process of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Accident

In the early morning, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant was conducting a safety test on whether the reactor could operate during a power outage. The original experiment was to lower the power output of the reactor, which was operating at 3,200MW (thermal output), down to 700MW (simulating a power outage). However, due to a control room operator's mistake, after control rods (rods that lower reactor output) were inserted into the reactor, the output unexpectedly dropped to 30MW for unknown reasons. Dyatlov then ordered the experiment to proceed by increasing the power. The operators began to withdraw the control rods to raise the output, and when they left only 6 manual control rods (normally 15 are required), the output rose to 200MW, and the test continued. For reasons unknown, automatic control rods were then inserted. However, during the insertion of the control rods, the power output surged dramatically, reaching 33,000MW, ten times the normal output, and the reactor exploded.