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At the time the accident was occurring, and during the weeks and months that followed, there was a widespread lack of accurate information about the seriousness and the radiological impact (deposition levels) of the accident. |
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The underestimation of the extent of the Chernobyl accident continues today in most official versions in terms of where and in what quantity deposition from the Chernobyl nuclear accident occurred. |
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During and after the accident, official information sources ranged from unreliable (Russian and French government sources) to inaccurate (IAEA, National Radiological Protection Board, etc.). Political considerations and partisan prejudice in favor of nuclear energy production combined with the lack of environmental monitoring information. |
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Technically, the accident was caused partly by operator error and partly by faults in the reactor construction itself. It all started with an experiment to investigate the possibility of producing electricity from the residual energy in the turbo-generators. |
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To carry out the experiment, the operators broke six vital safety rules, and all automatic shutdown systems were taken out of operation. In addition, the emergency core cooling system for the reactor was taken out of operation. |
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