The disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant happened in 1986. They evacuated surrounding towns and setup a wide perimeter inside which only people working to contain radioactive fallout and otherwise prevent the disaster from getting worse. Right?
Not quite.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherno...ecommissioning
http://chernobylgallery.com/chernoby...ster/timeline/
1986 29 September: Reactor 1 restarts and is connected to the grid on October 1
1986 10 October: Construction work on reactors 5 & 6 is resumed.
1986 9 November: Reactor 2 restarts
1987 21 April: Reactor 3 restarts supplying electricity.
1987 24 April: Construction work on blocks 5 and 6 halted. On May 23, 1989 it is decided not to complete the reactors.
1991 October 11: A fire breaks out in the turbine hall of Reactor 2. The fire began in Turbine 4 while it was idle for repairs. A faulty switch caused a surge of current to the turbine, igniting insulating material on some electrical wiring.This subsequently led to a leak of hydrogen, used as a turbine coolant, into the turbine hall which created the conditions for fire to start in the roof and for one of the trusses supporting the roof to collapse.
Using hydrogen as a coolant? What could possibly go wrong?
2000 15 December: Reactor 3, the last function reactor, is shut down.
Seriously, WTF?