Was the Chernobyl engineering disaster a mistake?

I would not characterize the Chernobyl meltdown and fire in 1986 as an engineering disaster. When the poorly trained operators turn off all of the safety features to run a “test” under conditions that were explicitly forbidden to run that test in, the engineering was not the problem. read more

Chernobyl - Positive Void Coefficient Positive void coefficient is a term often associated with the RBMK reactors, the type involved in the Chernobyl disaster. Reactors that have a positive void coefficient can be unstable at low power and may experience a rapid, uncontrollable power increase. read more

As the cooling pumps require electricity to cool the reactor, in the event of a power failure, Chernobyl’s reactors had three backup diesel generators; these would start up in 15 seconds, but took 60–75 seconds to attain full speed and reach the 5.5‑megawatt output required to run the main pump. read more