What was the worst nuclear explosion in history?

The Chernobyl disaster
It is often described as the world’s worst nuclear disaster both in terms of casualties and implications for the environment and global economy. The Chernobyl disaster, as it is widely known, occurred on 26th April 1986 at the Chernobyl nuclear power station in the town Pripyat in northern Ukraine.

When did the Chernobyl nuclear power plant explosion happen?

This was immediately followed by an open-air reactor core fire that released considerable airborne radioactive contamination for about nine days that precipitated onto parts of the USSR and western Europe, before being finally contained on 4 May 1986. The fire gradually released about the same amount of contamination as the initial explosion.

How is the blast effect of a nuclear explosion created?

Effects of nuclear explosions. The blast effect is created by the coupling of immense amounts of energy, spanning the electromagnetic spectrum, with the surroundings. Locations such as submarine, ground burst, air burst, or exo-atmospheric determine how much energy is produced as blast and how much as radiation.

How many people died in the Kyshtym nuclear disaster?

In the village of Korabolka, farmers thought a global nuclear war had begun when they saw the explosion. Within a few days, 300 of the village’s 5000 residents died of radiation poisoning. An evacuation was planned, but only ethnic Russians were relocated. The remaining half of the village were ethnic Tatars, who were left in place.

How are eyes affected by a nuclear explosion?

There are two types of eye injuries from the thermal radiation of a weapon: Flash blindness is caused by the initial brilliant flash of light produced by the nuclear detonation. More light energy is received on the retina than can be tolerated, but less than is required for irreversible injury.