franceinfo junior. Why did the Chernobyl power plant explode?

April 26 is the International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day. 37 years ago, on April 26, 1986, an accident occurred at the nuclear power plant in the city of Chernobyl in Ukraine, then located in the USSR.

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The Chernobyl nuclear power plant (Ukraine) after the explosion of one of its reactors, in April 1986. (VLADIMIR REPIK / AFP)

This Chernobyl nuclear disaster, which we still talk about today, also intrigues the young interviewers of franceinfo junior: they are CM2 students from the Gustave Rouanet school in Paris. To answer their children’s questions: Roland Desbordes, spokesperson for the Criirad (Commission for independent research and information on radioactivity).

At the microphone, the schoolchildren – apprentice journalists for a day – want to know in particular how this accident and the explosions took place, what happened on the spot and the number of victims, for example. The program of the day brings them answers on this historic event which is still the subject of questions today, and even of a recent television series.

On this page, you can re-listen in full to this franceinfo junior program and children’s questions about the history of the Chernobyl power plant.


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