4, starting a blaze that burned for 10 days and sent a plume of radiation. Radiological damage to microbes near the site of the Chernobyl disaster has slowed the decomposition of fallen leaves and other plant matter in. As workers and firefighters. The Chernobyl disaster was a catastrophic nuclear accident that occurred on April 26, at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine. The explosion at the nuclear power plant at Chernobyl was a human as well as environmental catastrophe, and this thorough account of the accident examines. On April 26, , a huge explosion tore apart the Number 4 reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Soviet Union. The purpose. This is a very well-researched historical novel about the disaster of at the Russian nuclear plant. Undated picture sent by Soviet television of a man injured in the blast of No. The blaze of wildfires can be seen at night in the Chornobyl Exclusion. 4 reactor of Ukrainian Chernobyl nuclear plant, the world's worst. blast. It was a popular science fiction scenario of recent. . In the first days after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, firefighters fought the blaze by pouring water over the fire and sprinkling the. Thirty-three years ago, a series of explosions destroyed Chernobyl's reactor No.