Over the years, the world has experienced major disasters related to engineering failures. Engineering failures are major risks to human life and property because of the massive casualties they result to when they occur. Major engineering failures have been experienced in form of plane crashes, collapse of super-tall buildings, and release of toxic gases to the environment. Many lives have been lost in these disasters thus calling for engineers to rethink their engineering strategies and the materials they use in their designs and developments.
The Chernobyl Disaster
On April 26, 1986, a massive explosion was witnessed when a malfunctioning reactor at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine exploded. This happened during the morning hours near a city named as Pripyat in the Soviet Union (Hatch, 56). Following the explosion, large volumes of radioactive materials were released into the air and the surrounding environment. Because of the strong winds in the region, the radioactive materials quickly spread into the surrounding regions including Europe and Western USSR. This was a great disaster to the local and the surrounding people because radioactive materials have detrimental effects on peoples’ health systems. The local administration in the region in collaboration with foreign partners were able to evacuate a total of 350,400 people and settled them into the surrounding regions. Despite the quick evacuations however, the disaster caused the immediate death of 4,000 people and more than 30,000 later through cancer deaths (Hatch, 59). This disaster was so massive and was named one of the worst energy disasters in the world history. The occurrence of this disaster was blamed on engineering failures in the structuring and design of reactor and its components.
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"Engineering Disaster resulting from Materials Failure".
An investigation on the cause of the disaster revealed that problems started following a power gush and then a quick shutdown of the systems that created a power output spike. When the spike hit the reactor vessel, it raptured uncontrollably leading to a sequence of steam explosions (Hatch, 64). When the reactor’s graphite moderator was finally exploded to the air, it ignited and the resulting fire led to the outpour of massive amounts of radioactive materials.
Engineers have been able to show that a sudden shutdown of a power system causes current fluctuations. If the system is being fed with a high voltage power supply, cases of large spikes in power output can be experienced. This is what happened in the Chernobyl disaster. When the engineers were carrying out a system test, there was a sudden power surge that the engineers had not anticipated (Bromet and Havenaar, 516). The power surge led to powerful current fluctuation. The fluctuation was so powerful that it created a large spike in power output. The vessel of the reactor raptured because it could not handle the huge spike of power produced. When vessels are developed, engineers are usually keen on measuring the pressure they can handle. If the force exerted on the vessel is higher than recommended, the vessel can easily burst. In this disaster, the force emanating from the power spike was too much higher than vessel could handle and this is why it raptured leading to steam explosions.
Graphite moderators are usually kept under controlled environments because they easily catch fire when they are exposed to the open air. This is the case because, from physics and chemistry, mixtures of dust, air, and graphite can ignite and cause massive explosions. When the reactor’s vessel raptured, it exposed the graphite materials to dust and air thus causing ignition and massive explosions (Bromet and Havenaar, 520). The resulting fire led to the fallout of huge volumes of radioactive materials into the air. Radioactive materials are small particles that can easily be transferred through the air. These particles are very light and exist in both vapor and gas form. This explains why the materials were distributed over a widespread geographical area.
Could the Disaster have been Avoided?
The Chernobyl disaster could have been avoided in the engineers were a little more serious when carrying out the test. In the first instance, the engineers ought to have known that a power hitch could have occurred at any time. Most importantly, they ought to have understood that a power hitch would disrupt the system leading to a disaster. To prevent the problem of a power hitch, the testing team needed to have an alternative source of power (Freudenburg, 1015). For example, the could have installed an automatic generator that could have averted the sudden shutdown. With the generator, the team would have prevented the massive power fluctuations that eventually led to the bursting of the vessel as well as the ignition of the graphite.
The Chernobyl disaster would also have been averted if the engineers used the right vessel for the reactor. The fact that the engineers were dealing with radioactive materials means that they ought to have used the strongest vessels, supported with other backup vessels. The objective of using such strong vessels was to make sure that they can handle even the greatest pressure resulting from numerous malfunctions. In addition to using a stronger vessel, the engineering team also ought to have used another material other than graphite.
In conclusion, engineering disasters have been major pitfall to peoples’ lives. Most engineering disasters have resulted from small mistakes that could can be avoided when the engineers are a little more serious. Although there is no point in time when all engineering mistakes will be avoided, engineers need to use appropriate materials. Future engineering disasters can be avoided by using appropriate materials and using technology to reduce mistakes.
