how did the chernobyl disaster happen
Key Facts. 1  The 1986 accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine, then part of the former Soviet Union, is the only accident in the history of commercial nuclear power to cause fatalities from radiation.It was the product of a severely flawed Soviet-era reactor design combined with human error.ey Facts. 1  The 1986 accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine, then part of the former Soviet Union, is the only accident in the history of commercial nuclear power to cause fatalities from radiation.