Chernobyl: Do You Know the Facts?

The Chernobyl disaster remains the most significant nuclear accident in history, fundamentally altering our understanding of atomic energy and safety protocols. On April 26, 1986, the explosion of reactor number 4 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant released massive amounts of radioactive contamination into the atmosphere — a plume that spread across Europe before the Soviet government admitted anything had happened.

This introductory quiz covers the essential facts of the event: the timeline of the explosion, the evacuation of Pripyat, and the long-term consequences still unfolding today. The residents of Pripyat — nearly 50,000 people — were told they would be gone for three days. Most never returned. The city remains abandoned, a frozen snapshot of Soviet life in 1986.

Deep inside the plant's basement sits what liquidators called the Elephant's Foot: a highly radioactive mass of melted reactor fuel, sand, and structural material that flowed during the disaster and solidified. In 1986, standing near it for 300 seconds was a lethal dose. Today, decades later, it remains one of the most dangerous objects on Earth.

Nature has not waited for human permission to reclaim the exclusion zone. Endangered Przewalski's horses were reintroduced and now roam freely. Wolves, lynx, and bison populations have expanded without human interference. The zone is simultaneously a monument to catastrophe and an accidental nature reserve.

Above the destroyed reactor stands the New Safe Confinement — a steel arch structure completed in 2016, the largest movable land structure ever built. It was slid into place over the original concrete sarcophagus, which was deteriorating. Inside, robotic equipment will eventually dismantle the remains of the reactor. The work is expected to take decades.