On April 26, 1986, reactor Number 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear plant went critical. The result was an uncontrolled reaction that made a steam explosion that blew off the reactor's 1000-metric-ton, two-foot thick steel lid and blasted through the concrete containment walls around the reactor. The reactor burst into flames and two people were killed instantly. Thirty-one people would die later, mostly firefighters. Many more would die from the radiation sickness and cancers caused by the 100 million radionuclides released into the atmosphere.
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