At 1:23 am on April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant - located in the Soviet Republic of Ukraine and considered to have been the pride of the Soviet Union - began what was supposed to be a routine safety test.
What happened in the next 36 seconds would provide a haunting view of the future.
"An entire city basically went extinct overnight," said Fox Nation's Tyrus, in the new ‘Who Can Forget 1986?’ episode.
The cooling system in one of the plant’s four reactors failed, resulting in two explosions --- just two seconds apart. The outcome was considered tantamount to a nuclear earthquake, and the equivalent of 500 Hiroshima bombs.
"There were actually two fires in one reactor – the second fire blew off the roof of the reactor, and that's the one which really led to the full meltdown," said FOX Business' David Asman in the episode.
18,000 people had been hospitalized in the immediate aftermath. But the clean-up was even deadlier than the initial blasts.
"In the two weeks following this disaster, more radiation escaped from this plant into the atmosphere both the atomic explosions over Hiroshima and Nagasaki," said Fox Nation's Tom Shillue.
"Nearby residents said that they had a metallic taste in their mouth," he continued. "That was the beginnings of radiation sickness."
"By the time you begin getting severe headaches and vomiting…it's too late," Asman said, describing some early signs of radiation poisoning among the thousands who suffered in the aftermath.
10 INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR DISASTER
Many suggest that Chernobyl wasn't just a tragedy, but a scandal.
In the immediate aftermath of Chernobyl's reactor's meltdown, the Soviet authorities largely kept their own citizens in the dark and did not attempt to alert neighboring countries.
"The Russians made a brief 20-second announcement telling their citizens and the world that there was an accident at Chernobyl," said Shillue. "That's all," he stressed.
"The extent of the radiation was first noticed by countries outside of the Soviet Union that were being affected by it," added Asman. "It wasn't until weeks or months or even years later that we knew the extent of the damage."
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On April 28, 1986, the cover-up began falling apart when Swedish air monitors detected large amounts of radiation in the atmosphere that seemed to have originated in the USSR. When pressed for an answer to the radiation, the Soviets admitted that an accident had killed two people at Chernobyl.
But the full story of what happened would not come out until years later. To this day, the death toll is unknown.
"If you want to find one of the perfect examples of how a communist government keeps things under wrap, look at that Chernobyl accident," said Dr. Manny Alvarez, Fox News Senior Health Editor.
To learn more about the nuclear disaster and other headlines from the year 1986, subscribe to Fox Nation today to watch Season 5 of ‘Who Can Forget?'
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