Quiz of the Day
Nuclear Science & Chernobyl
Sunday, 26 April 2026
40th anniversary of Chernobyl — nuclear energy facts, famous disasters, science safety
1. In what year did the Chernobyl nuclear disaster occur?
- 1991
- 1986
- 1979
- 1984
The Chernobyl disaster happened on April 26, 1986, during a safety test that went catastrophically wrong. It was rated 7 on the International Nuclear Event Scale — the maximum level, shared only with Fukushima.
2. In which country was Chernobyl located at the time of the disaster?
- Russia
- Belarus
- Ukraine
- Soviet Union (Ukrainian SSR)
While in modern-day Ukraine, Chernobyl was part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1986. The nearby city of Pripyat, built to house plant workers, was evacuated 36 hours after the explosion.
3. What is nuclear fission?
- Cooling reactor rods
- Heating uranium
- Combining atomic nuclei
- Splitting atomic nuclei
Nuclear fission was first achieved in 1938 by German scientists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann. A single kilogram of uranium-235 can produce as much energy as burning 3,000 tonnes of coal.
4. What is the name of the massive containment structure built over the destroyed Chernobyl reactor?
- The Vault
- The New Safe Confinement
- The Dome
- The Shield
The New Safe Confinement was completed in 2016 and is the largest movable structure ever built — 108 metres tall, 257 metres wide, and weighing 36,000 tonnes. It's designed to last 100 years.
5. What percentage of the world's electricity is generated by nuclear power?
- About 10%
- About 20%
- About 5%
- About 30%
Nuclear power provides about 10% of global electricity from around 440 reactors in 32 countries. France leads with about 70% of its electricity from nuclear — the highest proportion of any country.
6. What element is most commonly used as fuel in nuclear power plants?
- Plutonium
- Uranium
- Thorium
- Radium
Uranium is about as common as tin in the Earth's crust. The isotope uranium-235 makes up only 0.7% of natural uranium but is the key fissile material used in most reactors.
7. What happened at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania in 1979?
- A partial nuclear meltdown
- A nuclear bomb test
- A nuclear waste spill
- A uranium mine collapse
Three Mile Island was the worst nuclear accident in US history but released only small amounts of radiation. However, it effectively halted new nuclear plant construction in the US for over 30 years.
8. Who discovered radioactivity in 1896?
- Henri Becquerel
- Ernest Rutherford
- Albert Einstein
- Marie Curie
Becquerel accidentally discovered radioactivity when photographic plates stored near uranium salts became fogged. Marie and Pierre Curie later expanded on his work, and all three shared the 1903 Nobel Prize.
9. What is the 'Exclusion Zone' around Chernobyl?
- A 10 km radius
- A 5 km radius
- A 50 km radius
- A 30 km radius
The 30 km Exclusion Zone has become an unexpected wildlife sanctuary. Wolves, wild boar, deer, and even rare Przewalski's horses thrive there — suggesting that the absence of humans benefits wildlife more than radiation harms it.
10. What does a Geiger counter detect?
- Chemical reactions
- Temperature changes
- Electromagnetic waves
- Radioactive radiation
Hans Geiger invented the device in 1908 with Ernest Rutherford. The clicking sound it makes is caused by individual radiation particles ionising gas inside the tube — each click represents one particle detected.
11. What is nuclear fusion?
- Splitting heavy atoms apart
- Storing nuclear waste
- Cooling radioactive material
- Combining light atoms together
Fusion is the process that powers the Sun, combining hydrogen into helium at 15 million °C. If harnessed on Earth, it could provide virtually unlimited clean energy with minimal radioactive waste.
12. How many people were immediately killed by the Chernobyl explosion?
- 2
- 500
- 31
- 150
Two workers died instantly from the explosion. Another 29 died within months from acute radiation syndrome. The total long-term death toll from radiation-related cancers is hotly debated, with estimates ranging from 4,000 to 93,000.
13. What is the half-life of the radioactive isotope Caesium-137?
- 30 years
- 4.5 billion years
- 700 million years
- 8 days
Caesium-137 was one of the main contaminants released at Chernobyl. With a 30-year half-life, it takes about 300 years (10 half-lives) for contamination levels to become negligible — meaning Chernobyl won't be fully safe until roughly 2286.
14. Which Japanese nuclear plant suffered a major disaster following a tsunami in 2011?
- Tokai
- Hamaoka
- Kashiwazaki-Kariwa
- Fukushima Daiichi
The 9.0 magnitude earthquake and subsequent 14-metre tsunami overwhelmed Fukushima's defences. Unlike Chernobyl, no one died directly from radiation, but over 150,000 people were evacuated and many areas remain restricted.
15. Marie Curie won Nobel Prizes in which two fields?
- Chemistry and Medicine
- Chemistry and Peace
- Physics and Chemistry
- Physics and Medicine
Curie remains the only person to win Nobel Prizes in two different sciences (Physics in 1903, Chemistry in 1911). Her notebooks are still so radioactive that they're kept in lead-lined boxes and require protective clothing to access.