The Number Four reactor at Chernobyl exploded during a routine power test in April 1986. Radioactive contaminants from the [[Chernobyl disaster]] fell on northern Ukraine and several neighboring countries, reaching as far as Japan and the United States, causing casualties, sparking a major embarrassment for the Soviet Union, and inciting fears of nuclear energy.<ref>Jim T. Smith, and Nicholas A. Beresford, ''Chernobyl: Catastrophe and Consequences.'' Springer, 2005. 310 pp.</ref> | The Number Four reactor at Chernobyl exploded during a routine power test in April 1986. Radioactive contaminants from the [[Chernobyl disaster]] fell on northern Ukraine and several neighboring countries, reaching as far as Japan and the United States, causing casualties, sparking a major embarrassment for the Soviet Union, and inciting fears of nuclear energy.<ref>Jim T. Smith, and Nicholas A. Beresford, ''Chernobyl: Catastrophe and Consequences.'' Springer, 2005. 310 pp.</ref> |