HIS 100 Module Three Activity Template: Revising Questions
Replace the bracketed text below with your responses.
Identify the topic you chose to explore:
The Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster
Identify a historical perspective that could be applied to your historical event.
The Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster occurred because of a test to determine if the reactors main
pumps could maintain circulation in reactor number four. It was a test in case of an emergency
situation. But due to a number of safety violations and a reactor that was unstable, there was an
uncontrolled power surge and explosion at around 1:20am on April 26, 1986. The significance of
the disaster was not known at first as the explosion devastated the area around the reactor. The
explosion sent nuclear fuel and graphite elements into the air and surrounding areas creating
health hazards to all around. Due to testing equipment locked into a safe mode, the workers at
the plant were left to investigate the accident themselves. At the time, it was thought the
explosion happened somewhere around the power plant and that the reactors were all safe and
working properly (Geist, 2015).
Revise your research question based on evidence from your primary and secondary sources.
Original
1.
How has the Chernobyl nuclear disaster affected the environment and human life in the
area?
Revised
1.
How did Communism play a part in the response, call for help, and response of the
Chernobyl disaster?
2.
Did the disaster (and the response) take part in the decision for Russia to invade
Ukraine?
Explain how historical perspective and evidence from sources influenced your finalized research
question.
My original research question felt like it was too vague when I read it over and over again. I felt it
lost the perspective I was trying to use. With the Soviets lies and deceit about the accident, we
are all left scratching our heads. It just surprises me they would try to cover up such a disaster
and leave people and animals in the surrounding areas in due harm. With the combination of my
primary and secondary sources, I am sure I can get pretty good answers to my two revised
questions.
References
Geist, E. (2015). Political Fallout: The Failure of Emergency Management and Chernobyl. Slavic
Review, 74(1), 104-126.
https://doi.org/10.5612/slavicreview.74.1.104
1
