The Chernobyl nuclear power plant:
| Type & Capacity | Start Construction | Criticality | Shut down | |
| Block 1 | RBMK-800 | March 1970 | September 1979 | November 1996 |
| Block 2 | RBMK-1000 | February 1973 | December 1978 | October 1991 |
| Block 3 | RBMK-1000 | March 1976 | December 1981 | December 2000 |
| Block 4 | RBMK-1000 | April 1979 | December 1983 | April 1986 |
| Block 5 | RBMK-1000 | December 1981 | - | - |
| Block 6 | RBMK-1000 | December 1983 | - | - |
Mikhail Gorbachev had been in office only 13 months when Chernobyl occurred. He had arrived to a warm response from Western political leaders. Much younger and more active than his predecessors, he appeared to herald a time of change in the USSR. In 1986, however, he inherited an ossified Soviet state that was Leonid Brezhnev's legacy. Gorbachev's reaction to Chernobyl was very cautious but, in addition to the defensive posture adopted by his government initially, he also indicated a willingness to cooperate with the IAEA. It should be noted that in 1985 the USSR had agreed to IAEA inspections of some of its nuclear reactors, and thus this policy was not necessarily a new departure. Similarly, aid offered from long-established "friends of the USSR" abroad was also accepted, while that of individual governments was turned down.
Local times: At the time of the 1986 accident, Ukraine was one of the Republics of the USSR (Union of Socialist Soviet Republics) and had Moscow-time (GMT+3). Although Ukraine changed its time to GMT+2 after it declared indepence from Moscow in August 1991, times mentioned in the Chronology are historical local times (GMT+3) Times mentioned concerning Sweden's Forsmark, are also GMT+3. Time difference (in 1986) between Chernobyl and Sweden was 2 hours.
Statistics:
* Number of reactors in operation January 1,
2006 [pdf, 130 kb]
* Nuclear power reactors shutting down since
Chernobyl Accident [pdf, 20 kb]
* Nuclear power reactors starting commercial
operation since Chernobyl Accident [pdf,
30 kb]