Was the Chernobyl reactor 4 disaster in Urkaine stronger than the most powerful h-bomb ever invented?

Question

1) Judging by the strength, which one is stronger? 2) Judging by amount of radiation released, which one has more radiation? 3) IF the the strongest h-bomb ground zero was a city, would it have caused more or less damage than if the chernobyl disaster happened to take event in a town as large?

Answer 1

By comparison the incident at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant was a dud compared to the largest h-bomb.
You don't want to be around when this happens:
By chaining together numerous stages with increasing amounts of fusion fuel, thermonuclear weapons can be made to an almost arbitrary yield; the largest ever detonated (the Tsar Bomba of the USSR) released an energy equivalent to over 50 million tons (megatons) of TNT, though most modern weapons are nowhere near that large.
Chernobyl:
On April 26, 1986, the fourth reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, exploded at 01:23 AM local time. All permanent residents of Chernobyl and Zone of alienation were evacuated because radiation levels in the area had become unsafe.

The Chernobyl City and its surrounding suburbs are now home to nuclear scientists, maintenance officials for the Chernobyl Power Plant, Liquidation Officials, doctors, physicists, and most of all, radiation physicists. Although Pripyat, a neighboring city to Chernobyl remains unmaintained, Chernobyl has been renovated and is now home to more than 2000 people, including visitors to the Zone of Alienation who stay at a local lodge in the Chernobyl suburbs.

Answer 2

I would guess that the amount of fuel in the reactor core that caught fire far exceeded the amount of fissionable material in the 50 megaton H bomb which the USSR detonated in 1961. An H bomb is relatively clean in terms of the radioactive fallout produced, as the only source of radioactive debris is the small fission bomb which is the trigger for the fusion bomb. In terms of the contamination of the environment and the radiation poisoning of plants, animals, and humans, Chernobyl was far worse than the 50 megaton bomb exploded on a deserted island in northern Siberia.

Answer 3

Not really comparable phenomena. A bomb explodes, creating heat and a massive shock wave. Massive amounts of energy is released in an instant. A reactor melt down does not involve the sudden destruction of a bomb. However because it lasts longer there is usually more radiation. A bomb explodes and consumed the fuel, with a sudden burst of radiation. The reactor would have been releasing radiation for days, maybe longer.

Answer 4

No. The reactor suffered a partial "Three Mile Island"--but because of insufficient safety protocols, the radioactive dust cloud had a HUGE environmental impact over the Ukraine, parts of Russia and Europe.

And it is still being felt today--long after the accident.

The plants, the animals, even the people.

There are still clear signs of contamination and fall out from the destroyed reactor.

Answer 5

It is hard to compare these. The most powerful h-bomb would produce a much higher destructive capability, especially locally, while the Chernobyl disaster resulted in a vast dissemination of radioactive material, while any explosion that occurred in it was of far lesser magnitude.

Answer 6

can't tell you from physics point of view. but all i can say that the chernobyl disaster had a great impact on Belarus, the neighboring country of Ukraine. even now and for many years, decades and etc in the future will the people and the country experience the devastating effects.