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Light_bulbnz t1_irtsyv0 wrote

Reply to comment by jammerjoint in How did they fix the RMBK reactors? by Henricus_3141

Well, this particular test was supposed to have been done before Unit 4 came online in late December 1983. But the unit was signed off as complete without the test being run in order to meet the end of year deadline. The planned shutdown in 1986 was the first real opportunity to take the unit offline to run the test as they had ~3 year cycles between maintenance shutdowns.

In normal operating situations the accident should never had happened, but given the culture and pressures at the time, it really was inevitable.

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Bensemus t1_isn8rn0 wrote

They had tried to run the test a few times but it failed. It failed for the las time because they couldn’t fully shut down the reactor due to power needs and had to push the test to the next shift when power needs were less. It wasn’t about taking the reactor offline for maintenance.

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Light_bulbnz t1_isn9p07 wrote

The reason why the test was scheduled for this time was because they were taking the reactor offline for maintenance. It was delayed for hours due to the power needs of Kyiv.

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