40 years since Chernobyl disaster: Soviet Union's 'top-down culture' partly to blame

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40 years since Chernobyl disaster: Soviet Union's 'top-down culture' partly to blame Europe

Issued on: 26/04/2026 - 14:04

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Ukraine marked the 40th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster on Sunday. FRANCE 24 spoke with Michael Bluck, Director of the Centre for Nuclear Engineering at Imperial College London, to look back at the tragic event that marked history. Pointing to various factors that caused the explosion at Chernobyl, Bluck said that the Soviet Union's culting of top-down rule was also at blame.

Video by: FRANCE 24 Keywords for this article

• Ukraine
• Russia
• Chernobyl
• nuclear energy

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