WI, Nuclear powerplant disaster cover up.

[LXEagle]

Suppose that the plugging the Chernobyl reactor leak would have failed and the Soviet government hushes down their mistake.

No, thats not realistic, but what would happen if a PPlant disaster would just be allowed to live on unattended?

 

[CthulhuFhtagn]

It depends on what country the disaster is in. In the USSR, where movement and communication is severely restricted, it seems likely that nobody would ever find out. I wouldn't be surprised if the Soviet government actually had covered up some small-scale disasters in OTL.

But in a western nation? Forget it. The media would catch wind of it, even if it was a relatively minor incident, just like in Three Mile Island. Covering it up would be next to impossible.

 

[LXEagle]

Alright, but the fallout would still be detected right?

Also consider the Fukushima leak into the pacific. Not exactly a cover up, but in away that would be a more acceptable nightmare.

 

[Delta Force]

The Soviets covered up the Kyshtym disaster at Mayak for decades.

 

[Demon-Something]

It depends on what country the disaster is in. In the USSR, where movement and communication is severely restricted, it seems likely that nobody would ever find out. I wouldn't be surprised if the Soviet government actually had covered up some small-scale disasters in OTL.

Unsurprisingly, they have.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyshtym_disaster

 

[sparky42]

Alright, but the fallout would still be detected right?

Also consider the Fukushima leak into the pacific. Not exactly a cover up, but in away that would be a more acceptable nightmare.

Wasn't it monitoring stations in Sweden that detected and alerted everyone to the extent of the disaster at Chernobyl, so depending on the wind I'd expect them or other Western European nations to continue to detect any leaks.

 

[asnys]

The United States would detect a leak, at Chernobyl or anywhere else. We have monitoring aircraft that are used to sniff out covert nuclear tests, and their sensors are ridiculously effective; they would be able to tell what had happened, and distinguish between a bomb and a reactor accident. Whether they would publicize that information depends on the circumstances; for example, the US government knew about Kyshtym when it happened but didn't tell anyone to avoid hurting the emerging US nuclear power industry.

Russia and other groups have similar setups - including the IAEA, if I recall correctly - but I'm not sure when they were established. And there are various other pathways that could lead to discovery. These days, it's essentially impossible to hide an accident that results in a radioactive release.

 

[mowque]

The Soviets covered up the Kyshtym disaster at Mayak for decades.

Unsurprisingly, they have.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyshtym_disaster

Was coming in here to post this. Happy to see AH.com knows it's stuff. It isn't perfect, obviously we know about it now, but it was very hushed.

 

[Tovarich]

Whereas here in the freedom-loving UK, all information on the Windscale fire was made available to the public in a mere 30 years by the authorities

Gad, it makes one proud to be British!

 

[asnys]

Whereas here in the freedom-loving UK, all information on the Windscale fire was made available to the public in a mere 30 years by the authorities

Gad, it makes one proud to be British!

Not to defend that, but it's not like they claimed it didn't happen, which is what I gather the OP has in mind. And, frankly, the Windscale fire was nowhere near on the same level as Chernobyl or Fukushima.