I'm not certain how much AH is out there revolving around major industrial and/or ecological events, but this one came to mind after rereading an overview of Gorbachev's premiership, which described Chernobyl as his first major crisis.
If the accident had not happened, for any one of a number of specific reasons (Ex: a prepared operating shift for the outage simulation, thus avoiding the power drop or the unstable reactor condition this created), what would've been the ramifications for the USSR, Europe and nuclear energy in general? The most obvious would be no radiation blanket over Europe, no loss of Pripyat or a major nuclear plant for the Soviets, and none of the subsequent environmental developments in the contaminated area of OTL. But how would Gorbachev's rule been affected by the absence of a major nuclear accident? What changes might this lead to with the Cold War? How would the anti-nuclear movement fare without its starkest example of the dangers of such tech?
On a somewhat different note, if Chernobyl still occurred, but at a later date (say, from 1991 or farther ahead), would the environmental effects still be the same? What would the impact be then on the USSR (or Russia, if dissolution still occurs in '91), Europe, the Cold War and nuclear tech?
If the accident had not happened, for any one of a number of specific reasons (Ex: a prepared operating shift for the outage simulation, thus avoiding the power drop or the unstable reactor condition this created), what would've been the ramifications for the USSR, Europe and nuclear energy in general? The most obvious would be no radiation blanket over Europe, no loss of Pripyat or a major nuclear plant for the Soviets, and none of the subsequent environmental developments in the contaminated area of OTL. But how would Gorbachev's rule been affected by the absence of a major nuclear accident? What changes might this lead to with the Cold War? How would the anti-nuclear movement fare without its starkest example of the dangers of such tech?
On a somewhat different note, if Chernobyl still occurred, but at a later date (say, from 1991 or farther ahead), would the environmental effects still be the same? What would the impact be then on the USSR (or Russia, if dissolution still occurs in '91), Europe, the Cold War and nuclear tech?