Ussr Fell Because of Chernobyl

On 30th December 1922, the world’s largest nation was established and governed by its first leader, Vladimir Lenin.   It grew to become a world superpower, with one of the best military forces and economies in the world.   Unexpectedly, on the 26th of December, 1991, this great and mighty nation fell after the resignation of its last leader, Mikhail Gorbachev.   Many historians have been coming up with various theories regarding the reason why this great nation fell, but I think that the Chernobyl incident was the main reason which led to the fall of the USSR.   Although it may not be the most obvious reason, it was the tipping point which triggered a domino effect of successive economic and warfare issues which culminated in the complete dissolution of the USSR.   This statement will be supported through historical data and also primary and secondary sources will further reinforce the validity of my research and reasons.

Summary of Evidence
From the recent Japan Fukushima nuclear crisis, we can already see how a nuclear meltdown can cost not only lives, but also billions of dollars.   However, the scale of the Chernobyl was many times larger compared to the Japan one.   The Chernobyl incident caused the economy in the USSR to deteriorate, accelerating the dissolution of the country.   According to the World Institute for Nuclear Security, the USSR had to spend USD 4,000,000 dollars to help relocate hundreds of thousands of civilians living in areas near the plant such as Kiev (now the capital of Ukraine).   In addition to the heavy monetary losses from the incident, the Soviets suffered from the high demanding oil prices, and also had to pay compensation to neighbouring Scandinavian countries such as Sweden because of the spreading radiation.   Protecting the river Dnieper, which flowed past Chernobyl towards the city of Kiev, was another heavy cost for the USSR.   Many dams had to be built in order to prevent the radiation leak from Chernobyl to get into the Dnieper...