Tweet   The last time the world was threatened by nuclear disaster was in 1986. The world was brought to its knees when a reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded. This brought to light the extreme dangers of modern science and caused scientists and lawmakers to re-evaluate the use of nuclear energy.  '20th century science gone wrong' - In 2006, CNN’s Matthew Chance visited Chernobyl, 20 years after the nuclear explosion. Time stands still in the nearby town of Pripyat, where plant workers lived before the explosion. They were told they could come back after three days, but obviously never did.