Disaster: The Chernobyl Meltdown (2026) s01e02 Episode Script
Strahlung
APRIL 30, 1986
DAY 5 OF THE ACCIDEN
MINISTRY BRIEFING ROOM
FOREIGN USA WASHINGTON
I am here today as president.
The interdepartmental working group,
who works for the evaluation
and dealing with the situation
what is happening in the Soviet Union.
We know it took place
serious accident
at the nuclear power plant
of Chernobyl,
we know that this serious accident
resulted in an explosion.
Everyone wanted to know what was going on.
And they learned nothing
from the Soviet Union.
Yes, back there.
Measures have been taken
to limit the destruction?
The Soviets have taken measures
to be limited?
We presented the facts.
As we knew them.
The working group had succeeded,
through the CIA,
to get a satellite image
of the area around the factory.
We know there was a fire.
At the installation,
we have continuous radioactive emissions.
One of the things that happened
was an important
emission of radioactive material,
which became known
as a radioactive cloud.
This cloud, if you will,
were moving in the atmosphere
it circled the world and arrived
in the United States.
Once it happens,
You can't do anything anymore,
the radiation will have
global impact.
DAY 5 OF THE ACCIDEN
DAY 4 OF THE ACCIDEN
APRIL 27, 1986
DAY 2 OF THE ACCIDEN
After the accident,
the main concern was the ongoing
fire in the reactor,
which continued, and after the fire
in the building had been extinguished
and continued to scatter
dangerous radioactive materials
in the immediate neighboring areas
and beyond.
The radiation rate
in the atmosphere
after the explosion was unprecedented
and, for many scientists, horrible.
It was a global disaster.
With global consequences.
They had to do something.
To deal with it.
At the time of the accident
I was 25 years old.
MAJOR IGOR PISMENSKI
HELICOPTER PILO
Everyone has dreams.
Life is impossible without dreams.
I also dreamed of aviation.
We received a notification at midnight.
They ordered us to go to the airport.
Nobody knew anything.
Let's just fly.
The reactor consists of two
important information regarding fire.
Graphite, which is carbon.
Think about coal, in a sense.
And uranium fuel
which is very warm,
produces heat due to
of radioactive decay.
A firefighter will say that the fire
it needs fuel and heat,
these two were constantly present.
The idea was to take the helicopters
and throw sand to put out the fire.
They asked the pilots
helicopters to fly
over potentially fatal
radiation bursts,
that he has never faced before
a man perhaps from Hiroshima.
They grabbed sand from the river
and they put her on parachutes.
They weren't fancy trinkets,
everything was set up on the foot.
The target was the reactor.
A mistake costs a lot here.
When you throw it and it hits the target,
the flight manager
says loudly on the radio
"Well done, guys, ten points."
A relief appears
immediately in your soul.
With the fire burning,
the clouds of smoke filled
with radioactive material increase
and helicopters should
to approach, or even enter them.
Radioactivity around the factory
reached 2,000 roentgens per hour
which are enough to give someone
nearly four times the lethal dose.
Exposure to high radiation fields
causes collapse
the immune system,
depletion of white blood cells
blood cells and death.
The radiation was very high.
All we had
for protection they were gauze masks.
After each round the masks
they were turning brown
and we had a metallic taste
in our mouths,
so we knew it had been exposed
our respiratory system.
It was a very difficult situation,
undoubtedly,
but it was the main thing to solve
because that caused
the ongoing liberation
radioactive material in the environment.
We had heartburn symptoms.
And nausea at the end of the day.
We were young.
And we had excellent health.
So, back then, we weren't thinking
what would be the consequences?
PRIPYA
On the morning of Sunday the 27th,
the people in the city of Pripyat knew
that something was not going well at all.
Radioactive contamination leaked
continuously from the reactor
but it hadn't happened yet
official evacuation announcement.
VITALY SKLYARKOV
FORMER MINISTER OF ENERGY, UKRAINE
They should have evacuated.
Much earlier.
The information was always controlled.
This was our practice.
The government committee was
under the leadership of Boris Serbina,
deputy chairman cabinet
and head
fuel energy of the USSR.
Serbina. He was strong-willed,
very dynamic and very decisive.
Serbina waited.
To give an evacuation order,
this happened because
the need for secrecy,
because they didn't want to
to leak what had happened.
Around eight that morning,
Boris Serbina went by helicopter
to see the reactor from above
and when he returned, then finally
ordered the evacuation of the city.
It was clear that it wasn't just
another sad failure
of Soviet technology,
but colossal, global catastrophe.
11:00 AM APRIL 27, 1986
DAY 2 OF THE ACCIDEN
Attention! Dear comrades!
At the nuclear power plant
of Chernobyl, in the city of Pripyat,
there is an unfavorable
radiation condition.
I remember he came in.
My mom in the room
and said
"Wake up, they're going to take us away."
To ensure safety
of the population, especially children,
temporary evacuation is necessary
of the city's residents.
I remember very well.
The announcement on the radio,
because it was someone we knew.
It was a familiar voice,
calm, without panic,
which said "Gather your belongings
for three days, documents and money,
"and get down,
"The buses will be waiting for you."
We gathered everything we needed,
it was mom's job
me and we went outside.
Everyone at Central
The committee knew everything.
What they communicated
to the public it was something else.
It was impossible to tell them.
That they would not return.
They would take their refrigerators.
In panic, the world turns upside down
buses, wagons and even steam locomotives.
Everyone was afraid of it.
We can't say how many secrets
it was all in the Soviet Union,
the secrecy was engraved
in the Soviet soul at that time.
2:00 PM
When the buses arrived, People
were coming out, going up, and leaving.
MARIA PROTSHENKO
ARCHITECT PTIPIA
The president said
"Maria, you have the plan,
"so go to the bridge
to direct the buses."
At 2:00 pm he arrived
the first bus.
We needed almost 1,500 buses.
I was standing there.
With my blouse and skirt
and I was wearing sandals
on my bare feet.
I had no protective equipment.
The situation until then had
become extremely dangerous.
Everyone in Pripyat was exposed
to huge amounts of radiation,
with consequences that no one
he couldn't predict.
Across from the bridge
there was a football field
by helicopter to land there.
All the radioactive dust was rising.
And sat on my bare feet.
That's why they were so itchy.
Can you imagine how much radioactive dust?
Was he coming out of that place then?
4:00 PM
We stayed outside for over two hours,
waiting for the buses to come.
There was a sense of
unease in the atmosphere,
but it didn't touch me. I was thinking
that parents will solve everything.
We played with the neighbors,
We didn't know it was the last time.
The buses were sent
throughout the Soviet Union.
I didn't have time.
To say goodbye to my friends
and I never saw one again
from my best friends.
We evacuated almost 45,000 people.
Without panic and noise,
We evacuated the entire city.
I remember a woman
who was looking out the window.
He didn't just look at me, he turned
his head. and followed me with her gaze.
There was something on her face,
as if she was screaming from inside
"What is this? Where am I going?"
It was my hometown,
I had friends, neighbors.
We went to forests, to rivers,
it was a nice community.
My most memorable flight
it was when we approached the station
after evacuation.
Unwashed clothes hang on the balconies.
Abandoned carts and cars.
Such a feeling of emptiness.
As if time had stopped.
People had abandoned
life as they knew it
and the city of Pripyat had
largely evacuated.
But as long as the fire continued to burn,
this energy sent
radioactive material
in the air on a continuous basis.
The radioactive material
would enter the atmosphere
to be transported around the world.
APRIL 28, 1986
DAY 3 OF THE ACCIDEN
I remember it was Monday morning,
I go to the office normally,
around 9:00 to 10:00 in the morning
Faxes are full of news.
That the Swedes were revealing
a nuclear accident
in the Soviet Union,
and the Soviets
they hadn't said a word about it.
We started right away.
To ask our Soviet contacts,
and this was addressed
with radio silence.
We were disappointed.
From lack of information
that we had from the Soviet authorities.
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
The phone rang, I picked it up.
And they said there was a nuclear accident,
You must come.
I was surprised.
What do you mean by nuclear accident?
The initial reaction was Armageddon.
Nobody understood the difference
between a nuclear accident
energy and a nuclear attack,
the word created
such associations.
We were trying to get information.
From secret sources, we didn't learn much,
we were not learning
from the Soviets what was happening.
So, on Monday night,
on April 28,
everyone was watching
the 9:00 p.m. evening news.
Waiting to see
How would the Soviets react?
From the Council of Ministers of the USSR.
There was an accident at the
nuclear power plant. Chernobyl station.
One of the reactors
was destroyed.
The consequences
of the accident are limited.
Assistance is being provided to victims.
A government committee is organized.
I remember when it came out.
The bulletin is on the air,
announced the nuclear
accident not as first news,
but after 25 minutes.
By the way, we had
nuclear accident, we are dealing with it,
that's enough for you
and for the whole world.
Below, it was amazing.
There is a new optimism
for Mr. Gorbachev,
The dialogue will be easy.
We were starting to see the opening.
Of the Soviet Union,
we were still in the Cold War.
They were rivals,
We knew that if something went wrong,
we would be the recipients
of a nuclear attack.
On the other hand,
Gorbachev had come,
there was an opening,
dissemination of information,
Gorbachev's relationship
and Mrs. Thatcher's was growing up
and we wanted to strengthen it.
I respect him, he's capable of that too.
The base, we can work together.
We said that if you commit
In this opening, tell us what you know
and then we found ourselves at an impasse.
The fact that the Soviets
it was so unreal
so that they don't reveal it to the world
what was happening
is the most amazing
act of secrecy
in the era of information dissemination,
that they would implement that night.
They panicked and didn't know
how to deal with it.
The Soviet reaction
in any problem,
especially in an embarrassing problem,
like a huge disaster,
was to cover it
until they find something to do.
It was the reflex action
of Soviet bureaucrats
and that was certainly true at Chernobyl.
The radiation leak was something
that the world had never seen before.
Every nuclear scientist
with whom we would communicate
would say that we should take into account
the probability of a core melting.
The fuel in the core is heated
to the point of melting
and goes to the bottom
of the reactor core,
and eventually it may melt
and reach the other bottom.
This is called a reactor meltdown.
It's a dangerous situation,
because the radioactive material
which was at the core
has now leaked.
APRIL 29, 1986
DAY 4 OF THE ACCIDEN
People near the accident
receive
dangerous levels of radioactivity.
They say that the radioactive cloud
no different from a nuclear bomb
with particles that may remain
dangerous for thousands of years.
Are we talking about
an explosion or a leak?
It's hard to say,
Soviet policy has always been
that nuclear plants were safe
so they don't need
restriction around them.
And how wrong they were.
Tens of millions of people
in Europe they were afraid to drink water,
to eat food and were afraid
the effects
to their children and animals.
In Brussels,
the Communities Committee
proposed a European ban
in products such as milk
and fresh vegetables
from the Soviet bloc countries,
near the nuclear accident.
The increase in radiation
caused alarm in Britain,
not just calling
at the Ministry of Agriculture,
but also here on the BBC,
and the world demands information
about the dangers of radiation.
There were creepy headlines People
were worried about what would happen.
And you didn't really know the first two
days if the risk had been limited.
The world is worried, it is upset,
knew that the radioactive waste
were dangerous to health.
It is outrageous that the Soviet
Union is not discussing anything
which affects above
by half the world's population.
With us in Washington
is Lee Thomas,
head of the task force
about the Chernobyl meltdown.
What do you say to the Soviets?
Who say the West is exaggerating
with the extent of the damage?
The worst nuclear
An accident in history happened.
I wouldn't describe what I've seen.
As an overreaction.
Obviously we need
the information we request.
We never received any information.
From the Soviet Union.
It was like the government's job.
Was to ensure
that it would give the image it wanted,
contrary to what was
happening in the field.
I remember that the representative
of the CIA in the working group,
I remember a relatively young guy,
and provided good information in
everything that concerned the work group.
Mr. Thomas' team wanted
to listen every day
how much progress they made with the fire.
The Soviets said
that it was under control
but the satellite images showed
that the fire was still burning
and helicopters were flying
in the area to extinguish it.
In addition to sand, they also threw a lot
boron, lead and dolomite,
a material that releases carbon dioxide
of coal when heated.
Everyone was worried,
They were collecting
boron from all over Ukraine
for the reactor.
Imagine if they came
six helicopters together
a helicopter takes off,
one lands, one loads
and a quarter is empty.
We were worried about the fire,
there was the biggest one
remaining amount of radioactivity.
Where does the radioactive material go?
Rises into the atmosphere,
Where will it fall?
APRIL 29, 1986
DAY 4 OF THE ACCIDEN
Radiation monitoring is done
at Lawrence Livermore Laboratories,
it is understandable that a large part
attention falls here
after the news about the Soviet accident.
We collect meteorological data
for this part of the world
the last five days.
I'm Marv Dickerson.
And in 1986 I worked
at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
when the Chernobyl accident happened.
It is the most advanced facility
of its kind in the world,
full of computers with reports
from control stations
in Europe, Japan and the USA.
They say that the reactors
they will not have accidents,
and if it happens,
the relief will be local.
We didn't believe it.
We thought there might be
accidents bigger than that.
The scariest side of the idea
with the radioactive cloud rising
behind the Iron Curtain,
and gradually
to envelop your country,
is the invisible nature of radioactivity
and its possible effects
to you and your acquaintances.
The radioactive cloud at Chernobyl
it was made of two different things.
First, the initial explosions increased
radioactivity thousands of meters,
and then there was the fire,
the fire has smoke,
if it burns radioactive material,
will emit radioisotopes
in the atmosphere.
This will be a few thousand
meters from the surface.
LAWRENCE NATIONAL LABORATORY
The wind at various vertical levels
moves in different directions.
MAY 1, 1986
The upper cloud spread to northern China,
over Japan,
and a small amount was measured on
from the state of Washington.
Then, the bottom of the cloud
created by fire,
this part of the cloud
passed over Europe.
On April 30,
the wind changed direction.
APRIL 29, 1986
CHERNOBYL KIEV
It was blowing north.
Almost 180 degrees,
so the radioactivity
was transferred to Kiev.
APRIL 30, 1986
CHERNOBYL KIEV UKRAINIAN SSR
I wouldn't want to be south.
Of the reactor near Kiev.
What we were trying to do
to the CIA to see
was what was happening in Soviet life.
Despite what was happening
a nuclear accident
a few kilometers north of Chernobyl,
the Soviet leadership wanted
to present the situation
normal and under control,
and they tried to continue
their lives normally in Kyiv.
And at a time when it should
to have shelters,
they were having a parade.
The Soviet Union did
parade every year.
It was a great show.
Of her army in a way.
I remember the tanks and the missiles
and the army that was passing by.
It was shown on television,
the Victory Day parade
in the Soviet Union.
APRIL 30, 1986
DAY 5 OF THE ACCIDEN
GALINA MENZERES
FORMER DEPUTY MAYOR OF KIEV
The parade had already been planned.
And we have information about the wind
heading towards Kiev
and now in Kyiv
they are very dangerous.
By the night of April 30,
radiation in the center of Kiev
had climbed hundreds
times above normal.
VOLODIMIR VASILIOVICH
CENTRAL COMMITTEE
Cherbitsky kept talking.
With Gorbachev. Continuation.
MICHAEL GORBACHEV
GENERAL SECRETARY OF THE PARTY
"You're all panicking!
Panicked!"
Gorbachev said on the phone.
He said it.
And to the Party Committee.
Someone called and asked "How are
we going to do it? We had an accident.
"We can't bring
the world in the parade".
Not even a week had passed.
From the accident,
the Soviets had no
give a more detailed explanation,
that would be closer to the truth
about the size of the problem.
The people of Kiev were told
that they are not in danger.
MAY 1, 1986
DAY 6 OF THE ACCIDEN
May 1st is coming.
Cherbitsky says "I'm waiting for a call"
and Gorbachev doesn't answer."
We realized
that the situation was critical.
The parade must take place.
The atmosphere was tense.
They stood there smiling.
They couldn't be sullen.
They asked me to go to the parade,
because there were rumors
circulating that I had died.
"You must show
"that you are not dead."
I was standing on the government podium.
The party members, everyone knew
that children should not go outside.
We had to use the children
They wouldn't put up with that.
That's how we got kids
from special orphanages.
It was in line.
The children passed quickly.
And that was it, they went home.
My personal opinion is that there
was no reason for children to go.
The coverage of the celebration had
and a parade in Kyiv.
For them it was not
just normal, it was festive,
like the nuclear one
an accident had happened.
I saw the footage of that night.
And I watched them with amazement.
There were citizens
who danced in the streets,
that was the message, we are all
happy, there's nothing to see.
They lived 129 kilometers away
from the factory
and the government didn't say a word.
The public, of course,
he became furious later,
Why are you having a parade?
In such radiation?
I still don't understand.
Because it was necessary.
CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR POWER PLAN
Initially, the business
reactor shutdown
with helicopters to fly materials
From the air it seemed to be succeeding.
The radiation above
from the reactor showed a decrease.
But on May 1st they observed with horror
that radiation measurements
and temperatures increased.
Scientists were afraid
a new chain reaction
within what is left
from the reactor building.
They were afraid that it might
there will be another explosion.
This is Chernobyl.
And he will return.
To haunt us many times.
MAY 3, 1986
DAY 8 OF THE ACCIDEN
HOSPITAL NUMBER SIX, MOSCOW
This is a photo.
From Moscow Hospital Six.
He is a firefighter who is
in a protected environment
to prevent dangerous contamination.
DR. ROBERT GALE
HEMATOLOGIS
At the time of the accident
in Chernobyl
I was a professor of medicine.
At the University of California.
We had a great experience
in the treatment of individuals
with a high dose of radiation
for the elimination of cancer.
I wanted to offer help,
I wasn't sure how they would receive it,
but the Russian ambassador in Washington
he told me "Mr. Gorbachev
would like you to come to Moscow."
I packed my things.
And I got on the plane.
Both pilots and I were
the only ones who flew to Moscow,
everyone was flying out of Moscow.
The next day we started
the selection of engineers and firefighters
who had been transferred to Moscow.
HOSPITAL NUMBER SIX, MOSCOW
The hospital could not to face
the type and severity of wounds
that they saw in the first patients.
The most seriously injured were transported
by helicopter to Moscow.
MOSCOW HOSPITAL
Over 200 operators
of the factory, firefighters
and other victims
were transferred to Hospital Six
which was specialized and equipped
for the treatment of people
from the nuclear industry.
PETRO HMEL
FIRE FIGHTER
PETRO HMEL
FIRE FIGHTER
They took me to the ninth floor.
Then came the KGB.
"Close the room, lock it."
"How will I write to my family?" I said.
The nurse comes and I ask for a paper.
I write where I am.
One, two, three,
four days later, he's not there.
I ask another nurse "Where
"Is it the other one?" He was fired.
They wanted to keep the matter secret.
The Soviet reflex against
to secrecy in such events.
CHERNOBYL PATIENTS
HOSPITAL SIX, MOSCOW
We did all the checks,
gastroenterological, neurological,
The doctors checked everything.
I count the tiles,
I measure the walls.
Time passes.
I look in the mirror.
And my hair is falling out.
I went to get my mustache done.
I've had a mustache since
the third grade of high school.
It was my pride.
When I held my mustache like that,
He was coming out immediately.
I started crying.
The damage from exposure
in radiation it is not immediately visible.
One week and ten days
after the exhibition,
the firefighters are starting
to lose their hair.
Function is destroyed
of the bone marrow
and skin damage,
the gastrointestinal tract.
We have cardiovascular damage
and in the central nervous system.
People with high radiation dose,
We can't help them
they die.
He was an agent.
KGB at my door.
Everything.
An optometrist came to see me
She looked around.
"I brought you a newspaper,
"read it".
And he showed me photos.
Six firefighters who died.
Of those most infected
were those who went
on the reactor roofs
immediately after the explosion,
and so they were exposed to great
ionizing radiation.
I see six of our firefighters,
Ignatenko, Kibernok, Pravik.
We were friends,
We used to go to the disco together.
I didn't expect it.
Something like that happen to us.
That I will never see them again.
I asked her to give it to me.
For a souvenir, but he didn't.
"Don't tell anyone."
"KGB agent".
He took the newspaper.
And told me to get well.
Of the over 200 rescuers
who went for treatment at Six,
the 28 would eventually die in the weeks
and in the months after the accident.
Firefighters and rescuers
They were incredibly heroic.
On the evening of April 26,
sometimes I start to cry alone.
Total 12 team members
were transferred to Moscow.
Only six survived. The rest
we will remember them forever.
MAY 8, 1986
DAY 13 OF THE ACCIDEN
After 10 days of continuous flights
to deal with the fire
in the reactor, it finally went out.
Several days after the temperature
of the core was mysteriously increasing,
started to fall again.
No scientist
He didn't understand why.
For two weeks it was
more questions
despite the answers
about the accident,
but now part of the mystery
solved by an inspection team
of the Atomic Energy Agency.
ENERGY ORGANIZATION
The Russian ambassador to the IAEA
he called me and said
that they invited us to Russia
to be fully informed about the accident.
They asked us if we wanted to go
in Chernobyl
and I said "Of course we want to".
We made the rounds.
Of the destroyed factory,
we peeked through the windows
of the helicopter,
and that was it
a sad and tragic sight.
We saw the enormous destruction
which had happened.
The first Westerners
who visited the site
they reported that the fire
in the reactor
It was finally extinguished.
We have seen that smoke is still
coming out. from the destroyed factory.
Hans Blix knew he was in danger
to be exposed to the reactor
but they assured him
that this initial fire had died out.
It was very important,
because there were the first impartial
people who saw what happened
and the world was hungry
for this information.
The first independent verification
that the worst is over
was at the Moscow press conference,
with Western journalists.
There was tension in the room,
there was electricity.
He was the first neutral scientist
who saw the worst nuclear
disaster in history.
We did very honest
and open discussions
with ministers and experts.
The prosecution said
that they were satisfied
with the information they received.
Based on this, the American leader
of the nuclear safety department
said that the reactor
closed automatically
and it seemed like it would stay that way.
The chain reaction stopped immediately.
After the accident
and it never started again.
As we count the fuel temperature
we learn that it is much lower
from the melting point and decreases.
The UN presented its observations,
saying that he got detailed information.
And we can only give you
what we have collected in a few days.
The Soviets told the world and to
Hans Blix that everything is going well.
At the same time, the Soviets
officials were worried,
without admitting it publicly,
that the core was still melting.
One of the biggest threats
after the core fire is extinguished
was the possibility
that this very hot fuel,
from molten uranium at a temperature
over 2,000 degrees Celsius,
would melt
the bottom of the reactor
as the concrete foundations,
and eventually it would come out of
the bottom the construction of the reactor.
In the background,
the Soviets were mortally afraid
that the core may explode
and hit the aquifer.
It would possibly poison
drinking water, not only in Kiev,
but a large part
of the population of Ukraine.
They don't know.
How will they stop the melting
of the core inside the earth.
One initiative was the construction
a bulk heat exchanger
and the cooling of the earth just below
from the reactor building.
They recruited an army
miners and workers,
to eliminate all fear
for radiation sickness
and get down
from the burning core
in order to prevent
catastrophic damage to the land.
They asked the miners
to be sacrificed.
They said that the Soviet Union
I need it, can you help?
And what the miners asked
where are the shovels?
Performance: Emmanouela Alexomanolaki
DAY 5 OF THE ACCIDEN
MINISTRY BRIEFING ROOM
FOREIGN USA WASHINGTON
I am here today as president.
The interdepartmental working group,
who works for the evaluation
and dealing with the situation
what is happening in the Soviet Union.
We know it took place
serious accident
at the nuclear power plant
of Chernobyl,
we know that this serious accident
resulted in an explosion.
Everyone wanted to know what was going on.
And they learned nothing
from the Soviet Union.
Yes, back there.
Measures have been taken
to limit the destruction?
The Soviets have taken measures
to be limited?
We presented the facts.
As we knew them.
The working group had succeeded,
through the CIA,
to get a satellite image
of the area around the factory.
We know there was a fire.
At the installation,
we have continuous radioactive emissions.
One of the things that happened
was an important
emission of radioactive material,
which became known
as a radioactive cloud.
This cloud, if you will,
were moving in the atmosphere
it circled the world and arrived
in the United States.
Once it happens,
You can't do anything anymore,
the radiation will have
global impact.
DAY 5 OF THE ACCIDEN
DAY 4 OF THE ACCIDEN
APRIL 27, 1986
DAY 2 OF THE ACCIDEN
After the accident,
the main concern was the ongoing
fire in the reactor,
which continued, and after the fire
in the building had been extinguished
and continued to scatter
dangerous radioactive materials
in the immediate neighboring areas
and beyond.
The radiation rate
in the atmosphere
after the explosion was unprecedented
and, for many scientists, horrible.
It was a global disaster.
With global consequences.
They had to do something.
To deal with it.
At the time of the accident
I was 25 years old.
MAJOR IGOR PISMENSKI
HELICOPTER PILO
Everyone has dreams.
Life is impossible without dreams.
I also dreamed of aviation.
We received a notification at midnight.
They ordered us to go to the airport.
Nobody knew anything.
Let's just fly.
The reactor consists of two
important information regarding fire.
Graphite, which is carbon.
Think about coal, in a sense.
And uranium fuel
which is very warm,
produces heat due to
of radioactive decay.
A firefighter will say that the fire
it needs fuel and heat,
these two were constantly present.
The idea was to take the helicopters
and throw sand to put out the fire.
They asked the pilots
helicopters to fly
over potentially fatal
radiation bursts,
that he has never faced before
a man perhaps from Hiroshima.
They grabbed sand from the river
and they put her on parachutes.
They weren't fancy trinkets,
everything was set up on the foot.
The target was the reactor.
A mistake costs a lot here.
When you throw it and it hits the target,
the flight manager
says loudly on the radio
"Well done, guys, ten points."
A relief appears
immediately in your soul.
With the fire burning,
the clouds of smoke filled
with radioactive material increase
and helicopters should
to approach, or even enter them.
Radioactivity around the factory
reached 2,000 roentgens per hour
which are enough to give someone
nearly four times the lethal dose.
Exposure to high radiation fields
causes collapse
the immune system,
depletion of white blood cells
blood cells and death.
The radiation was very high.
All we had
for protection they were gauze masks.
After each round the masks
they were turning brown
and we had a metallic taste
in our mouths,
so we knew it had been exposed
our respiratory system.
It was a very difficult situation,
undoubtedly,
but it was the main thing to solve
because that caused
the ongoing liberation
radioactive material in the environment.
We had heartburn symptoms.
And nausea at the end of the day.
We were young.
And we had excellent health.
So, back then, we weren't thinking
what would be the consequences?
PRIPYA
On the morning of Sunday the 27th,
the people in the city of Pripyat knew
that something was not going well at all.
Radioactive contamination leaked
continuously from the reactor
but it hadn't happened yet
official evacuation announcement.
VITALY SKLYARKOV
FORMER MINISTER OF ENERGY, UKRAINE
They should have evacuated.
Much earlier.
The information was always controlled.
This was our practice.
The government committee was
under the leadership of Boris Serbina,
deputy chairman cabinet
and head
fuel energy of the USSR.
Serbina. He was strong-willed,
very dynamic and very decisive.
Serbina waited.
To give an evacuation order,
this happened because
the need for secrecy,
because they didn't want to
to leak what had happened.
Around eight that morning,
Boris Serbina went by helicopter
to see the reactor from above
and when he returned, then finally
ordered the evacuation of the city.
It was clear that it wasn't just
another sad failure
of Soviet technology,
but colossal, global catastrophe.
11:00 AM APRIL 27, 1986
DAY 2 OF THE ACCIDEN
Attention! Dear comrades!
At the nuclear power plant
of Chernobyl, in the city of Pripyat,
there is an unfavorable
radiation condition.
I remember he came in.
My mom in the room
and said
"Wake up, they're going to take us away."
To ensure safety
of the population, especially children,
temporary evacuation is necessary
of the city's residents.
I remember very well.
The announcement on the radio,
because it was someone we knew.
It was a familiar voice,
calm, without panic,
which said "Gather your belongings
for three days, documents and money,
"and get down,
"The buses will be waiting for you."
We gathered everything we needed,
it was mom's job
me and we went outside.
Everyone at Central
The committee knew everything.
What they communicated
to the public it was something else.
It was impossible to tell them.
That they would not return.
They would take their refrigerators.
In panic, the world turns upside down
buses, wagons and even steam locomotives.
Everyone was afraid of it.
We can't say how many secrets
it was all in the Soviet Union,
the secrecy was engraved
in the Soviet soul at that time.
2:00 PM
When the buses arrived, People
were coming out, going up, and leaving.
MARIA PROTSHENKO
ARCHITECT PTIPIA
The president said
"Maria, you have the plan,
"so go to the bridge
to direct the buses."
At 2:00 pm he arrived
the first bus.
We needed almost 1,500 buses.
I was standing there.
With my blouse and skirt
and I was wearing sandals
on my bare feet.
I had no protective equipment.
The situation until then had
become extremely dangerous.
Everyone in Pripyat was exposed
to huge amounts of radiation,
with consequences that no one
he couldn't predict.
Across from the bridge
there was a football field
by helicopter to land there.
All the radioactive dust was rising.
And sat on my bare feet.
That's why they were so itchy.
Can you imagine how much radioactive dust?
Was he coming out of that place then?
4:00 PM
We stayed outside for over two hours,
waiting for the buses to come.
There was a sense of
unease in the atmosphere,
but it didn't touch me. I was thinking
that parents will solve everything.
We played with the neighbors,
We didn't know it was the last time.
The buses were sent
throughout the Soviet Union.
I didn't have time.
To say goodbye to my friends
and I never saw one again
from my best friends.
We evacuated almost 45,000 people.
Without panic and noise,
We evacuated the entire city.
I remember a woman
who was looking out the window.
He didn't just look at me, he turned
his head. and followed me with her gaze.
There was something on her face,
as if she was screaming from inside
"What is this? Where am I going?"
It was my hometown,
I had friends, neighbors.
We went to forests, to rivers,
it was a nice community.
My most memorable flight
it was when we approached the station
after evacuation.
Unwashed clothes hang on the balconies.
Abandoned carts and cars.
Such a feeling of emptiness.
As if time had stopped.
People had abandoned
life as they knew it
and the city of Pripyat had
largely evacuated.
But as long as the fire continued to burn,
this energy sent
radioactive material
in the air on a continuous basis.
The radioactive material
would enter the atmosphere
to be transported around the world.
APRIL 28, 1986
DAY 3 OF THE ACCIDEN
I remember it was Monday morning,
I go to the office normally,
around 9:00 to 10:00 in the morning
Faxes are full of news.
That the Swedes were revealing
a nuclear accident
in the Soviet Union,
and the Soviets
they hadn't said a word about it.
We started right away.
To ask our Soviet contacts,
and this was addressed
with radio silence.
We were disappointed.
From lack of information
that we had from the Soviet authorities.
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
The phone rang, I picked it up.
And they said there was a nuclear accident,
You must come.
I was surprised.
What do you mean by nuclear accident?
The initial reaction was Armageddon.
Nobody understood the difference
between a nuclear accident
energy and a nuclear attack,
the word created
such associations.
We were trying to get information.
From secret sources, we didn't learn much,
we were not learning
from the Soviets what was happening.
So, on Monday night,
on April 28,
everyone was watching
the 9:00 p.m. evening news.
Waiting to see
How would the Soviets react?
From the Council of Ministers of the USSR.
There was an accident at the
nuclear power plant. Chernobyl station.
One of the reactors
was destroyed.
The consequences
of the accident are limited.
Assistance is being provided to victims.
A government committee is organized.
I remember when it came out.
The bulletin is on the air,
announced the nuclear
accident not as first news,
but after 25 minutes.
By the way, we had
nuclear accident, we are dealing with it,
that's enough for you
and for the whole world.
Below, it was amazing.
There is a new optimism
for Mr. Gorbachev,
The dialogue will be easy.
We were starting to see the opening.
Of the Soviet Union,
we were still in the Cold War.
They were rivals,
We knew that if something went wrong,
we would be the recipients
of a nuclear attack.
On the other hand,
Gorbachev had come,
there was an opening,
dissemination of information,
Gorbachev's relationship
and Mrs. Thatcher's was growing up
and we wanted to strengthen it.
I respect him, he's capable of that too.
The base, we can work together.
We said that if you commit
In this opening, tell us what you know
and then we found ourselves at an impasse.
The fact that the Soviets
it was so unreal
so that they don't reveal it to the world
what was happening
is the most amazing
act of secrecy
in the era of information dissemination,
that they would implement that night.
They panicked and didn't know
how to deal with it.
The Soviet reaction
in any problem,
especially in an embarrassing problem,
like a huge disaster,
was to cover it
until they find something to do.
It was the reflex action
of Soviet bureaucrats
and that was certainly true at Chernobyl.
The radiation leak was something
that the world had never seen before.
Every nuclear scientist
with whom we would communicate
would say that we should take into account
the probability of a core melting.
The fuel in the core is heated
to the point of melting
and goes to the bottom
of the reactor core,
and eventually it may melt
and reach the other bottom.
This is called a reactor meltdown.
It's a dangerous situation,
because the radioactive material
which was at the core
has now leaked.
APRIL 29, 1986
DAY 4 OF THE ACCIDEN
People near the accident
receive
dangerous levels of radioactivity.
They say that the radioactive cloud
no different from a nuclear bomb
with particles that may remain
dangerous for thousands of years.
Are we talking about
an explosion or a leak?
It's hard to say,
Soviet policy has always been
that nuclear plants were safe
so they don't need
restriction around them.
And how wrong they were.
Tens of millions of people
in Europe they were afraid to drink water,
to eat food and were afraid
the effects
to their children and animals.
In Brussels,
the Communities Committee
proposed a European ban
in products such as milk
and fresh vegetables
from the Soviet bloc countries,
near the nuclear accident.
The increase in radiation
caused alarm in Britain,
not just calling
at the Ministry of Agriculture,
but also here on the BBC,
and the world demands information
about the dangers of radiation.
There were creepy headlines People
were worried about what would happen.
And you didn't really know the first two
days if the risk had been limited.
The world is worried, it is upset,
knew that the radioactive waste
were dangerous to health.
It is outrageous that the Soviet
Union is not discussing anything
which affects above
by half the world's population.
With us in Washington
is Lee Thomas,
head of the task force
about the Chernobyl meltdown.
What do you say to the Soviets?
Who say the West is exaggerating
with the extent of the damage?
The worst nuclear
An accident in history happened.
I wouldn't describe what I've seen.
As an overreaction.
Obviously we need
the information we request.
We never received any information.
From the Soviet Union.
It was like the government's job.
Was to ensure
that it would give the image it wanted,
contrary to what was
happening in the field.
I remember that the representative
of the CIA in the working group,
I remember a relatively young guy,
and provided good information in
everything that concerned the work group.
Mr. Thomas' team wanted
to listen every day
how much progress they made with the fire.
The Soviets said
that it was under control
but the satellite images showed
that the fire was still burning
and helicopters were flying
in the area to extinguish it.
In addition to sand, they also threw a lot
boron, lead and dolomite,
a material that releases carbon dioxide
of coal when heated.
Everyone was worried,
They were collecting
boron from all over Ukraine
for the reactor.
Imagine if they came
six helicopters together
a helicopter takes off,
one lands, one loads
and a quarter is empty.
We were worried about the fire,
there was the biggest one
remaining amount of radioactivity.
Where does the radioactive material go?
Rises into the atmosphere,
Where will it fall?
APRIL 29, 1986
DAY 4 OF THE ACCIDEN
Radiation monitoring is done
at Lawrence Livermore Laboratories,
it is understandable that a large part
attention falls here
after the news about the Soviet accident.
We collect meteorological data
for this part of the world
the last five days.
I'm Marv Dickerson.
And in 1986 I worked
at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
when the Chernobyl accident happened.
It is the most advanced facility
of its kind in the world,
full of computers with reports
from control stations
in Europe, Japan and the USA.
They say that the reactors
they will not have accidents,
and if it happens,
the relief will be local.
We didn't believe it.
We thought there might be
accidents bigger than that.
The scariest side of the idea
with the radioactive cloud rising
behind the Iron Curtain,
and gradually
to envelop your country,
is the invisible nature of radioactivity
and its possible effects
to you and your acquaintances.
The radioactive cloud at Chernobyl
it was made of two different things.
First, the initial explosions increased
radioactivity thousands of meters,
and then there was the fire,
the fire has smoke,
if it burns radioactive material,
will emit radioisotopes
in the atmosphere.
This will be a few thousand
meters from the surface.
LAWRENCE NATIONAL LABORATORY
The wind at various vertical levels
moves in different directions.
MAY 1, 1986
The upper cloud spread to northern China,
over Japan,
and a small amount was measured on
from the state of Washington.
Then, the bottom of the cloud
created by fire,
this part of the cloud
passed over Europe.
On April 30,
the wind changed direction.
APRIL 29, 1986
CHERNOBYL KIEV
It was blowing north.
Almost 180 degrees,
so the radioactivity
was transferred to Kiev.
APRIL 30, 1986
CHERNOBYL KIEV UKRAINIAN SSR
I wouldn't want to be south.
Of the reactor near Kiev.
What we were trying to do
to the CIA to see
was what was happening in Soviet life.
Despite what was happening
a nuclear accident
a few kilometers north of Chernobyl,
the Soviet leadership wanted
to present the situation
normal and under control,
and they tried to continue
their lives normally in Kyiv.
And at a time when it should
to have shelters,
they were having a parade.
The Soviet Union did
parade every year.
It was a great show.
Of her army in a way.
I remember the tanks and the missiles
and the army that was passing by.
It was shown on television,
the Victory Day parade
in the Soviet Union.
APRIL 30, 1986
DAY 5 OF THE ACCIDEN
GALINA MENZERES
FORMER DEPUTY MAYOR OF KIEV
The parade had already been planned.
And we have information about the wind
heading towards Kiev
and now in Kyiv
they are very dangerous.
By the night of April 30,
radiation in the center of Kiev
had climbed hundreds
times above normal.
VOLODIMIR VASILIOVICH
CENTRAL COMMITTEE
Cherbitsky kept talking.
With Gorbachev. Continuation.
MICHAEL GORBACHEV
GENERAL SECRETARY OF THE PARTY
"You're all panicking!
Panicked!"
Gorbachev said on the phone.
He said it.
And to the Party Committee.
Someone called and asked "How are
we going to do it? We had an accident.
"We can't bring
the world in the parade".
Not even a week had passed.
From the accident,
the Soviets had no
give a more detailed explanation,
that would be closer to the truth
about the size of the problem.
The people of Kiev were told
that they are not in danger.
MAY 1, 1986
DAY 6 OF THE ACCIDEN
May 1st is coming.
Cherbitsky says "I'm waiting for a call"
and Gorbachev doesn't answer."
We realized
that the situation was critical.
The parade must take place.
The atmosphere was tense.
They stood there smiling.
They couldn't be sullen.
They asked me to go to the parade,
because there were rumors
circulating that I had died.
"You must show
"that you are not dead."
I was standing on the government podium.
The party members, everyone knew
that children should not go outside.
We had to use the children
They wouldn't put up with that.
That's how we got kids
from special orphanages.
It was in line.
The children passed quickly.
And that was it, they went home.
My personal opinion is that there
was no reason for children to go.
The coverage of the celebration had
and a parade in Kyiv.
For them it was not
just normal, it was festive,
like the nuclear one
an accident had happened.
I saw the footage of that night.
And I watched them with amazement.
There were citizens
who danced in the streets,
that was the message, we are all
happy, there's nothing to see.
They lived 129 kilometers away
from the factory
and the government didn't say a word.
The public, of course,
he became furious later,
Why are you having a parade?
In such radiation?
I still don't understand.
Because it was necessary.
CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR POWER PLAN
Initially, the business
reactor shutdown
with helicopters to fly materials
From the air it seemed to be succeeding.
The radiation above
from the reactor showed a decrease.
But on May 1st they observed with horror
that radiation measurements
and temperatures increased.
Scientists were afraid
a new chain reaction
within what is left
from the reactor building.
They were afraid that it might
there will be another explosion.
This is Chernobyl.
And he will return.
To haunt us many times.
MAY 3, 1986
DAY 8 OF THE ACCIDEN
HOSPITAL NUMBER SIX, MOSCOW
This is a photo.
From Moscow Hospital Six.
He is a firefighter who is
in a protected environment
to prevent dangerous contamination.
DR. ROBERT GALE
HEMATOLOGIS
At the time of the accident
in Chernobyl
I was a professor of medicine.
At the University of California.
We had a great experience
in the treatment of individuals
with a high dose of radiation
for the elimination of cancer.
I wanted to offer help,
I wasn't sure how they would receive it,
but the Russian ambassador in Washington
he told me "Mr. Gorbachev
would like you to come to Moscow."
I packed my things.
And I got on the plane.
Both pilots and I were
the only ones who flew to Moscow,
everyone was flying out of Moscow.
The next day we started
the selection of engineers and firefighters
who had been transferred to Moscow.
HOSPITAL NUMBER SIX, MOSCOW
The hospital could not to face
the type and severity of wounds
that they saw in the first patients.
The most seriously injured were transported
by helicopter to Moscow.
MOSCOW HOSPITAL
Over 200 operators
of the factory, firefighters
and other victims
were transferred to Hospital Six
which was specialized and equipped
for the treatment of people
from the nuclear industry.
PETRO HMEL
FIRE FIGHTER
PETRO HMEL
FIRE FIGHTER
They took me to the ninth floor.
Then came the KGB.
"Close the room, lock it."
"How will I write to my family?" I said.
The nurse comes and I ask for a paper.
I write where I am.
One, two, three,
four days later, he's not there.
I ask another nurse "Where
"Is it the other one?" He was fired.
They wanted to keep the matter secret.
The Soviet reflex against
to secrecy in such events.
CHERNOBYL PATIENTS
HOSPITAL SIX, MOSCOW
We did all the checks,
gastroenterological, neurological,
The doctors checked everything.
I count the tiles,
I measure the walls.
Time passes.
I look in the mirror.
And my hair is falling out.
I went to get my mustache done.
I've had a mustache since
the third grade of high school.
It was my pride.
When I held my mustache like that,
He was coming out immediately.
I started crying.
The damage from exposure
in radiation it is not immediately visible.
One week and ten days
after the exhibition,
the firefighters are starting
to lose their hair.
Function is destroyed
of the bone marrow
and skin damage,
the gastrointestinal tract.
We have cardiovascular damage
and in the central nervous system.
People with high radiation dose,
We can't help them
they die.
He was an agent.
KGB at my door.
Everything.
An optometrist came to see me
She looked around.
"I brought you a newspaper,
"read it".
And he showed me photos.
Six firefighters who died.
Of those most infected
were those who went
on the reactor roofs
immediately after the explosion,
and so they were exposed to great
ionizing radiation.
I see six of our firefighters,
Ignatenko, Kibernok, Pravik.
We were friends,
We used to go to the disco together.
I didn't expect it.
Something like that happen to us.
That I will never see them again.
I asked her to give it to me.
For a souvenir, but he didn't.
"Don't tell anyone."
"KGB agent".
He took the newspaper.
And told me to get well.
Of the over 200 rescuers
who went for treatment at Six,
the 28 would eventually die in the weeks
and in the months after the accident.
Firefighters and rescuers
They were incredibly heroic.
On the evening of April 26,
sometimes I start to cry alone.
Total 12 team members
were transferred to Moscow.
Only six survived. The rest
we will remember them forever.
MAY 8, 1986
DAY 13 OF THE ACCIDEN
After 10 days of continuous flights
to deal with the fire
in the reactor, it finally went out.
Several days after the temperature
of the core was mysteriously increasing,
started to fall again.
No scientist
He didn't understand why.
For two weeks it was
more questions
despite the answers
about the accident,
but now part of the mystery
solved by an inspection team
of the Atomic Energy Agency.
ENERGY ORGANIZATION
The Russian ambassador to the IAEA
he called me and said
that they invited us to Russia
to be fully informed about the accident.
They asked us if we wanted to go
in Chernobyl
and I said "Of course we want to".
We made the rounds.
Of the destroyed factory,
we peeked through the windows
of the helicopter,
and that was it
a sad and tragic sight.
We saw the enormous destruction
which had happened.
The first Westerners
who visited the site
they reported that the fire
in the reactor
It was finally extinguished.
We have seen that smoke is still
coming out. from the destroyed factory.
Hans Blix knew he was in danger
to be exposed to the reactor
but they assured him
that this initial fire had died out.
It was very important,
because there were the first impartial
people who saw what happened
and the world was hungry
for this information.
The first independent verification
that the worst is over
was at the Moscow press conference,
with Western journalists.
There was tension in the room,
there was electricity.
He was the first neutral scientist
who saw the worst nuclear
disaster in history.
We did very honest
and open discussions
with ministers and experts.
The prosecution said
that they were satisfied
with the information they received.
Based on this, the American leader
of the nuclear safety department
said that the reactor
closed automatically
and it seemed like it would stay that way.
The chain reaction stopped immediately.
After the accident
and it never started again.
As we count the fuel temperature
we learn that it is much lower
from the melting point and decreases.
The UN presented its observations,
saying that he got detailed information.
And we can only give you
what we have collected in a few days.
The Soviets told the world and to
Hans Blix that everything is going well.
At the same time, the Soviets
officials were worried,
without admitting it publicly,
that the core was still melting.
One of the biggest threats
after the core fire is extinguished
was the possibility
that this very hot fuel,
from molten uranium at a temperature
over 2,000 degrees Celsius,
would melt
the bottom of the reactor
as the concrete foundations,
and eventually it would come out of
the bottom the construction of the reactor.
In the background,
the Soviets were mortally afraid
that the core may explode
and hit the aquifer.
It would possibly poison
drinking water, not only in Kiev,
but a large part
of the population of Ukraine.
They don't know.
How will they stop the melting
of the core inside the earth.
One initiative was the construction
a bulk heat exchanger
and the cooling of the earth just below
from the reactor building.
They recruited an army
miners and workers,
to eliminate all fear
for radiation sickness
and get down
from the burning core
in order to prevent
catastrophic damage to the land.
They asked the miners
to be sacrificed.
They said that the Soviet Union
I need it, can you help?
And what the miners asked
where are the shovels?
Performance: Emmanouela Alexomanolaki