Disaster: The Chernobyl Meltdown (2026) s01e03 Episode Script

16/5/1986
THREE WEEKS AFTER THE ACCIDEN
After the fire in the
reactor was extinguished,
the government committee
sent a small team of experts
to install temperature sensors
below the reactor.
Are you near the reactor?
We are very close.
The other side of the wall is
below the reactor.
They used a plasma torch.
For 18 hours
to pass the concrete walls.
Under normal circumstances,
It would be completely crazy,
given the risk of radiation.
But like so many other things, it
seemed to be the only solution at the time.
How many meters away are you?
Just a few meters.
In 1986, the Soviets had
great trust in the government
and they were very patriotic.
Some call it
myth of the Soviet hero.
Are you afraid?
At first you're afraid,
but then you get used to it.
We are not afraid at all.
They had a natural tendency
to feel that their union
was forged on sacrifice
and Soviet propaganda
he took advantage of it.
The Soviets said
"Your nation calls you."
Time to prove your patriotism
and do your duty.
Make a sacrifice.
Two weeks after the initial accident,
the Soviets were still facing
a radioactive
and dangerous situation.
There is real concern
that the hot nuclear fuel
it can flow
at the bottom of the reactor,
melting the steel
and the concrete base,
reaching groundwater.
An uncontrolled meltdown
of the nuclear core threatens
the water supply
for 30 million people
and at the same time for agriculture
and this whole area
of Europe for decades.
This was an existential moment.
For the Soviet high command.
From satellite photos,
we noticed that they brought
mine workers
to dig a tunnel
below the reactor.
Our boss told us it happened.
An accident and that we had to leave.
IKHOR KONTOSOV
MINE WORKER
I didn't know what happened at Chernobyl.
We dug a tunnel.
This was our job.
Guys, where are you from?
From the Tula region.
Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!
The workers began construction.
A tunnel of approximately 130 meters,
so that they can make
a huge heat exchanger.
The heat exchanger idea
was to cool the underground
on the reactor foundations,
to avoid core meltdown
to reach the aquifer
under the building.
It was an ambitious plan.
It required them to work day and night.
400 or more workers
over a month.
The goal was to break through
13 or more meters every day,
so that the radioactive magma
not to enter the water supply system.
The atmosphere was tense.
It's incredible.
What did they ask of the workers?
They asked to go
in a dangerous area
to be sacrificed.
In the tunnel itself but also everywhere,
the address told us
that the radiation was normal.
There was a sweet taste.
A sweet, metallic taste.
My subconscious told me
to go through the tunnel
as quickly as possible.
They often did excavations
only with hand tools,
because they were afraid
that if the foundations
were too much trouble,
the whole building would collapse
and would bury them alive.
- What's your name?
- Victor.
- Is it difficult?
- Not particularly. We do what we can.
We have to finish it.
The camera is rolling, work properly!
We filmmakers learned
for the explosion.
We decided to go there voluntarily.
To shoot video.
It could be considered propaganda.
ANATOLY KIMMITS
FILMMAKER
It's like war.
Someone is shooting there,
You pull here.
Bullets don't rain,
but you know very well that you can't
to stay in these places for a long time.
The Soviet narrative wanted to emphasize
heroism
and the bravery of the workers
almost completely absent
scientific information
if these people were in danger.
The goal had been set
and we succeeded.
Our mission was over.
The mining business
was a complete success.
The heat exchanger
was in the chamber
and everything was ready.
But they never opened it.
The temperature inside the building
gradually decreased
and their anxiety about infection
of the waters disappeared.
The work and the sacrifices
of the workers was a waste of time.
Personally, I didn't understand.
What was radioactivity,
because it was dangerous.
Two years later, he died.
A tunneling employee.
A few years later,
Another one died.
After that,
we understood that it was not in vain.
That we were in a hurry.
70% of the men are now dead.
29/5/1986
ONE MONTH AFTER THE ACCIDEN
The fear of core meltdown
had subsided,
but the reactor building
remained open to the atmosphere.
It remains dangerous.
For human health.
Mikhail Gorbachev decided
that by the end of the year
they had to bury permanently
what was left of Unit 4.
A building they called a sarcophagus.
This project will take a long time.
And it will take a lot of effort.
All humanity
will benefit from this.
The problem was
that they couldn't get too close.
There was a huge amount
radioactive material at the site.
So that's where they had to focus,
to clean up this unprecedented
radiation release.
The most polluted area
was around the reactor,
in the so-called special zone.
Time for less radiation
and more work.
Their approach was to remove
the top layer of soil
around the reactor.
They removed it.
With bulldozers with armored cabin
on which they put people.
For 29 km in each direction,
they were stirring the soil
and they created this lunar landscape.
We couldn't observe
how effective it was,
but we knew this had to be done.
But that was just the beginning.
Within over 5,000
square kilometers,
the ground,
the leaves on the trees and the buildings,
everything was dangerously contaminated
with radioactive dust.
It suffocates everyone and everything.
The state He won't let us die.
The Soviet authorities did
something unprecedented.
They transported 100,000 people
outside the area
and they set up an exclusion zone.
CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR POWER PLAN
Then they brought in thousands of workers
from all over the Soviet Union
and they told them
"You will get 200 rubles,
"but that's it."
Get a job and serve.
The Soviet cause".
The Soviets publish photos
from the Chernobyl cleanup.
Moscow says that two
of the four reactors
will operate again this year.
Until mid-summer of 1986,
the area around the factory
It started to look like a battlefield.
Forty thousand people
camped around Chernobyl.
The Soviets used
the term "liquidators"
for those who brought there,
soldiers, recruits, volunteers,
to clean up radioactive materials
and build the structure of the sarcophagus,
in order to limit them.
The enemy is known.
The work is planned.
Much of the clearance
was done experimentally,
spraying the buildings with a water cannon.
They started spraying.
Even beetroot puree
mixed with water
to control dust drift.
They gathered all the animals.
If they were found,
they would be euthanized.
It was extremely difficult.
Finally, radionuclides
it was impossible to destroy them,
but only to move.
And certainly, at the beginning,
they didn't have dosimeters to check
radiation levels,
resulting in no one
not to have an accurate sense
for the radiation dose
which they absorbed.
At first,
you cover yourself and wear the mask,
but then you forget about it.
I made my decision literally.
The first days after the accident.
I went to the recruitment office.
And I said I want to go.
I wanted to help my country.
The people of the West
it is difficult to understand
the level of dedication
of the Soviet people
and the sacrifice
his health and life.
Of course it is dangerous,
otherwise we wouldn't be here.
We carry out government missions
with respect.
When we went to one of the central
Chernobyl Station buildings,
it was as if people
they gave up everything
and they left.
I remember walking around the building.
And I entered a yellow corridor
and suddenly I realized
that the color yellow
that covered the floor and the windowsills
There were hundreds of windows,
if not thousands, yellow butterflies.
I don't know how they ended up there,
but they were all dead.
I looked out the window.
And I saw a guy
who worked at a shorter distance
from a few hundred meters
from Reactor 4.
He was a welder.
He was just sitting there.
He worked methodically and calmly
exposed to the highest levels
radiation you imagine.
I was almost sure.
That something was whistling.
For years I thought
how can someone
to overcome his fear.
Who were the liquidators?
They are people who in some way
they understood the outcome
for themselves,
but they stayed.
My parents were called to the purge.
After the Chernobyl disaster.
After the evacuation,
were forced to return
in the city next to the factory.
And because we had nowhere to stay,
They took us to camp.
For half a year without our parents.
I was eight years old.
Our hair had a lot of shine,
that's why they cut them.
It was very close.
I remember the kids calling us
Chernobyl hedgehogs
and they said we should go back there
where we belong, in Chernobyl.
I felt like I needed comfort,
protection, to be
with my family.
Here are the letters.
That we wrote to my mom.
"My dearest mom,
I cry every day here.
Because they beat us.
Please, get us out of here.
As soon as you can. Please.
We can't be here.
Without you".
Oh my God. Sorry.
The story of this epic is
really scary
in terms of overall impact
in the world,
not only in their health,
but in their livelihood.
We are talking about hundreds of thousands
people in the Soviet Union.
It was also clear that the radiation
would also have implications for the UK.
People outside the Union still pay
the price for Chernobyl.
In Britain, sheep are not sold
due to high radiation levels.
There was an unexpected heavy rain.
Which affected Cambria
in north Wales.
It was a disaster for the farmers.
Nearly 10,000 farms were affected.
Radioactive rain contaminated the ground
for decades afterwards.
They were monitoring the radiation
to the sheep.
The danger was
that it entered the food chain.
Orders fell.
Unknown when he will return
the trust of the world.
Be in a cleft stick.
If we can't sell them,
it will be very difficult.
It lasted almost 30 years.
It really threatened the way of life
and you never knew
whether the risk had been mitigated or not.
JULY 1986
THREE MONTHS AFTER THE ACCIDEN
The liquidation company
in the exclusion zone continued.
But they had to fix it
the sarcophagus, the concrete pipe
containing the reactor core.
Gorbachev gave scientists
and engineers less than 4 months
to finish one
of the most dangerous and ambitious
engineering projects in history.
Soviet television today
showed a firewall
around the damaged
Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
The initial Soviet effort
to cover the damaged
reactor was made with the means
which they had then,
that is, with remote-controlled cranes
and concrete pumps,
to be done very quickly.
How do you feel? Has the tension decreased?
No. This is a misinterpretation.
There is still tension.
NIKOLAI STEINBERG
CHIEF ENGINEER
I worked in nuclear power for 13 years.
Chernobyl plant.
I would complete
the construction of the sarcophagus
and I would start Unit 1.
It needed electricity. Without electricity,
Factories are shutting down.
The so-called sarcophagus was designed
to last about 50 years,
but there were no guarantees
because it was based on structures
which were partially destroyed.
Initially, it was
a real madhouse.
The construction of the sarcophagus
it was particularly difficult
why were you allowed to come near
just for a few minutes
to do work.
My team was already receiving a high dose.
To improve
the radiation conditions,
We had to clean the roof.
The roof of Unit 3
was covered in debris
that were thrown out of Reactor 4
because of the explosion.
It was like radioactive.
Obstacle course.
There were pieces of reactor graphite,
pieces of nuclear fuel.
You could have stayed.
Near the wreckage
only for a few minutes or seconds
without taking a lethal dose.
To make the sarcophagus,
this had to be addressed.
Their approach was
the use of robotics.
AUGUST 8, 1986
THREE AND A HALF MONTHS AFTER THE ACCIDEN
Why are you turning right?
There it is. It's moving.
They had two different kinds of robots.
One came from West Germany.
At a huge cost.
It was specially designed
for radioactive hazards.
They also had robots.
Which were originally constructed
from the Soviet Union
to explore the Moon.
Good. Yes, good.
The idea was that robots
they would just push the debris
from the edge of the roof,
and they would enter what was left
from Reactor 4.
Okay, everything is fine.
And then the sarcophagus would cover them.
Nothing will work?
Did it get stuck there?
He went, he moved,
it made a noise and then stopped.
But we saw
that even the robots failed.
Their electronics couldn't handle it.
Radiation for a long time.
We need to release the brakes.
We solved it.
He's standing there.
It was completely out of control.
So they are useless.
The German robot hasn't left yet,
but we are fighting it.
Nothing sticks, nothing moves.
What do we do now?
Engineers and scientists who undertook
cleaning the ceiling felt
that there was no alternative.
They had to send people
in one of the most dangerous places
of the world.
SEPTEMBER 19, 1986
FIVE MONTHS AFTER THE ACCIDEN
Did you go to the rooftop?
No, let's go now.
Say "hi" to everyone from me.
Sergey, laugh a little more.
The heads of the company
they knew very well
how dangerous it was.
They had to drag
the debris from the roof,
to throw them into Reactor 4
and return to a safe place
as quickly as possible.
When I first went there,
I was excited.
Obviously, the adrenaline was running high.
And everything was blurry.
You waited for hours, sweating,
You waited to get there.
I don't know what they told them.
About the risks
that they would face,
but they did what they were told.
They started
to call themselves bio-robots.
Is there anyone who doesn't want to?
To complete the mission?
- No.
- Is everyone impatient?
- Correctly.
- Well done.
You must wear
the protective equipment.
Two sheets of lead
and industrial respirator
that protect
from radioactive dust.
We essentially had these.
Let's find the best tool.
Shovels or something else.
Four people together!
Will you go too?
One by one.
I finally got to the level
and you go to a shelter
where the door to hell opens.
That's what they called it.
Your heart
it beats incredibly fast.
Your mind
it is not working normally.
Be careful.
Be careful.
I have to gather everything I can.
And throw it on the ground
from the terrace.
That's what you were focusing on.
There! This piece!
It was someone with a stopwatch.
And it lasted 30 to 45 seconds,
so that they can get
the permissible radiation.
Take this too.
There were none.
Only the huge pieces of rubble,
but also pieces
of the reactor core
that had melted into the asphalt.
They would essentially
be stuck to the ceiling.
The asphalt resisted, it didn't break.
I felt incredible rage.
To the point where I wanted to fall down
and to begin
to break it with my teeth
because there was
an incredibly strong desire
to do what they asked us to do.
Time to go!
And what happened then
It was a huge relief.
I had a very unusual
physical reaction,
like I had a bad cold.
I couldn't breathe.
I talked to a lot of people who were there.
Someone would have an incredible headache.
Almost immediately.
Almost everyone had something.
They saw a lot of people.
Thousands of people received a limited dose
and then they were expelled,
after they did everything they could.
I went to the rooftop six times.
I've never felt so exhausted,
not only physically,
but also emotionally and mentally.
Each of you will get 800 rubles.
- I serve the Soviet Union.
- Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Worked in very difficult conditions
when the radiation level
It was still unknown. Well done.
Many good people
who cleared up the consequences
of the accident
are already lying on the ground.
OCTOBER 1, 1986
FIVE AND A HALF MONTHS AFTER THE ACCIDEN
The construction of a building
around a half-destroyed
nuclear reactor,
under any circumstances,
it would be extremely difficult.
But the construction of the sarcophagus
also subject to the absurd
requirements of Soviet policy.
Hello,
Comrade Lieutenant Colonel Samoilenko.
The children will put
the flag on the chimney
and I ask that the
business not be interrupted.
To celebrate
the restart of Reactor 1,
the commanders
of the company decided
to send three probes
radioactivity with a red banner
at the top of the chimney
above the reactors.
I remember that many
they risked their lives
why the debris
they had not been cleaned yet.
You can't say no.
I will come home for my son.
I will tell him.
That the last thing I did was
to climb the pipe
and put up the banner.
Let's put an end to it.
There weren't many
scientific information
about the real danger
of what was happening,
but there were many stories
for our noble army,
the noble Civil Defense Corps.
It's a wonderful symbol,
a symbol of victory
in the Great Patriotic War
and in victory
against the vile radionuclides.
The narrative remained
that we are the only one
and great Soviet Union.
And I watched it with surprise.
Why did they raise this flag?
Propaganda.
It was a symbol of victory.
I got very angry about this.
You are putting lives at risk.
For symbolism.
It's the dumbest thing.
We have all been washed.
Brain with patriotism.
Self-sacrifice and the like.
That's why it was necessary
to raise the flag
against the obscene pipe.
So that we can all sing together
"We defeated radioactivity!"
I don't know who defeated her.
He killed people and he still kills.
NOVEMBER 15, 1986
SEVEN MONTHS AFTER THE ACCIDEN
The nuclear wreckage
reactor that exploded
were buried under a concrete
60 meter high tomb.
The completion of the sarcophagus meant
that the debris of Unit 4
were excluded from the rest
units of the factory.
The sarcophagus is completed.
On November 30.
Hans Blix has arrived.
I remember Nicholas.
He was in charge of the entire project.
I asked him.
If he wanted to see the sarcophagus.
"Yes, of course."
His mechanical skill
with remote tools
it was impressive,
but it was short-lived.
Although the completion was a success,
it wasn't the safest either
and stable construction.
The sarcophagus was necessary
both for propaganda reasons
as well as for security reasons
regarding radioactivity.
I realized that a photo
in front of the sarcophagus
it would be a political move.
It would show the whole world that we had
a solution to the security issue.
They could say
that they left Chernobyl behind
and the destruction.
Again, the Soviet Union
had triumphed
against an implacable enemy.
Starting in 1988, they began
diseases to appear,
diseases that we didn't know about before.
IKHOR KONTOSOV
MINE WORKER
Once the disease appears,
you are facing it
only to not develop.
Nothing more.
Those who don't have nerves of steel
to leave.
So, they left.
And those who remained
they have work to do.
NIKOLAI STEINBERG
CHIEF ENGINEER
I have lost my voice.
It's nice to remember.
My voice as it was
before cancer appears.
I never regretted going there.
And I will never regret it.
I had nightmares and I had
several health problems,
but I was
so necessary.
They asked me urgently.
I was really important there.
Chernobyl made me a man
and that will never change.
Six hundred thousand people.
The liquidators were heroes,
brave and servants
of the Soviet Union.
Nothing on this track
of propaganda was not a lie.
I don't believe there was a myth.
For the Soviet sacrifices.
I think it was real.
Not only the Soviet people
but the whole world
owed gratitude in their bravery.
And perhaps most importantly, the central
The government owed them the truth.
About what caused the disaster.
SEVEN MONTHS AFTER THE ACCIDEN
AUGUST 25, 1986
After the terrible accident
in Chernobyl,
The world is waiting anxiously. for the
Russians to explain what went wrong.
The International Service
Atomic Energy in Vienna
will discuss the Soviet catastrophe.
It was a priority
for the US government
to find out what caused it
the accident and what were the
circumstances which led to the disaster.
There were omissions,
especially for recovery,
the liquidators, the workers,
but it had not yet been presented
a complete story.
We believed in DYAE
that after an accident we must
first and foremost help the members,
but secondarily the world
he must learn from the accident.
I was there and at the conference.
There was great anticipation.
It was a period of change in the Union.
It is Gorbachev's perestroika.
It's Glasnost.
And there had to be honesty.
The global scientific community
he waited to hear
What would the Soviets say?
And if they will be honest.
The one who undertook to present
the Soviet Union report
about the accident in Vienna
It was Valery Legasov.
He was one of the leading members
of the government committee
sent to Chernobyl from Moscow
a few hours after the explosion.
A little radiation is stimulating.
In medium doses it has no effect.
In large quantities it is harmful.
And it remained there for weeks afterwards,
guiding specific parts
the cleaning company
and investigating the causes.
This was considered confidential.
In Vienna, Dr. Legasov
prepared to present
From a technical point of
view, what had happened?
I remember talking to Moscow about this.
How long will it take?
Maybe five hours, they said.
"Five hours," I said.
"It's not a political rally."
No, no. It will take a lot of time.
Dr. Legasov studied the report.
For at least two or three days.
In general,
the Soviet explanation for the accident
was that it came from an experiment
which got out of control.
Part of the explanation was
that the reactor design
was problematic,
at least from the west side.
He didn't have the philosophy.
On the restriction of radioactive material,
the safety philosophy
of Western reactors.
We will improve security systems
taking into account
the Chernobyl accident.
It was the moment.
That the Gorbachev regime
was taking credit
because he put science first,
leave the propaganda
and recognized a series of errors.
Many delegates were impressed
from the sincerity of the Soviets.
I am surprised,
like most participants,
with how open they turned out to be.
In their description they also implied
that the operators were at fault,
that they did things
they shouldn't have done.
The Russians believe that the explosion
and radiation leakage
it was human error.
Most in the West would rely on
grateful for their words.
The problem was
that they only had the information
which were given to them,
which were carefully edited.
I know that experts from Canada,
America and Britain
they felt there was a trap.
Scientists in Vienna say
that they don't believe
how the representatives
They tell what they know about Chernobyl.
Do you also say what you know?
VALERY LEGASOV
SOVIET REPRESENTATIVE
Everything I heard is correct.
Of course, there are still
a lot of information
that have not been processed sufficiently
the Soviet experts.
As time passed,
Legasov tried
to make the reforms
which he considered necessary
to improve
the governance
of the nuclear state of the USSR.
The nuclear energy industry,
after surviving the tragedy,
will become stronger.
Here's the guy who finally revealed
the promises of Glasnost.
But only in the aftermath
Chernobyl discovered
exactly the extent of secrecy
and corruption
of the Soviet nuclear state.
The political leadership was afraid
to show the world
that we weren't getting along well.
Legasov was becoming more and more sad,
increasingly desperate.
His health was destroyed.
From radiation exposure
and began to realize how rotten
it was the USSR at its core.
Some saw him as a hero.
Then he committed suicide.
Legasov's suicide made him
one of the tens of thousands of victims
of the Chernobyl accident.
What went wrong at Chernobyl?
Russians speak
due to operator error.
Finally, in Vienna,
the Soviet report did not say
the whole truth about what had happened.
When I started reading the report,
I had hair.
And my hair almost stood up
because of the lies I saw.
Yes, they blamed the staff,
with me too.
It was obvious that it would happen.
Criminal trial in the Soviet Union,
to shift
responsibility from the plan
of the reactor in human action.
There were suspicions
that they will choose the death penalty.
- And the death penalty?
- Shot.
Performance: Stella Sarigoule