In the last few months, I dont know what is going on because after I formed the group, I was excluded from this work. Happily, a sufficiently large amount (forty tonnes) of boron carbide was available from an uncontaminated stockpile, and it was quickly dropped into the reactor by helicopters. They rushed to their cars to evacuate themselves and, in the process, 17 people died in cars. [1] One senior scientist wrote "Legasov was a clear representative of that scientific mafia whose political leanings instead of scientific leadership led to the Chernobyl accident. And not that they had any experience [to draw from]. Should the uranium dioxide cells start to melt, large amounts of clay and sand would serve as a shield or filter that could contain at least part of the radioactive components. There was a need for saving. Because an attempt by a non-professional to bring some kind of insight into their work could hardly be acceptable the scientific spirit and the scientific atmosphere in reactor engineering gradually began to submit to the engineering will, as it were, to the ministerial will All conceptual talks, all attempts at adopting a scientific, consistent approach towards this problem, they did not accept at all. I tried to establish such things that would bring the institute together, like the Kurchatov General Council, the institutes general seminar, and setting up various publications that would, on order, sit on the desks of researchers so that they could quickly get all the news from their field. General Ivanov, who initially commanded this unit, in my opinion, simply failed. Anyway Also, there was an episode that I will talk about later. In a few months, the Nahimov collision happened, such a severe disaster with the same carelessness and irresponsibility; then a methane explosion at a coal mine in Ukraine; a train collision in Ukraineall these within a short time. But preparing proposals on what to do fell on my shoulders. The 1st and 2nd blocks continued to work despite their internal rooms having a relatively high level of contamination which was in the tens or even hundreds of milliroentgens per hour. It was I who proposed using liquid nitrogen for cooling. I remember how once Lev Petrovich Feoktistov, who had just started working at our institute, attempted to conceptually analyze questions about a more reliable reactor, a more interesting reactor, that would eliminatethis problem was worrying thenthe production of such fissile materials that could be removed from the reactor and used in nuclear weapons. And they estimated the escaped fuel by the activity within their measured points. They were required to test the materials and create a report, and only after that they could be given to the Army to use on a large scale. So on the same day at 4 p.m., I flew out of Chkalovsk and once again arrived at Chernobyl where I continued my work. I never witnessed a single case where specialists from the SA [Soviet Army] or a USSR citizen, somehow trying to do their work, or felt like they were forced to do difficult or dangerous work. So I just know that the next nuclear accident will be at the Armenian plant and the whole of Armenia will be affected. It was partially used in his [TEXT UNAVAILABLE IN SOURCE]. Moreover, many of them either hadnt been charged, or the people had not been instructed on how to use them and when to recharge them. This was during Silayevs time when he has already arrived. [7], I was interested in comparing the real dangers, the real threats that nuclear energy carries to the threats of other energy systems. And subsequently, from September onwards, all the work on the site of the Chernobyl station and within the contaminated zone was the responsibility of the Government Commission. And the medics sort of supported this. Legasov was particularly concerned with complex systems reliant on a single operator without adequate safety systems. Because the main thing is that, in principle, it was possible to add positive reactivity with such a strong acceleration. And above that article, there was a lousy illustration, in which in front of a half-wrecked cooling tower, a young moustached Frenchman is trying to explain to a Russian bear how to build those cooling towers, while the bear has put a finger in his mouth and hardly understands that the quality of the cooling tower is as essential to the quality of a nuclear station as the reactor itself. In private he campaigned for reactor safety and institutional reorganization. His report was noted for its great detail and relative openness in discussing the extent and consequences of the tragedy,[24] disclosed to Western media some defects in the RBMK reactor design such as the positive void coefficient, as well as problems with operator training. Legasov: It would have all melted and all the radioactivityonly three and a half per cent got outone hundred per cent of the radioactivity would have gotten out and flown around the earth. However, it would guarantee that no contaminated water got into the Kyiv Sea. Going back a bit, it has to be highlighted that the actions of the firemen were logical. When a group of soldiers was brought to me, I explained the conditions under which they would be working and said that I only wanted to work with those who were comfortable with it. For example, the injection of liquid nitrogen that was done per my proposal made around the 2nd of May and implemented around the 4th or 5th of May. In this particular aspect the station was rather poorly placed. [1], The conference was a public relations triumph for the Soviets as it reassured Western governments and scientists that the disaster was being contained[26] and that the Soviets could competently manage nuclear power in the future. The number of people staying at the site was increasing day by day because each group required new assistants, who came either with devices, or with documents, or with work tools that were needed to perform a task. And it was such an unforgettable scene as one drove up to Skazochniy. Well, they didnt kick him out but made his work environment intolerable. s01e05 - Vichnaya Pamyat - Chernobyl Transcripts . And there is still so much to do! But, here, we must be honest with ourselves; that within the next 40-50 years, there will be nothing. For example, decisions of some sort were taken like the launch date of 1st and 2nd blocks, or sarcophagus completion time, or works on 5th or 6th blocks, or Pripyat conservation decisions. T2A was re-checked and published by our new contributor. Chernobyl illustrates what those tapes presumably contain, which at times is far different from the official Soviet account. Just think about it; we have a dozen such reactors, the Americans have 90 of them, the British have 40 and the French have 60. The information came as a code. But sadly, no proper scientific analysis of the actual situation took place to analyze all the possible problems and find ways to avoid them. "[5] In public, Legasov supported the official story that operator error caused the accident. The question should be thought through in such a way that the understanding of safe nuclear energy is as wide as possible and not limited only to the question of creating a safe reactor. It hadnt been shut down in time and had drawn in some contaminated air where people continued to work. [7] From 1983 until his death, he worked as chair of the department of Radiochemistry and Chemical Technology at the Faculty of Chemistry at Moscow State University. The maximum rate of combustion under the temperatures we established (the temperature of graphite combustion) is around a ton per hour. When the fire ended, when we established that the surface temperature, that was monitored, is not higher than 300 degrees Celsius, all actions targeted towards eliminating the fire itself and its spread ended. Some personal impressions of the time . Especially after I saw the Loviisa station in Finland which was built according to our principles; it was basically our station. This was sort of central, very important task. Moreover, by that time, the relationship between the science director and the chief designer became, well, quite tense. Firstly, thanks to our reports and I was a reporter, they understood the situation, understood that this was not an average accident but a high-scale disaster that will have long-term consequences, and that enormous amounts of work would be required to continue the localisation of reactor number 4 as well as to decontaminate the area and to build a shelter for the wrecked 4th block. This, as far as I can remember, was the only article that had a helpful, calming effect on others. An absolutely enormous amount of work was done by comrade Kurnosov, the chief engineer of this project and the chief engineer of the institute itself. This means that a rapid expansion of steam, constantly thermally heated, led to the damage that was witnessed. Just before he hangs himself, the scientist passes off a set of tapes to an unseen actor. Rather, it is a concrete statement. Equipment can never work at 100 per cent conditions specified by the project, and fully exclude all human error, accidental or perhaps even intentional. But, in reality, I think that the full picture of exactly what happened, and how, is not entirely clear to anyone. In the accident, no one was killed or exposed to radiation. In the tapes,. But, naturally, in the warehouse of my character, for many years of well-. But I am not sure that they will gather any additional information. Legasov: No, no such duration. This is Previous: led strip light 5630 5730 12v 5m waterproof stripe flexible diode tape 300led cold white warm whit One they just lost and. I repeat that they were invented in continuous phone conversations with Moscow, with experts who assessed, did the thermophysical calculations. We arrived on the 26th at 8.20 pm. The first two such consecutive works by experts were interesting. Probably because indeed, especially during that period, people who fought with this accident sought to do their best, to do everything they could, without thinking about any kind of encouragement, be it material or moral. Although not a reactor specialist, he became a key member of the government commission formed to investigate the causes of the disaster and to plan the mitigation of its consequences. There was no definite information. But then the commission did a much more thorough assessment and concluded the same thing as I did. I think that Vladimir Konstantinovich should develop these points. This is how the ideology of RBMK reactor appeared. Perhaps that was a wrong decision, because some of those cars were contaminated, and the dosimetric posts had not yet been organized to control the contamination levels on such vehicles . Recalling this trip now, I can say that I had absolutely no idea that we were driving toward an event of a planetary scale, one that would most likely be remembered alongside famous events like the volcanic eruption at Pompei and other such catastrophes. Many supervisors that should have been on the staff were just absent. He was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow. It was necessary to design a forced ventilation system for the sarcophagus so that if there was not enough natural ventilation, it would be possible to remove heat by switching on the forced one. those who have already been convicted at Chernobyl are criminals because they committed unthinkable actions and they were convicted absolutely legally. The third groupimplementers, not researchers; these were mostly the army divisions began decontaminating the rooms in the 1st and 2nd block, and also prepared for the construction of the sarcophagus, because the design was already in progress in Moscow. There were countless industry councils where something was discussed. This created an uncomfortable situation. [12]:261 He received the degree of Candidate in 1967 and his doctorate in chemistry in 1972. What I mean is that, generally, there was no contamination in the river basin. This was the first one. Since this happened on the night between Friday and Saturday, some were at their dachas. There were a lot of inconsistencies between the part of the documentation that was at the station and the reality in various places of the station and underground facilities. And these problems were not easily solved. Even more actually because nasty isotopes would spread, much heavier than caesium that we mentioned earlier. I think there were no conversations in the initial days but I may be wrong. They were taken away on Sunday. I want to tell you all this so that you understand that the origin of the Chernobyl tragedy was in wrong philosophy which resulted from losing 10 years. This may have been a truly random coincidence but this is really my direct speciality. "[11], I feel sick thinking about exactly what is most likely to happen to us in the near future [Major industrial accidents will happen] unless the necessary measures are taken. Finally, a decision was made to chop down part of the forest, transport it, bury it, and to simply convert the remaining area into a burial ground, to restrict access to it, which has been done. Then the next one arrives and so it goes on. Because his laboratory was a kind of cell that posed questions and formulated them physically; while the answers to these questions were given by specialists, not only from the various departments of the Institute but also from different institutes. For example, at the meeting on the 14th of June, Nikolai Ivanovich Ryzhkov said in his speech that this disaster did not seem accidental to him; that nuclear energy with a degree of inevitability was heading towards such a tragic event. At first, Sidorenko left me, and Shcherbina asked me to stay. And the requirements they created were not ideal, not the ones that had to be created to make nuclear energy safer, but rather they were coming from the current situation that we had here, and from some Western experiences. But then Eugeny Pavlovich appeared and started talking about this China syndrome and those barboteurs; - lower and upper ones, that they could melt through and some fuel could get through them into the soil and into the groundwater. Around this time, the helicopter people found a very effective way of operating by setting up an observation post on the roof of the Pripyat party committee building. Nevertheless, on 27th morning, there were women taking a walk with their children. At points, he would pause to criticize a chairman or a specialist for higher rates of workplace injuries, or poor financial performances, or for improper executions of technical operations within our ministry. So you can calculate. I will talk about Aleksandrovs role later but it is important for me that you understand that the main issue was the 10-year delay. This internal contamination had happened because of the ventilation intake. A decade of talking about simulators, which are increasingly effective and are becoming commonplace in the West, and we still dont have them in the Soviet Union. This caused serious jealousy among his colleagues. While the first group would go to Moscow, on the site the second group would be led by the chairman of the Ministry Council Ivan Stepanovich Silaev. So just in case, the water should be removed and in case the fuel mass would melt its way down into these rooms, we could pump the water back there, to cool the molten fuel masses. But additionally, any person that had been on an NPP construction site was surprised at the potential of work being done so carelessly, even on such an important project. Moreover, one of the emergency protection systems should be based on physical principles different from the other one. A very mean caricature it was. This, of course, seems surprising and strange. On the 26th in the evening. In these conditions, where on one side we had repetitive radioactivity measurements and on the other, the medics were limited by accepted order of things where the evacuation could only start when there was a risk of a person getting 25 biological roentgens per individual within some period of time. Although I generally believe that our science and technology has developed very successfully, by hook or crook, surprising the whole world with colossal achievements in almost all fields. In this reactor, 1,700 tons. If you would wish to read them, then here, we translated them for English readers: Tape 1 side A In this part Legasov speaks about his first days in the accident zone. During this break, Slavskys First Deputy, Meshkov Alexander Grigorievich, his First Deputy who was later fired because of this accident. The primary work was being done using these cranes, but still many finishing tasks, that would increase the reliability of the sarcophagus, had to be done by hand or by using various robotic devices. How can I listen to Valery Legasov tapes? [1] After the meeting, Scherbina told him that he could work from Moscow but was quickly ordered back to Chernobyl. The medics objected. Nuclear energy in the Soviet Union has not emerged from the energy sector but from, as it were, the nuclear industry; where highly trained and disciplined personnel were used, where special military acceptance was in place for every piece of equipment; and consequently the reliability in this sphere of nuclear industry, both from personnel and equipment point of view, was very high. Please help us share these tapes with the world. But this work was unfortunately suspended at the very beginning, initially because of a serious illness of Aleksander Sergeyevich Kachanov and an inability to find an equivalent replacement, and then because of the subsequent Chernobyl events. Because we needed that information immediately, a first attempt to measure the gamma and neutron fields was made. This convinced us that the fuel mass that was left after the explosion was in a sub-critical state. I fought against this project from May; an absolutely useless project. Why do I say this? He exposes scary things towards the end.Our Goal:The original tapes are unfortunately not available, but there are original Russian transcripts. This is important because of this. Although it must be said, there were separate cases of looting or intrusions into the zone with the aim of stealing. Now, Ponomaryov-Stepnoi became the first deputy director of nuclear energy who dealt with reactor construction. Although it likely doesnt exist, I could imagine it. I have already spoken about that. What is going on there? I would very much like to ask to make such a statement that, as of today, we do not have safe nuclear energy, or a concept of safe nuclear energy, or even a concept of a safe nuclear reactor that is completely ready[7], He had a lengthy stay in hospital during the fall of 1987, including experiencing acute appendicitis,[31] during which he attempted suicide. And teams had already been put in place beforehand. The army was responsible for the work at the station itself and decontaminating villages, houses and roads in the 3-kilometre zone. [38], His wife Margarita wrote a considerable number of articles and books to preserve his legacy. Is there a reason for this in the storyline? But what does this increasing the reliability of the reactor mean? And what international measures have been taken, what conventions have been adopted, what was the Soviet position on international cooperation. It was scary to see such a situation. The world accepts the normal standard of safety for any dangerous industry including nuclear power stations. Adamovich: I see, so on the 2nd of May [Unclear]. This, in my opinion, was a defect in the communication system, firstly. That is why he put me in charge of management affairs, of resource management. Maybe only the chief engineer of reactor control sometimes left his chair to carry out some operations. A group of specialists was there also; they had arrived after the first call the previous night.