01x04 - The Meltdown

[bunniefuu]

I was the first scientist in the West

who was called upon to investigate within
the framework of the Complex Mission.

A small group of scientists
did analysis

of the remains
of the damaged Reactor 4.

The Soviet Union was collapsing.

They took me to the factory as a secret.

They dressed me in worker's clothes...

so as not to be noticed.

Yes.

I thought they just wanted
an American there.

But no, they wanted
to work until I drop.

Almost every day.

Some people make fun of scientists,

because they don't understand beauty
of the search for truth.

That's what these people wanted.

According to officials,
A crime was committed here.

This is where the engineers conducted
the experiment. which led to the expl*si*n.

The damaged reactor
it is still warm,

very deep inside it
which the Soviets call a carnivore,

the giant concrete tomb

where the radioactive material
will lie buried for centuries.

JULY 1987



UNIT 4
CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

The structure of the sarcophagus was

a combination of improvisation
and brute force.

The Soviet engineer said
that the sarcophagus was

another triumph
of Soviet engineering.

But in the ruins of the building
of the reactor,

about 172 tons remained
uranium fuel.

Scientists were worried
to create a critical mass

which would cause a nuclear reaction.

They observed in neutron detectors
an increase in neutrons

which made them believe
that there really was a critical mass

and that a reaction had occurred.

They were confused, worried.
We had to find out where the fuel was.

Scientists
from the Kurchatov Institute,

the main service
research and development

of the Soviet Union
for nuclear energy,

they started the so-called
Chernobyl Complex Mission

to locate the fuel.

It was a mixed,
almost a heterogeneous group of scientists.

They were sweet-talking people.
Who were looking for solutions.

SERGEY KOSELEV
MISSION CAMERA

My job was to sh**t.
They told me what to sh**t and I did it.

Sergey! Pull the water into the light.

Then we gave the plans to the scientists

who processed them
and they studied them.

They take a dose.

Everything is covered.
With varying degrees of contamination.

You don't want to stay in there.

My beginning was,
when the camera starts to break down,

when radiation affects
the sensors, they are dangerous.

My boss used to say, "The Soviet
Radioactivity is the best.

You will grow chest hair.
And it will strengthen your manhood!"

Although he is dead now.

With the expl*si*n, fuel had been
thrown out. outside the reactor core,

but they assumed that the rest
remained in Reactor 4.

The supervisor told me, "Tomorrow
"You will come to the reactor."

"We will lay rails
to lower the camera into the pipeline."

A tunnel had been carved
on the cement to get through.

Water was coming in.
From the reactor cracks.

Of course, the water was radioactive.

My boot cover was torn.
And it filled with water. But I continued.

Later, when I checked my leg
with a dosimeter,

the radiation level was skyrocketing.

My leg was radioactive.
For two weeks,

until layers of skin were removed.

Nobody went inside.
In the reactor vessel.

Anyone who entered would be exposed.
In high radiation fields.

They told me that underneath me
there were 200 roentgens.

It's a lot, it's a lethal dose,
if you stay there for three hours.

We put the camera on.
In the reactor pipeline.

But then it didn't go any further.
It was stuck.

I ran and climbed.
In the reactor.

And I fixed the camera.

And we discovered something interesting.

Then they noticed
that there was no core.

There was nothing left.
Inside the reactor.

And so, the question was,
Where the hell did the fuel go?

To find fuel, they tied
cameras on remote-controlled tanks.

They were the only ones
that would withstand the radiation.

The most sophisticated
robots couldn't handle it.

They had detection methods
aerosols and air currents...

and it began
to see the bigger picture.

What happened was that the core,
fuel and graphite

they soaked the ground
of the reactor cavity.

The fuel melted.

And passed to the ground
below the reactor.

There were holes leading
in steam dispensers.

Ran from the steam dispensers
and reached two levels below

through pipes
in the water that was there.

About 75% of the fuel

reached its lowest point
of the reactor.

They believed that it could
to create a critical mass

which would cause a reaction.

Energy could be released
which would cause damage.

Thank God, that didn't happen.

Later we learned

that when the fuel spread,
essentially deactivated.

It just froze.
And you still see it today.

If you are going to work
in an environment

like that of the Complex Mission...

you have to be dedicated.

Dedicated to finding the truth.

The Soviet Union
he wasn't interested in truth.

JULY 7, 1987



CHERNOBYL

One year after the accident,

it became clear that the Soviets
authorities intended to blame

about what had happened
almost exclusively to operators.

In a makeshift court
in the center of Chernobyl,

six men were tried today
for security breaches

which led
in the worst nuclear accident.

The accused will be imprisoned.
Up to 12 years, if convicted.

The hall was full.

Power plant workers
and families of the victims.

The defendants are accused
for ill*gal experiments at the factory,

for ignoring operating procedures
and bypassing security systems.

The judge clarified
that he wouldn't hear anything

which would contradict
the official version.

It was essentially a show trial.
Of the Soviet Union.

JULY 30, 1987



A chapter closed today
in the worst nuclear accident

in Chernobyl
and in the Soviet Union.

Six Russian factory officials
who defied safety regulations

were criminally charged
for the death of 36 people.

They wanted a scapegoat.
And these were the operators.

All six were found guilty.
For criminal negligence.

The former factory manager

in 10 years in prison for serious crimes
violations of safety rules.

Along with five years in prison
for abuse of power.

Yes, they blamed the operators.
I was an operator once too.

NIKOLAI STEINBERG
NUCLEAR ENGINEER

Overall, I worked at the station
almost 13 years before the accident.

No foreign media attended the trial.

And there were no extensive reports
in the Soviet media,

so the line remains unknown
defense of the defendants.

On the first day,

a defendant pleaded guilty
in the reactor design.

But that's the only thing
which was said publicly as a defense.

They called me as a witness.

I still don't know if I was called.
As a defense witness

or as a prosecution witness.

I don't know.

They asked about a technical issue.
I don't remember exactly.

And that was it. I left the room.

I had the feeling

that the accident was not only due to
due to operator error.

The operators made mistakes.

But it was obvious
that the authorities were hiding something.

After leaving Chernobyl,

Steinberg became a member
an independent committee

who reopened the investigation
about what had happened at Chernobyl.

My friends were dead.

It didn't matter how much time passed,
we had to do research.

The goal was clear.

Let's find the truth.
And restore justice.

They recorded data about the operation
of the reactor during the accident.

But immediately afterwards,

all documents and data
were seized from the factory

were returned to Moscow
and they became secret.

MAY 1988

TWO YEARS AFTER THE ACCIDENT

MOSCOW, USSR

For us, two or three of the documents
were very important.

We needed the pulsograms.
Which would show

when the reactor
started to get out of control

and when the operators
they tried to deactivate it.

But the designer and the director
of the institute

who designed and built
the reactor

They didn't give us their documents.

The KGB kept the causes secret.
Of the Chernobyl accident.

Any disagreement
from the official line

that the operators were responsible
was essentially forbidden.

SOVIET SUPREME COURT, MOSCOW

The lawyers said
that the documents we needed

The Supreme Court had them too,

which was conducted
the investigation and the trial.

I spoke with the vice president.
Of the Supreme Court

and gave us access to the documents.

We worked there and found
the documents we wanted.

We took it step by step.
The work took a year and a half.

The evidence was found
in the oscillogram data.

It was clear.
That something unusual had happened.

They moved the data
by six seconds.

This allowed them to say
that the operators were at fault.

- So the data was fake?
- Yes.

Steinberg's findings
and the other researchers

brought to light
the true causes of the disaster.

We did it.

We found all the data
and everything fell into place.

They showed that the reactor
got out of control

since the operators
they tried to deactivate it.

The new information was turning

the responsibility
from the actions of the operators

in design defects
in the reactor itself.

Chernobyl station
used RBMK reactors

which was exclusively
Soviet technology.

Nothing like this is produced in the West.

The RBMK reactors
they are very bulky.

The core has a diameter of 14 meters
and a height of 7 meters.

It is very large in comparison
with the reactors of the West,

which have a diameter
three or four meters.

The RBMK reactors had
almost 1,700 fuel pipelines

which contained the uranium fuel
which produces heat.

There is boiling water there.
Which produces steam and electricity.

The core is so big
like two reactors.

One up, one down.

One side of the reactor
did not communicate with the other

and this forced the operators
to monitor it carefully.

The total number of parameters

which must be controlled
an RBMK reactor operator

is about 16,000.

Imagine having all of these
the information in your mind.

It was a problem.

Operators control the reactor
with control rods.

The introduction of control rods
reduces the reactor power.

Removing the control rods
increases the reactor power.

Operators use control rods

to regulate
the level of the chain reaction.

It's like the gas and the brake.
In a car.

Normally, there should be


Control rods are used
and to shut down the reactor.

The emergency shutdown function
of RBMK, AZ-5 in Soviet terminology,

quickly deactivated
the reactor in an emergency.

The AZ-5 system was designed
to insert almost all rods

in the core at the same time.

The purpose was to deactivate
the reactor safely.

IGNALINA NUCLEAR PLANT
LITHUANIAN SSR

During testing in 1983,

nuclear engineers at another plant
RBMK in Ignalina discovered

that there was a worrying anomaly
in the operation of the AZ-5 system.

With a very small number of control rods
in the reactor core,

when activated
the emergency system,

can be caused
uncontrolled reaction

which to lead
in core fusion and expl*si*n.

MINISTRY OF MECHANICAL CONSTRUCTION
MOSCOW

The reactor designers
and the ministry officials

who developed the RBMK reactors

they knew about these defects
long before the accident.

They started to make progress.

In modifying the system
emergency shutdown

and although Unit 4
Chernobyl was on the list

for an upcoming modification,
they decided to wait

until the next scheduled
maintenance stoppage.

The information about the defect
they didn't reach the operators.

APRIL 26, 1986





The operators tested experimentally
to activate

the reactor
while the power had been cut off.

The evening shift has arrived...

and they told them
that they will conduct the experiment.

They didn't expect to do this.

They were not aware
of the testing protocol.

The operators had difficulty
to achieve the power level

in order to perform the test.

They had removed


from the core of Reactor 4,

making him extremely unstable

and very sensitive
to any other changes in handling.

When the test began, the reactor

It was like a weapon waiting for someone.
To pull the trigger.

In the protocol, the test

would be completed when the operators
they pressed the AZ-5 button

to free the rods
and shut down the reactor.

They pressed the AZ-5 button at 1:23 AM.

Silence prevailed.
For a few seconds.

IGOR KIRSENBAUM
FACTORY OPERATOR

Then there was a noise. A humming sound.

Dust was falling from the ceiling.


THE EXACT TIME OF THE expl*si*n

A design flaw in the rods
control caused the expl*si*n.

The rods are made of boron,

a material that slows down the rate
reaction in the reactor.

Under the bars
there were graphite parts

which increase the reaction rate.

If they completely removed the rods,

the graphite was entering the core.

Under normal conditions, the toner
it wouldn't cause a problem.

But the core was already
in such an unstable situation

that the slightest fluctuation in power

would cause
uncontrolled chain reaction.

The AZ-5 button
which the operators stepped on

he inserted all the rods at the same time.

The problem was
that the graphite caused

power increase
at the bottom of the reactor.

Power falls at the top,
but it increases at the bottom.

The result was disastrous.

Ten thousand times power increase
in 0.5 seconds.

At that moment, the temperature
reached 40,000 points.

The reactor literally exploded.

That's why the building was destroyed.

It was like you were hitting the brakes.
In a car that was running

and this accelerated
instead of reducing speed.

The Soviet version was
that the accident started happening

and then the operators

they panicked and pressed the AZ-5 button
to shut down the reactor.

It was a clear and
deliberate falsification.

Everything was fine,
all indications were stable

until they pressed the button.

They couldn't deny it anymore!
We have clearly proven it.

The brake led to the expl*si*n.

The truth is good.

But those responsible
they were not punished in any way.

And innocent people went to prison.

Let them answer.
Those who designed the reactor.

Why did it explode?

The operators of Unit 4
the night of the accident

they did not know the possible consequences
of the deactivation system.

The Soviets believed
that their system was so superior

that could not go wrong,
that their technology was perfect.

The reactor was designed

by leading scientists
of the Soviet state.

If they had to assign blame
for the destruction either to them

or to some humble operators
reactor in Ukraine,

they would choose the latter.

The design flaws
would lead to failure.

The combination of situations, actions

and design defects
they made it almost inevitable.

In the Soviet system,
denial, secrecy

and concealment were inherent elements
in its mode of operation.

Chernobyl is a metaphor
for failure

of the Soviet system rather than history
for the safety of a reactor.

The increasing reports
about what really happened...

and information about errors
in the reactor design...

finally revealed
to the citizens of the USSR

that the Soviet Union was not leading
in the world of advanced technology.

The big failures
of the Chernobyl accident

undermined one of the last
sources of Soviet pride.


FOR THE INDEPENDENCE OF UKRAINE

Chernobyl is a tragedy
for our people, but not the greatest!

Because as long as we
don't have our own state,

Chernobyl existed,
exists and will continue to exist.

DECEMBER 26, 1991

FIVE YEARS AND EIGHT MONTHS
AFTER THE ACCIDENT

Good evening.
Eleven Soviet republics

they agreed to make
a commonwealth of independent states,

making the Soviet
Union a thing of the past.

The Soviet Union considered
empire itself

and within one day everything collapsed.

With 11 signatures and a round of applause,

The Soviet Union no longer exists.

Chaos prevailed. People lost
their work, they had no food.

It was humiliating for many Russians,
for millions of Russians.

This is the first time we've met.

The terrible power
nuclear energy

when it gets out of control.

Gorbachev said
that the Chernobyl accident

was the main reason
the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Because a huge number of people,
especially in Ukraine,

realized that the Communist
The party was protecting itself.

He wasn't protecting us.





CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

The initial Soviet effort
to cover the dissolved reactor

it was a roughly designed structure
which they built in the summer of 1986.

It was leaking water,
it wasn't as structural

as it could be. it
could be possible.

The design of
It can't stand it. It's collapsing.

It has already partially collapsed.
The whirlwind hall due to snow.

Here we see
very significant structural damage.

If it collapsed,
would lift radioactive debris,

causing additional
release of radioactive material.

Because of these problems,
Ukraine and Western donors

they created a structure
to cover the entire building.

A large structure,
the New Safe House.

The construction of the Fortress
started in 2010.

It was a huge international effort.

About 40 countries
and organizations played a role

in financing
and in the design of the structure.

It was also excessively expensive.
It cost about two billion dollars.

It is one of the most ambitious projects
in the history of engineering.

It is twice as long
from a 747 airplane.

It is the largest mobile structure
ever built on land.

The New Safe House

it was built to be portable.
Placed next to the reactor

and moved on rails
above the original building.

We place the Teflon plates.

And basically, if you put a lot of them,

Are you building a slide?
To make the sandals slip.

The construction of the Fylakio was
long and laborious process.

Completed in 2016,
six years later.

It's a big step for security,

and Ukraine and Europe
they will be safer now.

Ukraine,
unlike the Soviet Union,

he really wants to be a part
of the international community

and not an isolated state.

FEBRUARY 24, 2022



I was on a rooftop.
And I did a live broadcast on CNN.

The Ukrainians who resist...

I just heard
a big bang behind me.

I told you.
Let's not do the broadcast here.

It was shocking that Russia decided
to send its forces

in Kyiv, Ukraine.

The first explosions were heard
of the conflict.

Russian forces took control

of the Chernobyl plant
in Ukraine,

where it happened
the worst nuclear disaster.

Military advisors say
that the staff is being held hostage.

There is a potentially dangerous
military conflict

around the nuclear reactor.

This could lift
a bunch of horrible radioactive materials

and make this huge
disaster to happen again.

The Russian soldiers
they plowed the exclusion zone.

They dug trenches in the forest
and this is incredible.

The volume of infection absorbed
the soldiers are shocking.

Undoubtedly, they will have an impact
to their health.

The same effects
faced in Ukraine

after the disaster
of Chernobyl in 1986.

The Soviet Kremlin was indifferent
fully for the liquidators

and the Chernobyl firefighters.

Similarly, the Russian Kremlin

showed obvious indifference
for the health of soldiers.

Shortly afterwards, the Ukrainians
took back the Chernobyl exclusion zone.

The Russians had to fight
for every centimeter

of the area they would occupy.

FEBRUARY 14, 2025



You see footage that shows
a Russian drone

with expl*sive warhead
to knock on the shelter

covering Unit 4
of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant,

starting a fire
which was later limited.

Are you kidding me?
Did you fire a m*ssile at Chernobyl?

How did you come to do this?

The attack on the Outpost
highlights the nuclear threat

in the conflict in Ukraine.

It could cause a new Chernobyl,
new nuclear disaster.

And that would be devastating.

Chernobyl remains the worst
nuclear accident in history.

About 200,000 people were displaced
because of the disaster.

The area around the factory
likely to remain uninhabited

for at least 20,000 years.

When we left Chernobyl, I was
child, but I found myself in a situation

who cannot
to live even as adults.

I feel like the situation
is repeating itself,

that we are forced again
to leave our house.

When the Russians started
the invasion in 2022,

we left Ukraine and went
in Luxembourg. Now we are here.

OLENA MOCHNIUK


I was hoping for the best.
For my children, but it didn't happen.

I always teach my children
to adapt,

to be durable.

The Ukrainians proved resilient.

What can Chernobyl teach us?
In the context of the current w*r?

MARIA PROTSKENKO
PRIPYAT CHIEF ARCHITECT

Each of these horrible acts

teaches the consequences of error.

Both are a huge sadness,
a huge disaster

and a huge loss for every country.

We were all affected.
Psychologically from the accident.

Our lives were separated,
before and after the accident.

We believed in our government,
in our science.

We believed that everything would go well.

But we didn't understand the risks.

The legacy of Chernobyl,


it's not just in people's minds.

Scars are also physical.

Radioactive toxins caused

huge increase in thyroid cancer.

If you go to Ukraine today,

you can see people who were
there in 1986 when the disaster occurred.

They have scars on their necks.
From surgery on the thyroid glands

to be removed
cancerous parts of the thyroid.

I remember hearing very often
that someone died,

a friend, a neighbor,
a colleague, young people.

It was the radiation's fault,
but the doctors didn't mention it.

It was a silent w*r.

What am I holding?
From the Chernobyl story?

Difficult question.

What can I say?

Let's maintain open societies...

that provide checks and balances

in the pride that accompanies
the vast, complex technology.

If I had to teach a lesson
to my grandchildren,

would be to tell the truth.
No matter how ugly it is

the situation only gets worse
lies do it.

I think the Chernobyl story
is more important than ever...

given that the government
and society

they lost all touch with the truth
regarding the causes of the accident.

Thirty-one operators and workers
of the factory died

immediately after the disaster
in Chernobyl.

Approximately 600,000 employees
participated in the liquidation business.

Thousands died, but the real
number will never be known.

One of the things
which we all learned is

that when the regime serves
himself instead of the people,

then the power evaporates.

This is the moral lesson,
This is the truth.