One of the most dramatic scenes in the miniseries shows three power plant workers volunteering to go into an underground tunnel beneath the damaged reactor to open a vital drainage valve. The reactor power level had been reduced, preparing for a planned safety test. Press J to jump to the feed. At least one of the survivors ended up with permanently reddened, damaged skin. BBC Ukrainian Hours after the world's worst nuclear accident, engineer Oleksiy Breus entered the control room of the No. Open Wide, O Earth is remarkable for many other details it captures about Soviet life, as well. Mr Breus says the series creators showed the radiation effects on the human body well. "The reactor looked so damaged, it seemed there was nothing else to do there.". Likewise Toptunov was Lyonya. And Oleksiy Breus sees their portrayal as "not a fiction, but a blatant lie". At first, the head of the tests, Dyatlov A. S., forced them, with his orders, to move away During his first years at Chernobyl, he held positions of senior turbine management engineer and shift supervisor of the turbine hall. I feel bad for akimov because he died with the guilt weighing on him that he some how caused the accident and why did it happen, I also feel really bad. "I was surprised they even brought us there," Mr Breus says of arriving at work the morning after the explosion. Alexander Akimov is the one who had control over reactor number 4 at the night of the explosion, but whether he is the one to be held responsible remains an open question. Despite the change in tone, Chernobyl still knows how to terrify its audience, and Emily Watsons performance as Ulana Khomyuk, the nuclear scientist who visits men dying of radiation poisoning, gets under your skin even more than scenes of engineer Leonid Toptunovs bloody hospital bed sheets. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. 4 reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine. Aleksandr Akimov and Leonid Toptunov did their best at saving the situation. It's now a museum. Alexander Akimov worked with other employers in the reactor after the explosion. Ultimately, though, he is happy the show has refocused attention on the disaster and the scale of damage caused. Chernobyl engineer Oleksiy Breus, then and now, beside the backdrop of the TV portrayal of the disaster, By Viacheslav Shramovych and Hanna Chornous, Mr Breus revisited the reactor's control room 20 years after the disaster struck, Viktor Bryukhanov (left) sits alongside deputy chief engineer Anatoly Dyatlov (orange shirt) and chief engineer Nikolai Fomin during a trial over the accident, British actor Adam Nagaitis played Vasily Ignatenko, one of the first firefighters on the scene of the disaster, The view of the damaged building from the roof of reactor No. They knew where the valves were, so they were the right men for the task. 9:25 is very likely Khodemchuk, and 9:29 is Davletbayev. Pretty sure its true, the story of his face being gone came from just before he died while they were questioning him. After the humans evacuated, wildlife grew rapidly with limited predators to hunt them downwild boar multiplied eightfold in the two years following the disaster. They showed Mr. Schadov as an incompetent official who is not respected by the miners. "I saw the damage at reactor No. It is the same in the case of the Chernobyl disaster. He was the third child of Tatiana Petrovna Ignatenko and Ivan Tarasovish Ignatenko. So from that Im assuming those could be pretty true about him, especially skin being so delicate because of the radiation. Photographer Igor Kostin recalled, The clever ones also added a vine leaf for extra comfort.[5]. Sputnik/RIA Vasily Ignatenko was 25 years old when he died of radiation. Ive never heard anything about his face, only his skin blackening and shriveling. "In hospital, I was treated with a guy who biked to that bridge in the morning on 26 April to watch it. He's growing weaker, wheezes, can hardly talk anymore. "It was just our work. Of course, you can criticize the episode for excessive melodrama: Legasov is suddenly partial to Khomyuk, and the miners who stand up to a coal minister recruiting them for the Chernobyl liquidation effort are too theatrical. Someone posted here and I have seen another parts of this footage where Akimov uses something like a microphone [the white microphone like thing they use in the control room, forgive me but i have no clue what it's called]. 4. Thanks for the tip off. And the atmosphere was radioactive.[3]. There have been reports that the skin on his legs fell off like a sock when trying to stand. [3] However, the reactor stalled unexpectedly during test preparations, dropping to a low 30 MW. Lyuba tries to cheer her husband up, she brings him pictures that their children drew. What's the least amount of exercise we can get away with? Viewers dont need to see what remains of shift supervisor Alexander Akimovs face watching the reaction in Dr. Khomyuks eyes is more than enough. Raising power after this point put the reactor into a potentially dangerous state, due to Xenon poisoning, as well as design flaws in the reactor unknown to the operators. This is some other smaller problem.. Although he could walk, his parents could see he had strange skin damage. Radioecologist Sergey Gaschak explained, Animals dont seem to sense radiation and will occupy an area regardless of the radiation condition.[10]. He was the one who refused to continue with the test. Leg burns are a given, as pretty much everyone who worked on coolant supply in the morning had them. startxref VideoRussian minister laughed at for Ukraine war claims, The children left behind in Cuba's mass exodus, Xi Jinping's power grab - and why it matters, Snow, Fire and Lights: Photos of the Week. By Rod Adams April 1, 1996. Press J to jump to the feed. The School in Sperizh'e pictured in 2016. "Its high rankings show that people are still interested in Chernobyl. moustache is a struggling, wispy version of Akimov's. TOPTUNOV No, that's not--Akimov signals Toptunov not to argue. Their skin had a bright red colour. 21 0 obj <> endobj Why Alex Murdaugh was spared the death penalty, Why Trudeau is facing calls for a public inquiry, The shocking legacy of the Dutch 'Hunger Winter'. Read about our approach to external linking. His wife Lyuba is at his side.'. The dogs have been driven out of the woods by the wild wolves that habitat the area. The locals thought they would later be returning to their homes, but this was never the case. But Mr Breus believes most Pripyat residents would have slept through the explosion, and he only learned of the accident when he arrived at work the following morning. Firefighters sent from neighbouring Pripyat did not know of any radiation exposure and Ignatenko died of acute radiation syndrome on 13 May 1986. [. 0000015771 00000 n Yes, i thought the same about Razim Davletbayev. When Alexander has taken his duties, the reactor was in the state of preparation for the shutdown of the power. I felt it probably the most when we were in the city of Chernobyl [] theres a small building thats basically the cultural center, where they put on shows and songs about the Soviet Union and Lenin, and that is the room where they eventually held a trial that we will talk about in episode five. You can see Gorbachenko who was a witness that night and helped in the search of Shashenok. Because what it can do is savage. Nevertheless, Mazin says the creators wanted to avoid abusive filmmaking and decided not to show the absolute extremes of radiation sickness. 04:30 - Chief engineer Fomin arrived in the Block 4 control room. 6 in Moscow, where Alexander Akomv is suffering towards death. In that moment, standing where Dyatlov, and [Nikolai] Fomin, and [Viktor] Bryukhanov stood it was very chilling. They showed us these rooms [], the doors were quite heavy, they were padded on the inside, in case you, I dunno, attempted to smash your head against it. 3, Firefighters pictured in 1986 before cleaning debris from the roof of the No. Here's an interview with Kovalenko: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnFeTe0nDw8. Another common birth defect in this region is microcephaly, in which a babys head is smaller and not in proportion with the rest of their body. 1156/2008 of 12 December 2008", https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/en/1156/2008/sp:max100, Shift supervisor of Night shift at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. But no matter how strict he was, he was still a high-level professional.". Children are shown playing in the radioactive dust, which falls from the sky like snow. Very awesome. "A thin stream the firemen poured probably evaporated before it even reached reactor.". Just days after the initial disaster, the wind changed direction and began blowing high levels of radiation in the direction of the Ukrainian capital, Kiev. They didnt have a clue. Contents hide. Remember this scene? Whilst he was in hospital. My body parts not covered by clothes - such as hands, face and neck - were red". 0000005085 00000 n Judge Raimond Brize declared in the courtroom, There was an atmosphere of lack of control and lack of responsibility at the plant. The plant officials were also heavily criticized for not evacuating the town of Pripyat sooner. HWKF=1Zz& TfOku]T#t4d-Ti,J$bTM7d)clC2 VFO&3 zE_6tVQjA[ri&xHG|/4^})-}IrT8bv_d O7fj8jGX a?2`/gn)/nXo]}JR'.H}k%L,CXBk>:+l(]9[F|/#O5X# Y0Gl8f,1 qCy*$ Ao6!^TqRVPyQG. .] Its a little like if you were in a skyscraper, and you said to yourself, This is solid! [] You just feel safe within it. Jamie founded Listverse due to an insatiable desire to share fascinating, obscure, and bizarre facts. [5] However, the operators were found to have deviated from operational procedures, changing test protocols on the fly, as well as having made "ill judged" actions, making human factors a major contributing factor. In fact, theyre completely true. The explosion occurred. People that are usually blamed for the explosion are the plant employees who worked at the night of the explosion: Aleksandr Akimov, the supervisor of the shift; Leonid Toptunov, the senior reactor control chief engineer; and Anatoly Dyatlov, deputy chief engineer of the power plant. Aleksandr Akimov was born on 6 May 1953 in Novosibirsk, Russian SFSR (Republic of the Soviet Union). In 1983, he graduated from the Obninsk Institute for Nuclear Power Engineering, with a specialist degree in nuclear power plant engineering. Some of the stories, however, only seem like they were cooked up in a Hollywood screenwriters room. It was supposed to shut down the reactor, but the result turned out to be the exact opposite. But while many have complimented the show's attention to detail, he believes it is also one of the downsides of the TV series. The roles of three key personalities lie at the heart of the story: Plant director Viktor) Bryukhanov, chief engineer Nikolai Fomin and deputy chief engineer Anatoly Dyatlov. Yes, i thought the same about Razim Davletbayev. [] It was a kind of torture I would have never even contemplated. Leonid Fedorovych Toptunov (Ukrainian: , Russian: ; 16 August 1960 14 May 1986) was a Soviet engineer who was the senior reactor control chief engineer at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Reactor Unit 4 on the night of the Chernobyl disaster, 26 April 1986. All three men were sentenced to 10 years in a labour camp for their role in the disaster and series creator Craig Mazin maintains that Dyatlov in particular was a "real bully", who later made statements that were not credible. Months after the Chernobyl disaster, the radioactivity had spread to Galsjo Forest in Sweden. "I've never heard there was a crowd of people who went to watch the fire at night," he says. "As we moved through it, we were aware that there were the ghosts of history around us," Mazin said. [1], Leonid Toptunov was born on 16 August 1960 in Mykolaivka, Buryn Raion, Sumy Oblast. When I finished my shift, my skin was brown, as if I had a proper suntan all over my body. At 9:25 time mark, do you think it might be Khodemchuk? Everyone who worked to restore coolant flow would have suffered greatly from leg burns, because they were standing in the water. Can either be found at house parties telling everyone Charles Manson was only 52 or at home reading true crime magazines. [4] He left the control room but decided to return out of a sense of responsibility. 2023 BBC. Leonid Fedorovych Toptunov ( Ukrainian: , Russian: ; 16 August 1960 - 14 May 1986) was a Soviet engineer who was the senior reactor control chief engineer at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Reactor Unit 4 on the night of the Chernobyl disaster . Most of the liquidators were military reserves, and the army did not have enough uniforms suitable for working in radioactive conditions. But while many have complimented the show's attention to detail, he believes it is also one of the downsides of the TV series. "A big cup, vodka, KGB everywhere.". We dont think of our own death. At conservative gathering, Trump is still the favourite. A member of staff at the plant from 1982, he became a witness to the immediate aftermath on the morning of 26 April 1986. Aleksandr Fyodorovich Akimov (6 May 1953-11 May 1986) was a Soviet Engineer who was the supervisor of the shift that worked the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant on the night of the Chernobyl Disaster. To capture the gruesome deaths that befell plant engineers and first responders, makeup and prosthetics designer Daniel Parker studied the stages of radiation sickness, identifying seven kinds of wounds that depend on a victims proximity to the radiation source. Is there any truth or is it all here say? Answer (1 of 4): There would have been a hydrogen explosion instead of a steam explosion. . When the operators pushed the red button, the reactor didn't stop but exploded.". Mr Breus worked with many of the individuals portrayed and has given his verdict of the series. The puppies are believed to be descendants of the pet dogs that were left behind by their owners; residents were granted only a few hours notice before they were evacuated and advised to only take vital personal belongings and a certain amount of food. "The Chernobyl catastrophe is depicted in a very powerful way, as a global catastrophe that absorbed huge numbers of people. This documentary. The actor playing Alexander Akimov, for instance, was never even put in makeup to depict the loss of his face. On May 21, the American premium cable network HBO aired the third episode of Chernobyl, a new miniseries about the catastrophic nuclear accident in April 1986 that rocked the Soviet Union. The Chernobyl nuclear accident is one of the most shocking and devastating catastrophes of modern times. "Their characters are distorted and misrepresented, as if they were villains. On the night of April 26, 1986, Alexander Akimov was at work as the shift supervisor of the night crew of Chernobyl Plant Unit Four. Two more workers died because of injuries. Literally says the graphite displacers were the for "lubrication. Are Sky and HBO's miniseries "Chernobyl" historically accurate? Menu. ", Russia to make its own show about Chernobyl, Giant structure moves in to cover Chernobyl, TV drama Chernobyl: 'So chilling, it spares you nothing', Chernobyl: The end of a three-decade experiment, Street fighting in Bakhmut but Russia not in control, Saving Private Ryan actor Tom Sizemore dies at 61, Alex Murdaugh's legal troubles are far from over, The children left behind in Cuba's mass exodus, Xi Jinping's power grab - and why it matters, Snow, Fire and Lights: Photos of the Week. What interviewer? "I was surprised they even brought us there," Mr Breus says of arriving at work the morning after the explosion. Or something along those lines. Thats your job, randomly spouting INSAG reports. "Another friend treated at the same time said he had a date with his girlfriend close to the bridge that night. In a weird way, it was more moving to me than moving through the actual power plant itself. Toptunov had literally turned white.". In April 1986, an explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics becomes one of the world's worst man-made catastrophes. Fresh perspectives. On 10 July 1984 Aleksandr Akimov was appointed to the position of shift supervisor of Reactor Unit 4. The Chernobyl disaster was a catastrophic nuclear disaster that occurred in the early hours of 26 April 1986, at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Soviet Ukraine.The accident occurred when Reactor Number 4 exploded and destroyed most of the reactor building, spreading debris and radioactive material across the surrounding area, and over the following days and weeks, most of mainland Europe .

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