The final concept: Lev Bocharov (chief engineer, US-605 team three), author interview, Moscow, April 2017; V. Kurnosov et al., report no. IAEA-CN-48/253: “Experience of Entombing the Damaged Fourth Power Unit of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant” [Опыт захоронения аварийного четвертого энергоблока Чернобыльской АЭС], in IAEA, Nuclear Power Performance and Safety, proceedings of the IAEA conference in Vienna (September 28 to October 2, 1987), vol. 5, 1988, 170. Other tallies of design proposals on the short list have also been reported. Y. Yurchenko notes twenty-eight blueprints (Kozlova, Battle with Uncertainty, 205). Nikolai Steinberg cites more than a hundred (author interview, 2006).
Hollow lead balls: Kopchinsky and Steinberg, Chernobyl, 128; Kozlova, Battle with Uncertainty, 209.
Others had proposed: Kozlova, Battle with Uncertainty, 209; Steinberg, author interview, 2006.
During the first meetings: Kopchinsky and Steinberg, Chernobyl, 128.
Among the proposed architectural solutions: Blueprints in the archive of Lev Bocharov (author interview, 2017).
But the technical challenges: Belyaev, author interview, 2017.
So the engineers planned: Kozlova, Battle with Uncertainty, 206–7.
And time was short: Baranovska, ed., The Chernobyl Tragedy, document no. 172: “Resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the USSR Council of Ministers ‘On Measures to Conserve Chernobyl NPP Objects Pertaining to the Accident at Energy Block No. 4, and to Prevent Water Runoff from Plant Territory,’ ” June 5, 1986.
To limit their overall: Viktor Sheyanov (chief engineer, US-605 team one), account in Kozlova, Battle with Uncertainty, 217.
Create the infrastructure necessary: General Y. Savinov, testimony in I. A. Belyaev, Sredmash Brand Concrete [Бетон марки “Средмаш”] (Moscow: Izdat, 1996), 39.
But the often middle-aged: Savinov explains that the reservists were forty-five to fifty years old and that he regarded them as amateur soldiers who approached their tasks in the same improvised way as the partisans of World War II. Belyaev, Sredmash Brand Concrete, 39.
The first shift’s most important task: Sheyanov, account in Kozlova, Battle with Uncertainty, 218.
Before building work began: Bocharov, author interview, 2017; Belyaev, author interview, 2017.
Began to lay siege to the reactor: Kozlova, Battle with Uncertainty, 260.
More than 6 meters high: Ibid., 220 and 229; Belyaev, author interview, 2017.
The surface of the ground around them: Kozlova, Battle with Uncertainty, 226.
The work was relentless: Lev Bocharov, account in Kozlova, Battle with Uncertainty, 290. Construction supervisor Valentin Mozhnov recalls that the maximum daily volume of concrete reached 5,600 cubic meters (261).
It was rushed to the remains: Bocharov and Nikifor Strashevsky (senior engineer), accounts in Kozlova, Battle with Uncertainty, 290 and 326.
In July and August: L. Krivoshein, account in Kozlova, Battle with Uncertainty, 96; Tarakanov, Bitter Truth, 142.
Capable of lifting: Kozlova, Battle with Uncertainty, 243.
If brought too close: Yurchenko, account in Kozlova, Battle with Uncertainty, 245 and 252.
The steel forms of the Cascade Wall: A. V. Shevchenko (senior construction engineer, US-605 team two), account in Kozlova, Battle with Uncertainty, 251.
While the Sredmash engineers were at work: Borovoi, author interview, 2015; Alexander Borovoi, My Chernobyl [Мой Чернобыль] (Moscow: Izdat, 1996), 54.
His rival, Velikhov: Semenov, “For the 10th Anniversary of the Catastrophe at Chernobyl NPP,” 41.
Yet their initial efforts: K. P. Checherov, “The Unpeaceful Atom of Chernobyl” [Немирный атом Чернобыля], nos. 6–7 (2006–2007), online at http://vivovoco.astronet.ru/VV/PAPERS/MEN/CHERNOBYL.HTM. For the location of this compartment, see 3D diagrams in Sich, “Chornobyl Accident Revisited,” 288 and 296–98.
Alexander Borovoi, a thickset forty-nine-year-old: Borovoi, author interview, 2015; Borovoi, My Chernobyl, 39–40.
The Politburo had publicly promised: In a TV interview from Chernobyl on June 1, Vladimir Voronin, deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers and the third chief of the government commission, said he was “fully confident” that Units One and Two would be restarted by winter “in accordance with the timescale planned by the government.” BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, “1st June TV Report of Work at AES: Statement by Voronin,” summary of television programming on June 1, 1986 (translated June 3, 1986).
But now that the truth: Kopchinsky and Steinberg, Chernobyl, 98 and 108–12. The plastic coverings remain on floors and staircases throughout the plant today.
The entire ventilation system: Ibid., 102–7.
A five-tonne concrete panel: Tarakanov, author interview, 2016.
The government commission turned once again: Elena Kozlova, author interview, Moscow, April 2017; Kozlova, Battle with Uncertainty, 190–92.
Technicians planned to clear the debris using robots: For more details on this effort, see Y. Yurchenko, report no. IAEA-CN-48/256: “Assessment of the Effectiveness of Mechanical Decontamination Technologies and Technical Devices Used at the Damaged Unit of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant” [Оценка эффективности технологий и технических средств механической дезактивации аварийного блока Чернобыльской АЭС], in IAEA, Nuclear Power Performance and Safety, 1988, 164–65.
On September 16 General Tarakanov received: Tarakanov, author interview, 2016; recollections of Nikolai Tarakanov (Bitter Truth of Chernobyl, 144–45), translated in Chernousenko, Insight from the Inside, 151. Description of Samoilenko’s appearance at the time is drawn from documentary footage in Chernobyl 3828.
Using a sketch plan: The sketch map is described by Tarakanov in Bitter Truth of Chernobyl, 141, and reproduced in Karpan, Chernobyl to Fukushima, 14.
Tarakanov’s soldiers launched: Tarakanov, author interview, 2016; Tarakanov, Bitter Truth of Chernobyl, 151.
“I’m asking any one of you”: Tarakanov, Bitter Truth of Chernobyl, 170.
Many were young: Alexander Fedotov (former liquidator), interviewed in The Battle of Chernobyl, dir. Thomas Johnson (France: Play Film, 2006). Although the majority of the men were partizans, the platforms of the vent stack were cleared by cadets from the firefighting school in Kharkov who had volunteered for the task, young men barely out of their teens. The cadets proved especially dedicated and, in some cases, stayed out longer than their allowed time to do extra work.
Years afterward, the general would insist: Tarakanov, interview in The Battle of Chernobyl.
Their eyes hurt: Igor Kostin and Alexander Fedotov, interviews in The Battle of Chernobyl. Kostin’s biography and photographs taken on the plant’s roof are included in Igor Kostin, Chernobyl: Confessions of a Reporter (New York: Umbrage Editions, 2006), 76-81 and 225–37.
Recorded in a ledger: Tarakanov, author interview, 2016; “List of personnel of army units and subdivisions of the USSR Ministry of Defense that took part in the operation to remove nuclear fuel, highly radioactive graphite and other products of the explosion from the roof of energy block no. 3, machine hall and vent supports of the Chernobyl NPP in the period from September 19 to October 1, 1986” [Список личного состава воинских частей и подразделений МО СССР, принимавших участие в операции по удалению ядерного топлива, высокорадиоактивного зараженного графита и других продуктов взрыва с крыш 3го энергоблока, машзала и трубных площадок ЧАЭС в период с 19 сентября по 1 октября 1986 года], personal archive of Nikolai Tarakanov.
For twelve days: Starodumov, narration in Chernobyl 3828; Tarakanov, author interview, 2016.
At a quart
er to five that afternoon: Kopchinsky and Steinberg, Chernobyl, 115.
On the roof of Unit Three: See documentary footage in Chernobyl 3828, narrated by Starodumov, who was one of the scouts raising the flag. Kostin’s photograph is reproduced in his book Chernobyl: Confessions of a Reporter, 95.
Tarakanov was climbing into his car: Tarakanov, author interview, 2016.
Splashed on the front page: An image of the article titled “The Taming of the Reactor” [Укрощение реактора], is reproduced in Kozlova, Battle with Uncertainty, 284.
The chief engineer of the shift: Bocharov, author interview, 2017; Josephson, Red Atom, 69; IAEA, Nuclear Applications for Steam and Hot Water Supply, report no. TECDOC-615, July 1991, 73; Stefan Guth, “Picturing Atomic-Powered Communism,” paper given at the international conference Picturing Power. Photography in Socialist Societies, University of Bremen, December 9–12, 2015.
Had already fallen behind schedule: An October 5 KGB memo specified that the Sarcophagus had missed the original Sredmash deadline but that the roofing operation was expected to commence on October 11, and Unit Two was scheduled to come online on October 20 (Danilyuk, ed., “Chernobyl Tragedy,” Z arkhiviv, document no. 65, Report of the USSR OG KGB and UkSSR KGB to the USSR KGB Concerning the Radioactive Situation and the Progress in Works on the Cleaning Up Operation After the Accident at the Chernobyl NPS, October 5, 1986).
A massive steel house of cards: Kozlova, Battle with Uncertainty, 324.
Colossal and ungainly: Ibid., 358–59; Belyaev, Chernobyl: Death Watch, 145.
Bocharov and his engineers set up: Bocharov, author interview, 2017; Kozlova, Battle with Uncertainty, 270.
The batiskaf: The NIKIMT technicians made several versions of the bathyscaphe, each slightly different. Pictures and a description are provided in Alexander Khodeyev’s account in Kozlova, Battle with Uncertainty, 161–62, and by Pavel Safronov, account, 380.
The chief designer’s plan: Bocharov, author interview, 2017.
They would have to start the Sarcophagus again: Bocharov, account in Kozlova, Battle with Uncertainty, 382.
Before leaving, some were presented with awards: Koldin, author interview, 2017.
Regardless of the triumphant: Raab, All Shook Up, 172–73.
Some bribed the draft officer: Marples, The Social Impact of the Chernobyl Disaster, 191.
One group of two hundred: James M. Markham, “Estonians Resist Chernobyl Duty, Paper Says,” New York Times, August 27, 1986.
Military police patrols in Kiev: Logachev, Taras Shumeyko interview, 2017.
High wages: Wages paid in the zone were calculated at a multiple of individual salaries, according to Maria Protsenko (author interview, 2016). Additionally, at the end of May, the Politburo approved a schedule of special one-off payments for those who distinguished themselves during the liquidation. See Baranovska, ed., The Chernobyl Tragedy, document no. 154: “Resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the USSR Council of Ministers ‘On conducting decontamination work in Ukrainian SSR and Belarusian SSR regions affected by radioactive pollution after the accident at Chernobyl NPP,’ ” May 29, 1986.
Vladimir Usatenko was thirty-six years old: Vladimir Usatenko, author interview, Kiev, December 2016.
Twenty-eight missions: Ibid. For his work, Usatenko earned five times his usual salary as an electrical engineer, plus a 100-ruble bonus as a noncommissioned officer, earning 1,400 rubles in total.
Led by a physicist: Bocharov, author interview, 2017; Bocharov, account in Kozlova, Battle with Uncertainty, 361–78; Belyaev, Chernobyl: Death Watch, 144–45.
At ten in the evening: Belyaev, Chernobyl: Death Watch, 146 and 149.
There was still no sign: Borovoi, author interview, 2015; Astakhova, “The Liquidator.”
The roof and windows: Kozlova, Battle with Uncertainty, 515.
The engineers boasted: Belyaev, Chernobyl: Death Watch, 165. These figures, cited frequently in Soviet reports, do not survive close scrutiny. In his thesis, Alexander Sich shows that cramming this volume of concrete into a building the size of the Sarcophagus is a geometric impossibility (Sich, “Chornobyl Accident Revisited,” 26n12).
The costs had risen: Kozlova, Battle with Uncertainty, 518.
As he gazed up: Belyaev, Chernobyl: Death Watch, 162.
It would be Slavsky’s final achievement: Belyaev, author interview, 2017.
“Kandahar?”: Bocharov, author interview, 2017.
17. THE FORBIDDEN ZONE
By the beginning of August 1986: Gary Lee, “Chernobyl’s Victims Lie Under Stark Marble, Far From Ukraine,” Washington Post, July 2, 1986; Carol J. Williams, “Chernobyl Victims Buried at Memorial Site,” Associated Press, June 24, 1986; Thom Shanker, “2 Graves Lift Chernobyl Toll to 30,” Chicago Tribune, August 3, 1986. Description of cemetery layout: Grigori Medvedev, Truth About Chernobyl, 262.
In September, Dr. Angelina Guskova: “ ‘No Significant Increase in Cancer Sufferers Foreseen’ After Accident,” excerpts from interviews with Guskova and L. A. Ilyin (vice president of the Soviet Academy of Medical Sciences and director of the USSR Ministry of Health Institute of Biophysics), published in Izvestia on September 19, 1987, and translated by BBC Summary of World Broadcasts on September 27, 1986; Reuters, “Chernobyl Costs Reach $3.9 Billion,” Globe and Mail (Canada), September 20, 1986.
The body of pump operator: Shcherbak, Chernobyl, 340.
Since then, twenty-nine more: International Atomic Energy Agency, INSAG-1, 64. One death, of a woman, was attributed to a brain hemorrhage also apparently a consequence of ARS: Gusev et al., eds., Medical Management of Radiation Accidents, 201.
Of the thirteen patients who had been treated: International Atomic Energy Agency, INSAG-1, 64–65; Zhores Medvedev, Legacy of Chernobyl, 140.
Deputy Chief Engineer Anatoly Dyatlov: Dyatlov, Chernobyl: How It Was, 54 and 109.
Major Leonid Telyatnikov: Felicity Barringer, “One Year After Chernobyl, a Tense Tale of Survival,” New York Times, April 6, 1987.
The doctors regarded the survival: Barabanova, author interview, 2016. Also see Davletbayev, “Last Shift,” 373.
Alexander Yuvchenko: Natalia Yuvchenko, author interview, 2016. Despite her flinty attitude to her staff, Angelina Guskova apparently displayed a special warmth for her favorite patients. According to Natalia, the veteran radiation specialist appeared at Yuvchenko’s bedside, twittering with pet names and reassurances, like a devoted grandmother. “Sashenka!” she said. “Everything is going to be fine! Why are you worried?”
It was June: Ibid.
Just outside the Exclusion Zone, in the town of Polesskoye: Esaulov, City That Doesn’t Exist, 50.
In May the Soviet Red Cross Society: Ibid., 69.
On July 25 they received an answer: Ibid., 14 and 55; Natalia Yuvchenko, author interview, 2016.
The refugees were allowed: Esaulov, City That Doesn’t Exist, 55–56.
Some found it hard: A diary entry of a checkpoint worker tasked with accompanying former residents on their apartment visits, published in Komsomolskaya Pravda in October 1986 and reproduced in David R. Marples, The Social Impact of the Chernobyl Disaster (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1988), 173.
It was September: Natalia Yuvchenko, author interview, 2016.
Other residents retrieved: Valery Slutsky, author interview, Pripyat, 2006.
Valentina Brukhanov: Viktor and Valentina Brukhanov, author interview, 2016. Svetlana Samodelova in “The private catastrophe of Chernobyl’s director” [Личная катастрофа директора Чернобыля], Moskovsky komsomolets, April 22, 2011, www.mk.ru/politics/russia/2011/04/21/583211-lichnaya-katastrofa-direktora-chernobyilya.html.
It was often late at night: Esaulov, City That Doesn’t Exist, 56.
They manned the barriers: Diary entries of MEPhI checkpoint workers, Komsomolskaya pravda, October 1986, reproduced in Marples, Social Impact of the Chernobyl Disaster, 172–77.
The visits to
the deserted city: Esaulov, City That Doesn’t Exist, 56.
The town council planned: Ibid., 67–68.
A charity rock concert: BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, “ ‘Highlights’ of Rock Concert for Chernobyl Victims Shown on TV,” summary of Soviet television programming on July 11, 1986 (translated July 15).
Account No. 904 had already received: BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, “Contributions to Chernobyl aid fund,” summary of TASS news report on August 11, 1986 (translated August 15, 1986).
In June the Politburo passed a resolution: Baranovska, ed., The Chernobyl Tragedy, document no. 173: “Resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the USSR Council of Ministers ‘On providing homes and social amenities to the population evacuated from the Chernobyl zone,” June 5, 1986.
Fifty thousand men: “New Homes for Evacuees: AES Workers’ Township,” Pravda, July 23, 1986, translated by BBC Summary of World Broadcasts on July 28, 1986.
The first settlement: Marples, Social Impact of the Chernobyl Disaster, 197.
Each home was reportedly: Ibid., 198.
11,500 new single-family houses: Lyashko, Weight of Memory, 370.
But the Politburo task force: Ibid., 371–72; Valentin Kupny, author interview, Slavutych, Ukraine, February 2016; Natalia Khodemchuk, author interview, Kiev, May 2017.
Mysteriously came to a halt: Esaulov, City That Doesn’t Exist, 58–59.
They were shunned: Natalia Khodemchuk, author interview, 2017.
At school: Samodelova, “The private catastrophe of Chernobyl’s director.”
The radiation readings in the stairwells: G. K. Zlobin and V. Y. Pinchuk, eds., Chernobyl: Post-Accident Construction Program [Чорнобиль: Післяаварійна програма будівництва], Kiev Construction Academy (Kiev: Fedorov, 1998), 311.
With the first reactor: E. N. Pozdishev, interview by Pravda correspondents, “Chernobyl AES: Chronicle of Events—In Test Mode,” Pravda, October 10, 1986, translated in “Aftermath of Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Accident—Part II,” Foreign Broadcast Information Service, USSR Report: Political and Sociological Affairs, January 22, 1987.
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