In a weird way, it was more moving to me than moving through the actual power plant itself. At first, the head of the tests, Dyatlov A. S., forced them, with his orders, to move away "The reactor looked so damaged, it seemed there was nothing else to do there.". Movies. In the hours after the explosion, he spoke to Oleksandr Akimov, the shift leader at the No. He was portrayed by actor Volodya Stepanenko in the 2004 Zero Hour TV series. In the weeks immediately after the explosion, 29 power plant workers and firefighters died from ARS, caused by exposure to high doses of ionising radiation, according to Soviet officials. Open Wide, O Earth is remarkable for many other details it captures about Soviet life, as well. It's now a museum. 4 reactor, and operator Leonid Toptunov, who both feature prominently in the series. Wrong : the poor guy who saw the skin of his leg fell off was Vyacheslav S. Brazhnik, Senior turbine operator. This is an eerie and deserted location, as the homes of Kopachi were completely bulldozed and buried by the Soviet Army. Lyuba tries to cheer her husband up, she brings him pictures that their children drew. "In hospital, I was treated with a guy who biked to that bridge in the morning on 26 April to watch it. "There are many stereotypes shown, typical of Western portrayal of the Soviet Union," argues Oleksiy Breus. "The operators were afraid of him," Mr Breus agrees. Sputnik/RIA Vasily Ignatenko was 25 years old when he died of radiation. Once she sees how Akimov is tearing entire strains of his moustache out "Don't worry", he says, "it doesn't hurt. Poor guy. Warning: spoilers ahead. 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. 4 reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine. The dogs have been driven out of the woods by the wild wolves that habitat the area. On 10 July 1984 Aleksandr Akimov was appointed to the position of shift supervisor of Reactor Unit 4. Tatiana Ignatenko was a collective farm fieldworker, and Ivan Ignatenko a tractor, and later truck . The communications networks were suddenly flooded with calls and information. "They took off their clothes, but not like it was shown in the film, not right down to nothing," Mr Breus insists, also pointing out that their role was ultimately not significant to the story. This is not a polemic about nuclear power. It was important to me that people understood what was happening to these men, because they suffered in terrible ways, Mazin told The Chernobyl Podcast. Chernobyl radiation: What radiation poisoning does to you. - Mamamia startxref
However, the deputy chief engineer of the power plant Anatoly Dyatlov ordered to proceed with the tests. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. AKIMOV . Identical. moustache is a struggling, wispy version of Akimov's. TOPTUNOV No, that's not--Akimov signals Toptunov not to argue. Aleksandr Akimov was born on 6 May 1953 in Novosibirsk, Russian SFSR (Republic of the Soviet Union . Lyudmillas story appears in Svetlana Alexievichs book, Voices From Chernobyl, where she says, None of the doctors knew I was staying the night with him in the compression chamber. And also being under that same piece of sky, you start to feel a little closer, in a sense, to who they were. "When he was present at the block, it created tension for everyone. I know he has been brought up alot in discussions especially about his face. In the weeks immediately after the explosion, 29 power plant workers and firefighters died from ARS, caused by exposure to high doses of ionising radiation, according to Soviet officials. Thank you! Contrary to reports that the three divers died of radiation sickness as a result of their action, all three survived. When the operators pushed the red button, the reactor didn't stop but exploded.". Arriving at work that morning, Mr Breus says he did not see any fire. "I've never heard there was a crowd of people who went to watch the fire at night," he says. Deaths due to the Chernobyl disaster - Wikipedia ", 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, Russian minister laughed at for Ukraine war claims. The one thing, though, that I did feel, walking through the power plant was a little bit of a better sense of how easy it would be to deny. This documentary. Toptunov only had two months' experience in operating the reactor and this was his first shutdown as operator. Some of the stories, however, only seem like they were cooked up in a Hollywood screenwriters room. What interviewer? 0000001545 00000 n
I am still very convinced, that this footage actually shows Boris Stolyarchuk. "I saw the damage at reactor No. His famous quote We did everything correctly has been used in the Chernobyl series by HBO. Hours after the world's worst nuclear accident, engineer Oleksiy Breus entered the control room of the No. The information is all on the level of 'he said, she said'. Their skin had a bright red colour. 4 reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine. Pretty sure its true, the story of his face being gone came from just before he died while they were questioning him. ProtectedbyreCAPTCHAandtheGoogle Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. He got a mild type of acute radiation syndrome, a doctor said. 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. There are many theories about the reasons for the nuclear plant explosion, but they all have the same common denominator: the human element. Press J to jump to the feed. [2], Akimov worked with his crew in the reactor building after he learned the extent of the accident. You could see the equipment and pumps exposed. The missing containment wasn't mentioned either', 'It is the morning of the 10th May. The HBO miniseries includes many of the real people operating the reactor at the time of the meltdown. "The Chernobyl catastrophe is depicted in a very powerful way, as a global catastrophe that absorbed huge numbers of people. 0000012642 00000 n
[11] They were found guilty of gross violation of safety regulations which led to an explosion. On April 26, 1986, an explosion occurred at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the northern part of Soviet Ukraine, an event which today is widely known as the Chernobyl disaster. "Its high rankings show that people are still interested in Chernobyl. Alexander Akimov and Chernobyl - trip-to-chernobyl.com He's growing weaker, wheezes, can hardly talk anymore. 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. Aleksandr Akimov and Leonid Toptunov did their best at saving the situation. "The Chernobyl catastrophe is depicted in a very powerful way, as a global catastrophe that absorbed huge numbers of people. Shift leader Borys Baranov died in 2005, while Valery Bespalov and Oleksiy Ananenko, both chief engineers of one of the reactor sections, are still alive and live in the capital, Kiev. They knew where the valves were, so they were the right men for the task. I always wonder why toptinov called him sasha? The guy that posted it was a Radiation Specialist and had access to records of a lot of the Chernobyl victims. The actor playing Alexander Akimov, for instance, was never even put in makeup to depict the loss of his face. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnFeTe0nDw8. This further increase in power caused the reactor to explode. "The miners are shown as tough guys who are not afraid of anything, but not the power plant workers.". Theres something wrong with you.. Contrary to reports that the three divers died of radiation sickness as a result of their action, all three survived. Many can be found playing inside the abandoned cooling tower at the former power plant. During his studies of the reactor documentation, he mentioned to his friend, Sasha Korol, that control rods may, in certain circumstances, accelerate rather than slow the reaction. 43 0 obj<>stream
And still the shift leader is ruminating if the catastrophy was his fault: "What have we done wrong? "Radiation exposure, red skin, radiation burns and steam burns were what many people talked about but it was never shown like this. Within two weeks, both Mr Akimov and Mr Toptunov had died in a Moscow hospital of acute radiation syndrome (ARS). Children are shown playing in the radioactive dust, which falls from the sky like snow. 0000000016 00000 n
Is there any other reports regarding Akimov? 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 . 8 Real-Life Heroes Who Literally Saved The World From Disaster Cheish Merryweather is a true crime fan and an oddities fanatic. Later this perception changed.". The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Tatarchuk said of the aftermath, It was criminal. Akimov Radiation : r/chernobyl - reddit The interviewer said he has no face. Always nice to see new programs about this :). You can see Gorbachenko who was a witness that night and helped in the search of Shashenok. Aleksandr Akimov | Military Wiki | Fandom He got a mild type of acute radiation syndrome, a doctor said. g][^b'v@2RPROza"e =-2Ik053NC=~k{'H|(V>a!Y^5idI1OLgx]zdO
f6D*@=7'9 Firefighters were also asked to help clear radioactive debris from the roof after the fire was extinguished. Warning: This story contains plot details from the miniseries. The reactor power level had been reduced, preparing for a planned safety test. "I was surprised they even brought us there," Mr Breus says of arriving at work the morning after the explosion. Select it and press Ctrl+Enter, Yegor Moskvitin reviews a poignant new depiction of the Soviet disaster, I was there, and I dont want to watch this anymore, A journalist in Baltimore shows HBO's Chernobyl to his stepfather and discovers that he was part of the USSR's military cleanup, The widow of a Chernobyl engineer remembers her husband and describes returning to work at the power plant after the 1986 nuclear accident. In an attempt to contain the disaster, helicopters dumped lead slabs weighing 40 kilograms (88 lb) each on the reactor, followed by several tons of radiation absorbing-sand. It is the same in the case of the Chernobyl disaster.