Likewise Toptunov was Lyonya. "Its high rankings show that people are still interested in Chernobyl. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. He's growing weaker, wheezes, can hardly talk anymore. Akimov had 100% of his skin burnt by radiation. Hours after the world's worst nuclear accident, engineer Oleksiy Breus entered the control room of the No. 43 0 obj<>stream And Oleksiy Breus sees their portrayal as "not a fiction, but a blatant lie". "It was just our work. Later this perception changed.". When I finished my shift, my skin was brown, as if I had a proper suntan all over my body. His wife Lyuba is at his side.'. When confronted with confusing reactor indications, he initiated an emergency shutdown of Unit 4 of the large electricity . The Red Forest is now one of the most contaminated sites in the world, with more than 90 percent of the radioactivity found in the soil. One after the other, like giant beetles, kilometre after kilometre. Aleksandr Akimov was born on 6 May 1953 in . 2023 BBC. 0000013685 00000 n HBO. "I saw the damage at reactor No. The scene where Dr. Khomyuk is jailed by the KGB was filmed in Vilnius at a real former KGB prison. "They were not looking good, to put it mildly," he says. He had health problems afterwards.". Belarus shares a border with Ukraine, and the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is quite close to said border; in 2010, UNICEF reported that 20 percent of adolescents in Belarus suffer from chronic illnesses or disabilities caused by birth defects. "', 'In Moscow, doctors are trying to save Alexander Akimov's life. The actor playing Alexander Akimov, for instance, was never even put in makeup to depict the loss of his face. "Another friend treated at the same time said he had a date with his girlfriend close to the bridge that night. "The operators were afraid of him," Mr Breus agrees. "It was just our work. But I have to ask about his legs. There was no mention of the flawed construction. moustache is a struggling, wispy version of Akimov's. TOPTUNOV No, that's not--Akimov signals Toptunov not to argue. Twitter: @thecheish. I know he has been brought up alot in discussions especially about his face. Its unknown if this incident caused his sons illness, but screenwriters considered using memories of this personal tragedy as a way to explain Dyatlovs questionable decisions during the Chernobyl disaster. 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. During his first years at Chernobyl, he held positions of senior turbine management engineer and shift supervisor of the turbine hall. "A big cup, vodka, KGB everywhere.". Also, emotions and mood at that time are shown quite precisely, both among the personnel and the authorities. 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. It kills you slowly, and it kills you in an excruciating manner. Tatiana Ignatenko was a collective farm fieldworker, and Ivan Ignatenko a tractor, and later truck . Pilot Alexander Petrov, who responded to the scene, recalled, It took us more than 24 hours to get things going. It was way worse for him because he received almost 100% burns from radiation both from the inside and the outside, This article in the German Magazine "Stern" describes Akimov's condition : https://www.stern.de/panorama/weltgeschehen/tschernobyl-anatomie-einer-katastrophe-3597302.html, 'Though Akimov has already recovered from the first symptoms of radiation sickness, his skin is brown and his bone marrow is irreparably damaged. 0000016820 00000 n The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. [4] During the accident, he was exposed to a fatal radiation dose of 1300rem. His parents visited him in the hospital. There are many charities that support facilities which help babies who were born with severe birth defects, including neurological difficulties and heart conditions. "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. At first, they also tried to reason with me, saying, Youre young. On the night of 26 April 1986, Leonid Toptunov was working in the control room at the reactor control panel, with Aleksandr Akimov. DYATLOV (to the room) This is an emergency. 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. He points to a few inaccuracies in the TV portrayal. (k[YUWvP The Chernobyl nuclear accident is one of the most shocking and devastating catastrophes of modern times. "There are many stereotypes shown, typical of Western portrayal of the Soviet Union," argues Oleksiy Breus. Akimov was the one who declared an emergency after shutting down the reactor - but it was already too late. However, this plan only did more harm than good. Im not a religious man, but I suppose thats as religious as Ill ever feel. It's not just a local interest, for a small group of people, but it is still worldwide. Everyone stay calm. "Their characters are distorted and misrepresented, as if they were villains. xb```a``vb`e`} @V h r `0+Q -`5B@e GS:a/(r_g|8)|Z (a_x@ &d .] There is a myth that no life can survive in Chernobyl, which is simply not true. ", I'd say it is indeed Akimov, and the man standing next to him might be Kovalenko, reactor#4 supervisor. His famous quote We did everything correctly has been used in the Chernobyl series by HBO. <]>> Tatarchuk said of the aftermath, It was criminal. 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. "As we moved through it, we were aware that there were the ghosts of history around us," Mazin said. The reason was the reactors unstable condition due to low electrical network power. Press J to jump to the feed. He was exposed to a lethal dose of radiation and died two weeks after the explosion. However, they didnt know about the faults that had been made during the construction of the reactor. Chernobyl guide Yuri Tatarchuk explained, Kopachi was very badly contaminated and so it was decided to bury it, house by house. Contrary to reports that the three divers died of radiation sickness as a result of their action, all three survived. How would I find another job after that?". Thanks for the tip off. [4], While the initial Soviet investigation put almost all the blame on the operators and management, later findings by the IAEA found that the reactor design and how the operators were informed of safety information was more significant. [3] However, the reactor stalled unexpectedly during test preparations, dropping to a low 30 MW. "Another friend treated at the same time said he had a date with his girlfriend close to the bridge that night. Can Nigeria's election result be overturned? "I saw other colleagues who worked that night. Aleksandr Akimov and Leonid Toptunov did their best at saving the situation. "They were not looking good, to put it mildly," he says. Leg burns are a given, as pretty much everyone who worked on coolant supply in the morning had them. The control rods had graphite moderators to speed up reaction and the other part of the rods were made of boron to decrease reaction. Ive never heard anything about his face, only his skin blackening and shriveling. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts, https://www.stern.de/panorama/weltgeschehen/tschernobyl-anatomie-einer-katastrophe-3597302.html. ", Most of the firefighters were pouring water on the damaged reactor, he says. Tel: +38 063 58 16 661E-mail: [emailprotected], Exciting private tours to Chernobyl and Pripyat. The original footage was probably taken at reactor 4 control room during the time our guys were on crew, that's why many of them can be seen. Miners were brought in to dig a tunnel under the reactor to create a space for a heat exchanger, to stop the molten core melting through the concrete pad and contaminating the groundwater, threatening millions of lives. 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. 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. This is not a polemic about nuclear power. The Chernobyl cases have taught us that much needed (and still needs) to be improved in the clinical management of ARS in accident sit-uations generally complicated by radiation injury to the skin and injuries that are not radia-tion related. Some dogs have been fitted with radiation sensors and GPS receivers, which help to map the radiation levels across the exclusion zone.[8]. "Its high rankings show that people are still interested in Chernobyl. 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. [4] Toptunov and Akimov received bone marrow transplants in attempt to restore their immune systems. At 1:23 AM, the reactors power levels surged, and the events that followed led to an explosion which released more than 50 tons of radioactive material into the atmosphere.[1]. 1953. According to Sources: Akimov suffered severe Leg Burns and the high amount of radiation caused it face to slowly dissolve away. And also being under that same piece of sky, you start to feel a little closer, in a sense, to who they were. 0000001006 00000 n He got a mild type of acute radiation syndrome, a doctor said. On April 26th, 1986, at 1:23 am, Alexander Akimov did what he and thousands of other nuclear plant operators have been trained to do. Contrary to reports that the three divers died of radiation sickness as a result of their action, all three survived. The precautions were not enough, as, since 1986, physicians have reported a rise in birth defects. 4 reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine. There was one in particular where the floor sloped down, so it was lower than the entrance to the door, and the idea was that youd go into that room, and they would fill it with water, up to your knees or so, so you couldnt sleep. "Radiation exposure, red skin, radiation burns and steam burns were what many people talked about but it was never shown like this. 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 were very pale. What's the least amount of exercise we can get away with? Instead, the job was handed over to humans, who could not be exposed for any longer than 40 seconds. 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. The body of one of them, Valery Khodemchuk, was never recovered from the reactor debris. Photographer Igor Kostin recalled, The clever ones also added a vine leaf for extra comfort.[5]. Is there any truth or is it all here say? Contents hide. As the rods were being inserted, the graphite tips of the control rods accelerated the reaction, creating neutron flux in the bottom of the core. [3] The operators attempted to perform a rundown test before scheduled routine maintenance, during which reactor 4 exploded. .] Also, emotions and mood at that time are shown quite precisely, both among the personnel and the authorities. After the humans evacuated, wildlife grew rapidly with limited predators to hunt them downwild boar multiplied eightfold in the two years following the disaster. Abagian recalled, Children were running in the streets; people were hanging laundered linen out to dry. ", By now Akimov's wife Lyuba was allowed to come to Moscow. "There are many stereotypes shown, typical of Western portrayal of the Soviet Union," argues Oleksiy Breus. "If I didn't do it, they could just fire me. You can see Gorbachenko who was a witness that night and helped in the search of Shashenok. endstream endobj 27 0 obj<>stream Cheish Merryweather is a true crime fan and an oddities fanatic. ', 'The worst cases are brought to hospital No. When Alexander has taken his duties, the reactor was in the state of preparation for the shutdown of the power. Akimov tries reassuring his even more shellshocked colleague, reactor engineer Leonid Toptunov, that they did everything right. They were nothing like that. "The reactor looked so damaged, it seemed there was nothing else to do there.". He points to a few inaccuracies in the TV portrayal. UC San Francisco's Lydia Zablotska, MD, PhD, grew up in Ukraine, trained as physician . Now, volunteers, including veterinarians and radiation experts, have formed the nonprofit charity Dogs of Chernobyl. 4. 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. There have been reports that the skin on his legs fell off like a sock when trying to stand. Yes, it's Kovalenko, standing next to Akimov. The locals thought they would later be returning to their homes, but this was never the case. There are many theories about the reasons for the nuclear plant explosion, but they all have the same common denominator: the human element. Chernobyl (TV Mini Series 2019) Sam Troughton as Alexandr Akimov. Thank you! Yes, i thought the same about Razim Davletbayev. [4] They were found by other workers and taken to the infirmary. He was portrayed by Michael Colgan in the 2006 BBC production Surviving Disaster: Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster[7] and by Robert Emms in the 2019 HBO miniseries Chernobyl. Toptunov only had two months' experience in operating the reactor and this was his first shutdown as operator. 0000014730 00000 n g][^b'v@2RPROza"e =-2Ik053NC=~k{'H|(V>a!Y^5idI1OLgx]zdO f6D*@=7'9 ", "Possibly, Anatoly Dyatlov became the main anti-hero in the show because that was how he was perceived by the power plant's workers, his subordinates and top-management, in the beginning. Children are shown playing in the radioactive dust, which falls from the sky like snow. Mr Breus worked with many of the individuals portrayed and has given his verdict of the series. In 1986, Dr. Gale and the director of the Soviet Unions Central Institute for Advanced Medical Studies signed an agreement to monitor the 100,000 people who were residents in the danger zonea 30-kilometer (18.7 mi) radius surrounding the site which ultimately became the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. A member of. He has only two weeks left to live. "The Chernobyl catastrophe is depicted in a very powerful way, as a global catastrophe that absorbed huge numbers of people. Witnesses reported he dried, or his body was mummified alive. "For example, that useless secrecy, which became one of the reasons behind the Chernobyl disaster. Firefighters were also asked to help clear radioactive debris from the roof after the fire was extinguished. This later became known as the "Bridge of Death" after reports that those who stood there allegedly died from radiation sickness. Everyone who worked to restore coolant flow would have suffered greatly from leg burns, because they were standing in the water. 9:25 is very likely Khodemchuk, and 9:29 is Davletbayev. A few hours later Akimov is dead. I don't understand why it happened. Akimov eventually succumbed to acute radiation syndrome two weeks after the disaster at the age of 33. He has been a guest speaker on numerous national radio and television stations and is a five time published author. 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. He's growing weaker, wheezes, can hardly talk anymore. Military Wiki is a FANDOM Lifestyle Community. 04:30 - Chief engineer Fomin arrived in the Block 4 control room. You could see the equipment and pumps exposed. I'd love to see the original footage they used from CNPP reactor #4, there are shots of Kovalenko, Akimov, Davletbayev and even Khodemchuk. Most of the liquidators were military reserves, and the army did not have enough uniforms suitable for working in radioactive conditions. 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 . Because its so big! In this article, we will tell you about the supervisor of the shift, Aleksandr Akimov, and his role in the accident. They were saving lives, and in doing so they put themselves in the line of fire, and this is a fire that doesnt kill you quickly. 0000017865 00000 n 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. "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. 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. It was supposed to shut down the reactor, but the result turned out to be the exact opposite. Once more his temperature increases and then he falls into coma. The nurses let me in. Dyatlov ordered Toptunov and Akimov to raise the power to the requisite 700 MW. 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. In 2014, Michael Donnelly, chairman of Chernobyl Childrens Appeal, said, These children are forced to suffer through no fault of their own. This is an eerie and deserted location, as the homes of Kopachi were completely bulldozed and buried by the Soviet Army. It was close to midnight at the end of April 26 when an evacuation was ordered; 1,200 buses and 200 trucks relocated 47,000 residents of Pripyat. Aleksandr Akimov was born on 6 May 1953 in Novosibirsk, Russian SFSR (Republic of the Soviet Union). Russians and Ukrainians have watched it via the internet, and it has had a favourable rating on Russian film site Kinopoisk. 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'. trailer At conservative gathering, Trump is still the favourite. He was talking about another operator Brazhik. 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. The city held its annual May Day parades as the government assured citizens everything was normal. My body parts not covered by clothes - such as hands, face and neck - were red". [4] His parents once asked about the cause but he only could say they had followed regulations. There were fears that "lava" from the molten reactor could reach the water, triggering a further, potentially far more powerful explosion. For example, Mazin says the showrunners deliberately outfitted the divers at the beginning of the episode with authentic Dynamo wind-up flashlights, using the wonderful noise they emit to create the scenes atmosphere. 4 reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine. 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. When I finished my shift, my skin was brown, as if I had a proper suntan all over my body. 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. That is how you advance your career and win awards. 0000003954 00000 n Vasily Ignatenko, depicted in the series, was among the first firefighters sent to tackle the blaze. He wanted to live. The actor playing Alexander Akimov, for instance, was never even put in makeup to depict the loss of his face. This may be, in part, why the hype around the HBO and Sky series about the disaster has been so substantial. In the hours after the explosion, he spoke to Oleksandr Akimov, the shift leader at the No. Firefighters sent from neighbouring Pripyat did not know of any radiation exposure and Ignatenko died of acute radiation syndrome on 13 May 1986. This actor is also famous for his acts in the BBC Robin Hood 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. The story of the reactor's catastrophic explosion, as told in an HBO/Sky miniseries, has received the highest ever score for a TV show on the film website IMDB. The shows creators havent managed to keep track of all the little things (even though their attention to detail is why many people fell in love with the miniseries in the first place): Valery Legasov, the character played by Jared Harris, drinks his vodka from a large glass in small sips, as if it were whiskey, and everyone in the cast keeps addressing each other as comrade in complete seriousness. Within two weeks, both Mr Akimov and Mr Toptunov had died in a Moscow hospital of acute radiation syndrome (ARS). Read about our approach to external linking. 0000001387 00000 n ", 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. [5], In 2008, Toptunov was posthumously awarded with the 3rd degree Order For Courage by Viktor Yushchenko, then the President of Ukraine.[6]. Hours after the world's worst nuclear accident, engineer Oleksiy Breus entered the control room of the No. Are Sky and HBO's miniseries "Chernobyl" historically accurate? My body parts not covered by clothes - such as hands, face and neck - were red". In 2008, Akimov was posthumously awarded with what they called the 3rd degree Order for Courage. That night was important because the system tests were taking place. In fact, theyre completely true. 03:30 - Telyatnikov contacted Akimov, asking what was happening to his firemen; Akimov sent him a dosimetrist. His father was involved in the Soviet space program and during his childhood, he was surrounded by scientists and engineers.[2]. Two weeks have passed since the explosion as Akimov's suffering is ends. His family was informed that his death was the only reason he was not prosecuted for the accident. 2023 BBC. Press J to jump to the feed. [4], He was admitted to Pripyat Hospital but was quickly transferred to Moscow Hospital 6. One resident recalled, Queues of jammed buses left the city.