After two episodes, with the initial fire extinguished and early panic beginning to subside, the focus shifts to questions about why the reactor exploded and who was responsible for the disaster. He was entirely black, due to skin necrosis, but I never read anywhere that he had no face left, Jesus Christ he mummified, that sounds horrific. 6 in Moscow, where Alexander Akomv is suffering towards death. He was portrayed by actor Volodya Stepanenko in the 2004 Zero Hour TV series. You could see the equipment and pumps exposed. Only a Second World War survivor can imagine a similar scene.[4]. For Russian football coach and player, see, This name uses Eastern Slavic naming customs; the patronymic is. 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. The turbine was shut down. trailer 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]. We flew out to see what was happening, then returned and flew back in the morning.[2], The amount of radiation the Chernobyl disaster released into the atmosphere was 50 million curiesequivalent to around 500 Hiroshima bombs. Akimov heard reports of massive reactor damage, but did not believe it, and as a result relayed false information about the state of the reactor for hours after. "In hospital, I was treated with a guy who biked to that bridge in the morning on 26 April to watch it. When the operators pushed the red button, the reactor didn't stop but exploded.". Those who take the responsible and leading posts are usually the ones to blame for the failures. In the hours after the explosion, he spoke to Oleksandr Akimov, the shift leader at the No. Unfortunately, the first five years after the accident, the details were kept secret, but now the scientists and activists have the access to archives. Military Wiki is a FANDOM Lifestyle Community. 04:00 - Further fire fighting units arrive from Chernobyl, Polesskoe and Kiev. It seemed a good idea at the time, but it wasnt. "The Chernobyl catastrophe is depicted in a very powerful way, as a global catastrophe that absorbed huge numbers of people. 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]. Vasily Ignatenko was just 25 when he succumbed to slow death via radiation poisoning after fighting the fires of Chernobyl. Warning: This story contains plot details from the miniseries. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Open Wide, O Earth is remarkable for many other details it captures about Soviet life, as well. Aleksandr Fyodorovich Akimov (Russian: ; 6 May 1953 11 May 1986) was a Soviet engineer who was the supervisor of the shift that worked at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Reactor Unit 4 on the night of the Chernobyl disaster, 26 April 1986. 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. He knew he was going to die but didn't want to. Contents hide. 0000013685 00000 n 3, Firefighters pictured in 1986 before cleaning debris from the roof of the No. 0000007280 00000 n moustache is a struggling, wispy version of Akimov's. TOPTUNOV No, that's not--Akimov signals Toptunov not to argue. When the reactor has been put into a poisoned condition, they tried to raise the power at whatever the cost. 0000008353 00000 n ", "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. His burnt lungs hardly let him breathe, his intestines have decomposed, excrements mixed with blood are oozing from his body. Their skin had a bright red colour. Ill say its him until proven otherwise! It's not just a local interest, for a small group of people, but it is still worldwide. g][^b'v@2RPROza"e =-2Ik053NC=~k{'H|(V>a!Y^5idI1OLgx]zdO f6D*@=7'9 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. It was also difficult to assess how much radiation patients had been exposed to, as the gradual loss of hair and some darkening of the skin were the only visible signs. During the evening of April 25, engineers made several fatal mistakes, including disconnecting Reactor No. Aleksandr Fyodorovich Akimov (Russian: ; 6 May 1953 - 11 May 1986) was a Soviet engineer who was the supervisor of the shift that worked at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Reactor Unit 4 on the night of the Chernobyl disaster, 26 April 1986. 4s emergency safety systems and its power-regulating system. Frantic. The ears look different to me, but I may be wrong. 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. The miniseries has shed the suspense of its first two installments, when the story unfolded like a disaster movie, and it now wants to know the reason for this tragedy. The body of one of them, Valery Khodemchuk, was never recovered from the reactor debris. Vasily Ignatenko, depicted in the series, was among the first firefighters sent to tackle the blaze. "A big cup, vodka, KGB everywhere.". After the humans evacuated, wildlife grew rapidly with limited predators to hunt them downwild boar multiplied eightfold in the two years following the disaster. 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. The information is all on the level of 'he said, she said'. Photographer Igor Kostin recalled, The clever ones also added a vine leaf for extra comfort.[5]. Aleksandr Fyodorovich Akimov ( Russian: ; 6 May 1953 - 11 May 1986) was a Soviet engineer who was the supervisor of the shift that worked at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Reactor Unit 4 on the night of the Chernobyl disaster, 26 April 1986. On the night of 26 April 1986, Leonid Toptunov was working in the control room at the reactor control panel, with Aleksandr Akimov. They knew where the valves were, so they were the right men for the task. This may be, in part, why the hype around the HBO and Sky series about the disaster has been so substantial. Two weeks have passed since the explosion as Akimov's suffering is ends. We dont think of our own death. (k[YUWvP The dogs are tagged and their radiation exposure studied. There were fears that "lava" from the molten reactor could reach the water, triggering a further, potentially far more powerful explosion. Everyone stay calm. Children are shown playing in the radioactive dust, which falls from the sky like snow. %%EOF [. 0000001208 00000 n UC San Francisco's Lydia Zablotska, MD, PhD, grew up in Ukraine, trained as physician . PEREVOZCHENKO It exploded. I'll try and find it. "I was surprised they even brought us there," Mr Breus says of arriving at work the morning after the explosion. More than 500,000 residents in Ukraine were ultimately forced to leave their homes. Twitter: @thecheish. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. 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. The actor playing Alexander Akimov, for instance, was never even put in makeup to depict the loss of his face. Can Nigeria's election result be overturned? "', 'In Moscow, doctors are trying to save Alexander Akimov's life. There were fears that "lava" from the molten reactor could reach the water, triggering a further, potentially far more powerful explosion. it's not bad, it was probably made in the past few months before February 24th. The reactor was already in a run-away state. Within two weeks, both Mr Akimov and Mr Toptunov had died in a Moscow hospital of acute radiation syndrome (ARS). Pretty sure its true, the story of his face being gone came from just before he died while they were questioning him. Toptunov only had two months' experience in operating the reactor and this was his first shutdown as operator. In 1976, Akimov graduated from the Moscow Power Engineering Institute, with the degree of specialist in engineering and automation of heat and power processes. "The miners are shown as tough guys who are not afraid of anything, but not the power plant workers.". When I finished my shift, my skin was brown, as if I had a proper suntan all over my body. He points to a few inaccuracies in the TV portrayal. 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. ax1N58[zR)8WN}+|[x? Hours after the world's worst nuclear accident, engineer Oleksiy Breus entered the control room of the No. In the series, Pripyat residents rush to a railway bridge for a better view of the fire, unaware of the exposure. 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. I wasn't aware of this new documentary. Who would applaud that?". Because Id spent so much time living in that space, in multiple areas of those spaces for so long, and with the people in my mind for so long to walk where they walked felt so strange. Their faces were only partially covered by respirators, so they could speak to each other, they were not offered a reward, and they were not clapped on their successful return. 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. In the days that followed, 32 people died at Chernobyl, and many more suffered radiation burns. 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. Radioecologist Sergey Gaschak explained, Animals dont seem to sense radiation and will occupy an area regardless of the radiation condition.[10]. ", I'd say it is indeed Akimov, and the man standing next to him might be Kovalenko, reactor#4 supervisor. He had health problems afterwards.". . Mr Breus worked with many of the individuals portrayed and has given his verdict of the series. The body of one of them, Valery Khodemchuk, was never recovered from the reactor debris. However, it is about respecting it for what it can do. List of battleships of the United States Navy, Individual involvement in the Chernobyl disaster#Aleksandr Akimov, Articles containing Russian-language text, Articles needing page number citations from January 2020, Articles incorporating text from Find a Grave.com, Articles incorporating text from Wikipedia, People associated with the Chernobyl disaster, https://chnpp.gov.ua/ru/about/labour-glory-ru/geroi-likvidatory, "The World; Life After Death: Chernobyl Today", https://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/22/weekinreview/the-world-life-after-death-chernobyl-today.html, https://books.google.com/books?id=7gQ0DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT419&dq=Aleksandr+Akimov+15+Gray&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjt66vNt5zmAhXOZd8KHeqdAWAQ6AEwAXoECAUQAg#v=onepage&q=Aleksandr%20Akimov%2015%20Gray&f=false, https://books.google.com/books?id=ayhKAQAAIAAJ&q=Aleksandr+Akimov+I+did+everything+correctly&dq=Aleksandr+Akimov+I+did+everything+correctly&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiw3Mu4ypzmAhWRct8KHYs9DFUQ6AEwAHoECAEQAg, "Presidential Decree No. Its as if the showrunners saw it all happen with their own eyes. Before he was gone, he told about the test proceedings. Tatarchuk said of the aftermath, It was criminal. I know he has been brought up alot in discussions especially about his face. There is a myth that no life can survive in Chernobyl, which is simply not true. Russians and Ukrainians have watched it via the internet, and it has had a favourable rating on Russian film site Kinopoisk. He sent a letter to his parents and left a note on where to find him in Moscow. The authors would never pass up a chance to introduce a brand new scientific discovery to the world! [] It was a kind of torture I would have never even contemplated. Warning: spoilers ahead. .] Akimov tries reassuring his even more shellshocked colleague, reactor engineer Leonid Toptunov, that they did everything right. Warning: This story contains plot details from the miniseries. [2] He worked as a unit control engineer and senior reactor control engineer. By Rod Adams April 1, 1996. [4], He was admitted to Pripyat Hospital but was quickly transferred to Moscow Hospital 6. But while many have complimented the show's attention to detail, he believes it is also one of the downsides of the TV series. [3] However, the reactor stalled unexpectedly during test preparations, dropping to a low 30 MW. 4. "I was surprised they even brought us there," Mr Breus says of arriving at work the morning after the explosion. Following the disaster, citizens in the city of Kiev were advised by authorities to take regular warm showers, keep their windows closed, and regularly wash their furniture. For example, everything the show depicts about Lyudmilla and Vasily Ignatenko the bribes, the questions about children, the game of cards, the ban on touching all really happened. Yes, i thought the same about Razim Davletbayev. In ablaze, he does indeed talk to Akimov and how much he wanted to live.. but Read wasn't talking about Akimov when he said about skin falling off his legs. This is how they decided to portray the Minister of Coal Industry Mikhail Shchadov. They were nothing like that. . Aleksandr Fyodorovich Akimov and Leonid Fedorovych Toptunov "In my opinion, [Aleksandr Akimov and Leonid Toptunov] are the most tragic figures from the Chernobyl personnel. Its no better now than it was 28 years ago. Cheish Merryweather is a true crime fan and an oddities fanatic. "There are many stereotypes shown, typical of Western portrayal of the Soviet Union," argues Oleksiy Breus. When the operators pushed the red button, the reactor didn't stop but exploded.". The Accident at Chernobyl: What Caused the Explosion? 0000001387 00000 n Nah Im good. Fresh perspectives. Ultimately, though, he is happy the show has refocused attention on the disaster and the scale of damage caused. 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. He began his career at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in September 1979. This is an eerie and deserted location, as the homes of Kopachi were completely bulldozed and buried by the Soviet Army. Akimov had 100% of his skin burnt by radiation. My body parts not covered by clothes - such as hands, face and neck - were red". xref 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. AKIMOV . 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. "I've never heard there was a crowd of people who went to watch the fire at night," he says. [4] He worked with Akimov to manually open water valves in an attempt to increase water supply to the reactor, during which time they began to experience symptoms of acute radiation syndrome. 21 0 obj <> endobj "The reactor looked so damaged, it seemed there was nothing else to do there.". They later died in hospital in Moscow.". Chernobyl (TV Mini Series 2019) Sam Troughton as Alexandr Akimov. 0000000016 00000 n 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. And also being under that same piece of sky, you start to feel a little closer, in a sense, to who they were. These were not random people suffering these were heroes. In a weird way, it was more moving to me than moving through the actual power plant itself. And still the shift leader is ruminating if the catastrophy was his fault: "What have we done wrong? "Now you look like a coal minister." It has nothing to do with reality. He has been a guest speaker on numerous national radio and television stations and is a five time published author. Once she sees how Akimov is tearing entire strains of his moustache out "Don't worry", he says, "it doesn't hurt. Pilot Alexander Petrov, who responded to the scene, recalled, It took us more than 24 hours to get things going. A member of staff at the plant from 1982, he became a witness to the immediate aftermath on the morning of 26 April 1986. The goal was to test the system for preventive maintenance in case of a real power shutdown. You could see the equipment and pumps exposed. Akimov received fatal, three-dimensional burns to his entire system. Instead, the job was handed over to humans, who could not be exposed for any longer than 40 seconds. During the test, Akimov called for the AZ-5 (scram) button to be pressed to shut down the reactor, and Toptunov operated the button. Thats your job, randomly spouting INSAG reports. How would I find another job after that?". This is some other smaller problem.. In preparation, Anatoly Dyatlov ordered the power to be reduced to 700 MW, as the test plan stipulated. Role of Akimov in Chernobyl As we know from the official data, Akimov is wrongfully accused of being responsible for the accident. I always wonder why toptinov called him sasha? The events of Chernobyl made me focus on my own mortalityon all our mortality. 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. Cheish Merryweather is a true crime fan and an oddities fanatic. Thank you! Chernobyl guide Yuri Tatarchuk explained, Kopachi was very badly contaminated and so it was decided to bury it, house by house. 2023 BBC. 0000016820 00000 n 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. And finally they said, The hell with it! ", Most of the firefighters were pouring water on the damaged reactor, he says. "It was clear they felt sick. Panting. 0000014730 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. 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. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. 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. Residents started to panic when there was a metallic smell in the air, and the atmosphere appeared different. Witnesses reported he dried, or his body was mummified alive. There were little slots for food and such, but then there were some grimmer rooms. 0000018917 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. There is little doubt that ARS patients, and those with severe skin injury, have In July 1987, Chernobyls plant director Viktor P. Bryukhanov, chief engineer Nikolai M. Fomin, and deputy Anatoly S. Dyatlov were sentenced to two to ten years at a labor camp. I also heard that his otopsy file is closed to the public and is only accessible with specific permission. [3] The operators attempted to perform a rundown test before scheduled routine maintenance, during which reactor 4 exploded. Most of the liquidators were military reserves, and the army did not have enough uniforms suitable for working in radioactive conditions. In the shows podcast, writer and executive producer Craig Mazin shared some details about filming the third episode of Chernobyl, revealing that two scenes were cut from the start that would have introduced supervisor Anatoly Dyatlovs son, who died of leukemia at the age of 10, years before the Chernobyl disaster. "I saw other colleagues who worked that night. [2], Akimov worked with his crew in the reactor building after he learned the extent of the accident. And the atmosphere was radioactive.[3]. Children are shown playing in the radioactive dust, which falls from the sky like snow. Its a little like if you were in a skyscraper, and you said to yourself, This is solid! [] You just feel safe within it. Tatiana Ignatenko was a collective farm fieldworker, and Ivan Ignatenko a tractor, and later truck . Later this perception changed.". [1], Leonid Toptunov was born on 16 August 1960 in Mykolaivka, Buryn Raion, Sumy Oblast. 4 reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine. Can Nigeria's election result be overturned? 0000000756 00000 n 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. Dr. Gale treated patients who had suffered such a high exposure to radiation that even a bone marrow transplant could not save them. 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. DYATLOV (to the room) This is an emergency. 4 reactor, Oleksiy Ananenko (then and now) with a scene from the TV series showing the three workers wearing respirators, The TV series portrays how 400 miners were involved in digging the tunnel under the damaged reactor, The TV series shows Pripyat residents watching events unfold on what was later nicknamed the "Bridge of Death", The damage caused to the facility by the biggest nuclear disaster in history, Russian minister laughed at for Ukraine war claims. He would try and stand up and walk around, but this resulted in the "skin on his legs falling off like socks". 21 23 A member of staff at the plant . Here's an interview with Kovalenko: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnFeTe0nDw8. Before coming to Soviet Ukraine, he installed reactors into submarines at a shipbuilding plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, where he was once exposed to a nearly fatal dose of radiation. If you can find a source, Id be interested to know. 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. In the hours after the explosion, he spoke to Oleksandr Akimov, the shift leader at the No. The Chernobyl disaster is one of the most famous nuclear catastrophes in the world, but not many people know that if it hadn't been for one man, the damage would have been much worse. Whilst he was in hospital. The traffic was insane. 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. In 2014, Michael Donnelly, chairman of Chernobyl Childrens Appeal, said, These children are forced to suffer through no fault of their own. Always nice to see new programs about this :). That night was important because the system tests were taking place. When Alexander has taken his duties, the reactor was in the state of preparation for the shutdown of the power. https://i.imgur.com/gfghbDQ.jpg. Dyatlov ordered Toptunov and Akimov to raise the power to the requisite 700 MW. His parents visited him in the hospital. In March 1983, Toptunov began his career at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Unfortunately, it takes these tragic events to impress this on us.[6]. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. Akimov was the one who declared an emergency after shutting down the reactor - but it was already too late.