Stela Chernobyl
When the accident Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986 she ended her life in many settlements, the inhabitants of Chernobyl also had to leave their city. After all, although this city is located several kilometers further from the station than Pripyat, it, one way or another, is included in the 30-kilometer exclusion zone.
Chernobyl today for many people who are incompetent in the matter of the Chernobyl accident is the same as Pripyat. However, if in Pripyat life stopped for many millennia, then in Chernobyl the situation is much better.
Streets of Chernobyl
Chernobyl today in 2018 is a time machine that sends tourists back 30 years. Clean, well-groomed streets, painted curbs and whitewashed trees, peace and quiet - Chernobyl can boast of all this now.
Modern tourists who have managed to get acquainted with the topic of the Chernobyl disaster and read a lot of useful, and possibly unconfirmed information, will definitely be interested in the question of whether there is radiation in Chernobyl.
For many, it seems surprising how you can live in a place that is infected with dangerous elements. However, if you understand this issue, then everything turns out to be not so scary.
Apartment buildings in Chernobyl
So, life in Chernobyl is now safe, because the level of gamma radiation here does not exceed 0.2-0.3 microsievert per hour. Similar values are noted in Kyiv, and they are quite acceptable. In other words, radiation background on the Chernobyl territory is normal.
At the same time, the population of the city is somewhat different from the population in other cities of Ukraine. The inhabitants of Chernobyl today are self-settlers who returned to their native places despite all the risks and inconveniences. Mostly they are middle-aged and elderly people. The number of self-settlers in Chernobyl, as of 2017, is 500-700 people.
April 26 is the Day of Remembrance for those killed in radiation accidents and catastrophes. This year marks 27 years since the Chernobyl disaster - the largest in the history of nuclear energy in the world.
A whole generation has already grown up, not having found this terrible tragedy, but on this day we traditionally remember Chernobyl. After all, only by remembering the mistakes of the past can we hope not to repeat them in the future.
In 1986, an explosion occurred at the Chernobyl reactor No. 4, and several hundred workers and firefighters tried to put out the fire, which had been burning for 10 days. The world was enveloped in a cloud of radiation. Then about 50 employees of the station were killed and hundreds of rescuers were injured. It is still difficult to determine the scale of the disaster and its impact on people's health - only from 4 to 200 thousand people died from cancer that developed as a result of the received dose of radiation. Pripyat and the surrounding areas will be unsafe for people to live for several more centuries.
This 1986 aerial view of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, shows the damage caused by the explosion and fire of Reactor 4 on April 26, 1986. As a result of the explosion and the fire that followed it, a huge amount of radioactive substances in atmosphere. Ten years after the world's largest nuclear disaster, the power plant continued to operate due to an acute shortage of electricity in Ukraine. The final stop of the power plant occurred only in 2000. (AP Photo/ Volodymyr Repik)
On October 11, 1991, while reducing the speed of turbine generator No. 4 of the second power unit for its subsequent shutdown and putting the separator-superheater SPP-44 into repair, an accident and a fire occurred. This photograph, taken during a press visit to the station on October 13, 1991, shows part of the collapsed roof of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, destroyed by fire. (AP Photo/Efrm Lucasky)
Aerial view of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, after the largest nuclear disaster in the history of mankind. The picture was taken three days after the explosion at the nuclear power plant in 1986. In front of the chimney is the destroyed 4th reactor. (AP Photo)
Photo from the February issue of the magazine " Soviet life": the main hall of the 1st power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on April 29, 1986 in Chernobyl (Ukraine). The Soviet Union admitted that there had been an accident at the power plant, but provided no further information. (AP Photo)
A Swedish farmer cleans up straw contaminated by fallout months after the Chernobyl explosion in June 1986. (STF/AFP/Getty Images)
A Soviet medical worker examines an unknown child who was evacuated from the nuclear disaster zone to the Kopelovo state farm near Kiev on May 11, 1986. The picture was taken during a trip organized by Soviet authorities to show how they deal with the accident. (AP Photo/Boris Yurchenko)
Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev (center) and his wife Raisa Gorbacheva during a conversation with the management of the nuclear power plant on February 23, 1989. This was the first visit by a Soviet leader to the station since the April 1986 accident. (AFP PHOTO/TASS)
Kievans stand in line for forms before being checked for radiation contamination after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, in Kyiv on May 9, 1986. (AP Photo/Boris Yurchenko)
A boy reads a notice on a closed playground gate in Wiesbaden on May 5, 1986, which reads: "This playground is temporarily closed." A week after the explosion of the nuclear reactor at Chernobyl on April 26, 1986 municipal council Wiesbaden closed all playgrounds after detecting levels of radioactivity between 124 and 280 becquerels. (AP Photo/Frank Rumpenhorst)
One of the engineers who worked at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant undergoes a medical examination at the Lesnaya Polyana sanatorium on May 15, 1986, a few weeks after the explosion. (STF/AFP/Getty Images)
Activists from an environmental organization flag railroad cars containing dried whey contaminated with radiation. Photo taken in Bremen, northern Germany on February 6, 1987. The serum, which was brought to Bremen for further transport to Egypt, was produced after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and was contaminated with radioactive fallout. (AP Photo/Peter Meyer)
A slaughterhouse worker stamps suitability on cow carcasses in Frankfurt am Main, West Germany on May 12, 1986. According to the decision of the Minister of Social Affairs of the federal state of Hesse, after the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, all meat began to be subjected to radiation control. (AP Photo/Kurt Strumpf/stf)
File photo dated April 14, 1998. Workers of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant pass by the control panel of the destroyed 4th power unit of the station. On April 26, 2006, Ukraine marked the 20th anniversary of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which affected the fate of millions of people, required astronomical costs from international funds and became an ominous symbol of the dangers of nuclear energy. (AFP PHOTO/ GENIA SAVILOV)
In the picture, which was taken on April 14, 1998, you can see the control panel of the 4th power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (AFP PHOTO/ GENIA SAVILOV)
Workers who took part in the construction of the cement sarcophagus covering the Chernobyl reactor, in a commemorative photo from 1986 next to the unfinished construction site. According to the data of the Union of Chernobyl of Ukraine, thousands of people who took part in the liquidation of the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster died from the consequences of radiation contamination, which they suffered during work. (AP Photo/ Volodymyr Repik)
High-voltage towers near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on June 20, 2000 in Chernobyl. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
The duty operator of a nuclear reactor records control readings at the site of the only operating reactor No. 3, on Tuesday, June 20, 2000. Andrei Shauman angrily poked in the direction of a switch hidden under a sealed metal cover on the control panel of the Chernobyl reactor - nuclear power plant, whose name has become synonymous with nuclear catastrophe. “This is the same switch that can be used to turn off the reactor. For $2,000, I'll let anyone push that button when the time comes," Shauman, acting chief engineer, said at the time. When that time came on December 15, 2000, environmental activists, governments and simple people around the world breathed a sigh of relief. However, for the 5,800 Chernobyl workers, it was a day of mourning. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
17-year-old Oksana Gaibon (right) and 15-year-old Alla Kozimerka, victims of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, are being treated with infrared rays at the Tarara Children's Hospital in the Cuban capital. Oksana and Alla, like hundreds of other Russian and Ukrainian teenagers who received a dose of radiation, were treated for free in Cuba as part of a humanitarian project. (ADALBERTO ROQUE/AFP)
Photo dated April 18, 2006. A child during treatment at the Center for Pediatric Oncology and Hematology, which was built in Minsk after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. On the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, representatives of the Red Cross reported that they were faced with a lack of funds to further help the victims of the Chernobyl accident. (VIKTOR DRACHEV/AFP/Getty Images)
View of the city of Pripyat and the fourth reactor of Chernobyl on December 15, 2000 on the day of the complete shutdown of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (Photo by Yuri Kozyrev/Newsmakers)
A Ferris wheel and carousel in a deserted amusement park in the ghost town of Pripyat near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on May 26, 2003. The population of Pripyat, which in 1986 was 45,000 people, was completely evacuated within the first three days after the explosion of the 4th reactor No. 4. Explosion at Chernobyl nuclear power plant thundered at 1:23 am on April 26, 1986. The resulting radioactive cloud damaged much of Europe. According to various estimates, from 15 to 30 thousand people subsequently died as a result of exposure to radiation. Over 2.5 million people in Ukraine suffer from diseases acquired as a result of exposure, and about 80,000 of them receive benefits. (AFP PHOTO/ SERGEI SUPINSKY)
On the photo dated May 26, 2003: an abandoned amusement park in the city of Pripyat, which is located next to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (AFP PHOTO/ SERGEI SUPINSKY)
Pictured May 26, 2003: gas masks on the floor of a classroom in a school in the ghost town of Pripyat, which is located near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (AFP PHOTO/ SERGEI SUPINSKY)
In the photo dated May 26, 2003: a TV cabinet in a hotel room in the city of Pripyat, which is located near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (AFP PHOTO/ SERGEI SUPINSKY)
View of the ghost town of Pripyat next to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (AFP PHOTO/ SERGEI SUPINSKY)
Pictured January 25, 2006: an abandoned classroom in a school in the deserted city of Pripyat near Chernobyl, Ukraine. Pripyat and the surrounding areas will be unsafe for people to live for several more centuries. According to scientists, it will take about 900 years for the most dangerous radioactive elements to completely decompose. (Photo by Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)
Textbooks and notebooks on the floor of a school in the ghost town of Pripyat on January 25, 2006. (Photo by Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)
Toys and a gas mask in the dust in the former primary school abandoned city of Pripyat on January 25, 2006. (Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)
Pictured January 25, 2006: abandoned gym one of the schools of the deserted city of Pripyat. (Photo by Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)
What is left of the school gym in the abandoned city of Pripyat. January 25, 2006. (Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)
A woman with piglets in the deserted Belarusian village of Tulgovichi, 370 kilometers southeast of Minsk, on April 7, 2006. This village is located within the 30-kilometer zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (AFP PHOTO / VIKTOR DRACHEV)
A resident of the Belarusian village of Novoselki, located just outside the 30-kilometer exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, in an April 7, 2006 picture. (AFP PHOTO / VIKTOR DRACHEV)
On April 6, 2006, an employee of the Belarusian radiation-ecological reserve measures the level of radiation in the Belarusian village of Vorotets, which is located within the 30-kilometer zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (VIKTOR DRACHEV/AFP/Getty Images)
Residents of the village of Ilintsy in the closed area around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, about 100 km from Kyiv, walk past rescuers from the Ukrainian Ministry of Emergency Situations, who are rehearsing before a concert on April 5, 2006. Rescuers organized an amateur concert dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster for more than three hundred people (mostly elderly people) who returned to live illegally in villages located in the exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP/Getty Images)
The remaining residents of the abandoned Belarusian village of Tulgovichi, located in a 30-kilometer exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, celebrate the Orthodox holiday of the Annunciation of the Virgin on April 7, 2006. Before the accident, about 2,000 people lived in the village, and now only eight remain. (AFP PHOTO / VIKTOR DRACHEV)
An employee of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant measures the level of radiation using a stationary radiation monitoring system at the exit from the power plant building after a working day on April 12, 2006. (AFP PHOTO/ GENIA SAVILOV)
A construction team in masks and special protective suits on April 12, 2006 during work to strengthen the sarcophagus covering the destroyed 4th reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (AFP PHOTO / GENIA SAVILOV)
On April 12, 2006, workers sweep away radioactive dust in front of the sarcophagus that covers the damaged 4th reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Because of the high levels of radiation, crews only work for a few minutes. (GENIA SAVILOV/AFP/Getty Images)
It happened like this
that the public opinion of the CIS countries and the whole world perceives the Chernobyl disaster as the apotheosis of the irresponsibility of the Soviet nuclear scientists and the first step towards the collapse of the USSR.
But is everything so unambiguous in the usual picture of the accusers of the Soviet nuclear "sloppiness"? This is what we are now trying to find out.
On the twentieth anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster - April 26, 2006 - the First Channel of Russian Television showed a documentary film by the famous Russian TV journalist Dmitry Medvedev "Liquidator". Formally, Medvedev's "Liquidator" was dedicated to the tragic death of Academician Legasov, who led the so-called liquidation work at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, starting immediately after the disaster itself. But this film was truly a thunder among clear sky in the established ideas about the Chernobyl disaster of the overwhelming majority of Russians who watched this truly sensational TV movie.
So, it is well known that in 1988 Academician Legasov committed suicide by hanging himself in his own office. Medvedev in his film casts doubt on the official version of the death of academician Legasov - suicide due to the oppressed state of the psyche. Allegedly, the head of the liquidation work at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant received a large dose of radiation during business trips to the site of a nuclear disaster, moreover, he often had to quickly resolve very dangerous issues, an error in solving which could have very serious consequences. In general, the psyche of the academician could not stand it, and he settled scores with his life with the help of a noose.
The film "Liquidator" cites the testimonies of Legasov's relatives and close friends, who vehemently refute the allegations of the academician's depressed state of mind. Moreover, a very strange detail is given about the method of suicide of the main liquidator of the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster. It turns out that in the desk drawer in Legasov's office there was a nominal pistol, but for some reason the academician preferred to hang himself a few steps from his desk than to commit suicide in a more noble way - by shooting himself with this very nominal pistol.
Filim Dmitry Medvedev "Liquidator"
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But in the very interesting place, where, according to the logic of this message, Legasov was supposed to comment on the official preliminary version of the Chernobyl disaster, voiced by the General Secretary of the CPSU M. Gorbachev himself, someone erased part of the tape.
In the same 1988, immediately after the death of Academician Legasov, an article appeared in the main party newspaper Pravda, devoted to the true causes of the Chernobyl disaster. The fact is that until this very moment there was only a preliminary version of the explosion of the Fourth Chernobyl reactor, and Gorbachev promised the country and the entire world community to conduct a thorough and reliable investigation into this matter.
So, from the pages of the main party newspaper it was stated that the so-called thermal explosion occurred at the fourth reactor, which happened as a result of the unprofessional actions of the maintenance personnel of the fourth power unit. In addition, according to the author of the article, there was evidence that at the fourth reactor, which was already being decommissioned for scheduled repairs, some experiments were carried out, which, in fact, are strictly prohibited at operating nuclear reactors intended for industrial production of electricity. And, as the pinnacle of the results of the investigation into the causes of the Chernobyl disaster, this article drew up an almost minute-by-minute timetable of the development of events that led to the thermal explosion of the fourth reactor.
But the most interesting thing is that the author of the above-mentioned article in Pravda was a certain lieutenant colonel Veremeev, who was a professional sapper and had nothing to do with nuclear physics. And, what really didn’t fit into any gates, this lieutenant colonel-sapper appeared at the site of the Chernobyl disaster only in 1988, that is, 2 years after the disaster itself, but he managed to draw up a minute-by-minute schedule for the development of the prerequisites for the explosion of the fourth reactor!
The article about the causes of the Chernobyl disaster by the self-taught nuclear scientist Veremeev, following Pravda, was reprinted by all the main Soviet newspapers. And over time, Lieutenant Colonel Veremeev’s article began to be referred to as the ultimate truth. However, D. Medvedev draws attention to the fact that it was Academician Legasov who was supposed to prepare the final report on the causes of the Chernobyl disaster. But he suddenly died, and our miracle sapper took over. True, shortly before his death, Legasov for some reason decided to utter a message about the causes and consequences Chernobyl tragedy, part of which was erased ...
The author of these lines remembers the events of 1988, when an article by sapper Veremeev appeared in Pravda. Rumors spread across the country that nuclear scientists were sabotaging the investigation into the real causes of the Chernobyl disaster. And the “anti-perestroika forces” within the party and the state are trying to use the “sabotage of academicians” to undermine the authority of our main “perestroika”. It is noteworthy that not a single scientific publication has ever reprinted the conclusions of the self-taught nuclear scientist Veremeev.
But towards the end of his film, D. Medvedev reproduces sensational information about some of the events that preceded the explosion of the fourth reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, as well as testimonies about the catastrophe of the employees of the fourth power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which were classified on the personal instructions of Gorbachev. These materials have recently been declassified.
In general, all these facts published by the author of the film "Liquidator" claim to open a new criminal case on the circumstances of the death of Academician Legasov and the falsification of the version of the Chernobyl disaster.
But that's not all. It turns out that 25 seconds before the explosion of the fourth reactor, many seismic stations scattered around the globe recorded a strange high-frequency seismic wave. The oddity of this seismic wave was that the spectrum of frequencies accompanying seismic waves, say, during earthquakes, is much lower. At first, the aforementioned high-frequency seismic wave was considered a consequence of the explosion of the fourth reactor, but later it was found out that the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant occurred 25 seconds later. And the most remarkable thing is that the source of this very high-frequency seismic wave was almost under the fourth power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The nature of the occurrence of a strange high-frequency seismic wave has not yet been explained by any natural natural causes can not. Although what took place almost directly under the fourth Chernobyl reactor was more like a very powerful local earthquake.
Therefore, some independent experts came to sensational conclusions: it is quite possible that sabotage was committed against the Chernobyl nuclear power plant using the latest means of warfare - beam weapons installed on artificial satellite earth, or the so-called remote geotectonic weapons.
At this point, many readers may exclaim: wow, where did the author go, into science fiction! But there is no need to rush to such conclusions. The fact is, we know very little the true details of the arms race in times cold war. For example, the creators of the series documentaries on Channel One under the name "Shock Force" in one of their films they told the audience a no less fantastic story of the use of a Soviet combat laser on an American space shuttle. At the same time, the authors of Strike Force referred to recently declassified documents.
It was in 1984 at a Soviet military training ground near Lake Balkhash (East Kazakhstan). There, tests of the combat domestic laser "Terra-3" took place. The specificity of such tests lies in the fact that during the passage of spy satellites over the range, the tests are temporarily stopped until the satellite leaves this sector. But at that time, the American space shuttle Columbia flew over Balkhash (the same one that later crashed in 2003). A space shuttle, unlike a spy satellite, has the ability to adjust its orbit. Therefore, "Columbia" flew over the test site again, and then again, preventing military scientists from working normally. In the end, the Soviet authorities got tired of this, and they gave the task of pointing the Terra-3 laser at the American space shuttle and giving it an impulse. And although the power of our combat laser was reduced to the minimum possible, the result was very impressive. On board Columbia, communication with the earth was disrupted for several minutes, and the crew of the space shuttle felt a sharp deterioration in well-being.
It is noteworthy that the employees of the fourth power unit of the Chernobyl NPP, a few minutes before the explosion of the reactor, also felt a sharp deterioration in their health. By the way, in their testimony they categorically denied any violations in the reactor control regulations. According to them, everything happened in just a few minutes: incomprehensible vibrations and noise began in the reactor hall, which ended in an explosion of the reactor. According to eyewitness accounts, the explosion of the Chernobyl reactor was reminiscent of frames from a science fiction movie: a column of flame about a hundred meters rose into the sky above the building of the fourth power unit, and a few seconds later another column of flame soared into the sky - several times higher than the first.
Meanwhile, at a meeting of the Politburo, the testimony of eyewitnesses to the tragedy was questioned: they say that the Chernobyl employees experienced a huge psychological shock and inadequately perceived the events. Gorbachev authorized Legasov to look for other, more "mundane" causes of the Chernobyl disaster - we will be ridiculed by the entire world community!
As you know, the search for truth led academician Legasov into a loop, and on the magnetic tape of the recorder, someone erased the record with the words of the academician, dedicated specifically to the preliminary version of the explosion at the fourth power unit.
But still, what happened at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the early morning of April 26, 1986? And if the version about a specially planned sabotage is true, who did it and why?
Now, at a time of complete ideological agreement and the desire to enter into global economy, somehow it became unfashionable to recall the situation that had developed by the mid-80s of the last century.
The global confrontation between the US and the USSR reached its maximum, and it was then that various plans for the creation of the latest models of weapons of mass destruction began to be carried out at a rather feverish pace. The SDI alone (Strategic Defense Initiative) of US President Reagan was worth something! But in addition to military-technological goals, the initiation of the Chernobyl disaster had a great geopolitical and geo-economic effect. And when military-political goals are combined with global economic goals, certain circles are capable of committing any crime.
Let's delve into the past for a few more years and take a closer look at the situation in the world at the end of the 70s of the twentieth century.
After another Arab-Israeli war, OPEC countries (the world cartel of oil producers) increased oil prices several times. The economies of the Western countries were in a permanent crisis. As a response to rising oil prices, the search for so-called alternative energy sources begins.
In the United States, the APEC program (adiabatic thermal power plant) was actively deployed, which could use the temperature difference between ocean water near the equator on the surface and at a depth of 1000 meters. This difference is very small, only twenty degrees Celsius, but the reserves of ocean water are practically inexhaustible. For the implementation of this project thrown best forces America's military-technological giants - Boeing, Lockheed, Martin-Marietta and others. It should not be forgotten that at that time the so-called Detente (or Detention in the Russian version) was in vogue in politics, and the then US President Jimmy Carter, by transferring the efforts of military-industrial corporations to the APEC project, killed two birds with one stone: he solved the energy problem and deepened this Detent.
In 1985, it was planned to complete the construction of the first experimental APEC, in 1990 - the first industrial APEC. Moreover, it was assumed that by the middle of the 21st century, most of the US needs for energy resources should have been met through the APEC development program.
On the other side of the Atlantic, in the FRG, an active development of the newest nuclear power program was going on - the creation of a high-temperature gas-cooled fast neutron breeder reactor. This new reactor must work in conjunction with the so-called helium turbine, which must be fed by the inert gas helium heated in a fast breeder reactor to 981 degrees Celsius. The efficiency factor (coefficient of performance) of the aforementioned helium turbine is simply fantastic - 60 percent! The problem of fresh nuclear fuel was solved - in the breeder reactor, it should not decrease, but, on the contrary, be added. The use of the inert gas helium as a working fluid solved many problems of both technology and environmental safety.
Germany, and with it the European Union, received energy independence and conditions for the sustainable development of its energy industry for the next few thousand years.
Everything would be just fine, but transnational oil and gas corporations, with such a vector of development of the world energy industry, lost their profits and practically slipped to the sidelines of the global energy business. And they began to act.
The first blow came to US President Jimmy Carter (1976-1980), who was the initiator of the APEC program. In order to cover up this very APEC program, it was necessary to prevent the re-election of Jimmy Carter for a second presidential term. One of the actions to create a negative image for Jimmy Carter was the disruption of the operation of American intelligence agencies to rescue American hostage diplomats from the seized building of the American embassy in Tehran in the spring of 1980. During this unsuccessful action, five of the six helicopters used in this operation were simultaneously disabled by the Americans. The probability of an arbitrary accident is negligible, and, most likely, one of their own made these helicopters unusable. Interested parties, as they say, did not stand up for the price.
The 1980 US presidential election was won by Ronald Reagan, who promptly shut down the APEC program. However, something had to be done with the idle US military-industrial corporations that had already invested heavily in the APEC program.
This is where the notorious SDI was born. America was promised protection from Soviet nuclear missiles, and the same military-industrial corporations were promised fabulous profits. And while scientists and experts from around the world scathingly criticized the retired Hollywood actor in the US presidency, calling SDI "star wars", oil and gas corporations triumphed. Their future was secured.
However, there remained a European program to create a high-temperature gas-cooled fast neutron breeder reactor. The jurisdiction of the "star cowboy" did not extend to Europe. This is where, apparently, the plan of sabotage at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant arose. Everything was taken into account - both the wind rose, which made it possible to scatter nuclear fallout as much as possible throughout Europe, and sharp drop the authority of the USSR in the external and internal arena, and most importantly, they managed to discredit the very idea of nuclear energy. Plus, try out some developments on the path of "Star Wars".
It is curious, but the "green" movement in Europe appeared somewhere towards the end of the 70s of the last century. Coincidence? May be. But it was the “greens” who played the role of the main striking force in closing the program to create a high-temperature gas-cooled fast neutron breeder reactor, launching a hysterical campaign immediately after the Chernobyl disaster. After that, the "greens" in Germany entered big politics. And in 1998, they, in alliance with the Social Democrats, came to power in Germany on the condition of the complete closure of nuclear power plants in the country.
German power engineering companies, which will have to suffer significant losses after the closure of nuclear energy in their country, following the example of the US authorities in the early 1980s, were offered a replacement in the form of the possibility of producing combined cycle power plants. These are power plants in which gas is first burned in gas turbines, and then enters steam generators, the steam from which rotates steam turbines. The efficiency of such combined cycle power plants, which are being developed by German companies, reaches 55%. For example: the efficiency of the best thermal power plant does not exceed 35%. All this is argued by the recently entered into force "Kyoto Protocol", limiting emissions " greenhouse gases into the Earth's atmosphere.
Indeed, per unit of generated electricity, combined-cycle power plants emit almost half as much environment these "greenhouse gases". But the most curious thing is that combined-cycle power plants can operate only on natural or associated petroleum gas. And so it happened that both the wolves are fed (that is, oil and gas corporations) and the sheep are safe (malicious nuclear power plants are closed, rejoice at the "green" idea!).
It remains to find out the last thing: why did Gorbachev so persistently ignore the testimony of eyewitnesses and the opinion of nuclear scientists, and why was the publication of an article by the self-taught nuclear scientist Veremeev in the Pravda newspaper authorized?
The answer may lie in the fact that all the prospective development of the economy of the USSR in the 80-90s. was founded taking into account the advanced construction of nuclear energy facilities (from large power plants with reactors-"million" to hot-water nuclear reactors for heating residential villages) while boosting the export of hydrocarbons abroad to obtain convertible currency. And the Chernobyl disaster was just the right thing to do as a reason to start a "deep reform" of the Soviet economy according to the author's recipes, not by night, be the aforementioned "perestroika".
It was not until mid-May 1986 that anxiety swept over the whole of Ukraine. All children under the age of 14 were evacuated from Kyiv. Several months passed before shocking and frightening articles began to appear in the press about the Chernobyl accident and the consequences that it could entail. Literally six months later, a report appeared in "Vecherniy Kyiv" from the construction site of the "Shelter" object - young guys-builders were photographed against the background of the "sarcophagus", over which they placed the slogan "We will complete the task of the party." It seemed - and so the newspapers wrote - the atomic genie was driven into a concrete vessel.
Women and children were the first to be evacuated. In this corner of the former Soviet Union there was a shortage of buses. Buses from other regions of the country came here to take 50 thousand people out of the city. The length of the bus column was 20 kilometers, which meant that when the first bus left Pripyat, the pipes of the power plant were no longer visible to the last one. In less than three hours, the city was completely empty. And so it will remain forever. In early May, the evacuation of people living in the 30-kilometer Exclusion Zone around Chernobyl was organized. Disinfection works were carried out in 1840 settlements. However, the Chernobyl exclusion zone was not developed until 1994, when the last inhabitants of the villages in its western part were moved to new apartments in the Kiev and Zhytomyr regions.
Today Pripyat is a city of ghosts. Despite the fact that no one lives there, the city has its own elegance and atmosphere. It did not cease to exist, unlike the neighboring villages, which were buried in the ground by excavators. They are marked only on road signs and maps of the countryside. Pripyat, as well as the entire 30-kilometer Exclusion Zone, is guarded by the police and patrol service. Despite their constant watch, the city was repeatedly subjected to robbery and looting. The whole city has been looted. There was not a single apartment left, no matter where the thieves who took away all the jewelry would visit. In 1987, residents had the opportunity to return to collect a small portion of their belongings. The military plant "Jupiter" worked until 1997; the famous swimming pool "Azure" operated until 1998. At the moment, they are looted and destroyed even more than the apartments and schools in the city combined. There are three other parts of the city that are still in operation: a laundry room (for the Chernobyl nuclear power plant), garages for trucks, and a deep well with a pumping station that supplies water to the power plant.
The city is full of 1980s graffiti, signs, books, and images mostly associated with Lenin. His slogans and portraits are everywhere - in the Palace of Culture, a hotel, a hospital, a police station, as well as in schools and kindergartens. Walking around the city is like going back in time, the only difference is that there is no one here, not even birds in the sky. One can only imagine a picture of the era when the city flourished, during the tour we will show you historical photos. To give you a vivid idea of the times of the Soviet Union, we offer Soviet uniform, a retro walk in our RETRO TOUR . Everything was built from concrete. All buildings are of the same type, as in other cities built under the Soviet Union. Some houses are overgrown with trees so that they are barely visible from the road, and some buildings are so worn out that they collapse from a large number drunk snow. Chernobyl is a life example of how Mother Nature takes her toll over the efforts of many people. In a few decades, only ruins will remain from the city. There is not a single place like this in the world.
The Chernobyl nuclear power plant (NPP) was built in the eastern part of the Belarusian-Ukrainian Polissya in northern Ukraine, 11 km from the modern border with the Republic of Belarus, on the banks of the Pripyat River.
The first stage of the Chernobyl NPP (the first and second power units with RBMK-1000 reactors) was built in 1970-1977, the second stage (the third and fourth power units with similar reactors) was built on the same site by the end of 1983.
The construction of the third stage of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant with the fifth and sixth power units was started in 1981, but was stopped in high degree preparedness after a disaster.
The design capacity of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant after the completion of construction was to be 6,000 MW; by April 1986, 4 power units with a total electrical capacity of 4,000 MW were involved. The Chernobyl nuclear power plant was considered one of the most powerful in the USSR and in the world.
Ukraine's first nuclear power plant in Chernobyl. Photo: RIA Novosti / Vasily Litosh
In 1970, a new city was founded for the employees of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and their families, which was named Pripyat.
The design population of the city was 75-78 thousand inhabitants. The city grew at a fast pace, and by November 1985 it had a population of 47,500, with an annual population growth of 1,500 a year. The average age of the inhabitants of the city was 26 years, representatives of more than 25 nationalities lived in Pripyat.
Staff Chernobyl power plant take on a new shift. Photo: RIA Novosti / Vasily Litosh
April 25, 1986, 1:00 am. Work has begun on shutting down for scheduled preventive maintenance of the 4th power unit of the station. During such stops, various equipment tests are carried out, both routine and non-standard, carried out according to separate programs. This shutdown involved testing the so-called “turbine generator rotor coastdown” mode proposed by the general designer (Gidroproekt Institute) as an additional emergency power supply system.
3:47 The thermal power of the reactor has been reduced by 50 percent. The tests were to be carried out at a power level of 22-31%.
13:05 Turbine generator No. 7, which is part of the system of the 4th power unit, was disconnected from the network. The auxiliary power supply was transferred to turbogenerator No. 8.
14:00 In accordance with the program, the reactor's emergency cooling system was disabled. However, a further reduction in power was prohibited by the Kievenergo dispatcher, as a result of which the 4th power unit worked for several hours with the emergency reactor cooling system turned off.
23:10 The dispatcher of Kievenergo gives permission for further reduction of the reactor power.
In the room of the block control panel of the power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the city of Pripyat. Photo: RIA Novosti
April 26, 1986, 12:28 am During the transition from the local automatic control system (LAR) to the automatic total power controller (AR), the operator was unable to keep the reactor power at a given level, and the thermal power fell to the level of 30 MW.
1:00 The NPP personnel managed to raise the reactor power and stabilize it at the level of 200 MW instead of 700-1000 MW included in the test program.
Dosimetrist Igor Akimov. Photo: RIA Novosti / Igor Kostin
1:03-1:07 Two more were connected to the six operating main circulation pumps in order to increase the reliability of cooling the core of the apparatus after testing.
1:19 Due to the lower water level, the station operator increased the condensate (feed water) supply. In addition, in violation of the instructions, the reactor shutdown systems were blocked by signals of insufficient water level and steam pressure. The last manual control rods were removed from the active zone, which made it possible to manually control the processes occurring in the reactor.
1:22-1:23 The water level has stabilized. The station staff received a printout of the reactor parameters, which showed that the reactivity margin was dangerously low (which, again, according to the instructions, meant that the reactor had to be shut down). The NPP personnel decided that it was possible to continue working with the reactor and conduct research. At the same time, the thermal power began to increase.
1:23.04 The operator closed the shut-off and control valves of turbine generator No. 8. The steam supply to it stopped. The “run-out mode” has begun, that is, the active part of the planned experiment.
1:23.38 The shift supervisor of the 4th power unit, realizing the danger of the situation, gave the command to the senior reactor control engineer to press the emergency shutdown button for the A3-5 reactor. At the signal of this button, emergency protection rods were to be introduced into the core, but they could not be lowered to the end - the steam pressure in the reactor delayed them at a height of 2 meters (the height of the reactor was 7 meters). The thermal power continued to grow rapidly, and the reactor began to self-accelerate.
Machine room of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Photo: RIA Novosti / Vasily Litosh
1:23.44-1:23.47 Two powerful explosion, as a result of which the reactor of the 4th power unit was completely destroyed. The walls and ceilings of the engine room were also destroyed, and fires arose. Employees started leaving their jobs.
Died as a result of the explosion MCP pump operator (Main Circulation Pump) Valery Khodemchuk. His body, littered with the wreckage of two 130-ton drum separators, was never found.
As a result of the destruction of the reactor, a huge amount of radioactive substances was released into the atmosphere.
Helicopters are decontaminating the buildings of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant after the accident. Photo: RIA Novosti / Igor Kostin
1:24 A signal about a fire was received on the control panel of the paramilitary fire station No. 2 for the protection of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The duty guard of the fire department, which was headed by internal service lieutenant Vladimir Pravik. From Pripyat, the guard of the 6th city fire department, which was headed by Lieutenant Viktor Kibenok. Managed the firefighting Major Leonid Telyatnikov. Of the protective equipment, the firefighters had only a canvas overall, mittens, a helmet, as a result of which they received a huge dose of radiation.
2:00 Firefighters begin to show signs of severe radiation exposure - weakness, vomiting, "nuclear sunburn". Assistance was provided to them on the spot, at the station's first-aid post, after which they were transferred to the Medical Unit-126.
Work is underway to decontaminate the territory of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Photo: RIA Novosti / Vitaly Ankov
4:00 Firefighters managed to localize the fire on the roof of the engine room, preventing it from spreading to the third power unit.
6:00 The fire at the 4th power unit was completely extinguished. At the same time, the second victim of the explosion died in the Pripyat Medical Unit, employee of the commissioning enterprise Vladimir Shashenok. The cause of death was a fracture of the spine and numerous burns.
9:00-12:00 A decision was made to evacuate to Moscow the first group of station staff and firefighters who suffered from severe exposure. A total of 134 Chernobyl employees and members of the rescue teams who were at the station at the time of the explosion developed radiation sickness, 28 of them died over the next few months. 23-year-old lieutenants Vladimir Pravik and Viktor Kibenok died in Moscow on May 11, 1986.
15:00 It has been reliably established that the reactor of the 4th power unit has been destroyed, and great amount radioactive substances.
23:00 The Government Commission for the Investigation of the Causes and Elimination of the Consequences of the Accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant decides on the preparation of vehicles for the evacuation of the population of the city of Pripyat and other facilities located in the immediate vicinity of the disaster site.
View of the sarcophagus of the 4th power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the abandoned city of Pripyat. Photo: RIA Novosti / Erastov
April 27, 1986, 2:00 am. 1225 buses and 360 trucks are concentrated in the area of the Chernobyl settlement. Two diesel trains for 1,500 seats have been prepared at the Yanov railway station.
7:00 The government commission makes the final decision on the beginning of the evacuation of the civilian population from the danger zone.
A helicopter makes radiological measurements over the building of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant after the disaster. Photo: RIA Novosti / Vitaly Ankov
13:10 The local radio in Pripyat starts broadcasting the following message: “Attention, dear comrades! The city council of people's deputies reports that in connection with the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the city of Pripyat, an unfavorable radiation situation is developing. Party and Soviet bodies, military units necessary measures are taken. However, in order to ensure the complete safety of people, and, first of all, children, it becomes necessary to temporarily evacuate city residents to nearby settlements Kiev region. To do this, buses will be served to each residential building today, April 27, starting at 14:00, accompanied by police officers and representatives of the city executive committee. It is recommended to take with you documents, essential things, as well as, in the first case, food. The heads of enterprises and institutions have determined a circle of employees who remain in place to ensure the normal functioning of the city's enterprises. All residential buildings for the period of evacuation will be guarded by police officers. Comrades, when leaving your home temporarily, please do not forget to close the windows, turn off the electrical and gas appliances, and turn off the water taps. We ask you to keep calm, orderliness and order during the temporary evacuation.”
