April 26 marks the 38th anniversary of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant – the greatest man-made disaster in human history.
The radiation released during the Chernobyl explosion was 300 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
About 240 thousand people took part in eliminating the consequences of the accident. The total number of liquidators for all years is more than 600 thousand. About 10% died, 150 thousand became disabled.
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Research by the International Atomic Energy Organization revealed that about 4 thousand people became victims of radiation exposure at the time of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
Over the past few decades, according to Greenpeace, about 200 thousand people have died from cancer caused by the Chernobyl accident.
On the anniversary of the disaster, Facts ICTV decided to recreate the chronicle of the first seven days after the explosion.
Chronicle of the Chernobyl accident
- Chernobyl accident: April 26
- Chernobyl accident: April 27
- Chernobyl accident: April 28
- Chernobyl accident: April 29
- Chernobyl accident: April 30
- Chernobyl accident: May 1
- Chernobyl accident: May 2
Chernobyl accident: April 26
00:00 – shift No. 5 starts for work on the fourth block.
00:05 – reactor power is reduced to 720 MW. Preparations for testing the design mode have begun.
00:28 – during the normal operation of transition from one control system to another, the senior reactor control engineer fails to control the control, as a result of which the power is reduced to 30 MW.
01:00 – senior reactor control engineer restores automatic control and stabilizes power at 200 MW.
Photo: archives.gov.ua (V. Repik)
01:03 – 01:07 – additional circulation pumps provided by the test program are connected.
01:23 – reactor parameters are stable, tests have begun.
01:23:40 – the test is over. Emergency protection button A3-5 is pressed.
The light disappears. Loud blows from the right, left and below. There is an explosion. A wave of white dust with radioactive steam bursts into the room of the fourth block. Crackling and flashing short circuits.
The shift receives orders to cool down the reactor at emergency speed.
01:24 – powerful blows. The control and protection system rods stopped before reaching the lower values.
The shift begins to look for colleagues.
At this time, the first, second and third reactors continue to operate.
Due to deteriorating vacuum in the turbines, the power of the third reactor has been reduced.
02:30 – Chernobyl NPP director Viktor Bryukhanov arrives.
All efforts of the operators are aimed at supplying water to the reactor.
In a few hours, the electrician on duty manages to turn on the second emergency power pump.
An emergency message was sent to Soyuzatomenergo. Urgently call non-military civil defense forces of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.
Emergency teams from workshops and departments are called urgently.
The Chief of the Civil Defense Staff of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant arrives at night.
03:30 – the duty officer of the Civil Defense headquarters of the Kyiv region notifies the duty department of internal affairs of the Kyiv region about the accident. Receives a response that 58 units of fire equipment are already extinguishing the fire.
The shift supervisor of the third unit, Yuri Bagdasarov, having not received permission to shut down the third reactor, stops it himself.
05:00 – the third reactor is in cooldown mode. The first and second reactors continue to operate.
07:00 – the fire inside the machine room was extinguished. The accident has been localized.
More than a thousand law enforcement officers arrived at the scene.
Photo: Depositphotos
At this time, local residents go to the market, not knowing what happened last night. Cars water the roads.
08:00 – shift No. 2 arrives.
10:00 – more than 100 people were hospitalized at the Pripyat sanitary unit. Some are being prepared for evacuation to Moscow clinic No. 6.
The electricians on duty are restoring the operation of the transformer.
The director of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant asks Moscow for permission to evacuate Pripyat. But in response he receives an order not to panic and not to evacuate until the government commission arrives.
11:00 – all employees are ordered to leave the fourth reactor.
In the afternoon, the first secret message about the explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant was sent to the KGB of the USSR.
19:00 – the first detachment of chemical defense troops arrives in Pripyat, the supply of water used to cool the fourth block is running out.
21:00 – start stopping the first and second blocks.
On the night of April 26-27, a Moscow team of doctors examines 350 hospitalized employees.
Chernobyl accident: April 27
At night, a meeting takes place regarding the evacuation of local residents.
01:13 – the first block is stopped.
02:13 – the second block is stopped.
A team has been organized in Pripyat to load sand.
During the day, military aircraft begin dropping sandbags into the hole in the fourth reactor.
11:00 – in Pripyat, the loudspeaker announces the evacuation.
14:00 – evacuation begins.
Photo: Depositphotos
Chernobyl accident: April 28
More than 200 people work at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
All workers who were not included in the operational lists will be evacuated along with their families.
It turns out that graphite is burning in the fourth reactor. Therefore, helicopters continue to dump sand, lead and boron carbide into the hole in the fourth reactor.
At this time, the cooling of units and systems continues at the first, second and third reactors.
On the air of the Vremya program, the announcer reads out the first official message that an accident occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, as a result of which one of the nuclear reactors was destroyed.
Chernobyl accident: April 29
The governments of Finland, Norway and Denmark report increased radiation levels. In Sweden, radio broadcasts report an increase in background radiation.
The government commission, whose headquarters was based in the Pripyat hotel, decides to urgently evacuate everyone who remained to live and work in Pripyat to clean territories. Such an area was found 30 km from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant – in the Skazochny pioneer camp.
Now no more than 45 people work at the power plant in each 12-hour shift.
The day shift completes the cooldown of all installed power units.
The first, second and third blocks begin to be transferred to a deep subcritical state.
An order was signed to appoint a new director of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. He became Deputy Head of VPO Soyuzatomenergo Eric Pozdyshev. However, until May 11, orders and instructions are signed by Viktor Bryukhanov.
Chernobyl accident: April 30
To localize the source of radiation, more than 1 thousand tons of a mixture of sand, boron and lead were dumped into the source of the accident, but it continues to smoke.
Investigative authorities are working with the director, chief engineer and operatives of shift No. 5 who were not evacuated for health reasons.
The government commission decides to evacuate the 10-kilometer zone. In one day, about 10 thousand people were taken out of 15 villages.
Photo: Depositphotos
15:00 – scientists report that background radiation in Kyiv is within normal limits.
About 20:00 – the wind changes direction, radioactive contamination is directed towards Kyiv. The only thing that saves the Kyiv region is that the overall level of radioactivity has decreased slightly.
Chernobyl accident: May 1
A parade is taking place in Kyiv for Workers' Solidarity Day. The event was reduced to two hours.
Pripyat is empty at this time.
The cooling of the first, second and third reactors and their transfer to a deep subcritical state is almost complete.
The emergency response headquarters decides to reduce the number of service personnel to a critical minimum. Now the Chernobyl nuclear power plant employs 20-30 people instead of 220.
The government commission decides to launch the first and second units, since the country needs electricity.
The government commission decides to evict the 30-kilometer zone.
Chernobyl accident: May 2
Radiation survey of the industrial territory of a nuclear power plant was carried out for the first time.
It was decided to drain the water from the bubble pool and install a cooling concrete slab under the reactor foundation.
For this purpose, 388 miners from Donbass and Moscow are urgently sent to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.
How the evacuation took place after the Chernobyl disaster, read in the interview with Facts ICTV of the deputy head of the Kyiv City Executive Committee in 1975-1991, Galina Menzheres.
