Midnight in Chernobyl

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Midnight in Chernobyl Page 69

by Adam Higginbotham


  Petrovsky, Alexander, 91, 103–4, 360–61

  pets, abandoned, 254

  Philippines, 331

  Pikalov, Vladimir, 155, 241, 249, 254, 259, 275, 430n, 432n

  Pioneer camps, 209, 252, 253, 265, 274

  pioneer walls, 282–83

  Pismenny, Vyacheslav, 213, 216

  plutonium, 26, 31, 32, 34, 37, 40, 41, 44, 60, 63, 247, 320

  plutonium 239, 26, 88, 248

  PNEs, 399n

  Poland, 174, 176, 178

  Polesia, 148, 165, 353

  Polesia State Radiological and Ecological Reserve, 353

  Polesskoye, 186, 217–18, 301–2

  Politburo, 14, 112, 122, 172–76, 181–86, 201, 212, 246, 264, 266, 270–74, 281, 286, 305, 311, 321, 327, 330

  Politburo Operations Group, 181, 184, 243, 249, 251

  polonium, 27, 29

  Polygon, 221

  Poroshenko, Petro, 363–65

  positive scram effect, 71–73

  positive void coefficient, 37–38, 63, 66, 83, 85–90, 268, 286, 318, 321, 348

  Powers, Francis Gary, 45

  Pozdishev, Erik, 464n

  Pravda, 71, 240, 274, 294, 306, 319, 324, 326, 327

  Pravda Ukrainy, 175

  Pravik, Nadia, 237

  Pravik, Vladimir, 58–59, 91–92, 95–96, 101–3, 227–28, 307

  death of, 236

  pre-installation overhaul, 12

  pressure tubes, 62

  Prianichnikov, Veniamin, 143–44, 150, 244–46, 334, 369

  Pripyat, 11–24, 47, 54, 74

  abandonment of, 257–60, 301, 336–38

  aftermath of explosion, 91–110

  airlift of injured patients, 148, 150–53, 158, 205, 219–20

  April 25, 5:00 p.m., 46–59

  April 25, 11:55 p.m., 75–90

  April 26, 1:28 a.m., 91–110

  April 26, 1:30 a.m., 111–31

  April 26, 6:15 a.m., 132–51

  April 27, 152–66

  architecture, 137–38, 258

  as atomgrad, 11, 17, 23, 49, 130, 258, 301

  cleanup efforts, 241–60, 278–98, 310, 332–33

  construction of, 11–24, 362, 393n

  economy, 17–18, 21–22, 137

  employment, 21–22

  evacuation of, 117, 123, 126, 127, 129–31, 149, 153, 155–66, 185–86, 202, 208–10, 217–20, 257–60, 301–13, 315, 328, 431n, 432n, 433n, 449n, 486n

  as ghost town, 166, 257–60, 301, 314, 336–38

  government response to accident, 111–31, 138–39, 179–80, 258–60, 263, 310, 432n

  helicopter bombing operation, 160–64, 166, 179–82, 187–99, 202, 204, 281, 285, 341, 433n, 443n, 446n

  hospitalization of injured, 121, 135–36, 146–53, 157

  intruders kept out of, 257–60

  investigation of accident, 261–77

  liquidation campaign, 239–60, 296, 310, 332–33, 359, 471n, 475n

  looting, 257, 302–4, 311, 336–37

  1982 accident, 69–70

  public informed of accident, 117, 124, 129, 155–66, 202

  radiation survey flights, 140–46, 155–56, 160–64, 189, 248

  radiation threat to public, 106–7, 129–30, 139–40, 149, 155–66, 202, 208–10, 247–53, 257–60, 301–13, 326–35, 355–56, 486n

  roadblocks, 129, 143, 150

  tourism, 356, 359

  trees and forests, 23, 247, 248–49, 256–57, 312, 330, 353, 462n, 486n

  in 2011, 352–56

  in 2016, 336–38, 363–65

  Pripyat Communist Party, 124, 127–28

  Pripyat River, 7, 8, 47, 49, 191, 192, 202, 244, 402n

  Problem Number One, 31–32, 38

  Prometheus myth, 23–24

  propaganda, 174, 240, 306–8, 311–12, 344, 437n

  Proskuryakov, Viktor, 93, 99

  protons, 26

  Protsenko, Maria, 136–38, 138, 140, 142–43, 158–59, 161, 162–66, 258–60, 309–11, 333, 361, 369

  Prushinsky, Boris, 113, 114, 118, 121–22, 124–27, 128, 425n

  pump system, 62, 83, 84, 85, 87, 93–95, 124, 342

  Pushkin, Alexander, 325

  Eugene Onegin, 78

  PVA glue, 255, 256

  pyatachok, 61, 62–63, 87

  radiation, 1–3, 22, 25–45, 60–62, 70, 73, 105–9, 129

  cloud, 169–86

  containment efforts after accident, 128–29, 153–56, 160–64, 166, 174, 176, 179–82, 187–99, 202–16, 241–48, 278–98

  core meltdown risk, 191–95, 202–16, 244–46

  fallout, 130, 181, 247–48, 251, 255–57, 277, 282, 315, 326, 329

  fatal dose, 99, 104, 197, 221, 225, 238, 279, 359, 419n

  genetic effects of exposure to, 329–30, 355–56, 486n

  global contamination, 169–86, 248, 260, 269, 277, 327–30, 353–54

  health effects and symptoms, 26, 28–31, 78, 89, 100–110, 117–18, 130, 135–36, 143, 147–51, 164, 180, 185, 192–93, 207, 220–38, 242, 243, 247–48, 251, 253, 266–67, 290, 299–301, 312, 322, 326, 333–35, 355–60, 454n, 481n, 486n

  history of, 25–45

  ionizing, 11, 27–31, 102, 257

  levels after Chernobyl explosion, 105–9, 116–18, 123–31, 136, 140–46, 153–56, 160–64, 176, 180–84, 189–99, 207–8, 211–15, 226, 241–60, 278–98, 300, 316, 319, 352–53, 423n, 481n

  liquidation campaign, 239–60, 296, 310, 332–33, 359, 471n, 475n

  long-term effects on environment, 329–31, 354–56

  Reactor Number 4 explosion, 87–90

  survey flights, 140–46, 155–56, 160–64, 189, 248

  threat to public, 106–7, 129–30, 139–40, 149, 155–66, 202, 208–10, 247–53, 257–60, 301–13, 326–35, 355–56, 359–60, 486n

  Radiation Effects Reactor, 30

  radio, 129, 148–49, 426n

  propaganda, 148–49

  response to Chernobyl accident, 156–57, 175, 179, 208–9

  Radio Kiev, 179

  Radio Moscow, 175, 179

  Radio Sweden, 208

  radium, 29

  Radium Girls, 29

  radon, 27

  RBMK reactors, 12, 20, 53–54, 60–74, 77, 121, 154, 263–64, 267–77, 318, 321–22, 331, 346, 349, 404n, 405n, 406n, 408n, 465n

  design and construction defects, 12–13, 19–22, 62–74, 268–77, 286, 308, 315, 317–18, 321, 346–49, 408n

  history of, 60–74

  maintenance shutdown and mistakes, 75–90

  RBMK-1000, 63–74, 77–78, 107, 194, 315, 318, 321, 405n

  technical refit, 321–22

  termination, 273, 276

  RDS-1, 31

  Reactor Number 1. See Unit One

  Reactor Number 2. See Unit Two

  Reactor Number 3. See Unit Three

  Reactor Number 4. See Unit Four

  Reactor Number 5. See Unit Five

  Reactor Number 6. See Unit Six

  Read, Piers Paul, 14

  Reagan, Ronald, 19, 176, 200

  response to Chernobyl accident, 200–201

  Red Forest, 256, 312, 330, 353, 462n

  refugees, conditions of, 217–20, 301–16, 320–21

  Reikhtman, Georgi, 411n, 429n

  relief funds, for displaced persons, 304–5

  Report on the Causes of the Accident in Unit Four of the Chernobyl AES, 267, 268

  resettlement of displaced citizens, 305–6, 320–21

  Riga, 240

  RK-1000 reactor, 405n

  Robinson, Cliff, 170–71, 370

  Robitnycha Hazeta, 175

  robots, 287–91, 338–39, 357

  Roentgen, Wilhelm, 28

  Rogozhkin, Boris, 315, 316, 319, 345, 420n

  Romania, 331

  Rome, 176

  Rosen, Morris, 210, 214–15

  Rovno, 181, 305

  Rozvazhev, 218

  runaway, reactor, 37, 64, 65, 71–72, 83, 347

  rundown unit, 75–76

  Russia
(post-Soviet Union), 359

  Russia (pre-Soviet Union), 13

  Revolution of 1917, 13, 16, 183

  ruthenium, 27–28, 267, 320

  Ryzhkov, Nikolai, 115, 118–19, 172, 176, 181, 182, 184–86, 202, 203, 243, 251, 272, 277, 297, 322, 370, 415n, 436n, 441n, 460n

  Sakharov, Andrei, 270, 328

  Samoilenko, Yuri, 288

  sand, dropped on nuclear ruins, 160–64, 166, 179–82, 187–99, 202, 204, 281, 285, 341

  Sandstedt, Karl Erik, 171

  Sarcophagus, 250, 273, 278–98, 307, 312, 330, 338–44, 363, 470n, 471n

  Cascade Wall, 283–84, 291

  Complex Expedition, 340–44, 364

  construction, 281–98

  design, 280–82, 293

  Elephant’s Foot, 339–40, 342, 343

  Kurchatov task force exploration of, 284–86, 338–44

  limitations of, 344

  Mammoth, 292–94, 296–98

  New Safe Confinement, 364–66

  ventilation and sprinkler systems, 297

  Scandinavia, 169

  contamination from Chernobyl, 169–77

  Schepin, Oleg, 184

  Scherbina, Boris, 119, 124, 126–31, 152–56, 160–62, 172, 179–86, 190, 192–94, 201, 203, 270, 271, 288, 292, 328, 340, 370, 426n, 431n, 439n

  Scherbitsky, Vladimir, 8, 112, 116–17, 131, 176, 182–84, 185, 203, 208, 252, 253, 370–71, 426n, 441n, 449n, 464n, 465n

  Second Administration Building, 89–90

  Selsyn monitors, 79, 86, 87

  Semipalatinsk, 1, 221

  Shasharin, Gennadi, 268–69, 272, 434n

  Shashenok, Vladimir, 101, 136, 299, 427n

  Shavrey, Ivan, 58, 103–4

  Shavrey, Leonid, 58, 95–96, 103, 104

  Shcherbak, Iurii, 209, 449n

  Shevardnadze, Edward, 200–201, 436n

  Shevchenko, 291

  Shultz, George, 178

  Siberia, 18, 39, 120

  Sidorenko, Viktor, 424n

  Silayev, Ivan, 185, 192, 194–95, 197, 206, 207, 210, 212, 215, 250, 280, 442n, 446n

  silver iodide, 184

  SIUR, 79, 86, 412n

  Skazochny, 205

  Sklyarov, Vitali, 74, 111–12, 116, 123–24, 126, 128, 131, 345, 371, 426n, 432n

  Slavsky, Efim, 43, 112, 119–20, 201, 250, 267, 268, 270–72, 280, 281, 292, 296–98, 322, 371, 408n

  Slavutych, 306, 310, 320–21, 322, 329, 337, 478n

  radiation threat to, 320–21

  Slavyansk, 9

  Slichenko, Nikolai, 11

  SMT-1, 280

  Socialism, 33, 120, 273

  Society of Hunters and Fishermen, 254

  sodium 24, 226

  Sokolov, Sergey, 239–40

  solar energy, 357

  Soroka, Oleg, 463n

  Soviet Academy of Sciences, 119, 120–21, 154, 276, 277, 322, 325

  Soviet armed forces, 12, 113–14, 173, 240, 390n, 481n

  bio-robot campaign, 288–91, 321

  liquidation campaign, 239–40, 296, 310, 332–33, 359, 471n, 475n

  response to Chernobyl accident, 113–14, 129, 140–46, 152–56, 158–64, 166, 173, 174, 179–82, 185, 187–99, 202, 204–8, 239–60, 273, 278–98, 330, 468n

  Soviet Life, 74

  Soviet Red Cross Society, 302

  Sovietskaya Rossiya, 330

  Soviet Union, 12–16

  collapse of, 331, 333, 343, 345, 348, 354, 364, 441n

  corruption, 12, 15, 19–22, 67–74, 311–13, 327–28, 347–48, 365

  defense spending, 12, 390n

  economy, 12–16, 34, 39–40, 118, 177, 181, 249, 327–31

  Era of Stagnation, 12–22, 42, 323

  glasnost, 240, 312, 327, 328

  government response to Chernobyl accident, 111–31, 138–39, 152–66, 172–86, 192–204, 208–9, 218–19, 239–41, 249–54, 261–77, 306–13, 322–31, 362

  internal passport system, 209

  1970s nuclear expansion, 9–16

  nuclear history, 31–45

  nuclear weapons, 9, 31–33, 42–43, 201

  oil and gas, 39

  perestroika, 19, 322, 323, 327, 329, 330

  space exploration, 9, 42, 50–51, 324–25

  war in Afghanistan, 19, 240, 246, 294, 298, 327, 329, 330

  World War II, 34, 209, 236, 279, 294, 333, 364, 397n

  soybeans, 355

  Soyuzatomenergo, 70, 97–98, 113, 115, 118

  space exploration, 9, 42, 50–51, 324–25

  Special Battalion 731, 190, 243

  Special Zone, 181, 182, 241, 242, 244, 247, 259, 279, 291, 298, 338, 440n

  Sputnik, 51

  Sredmash, 9, 34, 39, 40, 43–44, 60, 62, 66–68, 74, 119, 174–75, 189, 201, 215–16, 220, 221, 222, 223, 245–46, 250, 255, 258, 263, 266, 267, 268, 271, 280–98, 307, 308, 322, 340, 341, 400n, 405n, 409n

  US-605, 280–98, 307, 338–44, 365

  Stalin, Joseph, 14, 32, 34, 59, 137, 327

  Star Wars program, 19

  State Committee for Nuclear Safety, 84, 318

  State Committee for the Utilization of Atomic Energy, 174–75, 400n

  State Committee on Safety in the Atomic Power Industry, 400n

  steel, 12

  Steinberg, Nikolai, 69–70, 347–48, 452n

  Stockholm, 170

  contamination from Chernobyl, 170–77

  Stolyarchuk, Boris, 55, 57, 83, 86, 87, 89, 92, 110, 371

  stolypin cars, 320, 477n

  Strauss, Lewis, 398n

  strong force, 25

  strontium, 226, 320, 354

  strontium 90, 27, 29, 88, 248, 257, 329, 402n

  Structure S, 342

  Studsvik, 171

  submarines, nuclear, 34, 42, 68, 77, 99, 107, 136, 241, 453n

  Supreme Court of the USSR, 309, 314, 345

  trial of Chernobyl plant operators, 314–20

  Supreme Soviet, 174

  Sverdlovsk, 270

  Sweden, 170, 331, 435n

  contamination from Chernobyl, 170–77, 200

  Swedish National Defense Research Institute, 171

  Tarakanov, Nikolai, 278–80, 288–91, 321, 371

  Tashkent, 10

  TASS, 174, 175, 312

  telephone:

  alert system, 97

  lines cut after accident, 129, 146, 148, 422n, 426n

  television, 19, 52, 280, 289, 292, 295, 327, 333

  response to Chernobyl crisis, 150, 175–79, 208–9, 215, 239–41, 250, 266, 274, 311–14, 327–30, 355

  Teller, Edward, 399n

  tellurium 132, 267

  Telyatnikov, Leonid, 104, 300, 307, 319, 334, 420n

  Thatcher, Margaret, 307

  thirty-kilometer zone, 186, 194, 202, 208, 215, 241, 249, 251–59, 301–13, 314, 328, 332–33, 352–56, 359, 364

  thorium, 27, 358

  thorium reactors, 358

  Three Mile Island accident, 73–74, 191, 194, 271, 331, 357

  Tishura, Vladimir, 236

  Tokyo Electric Power Company, 356–57

  Tolstoy, Leo, 325

  Tomsk-7, 40, 120

  “too cheap to meter,” 39, 398n

  Toptunov, Leonid, 50–57, 76, 79–89, 308, 410n, 412n, 413n, 414n, 445n

  death of, 238, 268, 308, 318

  in Hospital Number Six, 223, 225, 228, 231, 232, 238

  rehabilitated reputation of, 349

  role in Chernobyl accident, 79–89, 92–93, 108–10, 134, 135, 149, 151, 223, 225, 230, 268, 317, 318, 347

  Toptunova, Vera, 228, 230, 231, 238

  Tormozin, Andrei, 300, 334

  Torzhok, 153

  tourism, 356, 359

  toys, 339

  trees and forests, 23, 247, 248–49, 256–57, 312, 321, 330, 353, 355, 462n, 486n

  Tregub, Yuri, 82–83, 86, 94–95, 98–99

  trial of Chernobyl operators, 308–9, 314–20, 345, 362, 474n, 475n, 477n

  Trinos, Vladimir, 447n

  Tripoli, 201

  trit
ium, 41

  Troieshchyna, 306

  True Communism, 13, 34, 52

  Tsar Bomba, 1

  Tumanov, Alexander, 89–90

  Turbine Number Eight, 76, 86, 99–101

  aftermath of explosion, 99–101, 104, 106

  explosion, 88–90

  maintenance shutdown, 76, 80, 83–90, 117, 127

  Turbine Number Seven, 95, 100

  Twenty-Fifth Motorized Rifle Division, 258, 353

  Ukraine, 1–3, 7–9, 47, 48, 63–64, 76, 152, 175, 181, 191, 200, 208, 248, 251, 258, 320, 345, 353, 354, 359

  government response to Chernobyl accident, 111–31, 172, 182–84, 203, 208–9, 252–53, 261–63, 332, 436n

  independence from USSR, 333, 337

  radiation threat to Kiev, 182–84, 194, 204, 208–10, 251–53, 326

  resettlement of displaced citizens, 305–6

  Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, 247, 259, 329

  Ukrainian Communist Party, 8, 112, 182, 203, 208–9, 261, 262, 274

  Ukrainian Criminal Code, 309

  Uman, 344

  unemployment, 21

  United Nations, 359, 360

  General Assembly, 33

  International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy, 33

  Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, 359

  United States, 9, 19, 45, 73, 176, 200, 277, 400n

  media, 177, 178, 179, 239, 266, 274, 299, 307, 312

  nuclear industry, 31, 40, 61–62, 73–74, 331, 356, 357, 358, 409n

  nuclear weapons, 19, 26, 29–32, 33, 36, 37, 201, 279, 396n

  radiation threat to, 201

  response to Chernobyl crisis, 177–79, 200–201, 210, 214–15, 228–30, 232–34, 239, 266, 307

  space exploration, 9, 51

  Three Mile Island accident, 73–74, 191, 194, 271, 331, 357

  U-2 spy planes, 45

  Unit One, 56, 58, 67, 68–70, 73, 102, 109, 207, 249, 281, 290, 306, 321, 332, 337, 468n

  back online, 290–91, 306

  1982 accident, 69–70, 112

  restoration efforts, 286–91, 306

  Unit Two, 56, 58, 69, 73, 102, 109, 134, 204, 249, 281, 321, 329, 332, 337, 469n, 470n

  Unit Three, 56, 59, 69, 73, 76, 84, 90, 91, 96, 101, 103, 107, 128, 146, 196, 203, 204, 205, 211, 224, 231, 243, 249, 278, 281, 287, 288, 290, 293, 295, 306, 321, 332, 337, 341, 360, 419n, 420n

  back online, 321–22

  construction of, 56

  fires and damage, 101, 102, 104, 108, 109, 110

  restoration efforts, 286–91

  in 2016, 336–37

  Unit Four, 20, 47, 49, 53–57, 59, 69, 71, 73, 76, 107, 410n

  aftermath of explosion, 91–110

  April 25, 5:00 p.m., 46–59

  April 25, 11:55 p.m., 75–90

  April 26, 1:28 a.m., 91–110

  April 26, 1:30 a.m., 111–31

  April 26, 6:15 a.m., 132–51

  April 27, 152–66

  casualties, 89, 94, 99, 101, 117, 118, 122, 127, 136, 179, 208–9, 220, 229, 232, 235–38, 265, 268, 299–300, 312, 315, 326, 334, 338

 

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