[After a West German robot clearing graphite from the roof fails due to the radiation, Shcherbina is on the phone with Moscow, shouting furiously.]
ShcherbinaOf course I know they're listening! I want them to hear! I want them to hear it all! [outside, Legasov and General Tarakanov can easily hear] Do you know what we're doing here?! Tell those geniuses what they have done! I DON'T GIVE A FUCK! Tell them! Go tell them! Ryzhkov! Go tell them he's a joke! Tell fucking Gorbachev! TELL THEM! [smashes the phone to pieces, then drags them outside before tossing them into the grass, then turns to Legasov and Tarakanov] The official position of the State is that a global nuclear catastrophe is not possible in the Soviet Union. They told the Germans that the highest detected level of radiation was two thousand roentgen. They gave them the propaganda number. That robot was never going to work. [to one of the guards] We need a new phone.
[As Valery Legasov and Boris Shcherbina make their way to Chernobyl in a helicopter...]
Boris Shcherbina
How does a nuclear reactor work?
Shcherbina
It's a simple question.
It's hardly a simple answer.
Shcherbina
Of course, you presume I'm too stupid to understand. So I'll restate: Tell me how a nuclear reactor works, or I'll have one of these soldiers throw you out of the helicopter.
A nuclear reactor makes electricity with steam. The steam turns a turbine which generates electricity. Where a typical power plant makes steam by burning coal, a nuclear plant...
[Legasov tries to find a pen in his pocket to draw a diagram. Scherbina hands his pen and a scratch paper to Legasov]
[Draws diagram] In a nuclear plant, we use something called fission. We take an unstable element like Uranium-235, which has too many neutrons. A neutron is, uh—
Shcherbina
The bullet.
[Impressed] Yes, the bullet. So, bullets are flying off of the uranium. Now...if we put enough uranium atoms close together, the bullets from one atom will eventually strike another atom. The force of this impact splits that atom apart, releasing a tremendous amount of energy, fission.
Shcherbina
And the graphite?
[Exhales] Ah, yes. The neutrons are actually traveling so fast we call this "flux"—it's relatively unlikely that the uranium atoms will ever hit one another. In RBMK reactors, we surround the fuel rods with graphite to moderate—slow down—the neutron flux.
Shcherbina
Good. [Takes his pen back] I know how a nuclear reactor works. Now I don't need you.
[Legasov and Shcherbina's helicopter approaches the Chernobyl plant]
[Sees the reactor, horrified] What have they done?
Shcherbina
Can you see inside?
I don't have to. Look. That's graphite on the roof. The whole building's been blown open. The core's exposed!
Shcherbina
I can't see how you can tell that from here.
Oh, for God's sakes! Look at that glow! That's radiation ionizing the air!
Shcherbina
Well, if we can't see, we don't know. [to the pilot] Get us directly over the building!
Shcherbina
Don't you use my name!
...directly over an open reactor...
Shcherbina
I didn't ask your advice!
...we'll be dead within a week! Dead!
Shcherbina
Get us over that building, or I'll have you shot!
[to the pilot] If you fly directly over that core, I promise you, by tomorrow morning, you'll be begging for that bullet! [the pilot considers this, and turns away from the Chernobyl plant]
[Inside a military jeep, as Fomin and Bryukhanov prepare to meet Shcherbina; the Soviet military has arrived in force, led by Colonel-General Vladimir Pikalov]
It's overkill. Pikalov's showing off to make us look bad.
It doesn't matter how it looks. Shcherbina is a pure bureaucrat, as stupid as he is pigheaded. We'll tell him the truth in the simplest terms possible. We'll be fine. [Both exit the jeep] Pikalov!
[General Pikalov joins in with Fomin and Bryukhanov to welcome Shcherbina. Legasov is standing at a distance as Shcherbina, alone, is saluted by Pikalov]
Comrade Shcherbina, Chief Engineer Fomin, Colonel-General Pikalov, and I are honored at your arrival.
Naturally, we regret the circumstances of your visit, but as you can see, we are making excellent progress in containing the damage. [Pulls out his notepad] We have begun our own inquiry into the cause of the accident, and I have a list of individuals who we believe are accountable.
[Shcherbina reads through the note and gestures Legasov to join them]
Professor Legasov, I understand you've been saying dangerous things.
Very dangerous things. Apparently, our reactor core exploded. Please, tell me how an RBMK reactor core explodes.
I'm not prepared to explain it at this time.
As I presumed, he has no answer.
It's disgraceful, really. To spread disinformation at a time like this.
[Legasov, in a tense situation, says nothing and looks to Shcherbina]
Shcherbina
[Notices Legasov and turns to Bryukhanov] Why did I see graphite on the roof?
[Bryukhanov and Fomin's smug expressions dissolve.]
Shcherbina
Graphite is only found in the core, where it's used as a—neutron flux moderator. Correct?
[beat] Fomin, why did the Deputy Chairman see graphite on the roof?
Well, that—that can't be. Comrade Shcherbina, my apologies, but graphite... that's not possible. Perhaps y—you saw burnt concrete.
Shcherbina
Now there you made a mistake. Because I may not know much about nuclear reactors, but I know a lot about concrete.
Shcherbina
I understand. [Points to Legasov] You think Legasov is wrong. How shall we prove it?
GPGeneral Pikalov
Our high-range dosimeter just arrived. We could cover one of our trucks with lead shielding, mount the dosimeter on the front.
[all of them look at Legasov]
Have one of your men get as close to the fire as he can. Give him every bit of protection you have. But understand that even with lead shielding, it may not be enough.
PPikalov
[grimly] Then I'll do it myself.
Shcherbina
Good.
[Colonel-General Pikalov returns from driving a high-level dosimeter close to the fire.]
PPikalov
It's not three roentgen. It's fifteen thousand.
[Legasov closes his eyes.]
[Scherbina just looks at him, and he shuts up instantly.]
Shcherbina
[Turns to Legasov] What does that number mean?
It means the core is open. It means the fire we're watching with our own eyes is giving off nearly twice the radiation released by the bomb in Hiroshima. And that's every single hour. Hour after hour, [looks at his watch] 20 hours since the explosion, so forty bombs worth by now. Forty-eight more tomorrow. And it will not stop. Not in a week, not in a month. It will burn and spread its poison until the entire continent is dead.
Shcherbina
[Turns to the soldiers] Please escort Comrades Bryukhanov and Fomin to the local Party headquarters. [Turns to Bryukhanov] Thank you for your service.
Shcherbina
You're excused.
[As he's being taken away] Dyatlov was in charge. It was Dyatlov!
Shcherbina
Tell me how to put it out.
PPikalov
We'll use helicopters. We'll drop water on it like a forest fire—
No, no, no. You don't understand. This isn't a fire. This is a fissioning reactor core burning at over 2,000 degrees. The heat will instantly vaporize the water or worse—
Shcherbina
How do we put it out?
[Sighs] You are dealing with something that has never occurred on this planet before. [Shcherbina begins to speak] Boron. Boron and sand. It'll create problems of its own, but I—I don't see any other way. Of course, it's going to take thousands of drops, because you can't fly the helicopters directly over the core, so most of it is going to miss.
Shcherbina
How much sand and boron?
[Scoffs] Well, I can't be—
Shcherbina
For God's sake, roughly!
Five thousand tons. And obviously, we're going to need to evacuate an enormous area—
Shcherbina
Never mind that. Focus on the fire.
I am focusing on the fire. The wind, it's carrying all that smoke, all that radiation. At least evacuate Pripyat. It's three kilometers away.
Shcherbina
That's my decision to make.
Shcherbina
I've been told not to.
Is it or is not your decision—
Shcherbina
I'm in charge here! This will go much easier if you talk to me about the things you do understand and not about the things you do not understand. [Walks back to the tent]
Shcherbina
I'm going to get you 5,000 tons of sand and boron.
[Polissya hotel, Pripyat: Helicopters dropping sand and boron to extinguish the fire in the Chernobyl plant]
Shcherbina
It's been smooth. Twenty drops. [notices Legasov's expression] What?
There are fifty thousand people in this city.
Shcherbina
Professor Ilyin, who's also on the commission, says the radiation isn't high enough to evacuate.
Shcherbina
Well, he's a medical doctor. If he says it's safe, it's safe.
Shcherbina
We're staying here.
[impatiently] Yes, we are, and we'll be dead in five years! [Shcherbina looks shocked] I'm sorry, I'm... I'm sorry.
Shcherbina
[sits in stunned silence as the phone starts to ring; after several seconds, he answers it] Shcherbina. [listens] Thank you. [hangs up] A nuclear plant in Sweden has detected radiation and identified it as a byproduct of our fuel. The Americans took satellite photos. The reactor building, the smoke, the fire. The whole world knows. The wind has been blowing toward Germany. They're not letting children play outside... in Frankfurt. [glances outside at the children playing]
[Legasov and Shcherbina faces incredulous workers as they ask for volunteers in a suicidal mission to open the sluice gate valve]
NWNuclear Worker
Now you want us to swim underneath a burning reactor. Do you even know how contaminated it is?
I... I don't have an exact number.
NWNuclear Worker
You don't need to have an exact number to know if it will kill us. But you can't even tell us that. Why should we do this? For what, for four hundred rubles?
Shcherbina
You'll do it because it must be done. You'll do it because nobody else can. And if you don't, millions will die. If you tell me that's not enough I won't believe you. This is what has always set our people apart. A thousand years of sacrifice in our veins. And every generation must know its own suffering. I spit on the people who did this. And I curse the price that I have to pay. But I'm making my peace with it. Now you make yours. Go into that water. Because it must be done.
[Silence.]
AAAlexei Ananenko
[stands] Ananenko.
VBValeri Bespalov
[stands] Bespalov.
BBBoris Baranov
[stands] Baranov.
Shcherbina
What will happen to our boys?
Shcherbina
The divers, the firefighters, the men in the control room. What does the radiation do to them precisely?
At the levels some of them were exposed? Ionizing radiation tears the cellular structure apart. The skin blisters, turns red, then black. This is followed by a latency period. The immediate effects subside. The patient appears to be recovering. Healthy, even. But they aren't. This usually only lasts for a day or two.
Shcherbina
[beat] Continue.
Then the cellular damage begins to manifest. The bone marrow dies, the immune system fails, the organs and soft tissue begin to decompose. The arteries and veins spill open like sieves, to the point where you can't even administer morphine for the pain, which is… unimaginable. And then three days to three weeks, you are dead. That is what will happen to those boys.
Shcherbina
And what about us?
Well, we've...We've gotten a steady dose, but not as much of it. Not strong enough to kill the cells, but consistent enough to damage our DNA. So, in time, cancer. Or aplastic anemia. Either way, fatal.
Shcherbina
[beat] Well, in a sense, it would seem we've gotten off easy then, Valery.
[After a meeting with the Central Committee, Legasov confronts KGB official Aleksandr Charkov about Khomyuk's arrest]
She was arrested by the KGB. You are the first deputy chairman of the KGB.
ACAleksandr Charkov
[amused] I am. That's why I don't have to bother with arresting people anymore.
But you are bothering with having us followed.
Shcherbina
I think the deputy chairman is busy...
CCharkov
No no, it's perfectly understandable. Comrade, I know you've heard the stories about us. When I hear them, even I am shocked. But we are not what people say. Yes, people are following you. People are following those people. And you see them? [indicates two agents behind him] They follow me. The KGB is a circle of accountability. Nothing more.
You know the work we're doing here. You really don't trust us?
CCharkov
Of course I do. But you know the old Russian proverb: "Trust, but verify." And the Americans think that Ronald Reagan thought that up. Can you imagine? It was very nice speaking with you. [turns to walk away]
CCharkov
[turns back] So you will be accountable for her? [Legasov nods] Then it's done.
CCharkov
I know who she is. Good day, Professor. [walks off; Legasov glances at Shcherbina]
Shcherbina
No, that went surprisingly well. You came off like a naive idiot. And naive idiots are not a threat.
[showing pictures of the damaged reactor] The atom is a humbling thing.
It's not humbling, it's humiliating. Why is the core still exposed to the air? Why have we not already covered it up?
We want to, but we can't get close enough. The debris on the roof is graphite from the core itself. Until we can push it off the roof back into the reactor, it'll kill anyone who gets near it. You see the roof is in three levels. We've named them. The small one here is Katya, one thousand roentgen per hour. Presume two hours of exposure is fatal. The one on the side, Nina, two thousand roentgen. One hour, fatal.
We used remote-controlled bulldozers in Afghanistan.
Shcherbina
Too heavy. They'd fall right through.
Moon rovers. Lunokhod STR-1s. They're light. And if we line them with lead, they can withstand the radiation.
Shcherbina
We couldn't put a man on the Moon. At least we can keep a man off a roof.
That is the most important thing, General. Under no circumstances can men go up there. Robots only.
What about this large section here?
Shcherbina
[grimly] Masha.
Twelve thousand roentgen. If you were to stand there in full protective gear head-to-toe for two minutes, your life expectancy would be cut in half. By three minutes, you're dead within months. Even our lunar rovers won't work on Masha. That amount of gamma radiation penetrates everything. The particles literally shred the circuits in microchips apart. If it's more complicated than a light switch, Masha will destroy it.
Shcherbina
It would be fair to say that that piece of roof is the most dangerous place on Earth.
[sits in stunned silence for a moment, before taking a draw from his cigarette] So... what do we do?
Shcherbina
That's what we wanted to ask you.
[As the courtroom is at a recess, Legasov meets outside with Shcherbina, coughing into a handkerchief]
Shcherbina
Do you know anything about this town, Chernobyl?
Shcherbina
It was mostly Jews and Poles. The Jews were killed in pogroms, and Stalin forced the Poles out. And then the Nazis came and killed whoever was left. But after the war, people came to live here anyway. They knew the ground under their feet was soaked in blood, but they didn't care. Dead Jews, dead Poles. But not them. No one ever thinks it's going to happen to them. And here we are.
[Shcherbina shows Legasov his handkerchief, stained with his blood from radiation sickness]
Shcherbina
Maybe a year. They call it a...[coughs] They call it a "long illness". It doesn't seem very long to me. I know you told me, and I believed you. But time passed, and I thought, it wouldn't happen to me. I wasted it. I wasted it all for nothing.
Shcherbina
Do you remember that morning when I first called you, how unconcerned I was? I don't believe much that comes out of the Kremlin, but when they told me they were putting me in charge of the cleanup, and they said it wasn't serious, I believed them. You know why?
Because they put you in charge.
Shcherbina
[dejectedly] Yeah. I'm an inconsequential man, Valera. That's all I've ever been. I hoped that one day I would matter, but I didn't. [pats Legasov on the shoulder] I just stood next to people who did.
There are other scientists like me. Any one of them could have done what I did. But you... everything we asked for, everything we needed. Men, material, lunar rovers. Who else could have done these things? They heard me, but they listened to you. Of all the ministers, and all the deputies, entire congregation of obedient fools... they mistakenly sent the one good man. For godsakes, Boris... you were the one who mattered most.
Shcherbina
[sees a small caterpillar on his lap and lets it crawl on his index finger] Ah, it's beautiful.
Chernobyl · 50 quotes
