[April 26, 1986: Immediately after the explosion, deputy chief engineer Anatoly Dyatlov stands shocked as shift supervisor Aleksandr Akimov calls his name repeatedly and alarms blare]
AAAleksandr Akimov
Comrade Dyatlov? Comrade Dyatlov?!
Anatoly DyatlovWhat just happened?
LTLeonid Toptunov
I don't know.
[Turbine engineer Vyacheslav Brazhnik rushes into the room]
VBVyacheslav Brazhnik
There's a fire in the turbine hall.
Dyatlov
The turbine hall... The control system tank. Hydrogen. [addressing Akimov] You and Toptunov, you morons blew the tank.
TToptunov
No, that's not--
Dyatlov
This is an emergency, everyone stay calm. Our first priority is to--
[As Dyatlov speaks, foreman Valeriy Perevozchenko runs through the open door in a panic]
VPValeriy Perevozchenko
It exploded!
Dyatlov
We know. Akimov, are we cooling the reactor core?
We shut it down, but the control rods are still... They're not all the way in, I disengaged the clutch --
Dyatlov
Alright, I'll disconnect the servos from the standby console. [to two other engineers] You two, get the backup pumps running, we need water moving through the core, that is all that matters!
PPerevozchenko
There is no core! It exploded, the core exploded!
[Beat as all the engineers stare at Perevozchenko in disbelief and fear]
Dyatlov
He's in shock, get him out of here.
PPerevozchenko
The lid is off. The stack is burning, I saw it.
Dyatlov
You're confused, RBMK reactor cores don't explode. Akimov! [picks up the phone to call out]
TToptunov
[whispering, to Akimov] Sasha...
Don't worry, we did everything right. Something... something strange has happened.
TToptunov
Do you taste metal?
Dyatlov
Akimov!
[glances at Perevozchenko] Comrade Perevozchenko, what you're saying is physically impossible. The core can't explode. It has to be the tank.
[Perevozchenko wordlessly shakes his head]
Dyatlov
[hangs up the phone] We're wasting time. Let's go. Get the hydrogen out of the generators and pump water into the core.
BBrazhnik
What about the fire?
Dyatlov
[annoyed; as if it were obvious] Call the fire brigade. [storms out]
[April 26, 1986: Dyatlov meets with plant director Viktor Bryukhanov and chief engineer Nikolai Fomin in a bunker underneath the plant]
[dryly] I take it the safety test was a failure.
Anatoly Dyatlov
We have the situation under control.
Under control? It doesn't look like it's under control.
Shut up, Fomin. [to Dyatlov] I have to tell the Central Committee about this. Do you realize that? I have to get on the phone and tell Maryin, or God forbid Frolyshev, that my power plant is on fire.
Dyatlov
No one can blame you for this, Director Bryukhanov
Of course no one can blame me for this. How can I be responsible? I was sleeping. Tell me what happened. Quickly.
Dyatlov
We ran the test exactly as Chief Engineer Fomin approved. Unit Shift Chief Akimov and Engineer Toptunov encountered technical difficulties, leading to an accumulation of hydrogen in the control system tank. It, regrettably, ignited, damaging the plant and setting the roof on fire.
[Bryukhanov looks to Fomin]
The tank is quite large, yes. It's the only logical explanation. Of course, Deputy Chief Engineer Dyatlov was directly supervising the test, so he would know best.
A hydrogen tank, fire...Reactor?
Dyatlov
We're taking measures to ensure a steady flow of water through the core.
Dyatlov
Obviously, down here it's nothing, but in the reactor building, I'm being told 3.6 roentgen per hour
Well, that's not great, but it's not horrifying.
Not at all. From the feedwater, I assume?
[Dyatlov nods]
We'll have to limit shifts to six hours at a time, but otherwise...
The dosimetrists should be checking regularly. Have them use the good meter, from the safe. Right, I'll call Maryin. Have them wake up the local committee, there'll be orders coming down.
Anatoly Dyatlov
I dropped the rods from the other panel.
AAAleksandr Akimov
They're still up.
Dyatlov
What?
They're still only a third of the way in, I don't know why. I already sent the trainees down to the reactor hall to lower them by hand.
Dyatlov
What about the pumps?
LTLeonid Toptunov
I can't get through to Khodemchuk, the lines are down.
Dyatlov
Fuck the phones and fuck Khodemchuk. Are the pumps on or not?
BSBoris Stolyarchuk
My control panel's not working. I tried calling for the electricians--
Dyatlov
I don't give a shit about the panel! I need water in my reactor core! Get down there and make sure those pumps are on. Now!
[several engineers leave the control room as Dyatlov sits down at a desk]
Dyatlov
What does the dosimeter say?
Ah, 3.6 roentgen, but that's as high as the meter--
Dyatlov
3.6. Not great, not terrible.
[quietly, to Toptunov] We did everything right.
[April 26, 1986: Meeting in the power plant office, engineer Anatoly Sitnikov reports high radiation in reactor 4]
Dyatlov
What's wrong with you? How'd you get that number from feedwater leaking from a blown tank?
ASAnatoly Sitnikov
You don't.
Dyatlov
Then what the fuck are you talking about?
SSitnikov
I... [clears throat] I walked around the exterior of building 4. I think there's graphite on the ground in the rubble.
Dyatlov
You didn't see graphite.
Dyatlov
You didn't. YOU DIDN'T! Because it's NOT THERE!
What, are you suggesting the core... what? Exploded?
SSitnikov
[almost a whisper] Yes.
Sitnikov, you're a nuclear engineer. So am I. So please tell me how an RBMK reactor core explodes. Not a meltdown, an explosion. I'd love to know.
SSitnikov
I... [stammers] I don't see how it could explode. [Fomin looks satisfied] But it did.
Dyatlov
[pounds the table, swaying on his feet] Enough! I'll go up to the vent block roof. From there, you can look right down into reactor building 4. I'll see it with my own... with my own eyes. [vomits on the table] I apologize. [collapses]
[Pripyat, April 25, 1986 - twelve hours prior to the explosion]
I hear they might promote Bryukhanov. This little problem we have with the safety test, if it's completed successfully... yes, I think promotion's very likely. Who knows? Maybe Moscow. Naturally, they'll put me in charge once he's gone, and then I'll need someone to take my old job. I could pick Sitnikov.
Dyatlov
I would like to be considered.
We'll keep that in mind. [Bryukhanov enters] Viktor Petrovich, preparations for the test have gone smoothly. Comrade Dyatlov's been working per my instructions, and reactor 4's output has been reduced to 1600 megawatts. With your approval, we're ready to continue lowering power to --
Are you going to ask me if there's a problem, Nikolai? You can't read a fucking face? Three years, I've tried to finish this test. Three years. [lights a cigarette] I've just had a call from the grid controller in Kiev. He says we can't lower power any further. Not for another ten hours.
Dyatlov
A grid controller? Where does he get off telling us--
It's not the grid controller's decision, Dyatlov. It's the end of the month. All the productivity quotas. Everyone's working overtime, the factories need power, someone's pushing down from above, not that we'll ever know who. [sighs] So do we have to scrap it, or what?
No, I don't think so. If we need to wait ten hours, we wait.
[to Dyatlov] Running half power, not going to have stability issues?
Dyatlov
It's safe. We'll maintain at 1600. I'll go home, get some sleep, come back tonight. We'll proceed then. I'll personally supervise the test, and it will be completed.
Well, I'm not waiting around. Call me when it's done.
[During the test at Chernobyl, the reactor stalls, but Dyatlov insists on continuing the test]
Dyatlov
Raise the power.
No. I won't do it, it isn't safe.
[Dyatlov stares at Akimov for a moment, then Toptunov, then back at Akimov]
Dyatlov
Safety first, always. I've been saying that for 25 years. That's how long I've been doing this job, 25 years. Is that longer than you, Akimov?
Dyatlov
Is that much longer?
Dyatlov
[to Toptunov] And you, with your mother's tit barely out your mouth? [Toptunov is silent] See, if I say "it's safe", it's safe. And if the two of you disagree, then you don't have to work here. And you won't. But not just here. You won't work at Kursk, or Ignalina, or Leningrad, or Novovoronezh. You won't work anywhere ever again. I'll see to it. I think you know I will see to it. Raise the power.
[holds out the duty log] I would like you to record your command --
Dyatlov
[slaps the log out of Akimov's hands] Raise the power.
[Akimov picks up the log, then steps to the control console, as Dyatlov lights a cigarette behind him]
[to Toptunov] Together, then.
Chernobyl · 50 quotes
