[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]
Comrade Dyatlov? Comrade Dyatlov?!
What just happened?
I don't know.
[Turbine engineer Vyacheslav Brazhnik rushes into the room]
There's a fire in the turbine hall.
The turbine hall... The control system tank. Hydrogen. [addressing Akimov] You and Toptunov, you morons blew the tank.
No, that's not--
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]
It exploded!
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 --
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!
There is no core! It exploded, the core exploded!
[Beat as all the engineers stare at Perevozchenko in disbelief and fear]
He's in shock, get him out of here.
The lid is off. The stack is burning, I saw it.
You're confused, RBMK reactor cores don't explode. Akimov! [picks up the phone to call out]
[whispering, to Akimov] Sasha...
Don't worry, we did everything right. Something... something strange has happened.
Do you taste metal?
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]
[hangs up the phone] We're wasting time. Let's go. Get the hydrogen out of the generators and pump water into the core.
What about the fire?
[annoyed; as if it were obvious] Call the fire brigade. [storms out]
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