The official history of Chernobyl accident It is known. What is not so surprising is that, in the hours after the explosion, Europe was . Three men entered the bowels of the plant, crossing flooded and highly radioactive pipes, to avoid a chain reaction which would have multiplied the scope of the tragedy.
one of them was Olexander Zelentsovengineer and liquidator. His testimony, decades later, is direct: “We had to manually cut the connection with reactor 3. If we didn’t do it, it would explode”.
A decision in the midst of chaos
The early morning of April 26, 1986 began with a call. A “non-important” fire, they said. But when Zelentsov arrived at the headquarters, the reality was different: reactor 4 had disappeared.
The core was exposed, the water contaminated and the radiation reached extreme levels. In this context, an even greater risk arose: that reactor 3, connected to the system, would trigger a new explosion. The only way to avoid it was to intervene manually.
enter hell
Zelentsov and two other workers volunteered for the mission. Equipped with basic suits and gas masks, They advanced through pipes flooded with water up to their waists.
Inside, the conditions were extreme:
- Constant electric shocks.
- Lethal radiation.
- High temperatures.
- Minimum visibility.
Even so, they managed to reach the critical point and cut the connection that could trigger the explosion. The other two men did not survive the exposure.
“It would have forced Europe to evacuate”
The consequences of not acting would have been devastating. According to the liquidators themselves, an explosion in reactor 3 could have caused a chain reaction with reactors 1 and 2.. “The continent would have had to be evacuated. It would be uninhabitable even today”Zelentsov explained years later.
The accident has already caused the evacuation of a 30-kilometer radius and contaminated large areas of Belarus and Europe. An additional ruling would have multiplied that impact.
The price of saving millions
That night, about 80 workers entered the plant. Many were searching for missing colleagues. Others, like Zelentsov, acted to contain the disaster.
The official figures of the Soviet Union spoke of 31 immediate deaths. However, UNSCEAR estimates rise to about 4,000 deaths the long-term consequences of radiation. Most of those who participated in the first hours did not survive.
Chernobyl today: between war and abandonment, and a symbol of what could be worse
Almost 40 years later, the exclusion zone remains a unique territory. An area of 30 kilometers around the plant remains restricted and controlled. Since 2022, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the place has experienced a new episode of tension. Russian troops occupied the area for weeks, using the enclave as a logistical base. Today, access is militarized and life is still limited to workers who enter in shifts.
Chernobyl is now synonymous with a nuclear disaster. But it is also about an intervention that prevented something much more serious. Zelentsov’s own partner, Eugene Yonushkievich, sums it up bluntly: “He saved Europe”. It is not a rhetorical phrase. It’s a direct way to describe one of the riskiest and least-known decisions in recent history.
Chernobyl: a tragedy summarized in a few paragraphs
Chernobyl nuclear power plant with technicians on the cooling plates.
Essential miniseries Netflix To understand the catastrophe minute by minute, we are going to try to summarize it as much as possible and add more information about the heroic liquidators.
Sources detail the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster as a tandem of critical RBMK reactor design flaws and human negligence during a poorly executed security test. The heroism of the firefighters and liquidators who faced invisible radiation contrasts with the systematic secrecy and disinformation of the Soviet government to protect its political image.
Valery Legasov, in charge of the accident investigation committee, tried to reveal the technical truth in the face of a system that prioritized silence over human life.
As for the liquidators, in total 600,000 people, including engineers, workers and scientistswere part of this group mobilized by the Soviet Union to mitigate the consequences of the disaster. Among its main functions were:
- Debris and graphite cleaning: On the roof of the plant, the teams worked in rotating shifts of just 90 seconds per person due to lethal levels of radiation. Their mission was to manually collect pieces of highly radioactive graphite and throw them into the reactor crater.
- Containment from the air: Helicopter pilots flew over the open core to launch almost 5,000 tons of sand, boron and clay in order to put out the fire and stop the emission of particles.
- Construction of the “Sarcophagus”: More than 60,000 people participated in the construction of a concrete and steel structure 190 meters long and 169 meters wide, designed to seal the damaged reactor and contain radiation.
- Secondary explosion prevention: A specific group of three men, known as the “suicide squad”, dove into the highly contaminated water beneath the reactor to open the drain valves and prevent a third thermal explosion that would have been devastating for Europe.
- Mining: A team of miners dug a tunnel under the reactor to install a cooling system and prevent the molten core from reaching the water tables.
Many worked without special suits or masksoften without knowing the actual levels of radiation they were absorbing. Of the first responders, at least 28 died in the following weeks due to massive doses of radiation.
