1 00:02:16,161 --> 00:02:18,321 I hear they might promote Bryukhanov. 2 00:02:19,521 --> 00:02:22,201 This little problem we have with the safety test... 3 00:02:23,361 --> 00:02:25,401 ..if it's completed successfully... 4 00:02:26,921 --> 00:02:29,241 ..yes, I think promotion's very likely. 5 00:02:30,641 --> 00:02:32,361 Who knows? Maybe Moscow. 6 00:02:34,281 --> 00:02:36,641 Naturally, they'll put me in charge once he's gone 7 00:02:36,801 --> 00:02:39,081 and then I'll need someone to take my old job. 8 00:02:41,241 --> 00:02:42,881 I could pitch Sitnikov. 9 00:02:52,001 --> 00:02:53,801 I would like to be considered. 10 00:02:56,801 --> 00:02:58,281 We'll keep that in mind. 11 00:03:00,121 --> 00:03:01,641 Viktor Petrovich. 12 00:03:01,801 --> 00:03:04,281 Preparations for the test have gone smoothly. 13 00:03:04,441 --> 00:03:06,961 Comrade Dyatlov's been working per my instructions. 14 00:03:07,121 --> 00:03:10,761 And Reactor4 output's been reduced to 1600 megawatts. 15 00:03:11,761 --> 00:03:14,721 With your approval, we're ready to continue lowering power... 16 00:03:14,881 --> 00:03:16,361 It'll have to wait. 17 00:03:17,841 --> 00:03:18,961 Is er... 18 00:03:19,121 --> 00:03:21,521 Are you going to ask me if there's a problem, Nikolai? 19 00:03:21,681 --> 00:03:23,361 You can't read a fucking face? 20 00:03:24,081 --> 00:03:26,401 Three years I've tried to finish this test. 21 00:03:26,561 --> 00:03:28,081 Three years. 22 00:03:34,561 --> 00:03:36,921 I've just had a call from the grid controller in Kiev. 23 00:03:37,081 --> 00:03:39,881 He says we can't lower power further for another ten hours. 24 00:03:40,041 --> 00:03:42,041 A grid controller? Where does he get off... 25 00:03:42,201 --> 00:03:45,161 It's not the grid controller's decision, Dyatlov. 26 00:03:46,161 --> 00:03:47,841 It's the end of the month. 27 00:03:48,001 --> 00:03:50,281 All the productivity quotas. 28 00:03:50,441 --> 00:03:53,121 Everyone's working overtime, the factories need power, 29 00:03:53,281 --> 00:03:55,201 someone's pushing down from above. 30 00:03:55,361 --> 00:03:57,001 Not that we'll ever know who. 31 00:04:04,921 --> 00:04:06,961 So, do we have to scrap it, or what? 32 00:04:07,121 --> 00:04:08,841 No, I don't think so. 33 00:04:09,001 --> 00:04:12,121 No, if we need to wait ten hours, we wait. 34 00:04:12,281 --> 00:04:15,121 Running at half power, we're not going to have stability issues? 35 00:04:15,281 --> 00:04:17,721 - No, I should think... - I'm not asking you. 36 00:04:20,921 --> 00:04:22,161 It's safe. 37 00:04:22,321 --> 00:04:24,001 We'll maintain at 1600. 38 00:04:24,161 --> 00:04:26,401 I'll go home, get some sleep, come back tonight. 39 00:04:26,561 --> 00:04:27,881 We'll proceed then. 40 00:04:28,041 --> 00:04:30,081 I'll personally supervise the test... 41 00:04:31,321 --> 00:04:33,361 ..and it will be completed. 42 00:04:36,441 --> 00:04:38,161 Well, I'm not waiting around. 43 00:04:39,041 --> 00:04:40,601 Call me when it's done. 44 00:06:14,081 --> 00:06:15,601 How do you feel? 45 00:06:17,481 --> 00:06:20,281 You went to the doctor yesterday. How is your health? 46 00:06:20,441 --> 00:06:22,121 You don't know? 47 00:06:24,321 --> 00:06:26,761 From Vienna. Do you read German? 48 00:06:28,921 --> 00:06:33,521 It says, "At last, a Soviet scientist who tells the truth." 49 00:06:34,561 --> 00:06:37,241 Obviously, I resent the insinuation but it's fair to say 50 00:06:37,401 --> 00:06:40,121 you made an excellent impression at the conference. 51 00:06:40,281 --> 00:06:42,281 Turns out you're quite good at this. 52 00:06:42,441 --> 00:06:44,241 At what? Lying? 53 00:06:44,401 --> 00:06:45,801 Statecraft, Legasov. 54 00:06:45,961 --> 00:06:47,161 Statecraft. 55 00:06:47,321 --> 00:06:49,321 The West is now satisfied 56 00:06:49,481 --> 00:06:52,481 that Chernobyl was solely the result of operator error. 57 00:06:52,641 --> 00:06:54,321 Which it essentially was. 58 00:06:54,481 --> 00:06:56,201 We have you to thank for that. 59 00:06:56,361 --> 00:06:57,961 And we intend to. 60 00:07:01,961 --> 00:07:03,721 Hero of the Soviet Union. 61 00:07:04,601 --> 00:07:06,201 Our highest honour. 62 00:07:06,361 --> 00:07:08,441 They haven't even given it to me. 63 00:07:09,561 --> 00:07:12,521 Promotion to Director of the Kurchatov Institute. 64 00:07:15,521 --> 00:07:16,921 I'm humbled. 65 00:07:17,641 --> 00:07:19,881 I don't think there's anything humble about you, 66 00:07:20,041 --> 00:07:21,401 Valery Alexeyevich. 67 00:07:21,561 --> 00:07:23,521 And these rewards are not yours yet. 68 00:07:23,681 --> 00:07:25,601 First, your testimony at the trial. 69 00:07:25,761 --> 00:07:29,361 Comrade Charkov, I understand my duty to the state. 70 00:07:30,441 --> 00:07:35,401 But you gave us assurances the reactors would be made safe. 71 00:07:35,561 --> 00:07:37,721 It's been months. No changes have been made, 72 00:07:37,881 --> 00:07:39,401 no changes even discussed. 73 00:07:39,561 --> 00:07:41,481 First, the trial. 74 00:07:42,841 --> 00:07:45,001 Once it's over, we will have our villains, 75 00:07:45,161 --> 00:07:48,281 we will have our hero, we will have our truth. 76 00:07:49,321 --> 00:07:51,681 After that, we can deal with the reactors. 77 00:09:13,281 --> 00:09:14,841 Did you take a train? 78 00:09:15,001 --> 00:09:17,841 Yes, I took a train. 79 00:09:18,001 --> 00:09:20,041 Now, let's talk about Vienna. 80 00:09:20,201 --> 00:09:22,801 I'm not here to scold you. 81 00:09:22,961 --> 00:09:24,561 I know how the world works, 82 00:09:24,721 --> 00:09:26,281 despite what Shcherbina says. 83 00:09:27,521 --> 00:09:30,241 So... why are you here? 84 00:09:31,721 --> 00:09:33,201 Because I'm brutally stubborn. 85 00:09:33,361 --> 00:09:35,281 Which you were hoping for. 86 00:09:39,761 --> 00:09:43,641 Charkov is saying they will fix the reactors after the trial. 87 00:09:45,321 --> 00:09:47,841 Do you believe him? 88 00:09:49,681 --> 00:09:51,961 The state will never willingly fix the reactors, 89 00:09:52,121 --> 00:09:53,721 because acknowledging the problem 90 00:09:53,881 --> 00:09:55,401 means admitting that they lied. 91 00:09:55,561 --> 00:09:57,001 They will have to be forced. 92 00:10:03,921 --> 00:10:06,881 At the trial, you're going to tell the truth. 93 00:10:08,321 --> 00:10:10,201 You're going to convince a jury. 94 00:10:10,921 --> 00:10:12,561 It's a show trial! 95 00:10:12,721 --> 00:10:14,881 The jury's already been handed their verdict. 96 00:10:15,041 --> 00:10:17,121 I'm not talking about them. 97 00:10:18,241 --> 00:10:19,721 The Central Committee 98 00:10:19,881 --> 00:10:22,241 have invited members of the scientific community 99 00:10:22,401 --> 00:10:23,761 to observe the trial. 100 00:10:23,921 --> 00:10:27,201 Our colleagues from Kurchatov, 101 00:10:27,361 --> 00:10:29,721 from Sredmash, from Minenergo, 102 00:10:29,881 --> 00:10:31,521 they will be sitting in the crowd, 103 00:10:31,681 --> 00:10:33,321 listening to every word you say - 104 00:10:33,481 --> 00:10:35,161 a jury that only we know is there. 105 00:10:35,321 --> 00:10:36,881 And when your testimony arrives 106 00:10:37,041 --> 00:10:39,681 at the moment of the explosion... 107 00:10:40,801 --> 00:10:43,401 ..that is when our jury will finally hear the truth. 108 00:10:43,561 --> 00:10:45,321 And do what with it? 109 00:10:45,481 --> 00:10:46,841 Insist on reform. 110 00:10:48,401 --> 00:10:50,681 Not just to the RBMK, but the entire industry. 111 00:10:50,841 --> 00:10:51,961 No, no, no, no, no. 112 00:10:52,121 --> 00:10:54,081 They can't function without us. If we... 113 00:10:54,241 --> 00:10:56,561 Do you know what happened to Volkov, 114 00:10:56,721 --> 00:10:58,881 the man whose report you found? 115 00:10:59,041 --> 00:11:02,961 They just removed him from his position at the institute. 116 00:11:03,641 --> 00:11:05,641 Sacked, for the crime of knowing. 117 00:11:06,881 --> 00:11:08,961 And you think that these scientists, 118 00:11:09,121 --> 00:11:11,721 hand-picked to witness a show trial, 119 00:11:11,881 --> 00:11:15,121 will somehow be stirred into action by me, 120 00:11:15,281 --> 00:11:18,881 because of some heroic stance I take in defiance of the state? 121 00:11:19,041 --> 00:11:21,001 - Yes. - Why? 122 00:11:21,161 --> 00:11:24,801 Because you're Valery Legasov and you mean something. 123 00:11:26,481 --> 00:11:29,441 I'd like to think that if I spoke out, it would be enough. 124 00:11:30,281 --> 00:11:32,121 But I know how the world works. 125 00:11:35,361 --> 00:11:38,161 They will shoot me, Khomyuk. 126 00:11:41,401 --> 00:11:44,081 You told me to find out what happened. 127 00:11:44,241 --> 00:11:46,041 I spoke to dozens of people. 128 00:11:46,881 --> 00:11:49,761 Every word they said, I wrote down. 129 00:11:50,961 --> 00:11:52,441 All in these books. 130 00:11:53,161 --> 00:11:54,921 These are the ones who are still alive, 131 00:11:55,081 --> 00:11:56,521 these are the ones who are dead. 132 00:11:56,681 --> 00:11:59,761 They died rescuing each other, putting out fires, 133 00:11:59,921 --> 00:12:01,281 tending to the wounded. 134 00:12:01,441 --> 00:12:03,441 They didn't hesitate, they didn't waver, 135 00:12:03,601 --> 00:12:05,121 they simply did what had to be done. 136 00:12:05,281 --> 00:12:06,721 So have I. 137 00:12:07,561 --> 00:12:08,801 So have I. 138 00:12:08,961 --> 00:12:12,161 I went willingly to an open reactor, 139 00:12:12,321 --> 00:12:15,121 so I've already given my life. 140 00:12:16,161 --> 00:12:18,921 Isn't that enough? 141 00:12:19,081 --> 00:12:21,201 No, I'm sorry, but it is not. 142 00:13:27,601 --> 00:13:28,801 The Central Committee 143 00:13:28,961 --> 00:13:30,841 of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union 144 00:13:31,001 --> 00:13:33,321 and Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR 145 00:13:33,481 --> 00:13:35,161 is determined that justice be carried out 146 00:13:35,321 --> 00:13:36,721 on behalf of the people 147 00:13:36,881 --> 00:13:39,161 in accordance with the general goal of our Party, 148 00:13:39,321 --> 00:13:43,201 as determined by its 20th, 21st and 22nd Congresses, 149 00:13:43,361 --> 00:13:44,641 which is a Leninist goal. 150 00:13:44,801 --> 00:13:46,281 It was, is and will be 151 00:13:46,441 --> 00:13:48,361 the only immutable goal in the Soviet state. 152 00:13:48,521 --> 00:13:50,041 The path of Leninist principles 153 00:13:50,201 --> 00:13:53,001 shall be consistently and undeviatingly followed, 154 00:13:53,161 --> 00:13:55,841 as it expresses the vital interests of the Soviet people, 155 00:13:56,001 --> 00:13:57,321 its hopes and aspirations 156 00:13:57,481 --> 00:13:59,481 as we guide the life of the Party and state. 157 00:13:59,761 --> 00:14:01,681 This session of court is now open. 158 00:14:01,841 --> 00:14:04,241 Comrade Judge Milan Kadnikov presiding. 159 00:14:05,961 --> 00:14:11,161 Indictments - Viktor Bryukhanov, Anatoly Dyatlov, 160 00:14:11,321 --> 00:14:12,881 Nikolai Fomin 161 00:14:13,041 --> 00:14:16,121 are accused of violating Article 220, Section 2 162 00:14:16,281 --> 00:14:18,401 of the Criminal Code of the Soviet Union, 163 00:14:18,561 --> 00:14:22,561 resulting in a nuclear disaster on April 26th, 1986. 164 00:14:22,721 --> 00:14:25,881 The state calls witnesses Comrade Khomyuk 165 00:14:26,041 --> 00:14:28,081 of the Belarussian Nuclear Institute, 166 00:14:28,241 --> 00:14:32,161 Comrade Legasov of the Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy, 167 00:14:32,961 --> 00:14:35,961 and Comrade Boris Edvokimovich Shcherbina, 168 00:14:36,121 --> 00:14:39,001 Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers 169 00:14:39,161 --> 00:14:41,721 and head of the Bureau for Fuel and Energy. 170 00:15:15,401 --> 00:15:19,441 It began with, of all things, a safety test. 171 00:15:20,481 --> 00:15:23,361 Why was there need for a safety test at all? 172 00:15:23,721 --> 00:15:27,361 Reactor No.4 was not new when the accident occurred. 173 00:15:27,521 --> 00:15:31,881 In fact, it went into operation on December 20th, 1983. 174 00:15:32,961 --> 00:15:35,801 And 11 days later, on the last day of the year, 175 00:15:35,961 --> 00:15:41,161 plant director Viktor Bryukhanov signed this document... 176 00:15:42,321 --> 00:15:47,401 ..certifying the completion of the construction of the reactor. 177 00:15:49,001 --> 00:15:50,601 As a result of finishing the work 178 00:15:50,761 --> 00:15:52,241 before the end of the year... 179 00:15:53,401 --> 00:15:56,721 ..Comrade Bryukhanov was awarded Hero of Socialist Labour. 180 00:15:57,841 --> 00:16:00,801 Comrade Fomin was awarded for Valorous Labour. 181 00:16:01,961 --> 00:16:05,481 Comrade Dyatlov was given an Order of the Red Banner. 182 00:16:07,761 --> 00:16:10,201 But the work was not finished. 183 00:16:11,801 --> 00:16:15,041 This document was a lie. 184 00:16:16,561 --> 00:16:18,681 In order to sign this certificate, 185 00:16:18,841 --> 00:16:23,121 all safety tests had to have been successfully completed, 186 00:16:23,281 --> 00:16:24,961 and yet one remained. 187 00:16:28,081 --> 00:16:32,201 A nuclear reactor generates heat in the core, here. 188 00:16:33,361 --> 00:16:35,161 A series of pumps, here and here, 189 00:16:35,321 --> 00:16:38,401 send a constant flow of cooling water through the core. 190 00:16:38,561 --> 00:16:40,921 The core's heat turns the water to steam 191 00:16:41,081 --> 00:16:43,121 and the steam spins the turbine here, 192 00:16:43,281 --> 00:16:45,001 and the result is electricity. 193 00:16:46,081 --> 00:16:48,521 But what if a power plant has no power? 194 00:16:50,361 --> 00:16:53,441 What if the power feeding the plant itself is disrupted - 195 00:16:53,601 --> 00:16:57,881 a blackout, equipment failure or an attack by a foreign enemy? 196 00:16:58,961 --> 00:17:00,561 If there's no power, 197 00:17:00,721 --> 00:17:03,441 the pumps cannot move water through the core, 198 00:17:03,601 --> 00:17:07,761 and without water, the core overheats, the fuel melts down. 199 00:17:07,921 --> 00:17:09,881 In short, a nuclear disaster. 200 00:17:10,041 --> 00:17:15,081 The solution: three diesel fuel backup generators, here. 201 00:17:15,881 --> 00:17:17,681 So, problem solved? 202 00:17:17,841 --> 00:17:19,561 No. 203 00:17:19,721 --> 00:17:22,041 Bryukhanov knew the problem was not solved at all. 204 00:17:22,201 --> 00:17:25,321 The backup generators took approximately one minute 205 00:17:25,481 --> 00:17:27,361 to reach the speed required 206 00:17:27,521 --> 00:17:29,801 to power the pumps and prevent a meltdown. 207 00:17:29,961 --> 00:17:33,041 And by that time, it would be too late. 208 00:17:34,201 --> 00:17:36,041 So we arrive at the safety test. 209 00:17:38,241 --> 00:17:39,721 The theory was this: 210 00:17:39,881 --> 00:17:43,161 if the facility lost power, the turbine which had been spinning 211 00:17:43,321 --> 00:17:46,121 would take some time to slow down and stop. 212 00:17:46,281 --> 00:17:47,441 What if you could take 213 00:17:47,601 --> 00:17:50,401 the electricity it was still generating 214 00:17:50,561 --> 00:17:51,921 and transfer it to the pumps? 215 00:17:52,081 --> 00:17:53,481 What if the dying turbine 216 00:17:53,641 --> 00:17:55,321 could keep the pumps working long enough 217 00:17:55,481 --> 00:17:59,281 to bridge the 60-second gap until the generators came on? 218 00:18:03,081 --> 00:18:05,601 Any questions? 219 00:18:07,201 --> 00:18:10,041 No. Continue, please. 220 00:18:11,921 --> 00:18:13,201 To test this theory... 221 00:18:14,281 --> 00:18:16,521 ..the reactor is placed in a reduced power mode, 222 00:18:16,681 --> 00:18:18,321 700 megawatts, 223 00:18:18,481 --> 00:18:20,921 to simulate a blackout condition. 224 00:18:21,081 --> 00:18:23,121 Then the turbines are turned off, 225 00:18:23,281 --> 00:18:24,921 and as they slowly spin down, 226 00:18:25,081 --> 00:18:26,881 their electrical output is measured, 227 00:18:27,041 --> 00:18:30,001 to see if it's enough to power the pumps. 228 00:18:30,161 --> 00:18:31,841 The science is strong. 229 00:18:33,041 --> 00:18:37,241 But a test is only as good as the men carrying it out. 230 00:18:38,961 --> 00:18:41,841 The first time they tried, they failed. 231 00:18:42,001 --> 00:18:44,401 The second time they tried, they failed. 232 00:18:44,561 --> 00:18:47,361 The third time they tried, they failed. 233 00:18:47,521 --> 00:18:49,121 The fourth time they tried... 234 00:18:50,561 --> 00:18:54,201 ..was April 26th, 1986. 235 00:19:05,801 --> 00:19:07,521 Comrade Khomyuk. 236 00:19:30,641 --> 00:19:32,481 To understand what happened that night, 237 00:19:32,641 --> 00:19:34,161 we have to go back ten hours earlier: 238 00:19:34,321 --> 00:19:37,281 April 25th, the day the test was meant to take place. 239 00:19:37,441 --> 00:19:40,881 By two in the afternoon, the reactor has been lowered by half 240 00:19:41,041 --> 00:19:43,721 from its normal output level of 3200 megawatts, 241 00:19:43,881 --> 00:19:45,241 to 1600 megawatts, 242 00:19:45,401 --> 00:19:47,121 and is stable and ready to be reduced 243 00:19:47,281 --> 00:19:50,561 to its final output level for the test: 700 megawatts. 244 00:19:51,561 --> 00:19:54,801 But, before they can proceed, there is a phone call. 245 00:19:55,641 --> 00:19:58,561 Power grid officials in Kiev say that they cannot afford 246 00:19:58,721 --> 00:20:01,921 a further reduction in electricity till after midnight. 247 00:20:02,081 --> 00:20:05,401 They are asking for a ten-hour delay. 248 00:20:05,561 --> 00:20:07,321 This is the first critical moment, 249 00:20:07,481 --> 00:20:10,041 the first link in the chain of disaster. 250 00:20:10,201 --> 00:20:13,641 Competent management would have insisted on cancelling the test. 251 00:20:14,921 --> 00:20:17,401 These three men allowed it to proceed. 252 00:20:19,121 --> 00:20:20,961 Why was this delay so dangerous? 253 00:20:21,121 --> 00:20:23,121 It created two problems. 254 00:20:23,281 --> 00:20:25,721 One of them is scientific in nature. 255 00:20:27,641 --> 00:20:29,641 And the other is very human. 256 00:20:29,801 --> 00:20:32,081 This is the one we will consider first. 257 00:20:33,321 --> 00:20:34,721 At midnight... 258 00:20:35,441 --> 00:20:37,441 there is a shift change. 259 00:20:51,801 --> 00:20:54,081 - Khodemchuk... - Forget it. Find another fool. 260 00:20:54,241 --> 00:20:56,761 Toptunov, want to buy a motorcycle? 261 00:20:56,921 --> 00:20:59,081 Toptunov? He's just a little boy. 262 00:20:59,241 --> 00:21:01,361 He's got more hair on his face than on his balls. 263 00:21:01,521 --> 00:21:03,401 Hair? Is that what's on his lip? 264 00:21:05,521 --> 00:21:07,001 Leonid Fedorovych? 265 00:21:07,161 --> 00:21:09,441 Akimov says come to the control room as soon as you can. 266 00:21:09,601 --> 00:21:11,281 - He's already here? - He came in early. 267 00:21:11,441 --> 00:21:13,161 Something about a test. 268 00:21:15,041 --> 00:21:16,921 You see? Desperate! 269 00:21:26,041 --> 00:21:27,201 Sasha. 270 00:21:29,081 --> 00:21:31,841 You know the test they were supposed to run? 271 00:21:32,001 --> 00:21:34,441 Turbine rundown, they tried it last year. 272 00:21:34,601 --> 00:21:36,041 They couldn't do it on the dayshift, 273 00:21:36,201 --> 00:21:37,601 so they've given it to us. 274 00:21:37,761 --> 00:21:38,921 To us? 275 00:21:39,081 --> 00:21:41,001 - We don't know what... - Ssh. 276 00:21:42,281 --> 00:21:44,001 - We don't know what it is. - It's fine. 277 00:21:44,161 --> 00:21:46,161 We take it down to 700, hold it there. 278 00:21:46,321 --> 00:21:48,841 The rest is Stolyarchuk and Kirschenbaum. 279 00:21:49,001 --> 00:21:51,161 But... Dyatlov is gonna be supervising. 280 00:21:51,321 --> 00:21:53,201 I have to do something I've never done 281 00:21:53,361 --> 00:21:54,961 with Dyatlov looking over my shoulder? 282 00:21:55,121 --> 00:21:57,761 Yeah, well, don't worry, we'll do it together. 283 00:21:57,921 --> 00:21:59,921 I'm just looking at the instructions now. 284 00:22:01,241 --> 00:22:03,121 Are we supposed to do those, or not? 285 00:22:11,481 --> 00:22:13,201 Yes, this is Akimov in 4. 286 00:22:14,681 --> 00:22:17,401 I have the manual for the rundown test. 287 00:22:18,121 --> 00:22:19,721 You did it last year on... 288 00:22:20,721 --> 00:22:23,681 Yes, in the programme, there's instructions of what to do. 289 00:22:23,841 --> 00:22:27,121 Well, there's a lot of things crossed out, what should I... 290 00:22:28,201 --> 00:22:29,721 Well, what should I... 291 00:22:31,681 --> 00:22:33,201 What, you're sure? 292 00:22:33,961 --> 00:22:35,721 Right. Thank you. 293 00:22:37,561 --> 00:22:40,161 He says to follow the crossed-out instructions. 294 00:22:40,321 --> 00:22:42,121 Then why are they crossed out? 295 00:22:48,441 --> 00:22:50,441 We've been cleared to run the test. 296 00:22:50,601 --> 00:22:52,161 1600, good. 297 00:22:52,801 --> 00:22:55,761 Now, is it too much to ask that you all know what you're doing? 298 00:22:55,921 --> 00:22:57,561 - Well... - Yes, absolutely. 299 00:22:58,161 --> 00:22:59,761 Stolyarchuk? 300 00:22:59,921 --> 00:23:02,361 - Yes. - Kirschenbaum? 301 00:23:02,521 --> 00:23:04,521 I haven't reviewed. We only just found out. 302 00:23:04,681 --> 00:23:06,561 There. Review it. 303 00:23:06,721 --> 00:23:08,441 Or you can just do what I tell you. 304 00:23:08,601 --> 00:23:11,521 I think even you, as stupid as you are, can manage that. 305 00:23:12,281 --> 00:23:14,201 Well, let's go. 306 00:23:17,041 --> 00:23:20,041 Switch the turbine off while the reactor's still running? 307 00:23:20,201 --> 00:23:23,201 - That's not good... - Shut up and do your job! 308 00:23:24,281 --> 00:23:27,041 Toptunov, reduce power to 700. 309 00:23:28,881 --> 00:23:31,401 I've never done this with the power so low before. 310 00:23:31,561 --> 00:23:33,201 It's OK, I'm with you. 311 00:23:38,161 --> 00:23:39,681 Reducing power to 700. 312 00:23:41,321 --> 00:23:43,761 I want you to think of Yuri Gagarin. 313 00:23:45,481 --> 00:23:47,841 I want you to imagine that he has been told nothing 314 00:23:48,001 --> 00:23:49,201 of his mission into space 315 00:23:49,361 --> 00:23:51,441 until the moment that he is on the launch pad. 316 00:23:51,601 --> 00:23:54,561 I want you to imagine that all he has is a list of instructions 317 00:23:54,721 --> 00:23:56,321 that he has never seen before, 318 00:23:56,481 --> 00:23:58,601 some of which have been crossed out. 319 00:23:58,761 --> 00:24:00,441 This is exactly what was happening 320 00:24:00,601 --> 00:24:02,481 in the control room of Reactor4. 321 00:24:03,281 --> 00:24:05,561 The nightshift had not been trained to do the experiment. 322 00:24:05,721 --> 00:24:08,321 They hadn't even been warned it was happening. 323 00:24:08,481 --> 00:24:10,241 Leonid Toptunov, 324 00:24:10,401 --> 00:24:13,601 the operator responsible for controlling and stabilising 325 00:24:13,761 --> 00:24:15,561 the reactor that night was... 326 00:24:16,761 --> 00:24:18,561 ..all of 25 years old. 327 00:24:19,921 --> 00:24:23,681 And his total experience on the job: four months. 328 00:24:25,641 --> 00:24:28,521 This is the human problem created by the delay. 329 00:24:29,601 --> 00:24:31,761 But inside the reactor core, 330 00:24:31,921 --> 00:24:34,041 in the space between the atoms themselves, 331 00:24:34,201 --> 00:24:38,241 something far more dangerous is forming: a poison. 332 00:24:40,401 --> 00:24:42,281 The time is 28-past midnight. 333 00:24:59,881 --> 00:25:01,401 Comrade Legasov. 334 00:25:37,321 --> 00:25:39,601 I'm pleased to see some of my colleagues here 335 00:25:39,761 --> 00:25:42,241 from the Kurchatov Institute and Minenergo. 336 00:25:44,041 --> 00:25:46,041 But you don't need to be a nuclear scientist 337 00:25:46,201 --> 00:25:48,481 to understand what happened at Chernobyl. 338 00:25:48,641 --> 00:25:50,241 You only need to know this: 339 00:25:50,401 --> 00:25:53,201 there are essentially two things that happen 340 00:25:53,361 --> 00:25:55,521 inside a nuclear reactor. 341 00:25:55,681 --> 00:25:58,241 The reactivity, which generates power, 342 00:25:58,401 --> 00:26:01,081 either goes up or it goes down. 343 00:26:02,161 --> 00:26:03,841 That's it. 344 00:26:04,001 --> 00:26:06,521 All the operators do is maintain balance. 345 00:26:09,281 --> 00:26:11,041 Uranium fuel. 346 00:26:13,161 --> 00:26:17,401 As uranium atoms split apart and collide, reactivity goes up. 347 00:26:17,561 --> 00:26:19,401 If you don't balance the reactivity, 348 00:26:19,561 --> 00:26:20,801 it never stops rising. 349 00:26:20,961 --> 00:26:22,361 So... 350 00:26:23,841 --> 00:26:25,561 ..boron control rods. 351 00:26:26,561 --> 00:26:30,241 They reduce reactivity, like brakes on a car. 352 00:26:32,281 --> 00:26:36,001 But there's a third factor to consider: water. 353 00:26:37,161 --> 00:26:39,281 Cool water takes heat out of the system. 354 00:26:39,441 --> 00:26:42,561 As it does, it turns to steam, or what we call a void. 355 00:26:42,721 --> 00:26:46,121 In an RBMK reactor of the type used at Chernobyl, 356 00:26:46,281 --> 00:26:50,441 there's something called a "positive void coefficient". 357 00:26:50,601 --> 00:26:52,201 What does that mean? 358 00:26:52,361 --> 00:26:55,721 It means that the more steam present within the system, 359 00:26:55,881 --> 00:26:57,961 the higher the reactivity, 360 00:26:58,121 --> 00:26:59,481 which means more heat, 361 00:26:59,641 --> 00:27:02,001 which means more steam, which means... 362 00:27:03,361 --> 00:27:06,721 It would appear we have a vicious cycle on our hands. 363 00:27:06,881 --> 00:27:09,481 And we would, were it not for this... 364 00:27:15,321 --> 00:27:19,881 And we would, were it not for this: 365 00:27:20,041 --> 00:27:22,841 the negative temperature coefficient. 366 00:27:24,321 --> 00:27:28,441 When nuclear fuel gets hotter, it gets less reactive. 367 00:27:28,601 --> 00:27:29,841 So... 368 00:27:30,801 --> 00:27:32,681 ..fuel increases reactivity. 369 00:27:32,841 --> 00:27:35,801 Control rods and water reduce it. 370 00:27:35,961 --> 00:27:38,001 Steam increases it. 371 00:27:38,161 --> 00:27:40,881 The rise in temperature reduces it. 372 00:27:42,641 --> 00:27:46,481 This is the invisible dance that powers entire cities 373 00:27:46,641 --> 00:27:48,561 without smoke or flame. 374 00:27:48,721 --> 00:27:51,161 And... it is beautiful... 375 00:27:52,241 --> 00:27:54,241 ..when things are normal. 376 00:27:55,761 --> 00:27:58,161 As uranium splits apart to release energy, 377 00:27:58,321 --> 00:28:01,361 it breaks down into a new element, xenon. 378 00:28:01,521 --> 00:28:03,881 Xenon reduces reactivity. 379 00:28:04,041 --> 00:28:07,401 This is the poison Comrade Khomyuk mentioned. 380 00:28:07,561 --> 00:28:09,961 When the core is running at full power, 381 00:28:10,121 --> 00:28:12,801 it burns the xenon away before it can cause a problem. 382 00:28:12,961 --> 00:28:16,641 But, because of the delay, Chernobyl Reactor 4 383 00:28:16,801 --> 00:28:19,841 has been held at half power for ten hours. 384 00:28:20,001 --> 00:28:22,321 The xenon did not burn away. 385 00:28:24,201 --> 00:28:27,121 It built up, poisoning the core. 386 00:28:28,521 --> 00:28:30,401 We're starting to lose balance. 387 00:28:30,561 --> 00:28:34,361 At 28 minutes past midnight, 388 00:28:34,521 --> 00:28:37,321 the reactor is now primed to slow down. 389 00:28:38,161 --> 00:28:41,001 And yet, in less than an hour, it will explode. 390 00:28:41,641 --> 00:28:44,881 If you can't understand how a stalled nuclear reactor 391 00:28:45,041 --> 00:28:47,041 could lead to an explosion, I don't blame you. 392 00:28:47,201 --> 00:28:48,801 After all, you don't work in 393 00:28:48,961 --> 00:28:51,121 the control room of a nuclear power plant. 394 00:28:52,201 --> 00:28:54,561 But, as it turned out, 395 00:28:54,721 --> 00:28:58,201 the men who did didn't understand it either. 396 00:29:04,081 --> 00:29:05,841 Easy now. 397 00:29:06,001 --> 00:29:08,841 Take it down. Good. 398 00:29:09,001 --> 00:29:11,041 - Like that. - You should've finished by now. 399 00:29:11,201 --> 00:29:13,401 We're following protocol for reduction rate. 400 00:29:13,561 --> 00:29:14,801 You're procrastinating! 401 00:29:14,961 --> 00:29:17,881 Ten other men in this plant would've done it already. 402 00:29:18,201 --> 00:29:20,201 Keep working. You're doing fine. 403 00:29:29,161 --> 00:29:31,841 Kirschenbaum, come get me when these old women are ready. 404 00:29:32,001 --> 00:29:33,841 Yes, Comrade Dyatlov. 405 00:29:52,321 --> 00:29:53,801 OK, very slow now. 406 00:29:53,961 --> 00:29:56,721 Let's... ease it down to 700. 407 00:29:59,641 --> 00:30:01,041 Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow. 408 00:30:01,201 --> 00:30:03,081 I-I didn't move any rods there. 409 00:30:11,841 --> 00:30:14,801 - What is this? - I'm not even touching it. 410 00:30:39,281 --> 00:30:42,241 We did everything right. Maybe the core is poisoned. 411 00:30:42,401 --> 00:30:44,481 If so, then you didn't do everything right. 412 00:30:44,641 --> 00:30:46,961 Because you're choking my reactor! Get it back up! 413 00:30:47,121 --> 00:30:48,641 I think if we turn off LAC, 414 00:30:48,801 --> 00:30:50,561 it may be possible to get more control. 415 00:30:50,721 --> 00:30:52,161 Do it. Go. 416 00:30:52,321 --> 00:30:54,801 Switch off local automatic control, go to global. 417 00:30:54,961 --> 00:30:56,401 Leonid. 418 00:30:57,001 --> 00:30:59,121 LAC disabled, Global control activated. 419 00:31:04,761 --> 00:31:06,481 What did you do? 420 00:31:07,481 --> 00:31:08,961 I-I did what you said, I switched... 421 00:31:09,121 --> 00:31:11,681 - Look at it! - I don't understand. 422 00:31:11,841 --> 00:31:14,481 Fucking amateurs, you stalled the reactor. 423 00:31:14,641 --> 00:31:17,361 - How did you get this job? - Comrade Dyatlov... 424 00:31:17,521 --> 00:31:19,801 You're gonna tell me you did everything right again, 425 00:31:19,961 --> 00:31:21,641 you incompetent arsehole? 426 00:31:21,801 --> 00:31:24,321 I apologise for this unsatisfactory result. 427 00:31:29,281 --> 00:31:30,521 What are you doing? 428 00:31:30,681 --> 00:31:32,641 We have to shut all the way down. 429 00:31:32,801 --> 00:31:35,081 - No. - We could be in a xenon pit. 430 00:31:35,241 --> 00:31:36,801 We have to shut down, wait 24 hours. 431 00:31:36,961 --> 00:31:38,601 Test's tonight. Raise power to 700. 432 00:31:38,761 --> 00:31:40,601 We can't raise the power from here - the rules. 433 00:31:40,721 --> 00:31:42,681 - Don't talk about rules. - If we fall from 80%... 434 00:31:42,721 --> 00:31:44,601 No, no, we fell from 50% of power. 435 00:31:44,761 --> 00:31:46,761 The rules don't say 50. There is no rule! 436 00:31:46,921 --> 00:31:48,561 Comrade Dyatlov... 437 00:31:48,721 --> 00:31:51,041 I apologise, but what you're saying makes no sense. 438 00:31:51,201 --> 00:31:53,201 - Raise the power. - No. 439 00:31:54,241 --> 00:31:56,241 I won't do it. It isn't safe. 440 00:32:04,761 --> 00:32:07,481 Safety first. Always. 441 00:32:08,441 --> 00:32:10,321 I've been saying that for 25 years. 442 00:32:10,481 --> 00:32:12,441 That's how long I've done this job. 25 years. 443 00:32:12,601 --> 00:32:14,161 Is that longer than you, Akimov? 444 00:32:14,321 --> 00:32:16,001 - Yes. - Is it much longer? 445 00:32:16,161 --> 00:32:17,481 Yes. 446 00:32:17,641 --> 00:32:20,281 And you, with your mother's tit barely out your mouth? 447 00:32:22,561 --> 00:32:24,561 If I say it's safe, it's safe. 448 00:32:24,721 --> 00:32:25,841 If the two of you disagree, 449 00:32:26,001 --> 00:32:27,801 you don't have to work here, and you won't. 450 00:32:27,961 --> 00:32:29,961 But not just here. You won't work at Kursk, 451 00:32:30,121 --> 00:32:32,521 or Ignalina, or Leningrad, or Novovoronezh. 452 00:32:32,681 --> 00:32:35,561 You won't work anywhere ever again. I'll see to it. 453 00:32:35,721 --> 00:32:38,161 I think you know I will see to it. 454 00:32:39,441 --> 00:32:40,841 Raise the power. 455 00:32:43,801 --> 00:32:46,601 I would like you to record your command in... 456 00:32:46,761 --> 00:32:48,761 Raise the power. 457 00:33:02,961 --> 00:33:04,681 Together, then. 458 00:33:07,841 --> 00:33:09,761 I wasn't even there. 459 00:33:10,641 --> 00:33:11,881 What? 460 00:33:13,401 --> 00:33:16,161 I wasn't in the room when they raised the power. 461 00:33:16,321 --> 00:33:18,201 If you weren't there, then where were you? 462 00:33:18,361 --> 00:33:21,321 Comrade Legasov, you are a witness, not a prosecutor. 463 00:33:21,481 --> 00:33:23,601 I will ask the questions here. 464 00:33:23,761 --> 00:33:26,321 If you weren't in the room, then where were you? 465 00:33:28,441 --> 00:33:30,081 The toilet. 466 00:33:31,881 --> 00:33:33,321 The toilet? 467 00:33:34,681 --> 00:33:37,641 Khomyuk interviewed everyone who was in the control room. 468 00:33:37,801 --> 00:33:40,001 They all told the same story. 469 00:33:42,601 --> 00:33:44,841 "I knew what Dyatlov ordered was wrong. 470 00:33:45,761 --> 00:33:48,321 But if I didn't do what he said, I would be fired." 471 00:33:48,481 --> 00:33:52,881 Leonid Toptunov, one day before he died. 472 00:33:53,681 --> 00:33:55,761 No, Comrade Dyatlov, you were in the room. 473 00:33:55,921 --> 00:33:58,601 You ordered them to raise the power. This is a fact. 474 00:34:07,961 --> 00:34:10,521 The court is now in recess for 30 minutes. 475 00:34:52,801 --> 00:34:55,801 Do you know anything about this town, Chernobyl? 476 00:34:57,161 --> 00:34:59,161 Not really, no. 477 00:34:59,961 --> 00:35:02,361 It was mostly Jews and Poles. 478 00:35:03,321 --> 00:35:07,321 The Jews were killed in pogroms and Stalin forced the Poles out. 479 00:35:08,281 --> 00:35:11,361 And then the Nazis came and killed whoever was left. 480 00:35:11,521 --> 00:35:13,441 But after the war... 481 00:35:14,441 --> 00:35:16,761 ..people came to live here anyway. 482 00:35:17,761 --> 00:35:21,001 They knew the ground under their feet was soaked in blood, 483 00:35:21,161 --> 00:35:22,881 but they didn't care. 484 00:35:23,961 --> 00:35:26,161 Dead Jews, dead Poles... 485 00:35:27,241 --> 00:35:29,081 ..but not them. 486 00:35:31,881 --> 00:35:34,601 No-one ever thinks it's going to happen to them. 487 00:35:35,601 --> 00:35:37,601 And here we are. 488 00:35:46,681 --> 00:35:48,561 How much time? 489 00:35:48,721 --> 00:35:50,121 Maybe a year. 490 00:35:50,441 --> 00:35:52,441 They call it a... 491 00:35:53,121 --> 00:35:57,161 They call it a long illness. It doesn't seem very long to me. 492 00:35:58,601 --> 00:36:00,721 I know you told me, and I believed you. 493 00:36:02,041 --> 00:36:05,841 But time passed and I thought it wouldn't happen to me. 494 00:36:06,601 --> 00:36:08,601 I wasted it. 495 00:36:08,881 --> 00:36:11,121 I wasted it all for nothing. 496 00:36:12,921 --> 00:36:14,921 For nothing? 497 00:36:15,841 --> 00:36:18,321 Do you remember that morning when I first called you, 498 00:36:18,481 --> 00:36:19,641 how unconcerned I was? 499 00:36:19,801 --> 00:36:22,161 I don't believe much that comes out of the Kremlin, 500 00:36:22,321 --> 00:36:23,601 but when they told me 501 00:36:23,761 --> 00:36:26,721 they were putting me in charge of the clean-up, 502 00:36:26,881 --> 00:36:29,561 and they said it wasn't serious, I believed them. 503 00:36:31,201 --> 00:36:32,961 You know why? 504 00:36:34,041 --> 00:36:36,081 Because they put you in charge. 505 00:36:37,281 --> 00:36:38,721 Yeah. 506 00:36:41,001 --> 00:36:43,441 I'm an inconsequential man, Valery. 507 00:36:43,601 --> 00:36:45,401 That's all I've ever been. 508 00:36:46,441 --> 00:36:49,481 I hoped that one day I would matter, but I didn't. 509 00:36:51,641 --> 00:36:54,481 I just stood next to people who did. 510 00:36:56,641 --> 00:36:58,721 There are other scientists like me. 511 00:36:58,881 --> 00:37:01,441 Any one of them could have done what I did. 512 00:37:01,601 --> 00:37:03,561 But you... 513 00:37:04,241 --> 00:37:07,241 Everything we asked for, everything we needed... 514 00:37:09,121 --> 00:37:12,441 ..men, material, lunar rovers... 515 00:37:14,561 --> 00:37:16,881 ..who else could have done these things? 516 00:37:18,961 --> 00:37:22,121 They heard me, but they listened to you. 517 00:37:23,001 --> 00:37:25,641 Of all the ministers and all the deputies, 518 00:37:26,441 --> 00:37:29,561 the entire congregation of obedient fools, 519 00:37:30,681 --> 00:37:33,521 they mistakenly sent the one good man. 520 00:37:34,481 --> 00:37:36,561 For God's sake, Boris... 521 00:37:37,561 --> 00:37:39,801 ..you were the one who mattered most. 522 00:38:01,761 --> 00:38:03,401 Ah, it's beautiful. 523 00:38:43,721 --> 00:38:45,601 Comrade Legasov. 524 00:38:57,841 --> 00:38:59,841 The time is 38-past midnight. 525 00:39:00,601 --> 00:39:02,521 The reactor is nearly shut down. 526 00:39:02,681 --> 00:39:04,881 The operators of Reactor 4 are locked on a path 527 00:39:05,041 --> 00:39:06,961 that leads directly to disaster. 528 00:39:07,121 --> 00:39:09,081 There's no way to turn back. 529 00:39:09,241 --> 00:39:11,601 They do not yet know it, but the die is cast. 530 00:39:12,761 --> 00:39:15,841 At 30 megawatts, xenon is still being created, 531 00:39:16,001 --> 00:39:18,001 but none of it is burning away. 532 00:39:19,961 --> 00:39:21,841 The reactor is drowning in poison. 533 00:39:22,681 --> 00:39:24,441 To make matters worse, 534 00:39:24,601 --> 00:39:28,081 the reactor isn't hot enough to produce sufficient steam. 535 00:39:30,401 --> 00:39:32,721 The only way to safely raise power from this state 536 00:39:32,881 --> 00:39:35,081 is to do it very, very slowly, 537 00:39:35,241 --> 00:39:38,041 over the course of 24 hours. 538 00:39:38,201 --> 00:39:40,761 But Dyatlov wants it done now. 539 00:39:41,161 --> 00:39:45,001 Akimov and Toptunov have only one course of action: 540 00:39:45,161 --> 00:39:48,921 they begin pulling control rods out, dozens at a time. 541 00:39:49,481 --> 00:39:51,561 Halfway out, three-quarters of the way out. 542 00:39:51,721 --> 00:39:54,401 Still, the power does not budge. 543 00:39:54,561 --> 00:39:57,201 So, they begin pulling them all the way out. 544 00:39:57,361 --> 00:40:01,121 There were 211 control rods in Reactor4. 545 00:40:01,281 --> 00:40:05,441 Akimov and Toptunov completely withdrew 205. 546 00:40:05,601 --> 00:40:09,841 Remember, control rods are the brakes on this car. 547 00:40:10,001 --> 00:40:12,521 Of 211 rods... 548 00:40:14,041 --> 00:40:16,641 ..only six now remain in the reactor. 549 00:40:17,961 --> 00:40:20,281 As for the fuel, it's gone cold, 550 00:40:20,441 --> 00:40:22,401 so the negative temperature coefficient 551 00:40:22,561 --> 00:40:25,041 is no longer weighing down the reactivity. 552 00:40:25,201 --> 00:40:28,761 But even still, the xenon poisoning is so strong, 553 00:40:28,921 --> 00:40:32,881 the best they can do is raise the power to 200 megawatts. 554 00:40:33,921 --> 00:40:35,681 The control rods are out, 555 00:40:35,841 --> 00:40:38,281 the emergency system has been disconnected. 556 00:40:38,441 --> 00:40:40,481 The only thing keeping the reactor in check 557 00:40:40,641 --> 00:40:42,601 is water and xenon. 558 00:40:42,761 --> 00:40:46,681 It's one in the morning, the test is minutes away. 559 00:41:20,201 --> 00:41:23,401 I'm sorry, this is all we can get. It's 200 megawatts. 560 00:41:23,561 --> 00:41:25,201 We've pulled almost everything out. 561 00:41:25,361 --> 00:41:27,201 If that's all we have, that's all we have. 562 00:41:27,361 --> 00:41:29,081 But the test requires 700. 563 00:41:29,241 --> 00:41:31,561 Stolyarchuk, let's get ready. Switch on pump four. 564 00:41:31,721 --> 00:41:33,001 - Wait a second. - Stolyarchuk. 565 00:41:33,161 --> 00:41:35,041 We haven't enough steam, the turbine is too slow 566 00:41:35,121 --> 00:41:36,441 for the test to deliver valid... 567 00:41:36,601 --> 00:41:38,841 - It's enough. - And if we add more water... 568 00:41:39,001 --> 00:41:42,281 I said it's enough. I know what I'm doing. Stolyarchuk. 569 00:41:46,881 --> 00:41:48,161 Main pump four connected. 570 00:41:48,321 --> 00:41:50,601 We should warn Khodemchuk the pipes are gonna be... 571 00:41:50,761 --> 00:41:52,361 Never mind him. Kirschenbaum. 572 00:41:54,521 --> 00:41:57,641 The steam in the separator drum is too low: five atmospheres. 573 00:41:57,801 --> 00:42:00,601 All right, let's all help him. Get it up as best you can. 574 00:42:04,201 --> 00:42:07,521 - We should stop. - Turn that fucking thing off. 575 00:42:08,841 --> 00:42:10,881 You have 15 minutes. 576 00:42:12,241 --> 00:42:14,361 15 minutes. 577 00:42:14,521 --> 00:42:16,521 They may as well have had 15 days. 578 00:42:17,161 --> 00:42:19,921 The problem they were facing was not solvable: 579 00:42:20,081 --> 00:42:22,481 the power was too low, the water was too high. 580 00:42:22,641 --> 00:42:25,761 The test was already ruined. The results would've been useless. 581 00:42:25,921 --> 00:42:27,201 But Dyatlov didn't care. 582 00:42:27,361 --> 00:42:30,121 All he wanted to do was report a completed test. 583 00:42:31,561 --> 00:42:35,921 1:22 am. Less than two minutes remain. 584 00:42:37,281 --> 00:42:41,361 Yuvchenko, a mechanical engineer, is in his office. 585 00:42:44,881 --> 00:42:47,241 Perevozchenko, reactor section foreman, 586 00:42:47,401 --> 00:42:48,881 is in the refuelling hall, 587 00:42:49,041 --> 00:42:52,281 high above the 1,000-tonne steel reactor cover. 588 00:42:54,921 --> 00:42:58,161 Degtaryenko, Khodemchuk, circulation operators, 589 00:42:58,321 --> 00:43:00,441 are in the pump room. 590 00:43:01,721 --> 00:43:04,241 None of them have been told about the test. 591 00:43:04,401 --> 00:43:06,561 None of them know what is about to happen. 592 00:43:07,441 --> 00:43:10,761 At 1:22 and 30 seconds 593 00:43:10,921 --> 00:43:15,681 Toptunov sees a report from the reactor's SKALA computer system. 594 00:43:17,041 --> 00:43:20,081 Based on the absence of sufficient control rods, 595 00:43:20,241 --> 00:43:23,441 the computer is recommending that the reactor be shut down. 596 00:43:28,561 --> 00:43:29,961 Of course it's saying that. 597 00:43:30,121 --> 00:43:32,241 It doesn't know we're running a test. 598 00:43:33,041 --> 00:43:34,361 All right, comrades. 599 00:43:36,081 --> 00:43:38,441 Another few minutes, it'll all be over. 600 00:43:38,601 --> 00:43:40,401 Kirschenbaum, when you're ready. 601 00:43:40,561 --> 00:43:42,361 We did everything right. 602 00:43:44,961 --> 00:43:46,721 Oscillograph on. 603 00:43:48,121 --> 00:43:50,561 Closing No.8 throttle valve. 604 00:43:50,721 --> 00:43:52,761 Generator rotor beginning rundown. 605 00:43:52,921 --> 00:43:55,881 1:23 and four seconds. 606 00:43:56,041 --> 00:43:57,281 With every decision, 607 00:43:57,441 --> 00:43:59,881 they have pulled this reactor back like a slingshot, 608 00:44:00,041 --> 00:44:01,841 further than anyone has ever pulled. 609 00:44:02,001 --> 00:44:04,241 Now the test begins. 610 00:44:04,401 --> 00:44:07,441 The pumps are shut down and they've let go. 611 00:44:10,241 --> 00:44:13,161 The pumps stop moving water through the reactor. 612 00:44:13,321 --> 00:44:16,201 The uranium fuel is now unchecked by fresh coolant, 613 00:44:16,361 --> 00:44:18,161 unchecked by control rods. 614 00:44:18,321 --> 00:44:21,361 The balance immediately swings in the opposite direction. 615 00:44:21,521 --> 00:44:24,321 In less than a second, reactivity increases. 616 00:44:25,801 --> 00:44:27,961 Inside the core, the remaining water 617 00:44:28,121 --> 00:44:29,601 is quickly converting to steam. 618 00:44:29,761 --> 00:44:31,561 A void is being created. 619 00:44:31,721 --> 00:44:34,081 There is no fresh water to replace it. 620 00:44:34,241 --> 00:44:36,841 Steam increases reactivity, 621 00:44:37,001 --> 00:44:38,561 increases heat, 622 00:44:38,721 --> 00:44:40,361 increases steam, 623 00:44:40,521 --> 00:44:42,321 increases reactivity. 624 00:44:43,201 --> 00:44:46,041 The remaining xenon decays away. 625 00:44:47,561 --> 00:44:49,561 The power is rising. 626 00:44:50,921 --> 00:44:52,841 There's nothing left to stop it. 627 00:44:53,881 --> 00:44:57,241 1:23 and 35 seconds. 628 00:45:00,281 --> 00:45:02,241 We... We have a power surge. Sasha! 629 00:45:07,001 --> 00:45:08,561 What did you do? 630 00:45:08,721 --> 00:45:12,081 1:23 and 40 seconds. 631 00:45:19,761 --> 00:45:22,481 In every control room of every nuclear reactor in the world, 632 00:45:22,641 --> 00:45:25,201 there is a button with one single purpose. 633 00:45:25,361 --> 00:45:28,281 The SCRAM will instantly shut down the reaction. 634 00:45:28,441 --> 00:45:32,361 In Soviet reactors, that button is called AZ-5. 635 00:45:32,521 --> 00:45:37,041 You press AZ-5, all of the control rods insert at once 636 00:45:37,201 --> 00:45:40,641 and the reaction is... stopped dead. 637 00:45:41,721 --> 00:45:43,561 But... 638 00:45:49,241 --> 00:45:50,721 What are you waiting for, Legasov? 639 00:45:50,881 --> 00:45:52,281 Tell your lies. 640 00:45:52,441 --> 00:45:54,601 Comrade Dyatlov, you will not be warned again. 641 00:45:54,761 --> 00:45:56,241 - Or what? - For God's sake... 642 00:45:56,401 --> 00:45:59,001 - Comrade Dyatlov, enough. - Legasov's given it away. 643 00:45:59,161 --> 00:46:00,161 Comrade Dyatlov. 644 00:46:00,321 --> 00:46:03,321 ..there was no way to avoid what was coming. He knows something. 645 00:46:03,481 --> 00:46:05,761 - Comrade Dyatlov. - She knows something! 646 00:46:05,921 --> 00:46:08,921 I know what you are, Valery Alexeyevich. You're a liar. 647 00:46:09,081 --> 00:46:11,241 We've heard enough for today. 648 00:46:12,321 --> 00:46:14,481 The defendants will be remanded in custody. 649 00:46:14,641 --> 00:46:16,961 - Court will... - I-I haven't finished. 650 00:46:18,041 --> 00:46:19,641 I still have more evidence to give. 651 00:46:19,801 --> 00:46:22,601 It's not necessary. Your testimony is concluded. 652 00:46:22,761 --> 00:46:26,201 - Your Honour. - Court is now adjourned. 653 00:46:26,361 --> 00:46:28,881 - We'll resume tomorrow with... - Let him finish! 654 00:46:31,161 --> 00:46:32,841 Comrade Shcherbina. 655 00:46:34,641 --> 00:46:36,641 Let him finish. 656 00:47:00,041 --> 00:47:02,241 Dyatlov broke every rule we have. 657 00:47:06,241 --> 00:47:08,721 He pushed a reactor to the brink of destruction. 658 00:47:13,041 --> 00:47:16,041 He did these things, believing there was a failsafe. 659 00:47:16,201 --> 00:47:19,161 AZ-5: a simple button to shut it all down. 660 00:47:19,321 --> 00:47:23,721 But in the circumstances he created, there wasn't. 661 00:47:23,881 --> 00:47:26,921 The shutdown system had a fatal flaw. 662 00:47:29,001 --> 00:47:31,281 At 1:23:40, 663 00:47:31,441 --> 00:47:33,961 Akimov engages AZ-5. 664 00:47:41,521 --> 00:47:43,001 The fully-withdrawn control rods 665 00:47:43,161 --> 00:47:45,161 begin moving back into the reactor. 666 00:47:45,321 --> 00:47:47,841 These rods are made of boron, which reduces reactivity. 667 00:47:48,001 --> 00:47:49,121 But not the tips. 668 00:47:50,001 --> 00:47:54,321 The tips are made of graphite, which accelerates reactivity. 669 00:47:54,481 --> 00:47:55,881 Why? 670 00:48:00,041 --> 00:48:01,841 Why? 671 00:48:03,641 --> 00:48:06,241 For the same reason our reactors do not have 672 00:48:06,401 --> 00:48:08,041 containment buildings around them, 673 00:48:08,201 --> 00:48:09,721 like those in the West. 674 00:48:09,881 --> 00:48:12,001 For the same reason we don't use 675 00:48:12,161 --> 00:48:14,441 properly-enriched fuel in our cores. 676 00:48:14,601 --> 00:48:16,481 For the same reason we are the only nation 677 00:48:16,641 --> 00:48:20,561 that builds water-cooled graphite-moderated reactors 678 00:48:20,721 --> 00:48:23,521 with a positive void coefficient. 679 00:48:25,281 --> 00:48:26,521 It's cheaper. 680 00:48:32,441 --> 00:48:35,121 The first part of the rods that enter the core 681 00:48:35,281 --> 00:48:36,641 are the graphite tips, 682 00:48:36,801 --> 00:48:38,041 and when they do, 683 00:48:38,201 --> 00:48:41,601 the reaction in the core, which had been rising, skyrockets. 684 00:48:41,761 --> 00:48:44,721 Every last molecule of liquid water 685 00:48:44,881 --> 00:48:46,601 instantly converts to steam, 686 00:48:46,761 --> 00:48:49,921 which expands and ruptures a series of fuel rod channels. 687 00:48:50,081 --> 00:48:53,481 The control rods in those channels can move no further. 688 00:48:53,641 --> 00:48:56,441 The graphite tips are fixed in position, 689 00:48:56,601 --> 00:48:59,201 endlessly accelerating the reaction. 690 00:48:59,361 --> 00:49:02,961 Chernobyl Reactor 4 is now a nuclear bomb. 691 00:49:03,121 --> 00:49:07,481 1:23:42. Perevozchenko looks down 692 00:49:07,641 --> 00:49:09,881 on the enormous steel lid of the reactor 693 00:49:10,041 --> 00:49:11,841 and sees the impossible. 694 00:49:12,001 --> 00:49:13,721 The control rod and fuel channel caps, 695 00:49:13,881 --> 00:49:17,361 which each weigh 350kg, are jumping up and down. 696 00:49:17,521 --> 00:49:20,001 He runs to warn the control room. 697 00:49:20,161 --> 00:49:23,321 But there's nothing he can do to stop what is coming. 698 00:49:23,481 --> 00:49:25,961 1:23 and 44 seconds. 699 00:49:26,681 --> 00:49:29,161 The steam blows more fuel channels apart. 700 00:49:29,881 --> 00:49:31,441 We do not know how high the power went. 701 00:49:31,601 --> 00:49:33,241 We only know the final reading. 702 00:49:35,881 --> 00:49:40,001 Reactor 4, designed to operate at 3200 megawatts, 703 00:49:40,161 --> 00:49:43,281 went beyond 33,000. 704 00:49:48,441 --> 00:49:52,161 The pressure inside the core can no longer be held back. 705 00:49:52,321 --> 00:49:56,521 At long last, we have arrived: 1:23:45... 706 00:49:56,681 --> 00:49:58,561 Explosion. 707 00:49:59,681 --> 00:50:02,521 In the instant the lid is thrown off the reactor, 708 00:50:02,681 --> 00:50:03,761 oxygen rushes in. 709 00:50:03,921 --> 00:50:07,561 It combines with hydrogen and superheated graphite. 710 00:50:09,801 --> 00:50:12,441 The chain of disaster is now complete. 711 00:50:33,641 --> 00:50:35,601 Comrade Dyatlov! 712 00:50:40,081 --> 00:50:42,041 Comrade Dyatlov! 713 00:50:52,161 --> 00:50:56,201 No-one in the room that night knew the shutdown button 714 00:50:56,361 --> 00:50:58,561 could act as a detonator. 715 00:50:59,801 --> 00:51:01,441 They didn't know it. 716 00:51:02,481 --> 00:51:04,481 Because it was kept from them. 717 00:51:04,641 --> 00:51:06,921 Comrade Legasov, you are contradicting 718 00:51:07,081 --> 00:51:09,281 your own testimony in Vienna. 719 00:51:09,441 --> 00:51:12,001 My testimony in Vienna was a lie. 720 00:51:13,321 --> 00:51:15,721 I lied to the world. 721 00:51:15,881 --> 00:51:18,881 I'm not the only one who kept the secrets. There are many. 722 00:51:20,561 --> 00:51:22,801 We were following orders. 723 00:51:22,961 --> 00:51:24,961 From the KGB, from the Central Committee. 724 00:51:25,121 --> 00:51:27,361 And right now, there are 16 reactors in the Soviet Union 725 00:51:27,521 --> 00:51:29,841 with the same fatal flaw. 726 00:51:30,001 --> 00:51:31,601 Three of them are still running, 727 00:51:31,761 --> 00:51:34,361 less than 20km away, at Chernobyl! 728 00:51:34,521 --> 00:51:36,841 Professor Legasov, if you mean to suggest 729 00:51:37,001 --> 00:51:39,601 the Soviet state is somehow responsible for what happened, 730 00:51:39,761 --> 00:51:42,401 then I must warn you, you are treading on dangerous ground. 731 00:51:42,561 --> 00:51:44,881 I've already trod on dangerous ground. 732 00:51:45,041 --> 00:51:46,881 We're on dangerous ground right now, 733 00:51:47,041 --> 00:51:49,001 because of our secrets and our lies! 734 00:51:49,681 --> 00:51:51,801 They are practically what define us. 735 00:51:52,681 --> 00:51:55,601 When the truth offends, we... we lie and lie, 736 00:51:55,761 --> 00:51:57,841 until we can no longer remember it is even there, 737 00:51:58,001 --> 00:52:00,201 but it is still there. 738 00:52:03,001 --> 00:52:06,761 Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. 739 00:52:09,161 --> 00:52:11,561 Sooner or later, that debt is paid. 740 00:52:16,041 --> 00:52:18,161 That is how... 741 00:52:18,321 --> 00:52:20,761 an RBMK reactor core explodes. 742 00:52:24,841 --> 00:52:26,321 Lies. 743 00:54:25,041 --> 00:54:27,481 Valery Alexeyevich Legasov. 744 00:54:28,721 --> 00:54:30,881 Son of Alexei Legasov, 745 00:54:31,041 --> 00:54:34,001 Head of Ideological Compliance, Central Committee. 746 00:54:34,161 --> 00:54:36,081 Do you know what your father did there? 747 00:54:36,241 --> 00:54:37,921 Yes. 748 00:54:38,441 --> 00:54:40,321 As a student, you had a leadership position 749 00:54:40,481 --> 00:54:41,641 in Komsomol. 750 00:54:41,801 --> 00:54:43,881 Communist Youth, correct? 751 00:54:44,841 --> 00:54:46,961 - You already know... - Answer the question. 752 00:54:47,121 --> 00:54:48,321 Yes. 753 00:54:50,281 --> 00:54:52,001 At the Kurchatov Institute, 754 00:54:52,161 --> 00:54:54,641 you were the Communist Party secretary. 755 00:54:54,801 --> 00:54:56,841 In that position, you limited the promotion 756 00:54:57,001 --> 00:54:59,001 of Jewish scientists. 757 00:55:03,241 --> 00:55:04,801 Yes. 758 00:55:04,961 --> 00:55:07,681 To curry favour with Kremlin officials. 759 00:55:12,801 --> 00:55:14,841 You're one of us, Legasov. 760 00:55:16,401 --> 00:55:18,241 I can do anything I want with you. 761 00:55:19,921 --> 00:55:22,721 But what I want the most is for you to know that I know. 762 00:55:23,881 --> 00:55:25,881 You're not brave. 763 00:55:26,681 --> 00:55:28,681 You're not heroic. 764 00:55:29,761 --> 00:55:32,841 You're just a dying man who forgot himself. 765 00:55:33,001 --> 00:55:34,801 I know who I am. 766 00:55:34,961 --> 00:55:37,001 And I know what I've done. 767 00:55:39,041 --> 00:55:42,201 In a just world, I'd be shot for my lies, but not for this. 768 00:55:42,361 --> 00:55:44,561 Not for the truth. 769 00:55:44,721 --> 00:55:46,641 Scientists... 770 00:55:46,801 --> 00:55:50,161 and your idiot obsession with reasons. 771 00:55:50,321 --> 00:55:54,561 When the bullet hits your skull, what will it matter why? 772 00:56:01,801 --> 00:56:03,921 No-one's getting shot, Legasov. 773 00:56:05,681 --> 00:56:07,801 The whole world saw you in Vienna. 774 00:56:07,961 --> 00:56:10,081 It would be embarrassing to kill you now. 775 00:56:10,241 --> 00:56:11,721 And for what? 776 00:56:11,881 --> 00:56:15,081 Your testimony today will not be accepted by the state. 777 00:56:15,241 --> 00:56:17,841 It will not be disseminated in the press. 778 00:56:18,881 --> 00:56:20,441 It never happened. 779 00:56:21,601 --> 00:56:25,921 No. You will live, however long you have, 780 00:56:26,081 --> 00:56:27,561 but not as a scientist. 781 00:56:27,721 --> 00:56:29,881 Not any more. 782 00:56:30,041 --> 00:56:34,281 You'll keep your title and your office, 783 00:56:34,441 --> 00:56:38,761 but no duties, no authority, no friends. 784 00:56:38,921 --> 00:56:41,161 No-one will talk to you. 785 00:56:41,321 --> 00:56:43,361 No-one will listen to you. 786 00:56:45,001 --> 00:56:47,161 Other men... 787 00:56:47,321 --> 00:56:51,961 lesser men will receive credit for the things you have done. 788 00:56:52,881 --> 00:56:54,841 Your legacy is now their legacy. 789 00:56:55,001 --> 00:56:57,241 You will live long enough to see that. 790 00:57:01,001 --> 00:57:03,121 What role did Shcherbina play in this? 791 00:57:03,281 --> 00:57:04,361 None. 792 00:57:04,521 --> 00:57:06,401 He didn't know what I was gonna say. 793 00:57:08,241 --> 00:57:11,121 What role did Khomyuk play in this? 794 00:57:11,281 --> 00:57:14,241 None. She didn't know, either. 795 00:57:16,481 --> 00:57:18,881 After all you've said and done today, 796 00:57:19,041 --> 00:57:24,041 it would be... curious if you chose this moment to lie. 797 00:57:27,401 --> 00:57:29,161 I would think a man of your experience 798 00:57:29,321 --> 00:57:31,481 would know a lie when he hears one. 799 00:57:35,161 --> 00:57:36,641 You will not meet or communicate 800 00:57:36,801 --> 00:57:38,881 with either one of them ever again. 801 00:57:39,521 --> 00:57:41,281 You will not communicate with anyone 802 00:57:41,441 --> 00:57:43,441 about Chernobyl ever again. 803 00:57:44,401 --> 00:57:46,721 You will remain so immaterial to the world around you 804 00:57:46,881 --> 00:57:48,561 that when you finally do die... 805 00:57:48,721 --> 00:57:52,161 it will be exceedingly hard to know that you ever lived at all. 806 00:57:56,801 --> 00:57:58,401 And if I refuse? 807 00:58:01,801 --> 00:58:04,441 Why worry about something that isn't going to happen? 808 00:58:05,961 --> 00:58:09,801 "Why worry about something that isn't going to happen?" 809 00:58:09,961 --> 00:58:11,761 Oh, that's perfect. 810 00:58:11,921 --> 00:58:14,201 They should put that on our money. 811 00:59:21,401 --> 00:59:24,281 To be a scientist is to be naive. 812 00:59:25,361 --> 00:59:27,561 We are so focused on our search for truth, 813 00:59:27,721 --> 00:59:32,001 we fail to consider how few actually want us to find it. 814 00:59:32,161 --> 00:59:36,161 But it is always there, whether we see it or not, 815 00:59:36,321 --> 00:59:38,201 whether we choose to or not. 816 00:59:38,361 --> 00:59:40,721 The truth doesn't care about our needs or wants. 817 00:59:40,881 --> 00:59:42,601 It doesn't care about our governments, 818 00:59:42,761 --> 00:59:45,401 our ideologies, our religions. 819 00:59:46,521 --> 00:59:48,721 It will lie in wait for all time. 820 00:59:50,121 --> 00:59:53,321 And this, at last, is the gift of Chernobyl. 821 00:59:53,881 --> 00:59:57,961 Where I once would fear the cost of truth, now I only ask: 822 00:59:59,761 --> 01:00:02,241 What is the cost of lies?