1 00:02:34,030 --> 00:02:36,240 I hear they might promote Bryukhanov. 2 00:02:37,408 --> 00:02:40,578 This little problem we have with the safety test, 3 00:02:41,412 --> 00:02:43,914 if it's completed successfully... 4 00:02:45,249 --> 00:02:48,002 Yes, I think promotion's very likely. 5 00:02:49,045 --> 00:02:51,047 Who knows, maybe Moscow. 6 00:02:53,049 --> 00:02:55,426 Naturally, they'll put me in charge once he's gone, 7 00:02:55,509 --> 00:02:58,262 and then I'll need someone to take my old job. 8 00:03:00,222 --> 00:03:02,308 I could pick Sitnikov. 9 00:03:11,150 --> 00:03:12,943 I would like to be considered. 10 00:03:16,489 --> 00:03:17,865 We'll keep that in mind. 11 00:03:19,784 --> 00:03:23,913 Viktor Petrovich, preparations for the test have gone smoothly. 12 00:03:23,996 --> 00:03:27,291 Comrade Dyatlov's been working per my instructions, 13 00:03:27,375 --> 00:03:30,836 and Reactor 4 output's been reduced to 1,600 megawatts. 14 00:03:31,712 --> 00:03:35,007 With your approval, we're ready to continue lowering power to... 15 00:03:35,091 --> 00:03:36,258 We have to wait. 16 00:03:37,927 --> 00:03:38,928 Is, uh... 17 00:03:39,512 --> 00:03:41,972 Are you going to ask me if there's a problem, Nikolai? 18 00:03:42,431 --> 00:03:44,266 You can't read a fucking face? 19 00:03:44,850 --> 00:03:47,228 Three years, I've tried to finish this test. 20 00:03:47,311 --> 00:03:48,437 Three years. 21 00:03:55,903 --> 00:03:58,114 I've just had a call from the grid controller in Kiev. 22 00:03:58,197 --> 00:04:00,366 He says we can't lower power any further, 23 00:04:00,449 --> 00:04:01,742 not for another 10 hours. 24 00:04:01,826 --> 00:04:03,661 A grid controller? Where does he get off... 25 00:04:03,744 --> 00:04:06,372 It's not the grid controller's decision, Dyatlov. 26 00:04:07,540 --> 00:04:08,874 It's the end of the month. 27 00:04:09,667 --> 00:04:12,420 All the productivity quotas. 28 00:04:12,503 --> 00:04:15,214 Everyone's working overtime. The factories need power. 29 00:04:15,297 --> 00:04:17,049 Someone's pushing down from above. 30 00:04:17,133 --> 00:04:18,676 Not that we'll never know who. 31 00:04:27,351 --> 00:04:29,603 So, do we have to scrap it or what? 32 00:04:29,687 --> 00:04:31,480 No, I don't think so. 33 00:04:32,148 --> 00:04:34,733 If we need to wait 10 hours, we wait. 34 00:04:34,817 --> 00:04:38,237 Running at half power, we're not going to have stability issues? 35 00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:40,948 - No, I should think... - I'm not asking you. 36 00:04:44,076 --> 00:04:45,327 It's safe. 37 00:04:45,786 --> 00:04:47,204 We'll maintain at 1,600. 38 00:04:47,288 --> 00:04:49,707 I'll go home, get some sleep, come back tonight. 39 00:04:49,790 --> 00:04:51,041 We'll proceed then. 40 00:04:51,917 --> 00:04:54,003 I'll personally supervise the test. 41 00:04:54,753 --> 00:04:56,547 And it will be completed. 42 00:05:00,426 --> 00:05:01,886 Well, I'm not waiting around, then. 43 00:05:03,220 --> 00:05:04,555 Call me when it's done. 44 00:06:42,152 --> 00:06:43,237 How do you feel? 45 00:06:45,614 --> 00:06:48,200 You went to the doctor yesterday. How is your health? 46 00:06:49,326 --> 00:06:50,411 You don't know? 47 00:06:52,621 --> 00:06:53,956 From Vienna. 48 00:06:54,248 --> 00:06:55,666 Do you read German? 49 00:06:57,459 --> 00:07:02,298 It says, "At last a Soviet scientist who tells the truth." 50 00:07:02,965 --> 00:07:04,967 Obviously, I resent the insinuation, 51 00:07:05,050 --> 00:07:06,176 but I think it's fair to say 52 00:07:06,260 --> 00:07:08,554 you made an excellent impression at the conference. 53 00:07:09,013 --> 00:07:11,056 Turns out, you're quite good at this. 54 00:07:11,599 --> 00:07:13,517 At what? Lying? 55 00:07:13,601 --> 00:07:16,562 Statecraft, Legasov. Statecraft. 56 00:07:16,687 --> 00:07:19,231 The West is now satisfied 57 00:07:19,315 --> 00:07:22,151 that Chernobyl was solely the result of operator error, 58 00:07:22,234 --> 00:07:23,652 which it essentially was. 59 00:07:24,445 --> 00:07:26,155 We have you to thank for that, 60 00:07:26,238 --> 00:07:27,698 and we intend to. 61 00:07:32,036 --> 00:07:34,079 "Hero of the Soviet Union." 62 00:07:34,538 --> 00:07:36,290 Our highest honor. 63 00:07:36,665 --> 00:07:39,043 They haven't even given it to me. 64 00:07:39,627 --> 00:07:42,838 "Promotion to director of the Kurchatov Institute." 65 00:07:46,258 --> 00:07:47,593 I'm humbled. 66 00:07:48,218 --> 00:07:52,222 I don't think there's anything humble about you, Valery Alexeyevich. 67 00:07:52,306 --> 00:07:54,183 These rewards are not yours yet. 68 00:07:54,850 --> 00:07:56,644 First, your testimony at the trial. 69 00:07:56,727 --> 00:08:00,648 Comrade Charkov, I understand my duty to the State. 70 00:08:01,940 --> 00:08:03,901 But you gave us assurances. 71 00:08:04,693 --> 00:08:07,154 The reactors would be made safe. 72 00:08:07,237 --> 00:08:09,698 It's been months. No changes have been made. 73 00:08:09,782 --> 00:08:13,118 - No changes even discussed. - First, the trial. 74 00:08:14,620 --> 00:08:16,914 Once it's over, we will have our villains, 75 00:08:16,997 --> 00:08:20,167 we will have our hero, we will have our truth. 76 00:08:21,085 --> 00:08:24,129 After that, we can deal with the reactors. 77 00:09:49,047 --> 00:09:50,424 Did you take a train? 78 00:09:51,049 --> 00:09:53,010 Yes, I took a train. 79 00:09:53,927 --> 00:09:55,763 Now let's talk about Vienna. 80 00:09:56,847 --> 00:09:58,474 I'm not here to scold you. 81 00:09:59,141 --> 00:10:02,478 I know how the world works despite what Shcherbina says. 82 00:10:03,812 --> 00:10:06,690 So, why are you here? 83 00:10:07,900 --> 00:10:09,693 Because I'm brutally stubborn. 84 00:10:10,319 --> 00:10:12,070 Which you were hoping for. 85 00:10:16,533 --> 00:10:20,287 Charkov is saying they're going to fix the reactors after the trial. 86 00:10:22,331 --> 00:10:24,458 Do you believe him? 87 00:10:27,002 --> 00:10:29,171 The State will never willingly fix the reactors 88 00:10:29,254 --> 00:10:32,591 because acknowledging the problem means admitting that they lied. 89 00:10:32,674 --> 00:10:34,384 They will have to be forced. 90 00:10:41,683 --> 00:10:44,812 At the trial, you're going to tell the truth. 91 00:10:46,730 --> 00:10:48,857 You're going to convince the jury. 92 00:10:48,941 --> 00:10:50,609 It's a show trial. 93 00:10:51,485 --> 00:10:53,278 The jury's already been handed their verdict. 94 00:10:53,362 --> 00:10:54,696 I'm not talking about them. 95 00:10:57,074 --> 00:11:00,953 The Central Committee have invited members of the scientific community 96 00:11:01,036 --> 00:11:02,454 to observe the trial. 97 00:11:02,996 --> 00:11:05,874 Our colleagues, from Kurchatov, 98 00:11:06,291 --> 00:11:08,377 from Sredmash, from Minenergo, 99 00:11:08,460 --> 00:11:12,047 they will be sitting in the crowd listening to every word you say. 100 00:11:12,130 --> 00:11:14,341 A jury that only we know is there. 101 00:11:14,424 --> 00:11:17,928 And when your testimony arrives at the moment of the explosion? 102 00:11:19,972 --> 00:11:23,016 That is when our jury will finally hear the truth. 103 00:11:23,684 --> 00:11:26,728 - And do what with it? - Insist on reform. 104 00:11:28,272 --> 00:11:30,649 Not just to the RBMK, but the entire industry. 105 00:11:30,732 --> 00:11:31,733 No, no, no. 106 00:11:31,817 --> 00:11:33,318 - They can't function without us. - No, no, no. 107 00:11:33,402 --> 00:11:34,403 If we... 108 00:11:34,486 --> 00:11:38,532 Do you know what happened to Volkov, the man whose report you found? 109 00:11:39,241 --> 00:11:42,995 They just removed him from his position at the Institute. 110 00:11:43,912 --> 00:11:46,206 Sacked for the crime of knowing. 111 00:11:47,207 --> 00:11:52,212 And you think that these scientists, handpicked to witness a show trial, 112 00:11:52,296 --> 00:11:55,507 will somehow be stirred into action by me? 113 00:11:56,300 --> 00:11:59,803 Because of some heroic stance I take in defiance of the State? 114 00:11:59,887 --> 00:12:01,138 Yes. 115 00:12:01,221 --> 00:12:02,264 Why? 116 00:12:02,347 --> 00:12:05,767 Because you're Valery Legasov, and you mean something. 117 00:12:07,936 --> 00:12:10,606 I'd like to think that if I spoke out, it would be enough. 118 00:12:11,899 --> 00:12:13,734 But I know how the world works. 119 00:12:17,112 --> 00:12:19,781 They will shoot me, Khomyuk. 120 00:12:23,327 --> 00:12:26,496 You told me to find out what happened. 121 00:12:26,580 --> 00:12:28,707 I spoke to dozens of people. 122 00:12:28,790 --> 00:12:32,002 Every word they said, I wrote down. 123 00:12:33,253 --> 00:12:34,588 All in these books. 124 00:12:35,839 --> 00:12:37,507 These are the ones who are still alive. 125 00:12:37,591 --> 00:12:39,217 These are the ones who are dead. 126 00:12:39,301 --> 00:12:40,928 They died rescuing each other. 127 00:12:41,428 --> 00:12:44,264 Putting out fires, tending to the wounded. 128 00:12:44,348 --> 00:12:46,099 They didn't hesitate. They didn't waiver. 129 00:12:46,183 --> 00:12:48,268 They simply did what had to be done. 130 00:12:48,352 --> 00:12:49,353 So have I. 131 00:12:50,646 --> 00:12:51,647 So have I. 132 00:12:52,689 --> 00:12:54,816 I went willingly to an open reactor. 133 00:12:55,651 --> 00:12:58,153 So I've already given my life. 134 00:12:59,529 --> 00:13:00,697 Isn't that enough? 135 00:13:02,658 --> 00:13:04,993 No, I'm sorry, but it is not. 136 00:14:14,479 --> 00:14:17,357 "The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union 137 00:14:17,441 --> 00:14:20,402 and the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. 138 00:14:20,485 --> 00:14:23,780 has determined that justice be carried out on behalf of the People 139 00:14:23,864 --> 00:14:26,491 in accordance with the general goal of our Party 140 00:14:26,575 --> 00:14:30,162 as determined by its 20th, 21 st and 22nd Congresses, 141 00:14:30,245 --> 00:14:32,164 which is a Leninist goal. 142 00:14:32,247 --> 00:14:36,209 It was, is, and will be the only immutable goal in the Soviet state. 143 00:14:36,293 --> 00:14:37,711 The path of Leninist principles 144 00:14:37,794 --> 00:14:40,464 shall be consistently and undeviatingly followed, 145 00:14:40,547 --> 00:14:43,383 as it expresses the vital interests of the Soviet people, 146 00:14:43,759 --> 00:14:45,093 its hopes and aspirations 147 00:14:45,177 --> 00:14:47,345 as we guide the life of the Party and the State. 148 00:14:47,596 --> 00:14:49,639 This session of court is now open, 149 00:14:49,723 --> 00:14:52,559 Comrade Judge Milan Kadnikov presiding." 150 00:14:54,186 --> 00:14:55,395 Indictments. 151 00:14:55,479 --> 00:14:57,522 Viktor Bryukhanov, 152 00:14:57,606 --> 00:14:59,816 Anatoly Dyatlov, 153 00:14:59,900 --> 00:15:01,943 Nikolai Fomin, 154 00:15:02,027 --> 00:15:05,030 are accused of violating Article 220 Section 2 155 00:15:05,113 --> 00:15:07,199 of the Criminal Code of the Soviet Union, 156 00:15:07,282 --> 00:15:11,244 resulting in a nuclear disaster on April 26, 1986. 157 00:15:12,329 --> 00:15:14,790 The State calls witnesses Comrade Khomyuk 158 00:15:14,873 --> 00:15:17,292 of the Byelorussian Nuclear Institute, 159 00:15:17,375 --> 00:15:21,379 Comrade Legasov of the Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy, 160 00:15:22,172 --> 00:15:25,467 and Comrade Boris Evdokimovich Shcherbina, 161 00:15:26,134 --> 00:15:28,637 Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers 162 00:15:28,720 --> 00:15:31,515 and head of the Bureau for Fuel and Energy. 163 00:16:06,341 --> 00:16:10,554 It began with, of all things, a safety test. 164 00:16:11,763 --> 00:16:14,516 Why was there need for a safety test at all? 165 00:16:15,225 --> 00:16:18,395 Reactor number 4 was not new when the accident occurred. 166 00:16:19,146 --> 00:16:23,817 In fact, it went into operation on December 20th, 1983. 167 00:16:24,734 --> 00:16:27,863 Eleven days later, on the last day of the year, 168 00:16:28,780 --> 00:16:33,201 plant director Viktor Bryukhanov signed this document, 169 00:16:34,619 --> 00:16:39,624 certifying the completion of the construction of the reactor. 170 00:16:41,626 --> 00:16:44,671 As a result of finishing the work before the end of the year, 171 00:16:46,089 --> 00:16:49,801 Comrade Bryukhanov was awarded Hero of Socialist Labor. 172 00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:54,264 Comrade Fomin was awarded for Valorous Labor. 173 00:16:54,681 --> 00:16:58,727 Comrade Dyatlov was given an Order of the Red Banner. 174 00:17:01,146 --> 00:17:03,607 But their work was not finished. 175 00:17:05,317 --> 00:17:08,528 And this document was a lie. 176 00:17:10,155 --> 00:17:12,490 In order to sign this certificate, 177 00:17:12,741 --> 00:17:16,953 all safety tests had to have been successfully completed, 178 00:17:17,037 --> 00:17:18,830 and yet, one remained. 179 00:17:22,292 --> 00:17:26,504 A nuclear reactor generates heat in the core here. 180 00:17:27,464 --> 00:17:29,716 A series of pumps, here and here, 181 00:17:29,799 --> 00:17:32,844 send a constant flow of cooling water through the core. 182 00:17:33,345 --> 00:17:35,847 The core's heat turns the water to steam, 183 00:17:35,931 --> 00:17:38,225 and the steam spins the turbine here, 184 00:17:38,308 --> 00:17:39,935 and the result is electricity. 185 00:17:40,727 --> 00:17:43,563 But what if a power plant has no power? 186 00:17:45,357 --> 00:17:48,193 What if the power feeding the plant itself is disrupted? 187 00:17:48,985 --> 00:17:53,365 A blackout, equipment failure, or an attack by a foreign enemy? 188 00:17:54,449 --> 00:17:56,326 If there's no power, 189 00:17:56,409 --> 00:17:59,162 the pumps cannot move water through the core. 190 00:17:59,579 --> 00:18:01,998 And without water, the core overheats, 191 00:18:02,082 --> 00:18:03,625 the fuel melts down. 192 00:18:03,708 --> 00:18:06,211 In short, a nuclear disaster. 193 00:18:06,294 --> 00:18:07,420 The solution? 194 00:18:08,004 --> 00:18:11,341 Three diesel fuel backup generators here. 195 00:18:11,925 --> 00:18:13,718 So, problem solved? 196 00:18:14,094 --> 00:18:15,470 No. 197 00:18:16,054 --> 00:18:18,598 Bryukhanov knew that the problem was not solved at all. 198 00:18:19,140 --> 00:18:22,060 The backup generators took approximately one minute 199 00:18:22,143 --> 00:18:24,521 to reach the speed required 200 00:18:24,604 --> 00:18:26,815 to power the pumps and prevent a meltdown, 201 00:18:26,898 --> 00:18:29,901 and by that time, it would be too late. 202 00:18:31,319 --> 00:18:33,196 So we arrive at the safety test. 203 00:18:35,407 --> 00:18:36,783 The theory was this, 204 00:18:36,866 --> 00:18:39,077 if the facility lost power, 205 00:18:39,160 --> 00:18:41,037 the turbine, which had been spinning, 206 00:18:41,121 --> 00:18:43,999 would take some time to slow down and stop. 207 00:18:44,082 --> 00:18:47,877 What if you could take the electricity it was still generating 208 00:18:47,961 --> 00:18:49,421 and transfer it to the pumps? 209 00:18:49,504 --> 00:18:53,341 What if the dying turbine could keep the pumps working long enough 210 00:18:53,425 --> 00:18:57,512 to bridge the 60-second gap until the generators came on? 211 00:19:02,684 --> 00:19:04,019 Any questions? 212 00:19:05,603 --> 00:19:08,815 No. Continue, please. 213 00:19:10,692 --> 00:19:12,986 To test this theory, 214 00:19:13,069 --> 00:19:17,490 the reactor is placed in a reduced power mode, 700 megawatts, 215 00:19:17,574 --> 00:19:19,326 to simulate a blackout condition. 216 00:19:20,410 --> 00:19:22,329 Then the turbines are turned off, 217 00:19:22,579 --> 00:19:24,372 and as they slowly spin down, 218 00:19:24,456 --> 00:19:26,291 their electrical output is measured 219 00:19:26,374 --> 00:19:29,336 to see if it's enough to power the pumps. 220 00:19:30,003 --> 00:19:31,504 The science is strong, 221 00:19:32,505 --> 00:19:37,260 but a test is only as good as the men carrying it out. 222 00:19:38,678 --> 00:19:41,598 Now, the first time they tried, they failed. 223 00:19:42,307 --> 00:19:44,601 The second time they tried, they failed. 224 00:19:45,101 --> 00:19:47,395 The third time they tried, they failed. 225 00:19:48,104 --> 00:19:50,815 The fourth time they tried 226 00:19:50,899 --> 00:19:54,527 was April 26th, 1986. 227 00:20:06,706 --> 00:20:08,416 Comrade Khomyuk. 228 00:20:32,524 --> 00:20:34,275 To understand what happened that night, 229 00:20:34,359 --> 00:20:36,403 we have to go back 10 hours earlier, 230 00:20:36,486 --> 00:20:39,864 April 25th, the day the test was meant to take place. 231 00:20:39,948 --> 00:20:43,410 By 2:00 in the afternoon, the reactor has been lowered by half 232 00:20:43,493 --> 00:20:46,621 from its normal output level of 3,200 megawatts 233 00:20:46,704 --> 00:20:48,957 to 1,600 megawatts and is stable 234 00:20:49,040 --> 00:20:51,960 and ready to be reduced to its final output level for the test, 235 00:20:52,043 --> 00:20:53,586 700 megawatts. 236 00:20:54,254 --> 00:20:57,882 But before they can proceed, there is a phone call. 237 00:20:59,300 --> 00:21:02,303 Power grid officials in Kiev say that they cannot afford 238 00:21:02,387 --> 00:21:05,682 a further reduction in the electricity until after midnight. 239 00:21:05,765 --> 00:21:08,101 They are asking for a 10-hour delay. 240 00:21:09,394 --> 00:21:11,229 This is the first critical moment, 241 00:21:11,312 --> 00:21:13,940 the first link in the chain of disaster. 242 00:21:14,023 --> 00:21:17,402 Competent management would have insisted on canceling the test. 243 00:21:18,611 --> 00:21:21,364 These three men allowed it to proceed. 244 00:21:23,283 --> 00:21:25,201 Why was this delay so dangerous? 245 00:21:25,535 --> 00:21:27,454 It created two problems. 246 00:21:28,121 --> 00:21:30,290 One of them is scientific in nature, 247 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:33,668 and the other is very human. 248 00:21:34,919 --> 00:21:36,754 This is the one we will consider first. 249 00:21:37,797 --> 00:21:41,759 At midnight, there is a shift change. 250 00:21:55,273 --> 00:21:56,274 Hey. 251 00:21:57,108 --> 00:21:59,694 - Khodemchuk... - Forget it. Find another fool. 252 00:22:00,445 --> 00:22:02,739 Toptunov, want to buy a motorcycle? 253 00:22:02,822 --> 00:22:05,200 Toptunov? He's just a little boy. 254 00:22:05,283 --> 00:22:07,160 He's got more hair on his face than on his balls. 255 00:22:07,243 --> 00:22:09,496 Hair? Is that what's on his lip? 256 00:22:11,581 --> 00:22:12,665 Leonid Fedorovych. 257 00:22:13,291 --> 00:22:15,877 Akimov says to come to the control room as soon as you can. 258 00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:17,587 - Is he already here? - He came in early. 259 00:22:18,129 --> 00:22:19,380 Something about a test. 260 00:22:21,216 --> 00:22:23,426 You see? Desperate. 261 00:22:33,061 --> 00:22:34,229 Sasha? 262 00:22:35,897 --> 00:22:38,274 You know the test they were supposed to run? 263 00:22:39,317 --> 00:22:41,986 The turbine rundown, they tried it last year. 264 00:22:42,070 --> 00:22:45,240 They couldn't do it on the day shift, so they've given it to us. 265 00:22:45,323 --> 00:22:46,491 To us? 266 00:22:46,574 --> 00:22:47,951 - We don't know what... - Shh... 267 00:22:49,869 --> 00:22:51,871 - We don't know what it is. - It's fine. 268 00:22:51,955 --> 00:22:54,082 We take it down to 700, hold it there, 269 00:22:54,165 --> 00:22:56,584 the rest is Stolyarchuk and Kirschenbaum, but... 270 00:22:56,918 --> 00:22:59,254 Dyatlov is gonna be supervising. 271 00:22:59,963 --> 00:23:01,798 I have to do something I've never done before 272 00:23:01,881 --> 00:23:03,216 with Dyatlov looking over my shoulder? 273 00:23:03,299 --> 00:23:06,135 Yeah, well, don't worry, we'll do it together. 274 00:23:06,219 --> 00:23:07,762 I'm just looking at the instructions now. 275 00:23:09,472 --> 00:23:11,349 Are we supposed to do those or not? 276 00:23:20,316 --> 00:23:22,277 Yes, this is Akimov in 4. 277 00:23:23,444 --> 00:23:26,406 I have the manual for the rundown test. 278 00:23:27,073 --> 00:23:28,866 You did it last year. 279 00:23:29,659 --> 00:23:32,036 Yes, in the program, there's instructions of what to do, 280 00:23:32,120 --> 00:23:34,414 and then, well, there's a lot of things crossed out. 281 00:23:34,497 --> 00:23:35,498 What should I... 282 00:23:37,625 --> 00:23:38,751 Well, what should I... 283 00:23:41,254 --> 00:23:42,297 Are you sure? 284 00:23:43,798 --> 00:23:45,633 Right. Thank you. 285 00:23:47,302 --> 00:23:49,554 He says to follow the crossed-out instructions. 286 00:23:50,096 --> 00:23:51,681 So then why are they crossed out? 287 00:23:58,896 --> 00:24:00,398 We've been cleared to run the test. 288 00:24:01,399 --> 00:24:02,984 1,600. Good. 289 00:24:03,860 --> 00:24:06,487 Now, is it too much to ask that you all know what you're doing? 290 00:24:06,571 --> 00:24:08,406 - Well... - Yes. Absolutely. 291 00:24:09,991 --> 00:24:11,451 - Stolyarchuk? - Yes. 292 00:24:11,534 --> 00:24:14,537 - Kirschenbaum? - Uh, I haven't reviewed. 293 00:24:14,621 --> 00:24:16,414 We only just found out really... 294 00:24:16,497 --> 00:24:17,707 There, review it. 295 00:24:17,790 --> 00:24:19,876 Or you can just do what I tell you. 296 00:24:19,959 --> 00:24:22,587 I think even you, stupid as you are, can manage that. 297 00:24:23,755 --> 00:24:24,756 Well, let's go. 298 00:24:28,718 --> 00:24:31,638 I'm supposed to switch the turbine off while the reactor's still running? 299 00:24:31,721 --> 00:24:35,141 - This is not good... - Shut the fuck up and do your job! 300 00:24:36,225 --> 00:24:39,646 Toptunov, reduce power to 700. 301 00:24:41,481 --> 00:24:43,524 I've never done this with the power so low before. 302 00:24:43,608 --> 00:24:44,984 It's okay. I'm with you. 303 00:24:50,823 --> 00:24:52,367 Reducing power to 700. 304 00:24:53,993 --> 00:24:56,245 I want you to think of Yuri Gagarin. 305 00:24:58,414 --> 00:25:01,042 I want you to imagine that he has been told nothing 306 00:25:01,125 --> 00:25:02,377 of his mission into space 307 00:25:02,460 --> 00:25:04,629 until the moment that he is on the launch pad. 308 00:25:04,921 --> 00:25:06,964 I want you to imagine that all he has 309 00:25:07,048 --> 00:25:09,634 is a list of instructions that he has never seen before, 310 00:25:09,717 --> 00:25:11,761 some of which have been crossed out. 311 00:25:12,261 --> 00:25:16,015 This is exactly what was happening in the control room of Reactor 4. 312 00:25:16,766 --> 00:25:19,394 The night shift had not been trained to perform the experiment. 313 00:25:19,477 --> 00:25:22,063 They hadn't even been warned it was happening. 314 00:25:22,146 --> 00:25:24,065 Leonid Toptunov, 315 00:25:24,148 --> 00:25:26,734 the operator responsible for controlling 316 00:25:26,818 --> 00:25:29,278 and stabilizing the reactor that night was 317 00:25:30,738 --> 00:25:32,699 all of 25 years old. 318 00:25:34,158 --> 00:25:36,035 And his total experience on the job? 319 00:25:37,286 --> 00:25:38,371 Four months. 320 00:25:40,248 --> 00:25:42,875 This is the human problem created by the delay. 321 00:25:44,001 --> 00:25:46,879 But inside the reactor core, 322 00:25:46,963 --> 00:25:49,090 in the space between the atoms themselves, 323 00:25:49,590 --> 00:25:52,260 something far more dangerous is forming. 324 00:25:52,343 --> 00:25:53,761 A poison. 325 00:25:55,555 --> 00:25:57,348 The time is 28 past midnight. 326 00:26:16,159 --> 00:26:17,744 Comrade Legasov. 327 00:26:55,406 --> 00:26:57,825 I'm pleased to see some of my colleagues here 328 00:26:57,909 --> 00:27:00,578 from the Kurchatov Institute and Minenergo. 329 00:27:02,038 --> 00:27:04,081 But you don't need to be a nuclear scientist 330 00:27:04,165 --> 00:27:06,167 to understand what happened at Chernobyl. 331 00:27:07,210 --> 00:27:09,295 You only need to know this. 332 00:27:09,378 --> 00:27:14,050 There are essentially two things that happen inside a nuclear reactor. 333 00:27:14,717 --> 00:27:20,515 The reactivity, which generates power, either goes up or it goes down. 334 00:27:21,182 --> 00:27:22,183 That's it. 335 00:27:22,850 --> 00:27:25,895 All the operators do is maintain balance. 336 00:27:28,898 --> 00:27:30,066 Uranium fuel. 337 00:27:32,693 --> 00:27:37,406 As uranium atoms split apart and collide, reactivity goes up. 338 00:27:37,490 --> 00:27:39,450 But if you don't balance the reactivity, 339 00:27:39,534 --> 00:27:41,536 it never stops rising. So... 340 00:27:43,788 --> 00:27:46,207 Boron control rods. 341 00:27:46,290 --> 00:27:50,962 They reduce reactivity like brakes on a car. 342 00:27:52,463 --> 00:27:56,175 But there's a third factor to consider, water. 343 00:27:57,844 --> 00:28:00,388 Cool water takes heat out of the system. 344 00:28:00,471 --> 00:28:03,808 As it does, it turns to steam, or what we call a "void." 345 00:28:03,891 --> 00:28:07,311 In an RBMK reactor of the type used at Chernobyl, 346 00:28:07,395 --> 00:28:11,232 there's something called a "positive void coefficient." 347 00:28:11,315 --> 00:28:12,483 What does that mean? 348 00:28:13,359 --> 00:28:17,697 It means that the more steam present within the system, 349 00:28:17,780 --> 00:28:19,866 the higher the reactivity, 350 00:28:19,949 --> 00:28:22,869 which means more heat, which means more steam, 351 00:28:22,952 --> 00:28:23,953 which means... 352 00:28:24,912 --> 00:28:28,291 It would appear we have a vicious cycle on our hands. 353 00:28:28,666 --> 00:28:31,419 And we would, were it not for this... 354 00:28:37,550 --> 00:28:42,930 And we would, were it not for this, 355 00:28:43,014 --> 00:28:45,308 the negative temperature coefficient. 356 00:28:46,642 --> 00:28:52,315 When nuclear fuel gets hotter, it gets less reactive, 357 00:28:53,608 --> 00:28:55,526 so fuel increases reactivity. 358 00:28:56,235 --> 00:28:59,113 Control rods and water reduce it. 359 00:28:59,196 --> 00:29:01,574 Steam increases it, 360 00:29:01,657 --> 00:29:04,118 and the rise in temperature reduces it. 361 00:29:05,870 --> 00:29:08,706 This is the invisible dance 362 00:29:08,789 --> 00:29:12,460 that powers entire cities without smoke or flame. 363 00:29:12,543 --> 00:29:14,879 And it is beautiful, 364 00:29:15,963 --> 00:29:17,465 when things are normal. 365 00:29:19,300 --> 00:29:22,219 As uranium splits apart to release energy, 366 00:29:22,303 --> 00:29:25,723 it breaks down into a new element, xenon. 367 00:29:25,806 --> 00:29:28,726 Xenon reduces reactivity. 368 00:29:28,809 --> 00:29:31,354 This is the poison Comrade Khomyuk mentioned. 369 00:29:32,313 --> 00:29:34,357 When the core is running at full power, 370 00:29:34,440 --> 00:29:37,318 it burns the xenon away before it can cause a problem. 371 00:29:37,401 --> 00:29:39,612 But because of the delay, 372 00:29:39,695 --> 00:29:44,533 Chernobyl Reactor 4 has been held at half power for 10 hours. 373 00:29:45,242 --> 00:29:47,495 The xenon did not burn away. 374 00:29:49,330 --> 00:29:52,291 It built up, poisoning the core. 375 00:29:53,751 --> 00:29:55,503 We're starting to lose balance. 376 00:29:55,586 --> 00:29:59,382 At 28 minutes past midnight, 377 00:29:59,465 --> 00:30:02,468 the reactor is now primed to slow down. 378 00:30:03,302 --> 00:30:06,514 And yet, in less than an hour, it will explode. 379 00:30:07,556 --> 00:30:10,643 If you can't understand how a stalled nuclear reactor 380 00:30:10,726 --> 00:30:13,437 could lead to an explosion, I don't blame you. 381 00:30:13,521 --> 00:30:17,274 After all, you don't work in the control room of a nuclear power plant. 382 00:30:18,192 --> 00:30:20,569 But as it turned out, 383 00:30:20,653 --> 00:30:24,657 the men who did didn't understand it either. 384 00:30:31,038 --> 00:30:32,081 Easy now. 385 00:30:32,581 --> 00:30:33,708 Take it down. 386 00:30:34,625 --> 00:30:36,836 Good. Like that. 387 00:30:36,919 --> 00:30:38,421 You should have finished by now. 388 00:30:38,504 --> 00:30:40,464 We're following protocol for reduction rate. 389 00:30:40,548 --> 00:30:42,383 You're procrastinating. 390 00:30:42,466 --> 00:30:44,927 There are 10 other men in this plant who would've done it already. 391 00:30:45,011 --> 00:30:47,346 Keep working. You're doing fine. 392 00:30:56,856 --> 00:31:00,234 Kirschenbaum, come get me when these old women are ready. 393 00:31:00,317 --> 00:31:01,610 Yes, Comrade Dyatlov. 394 00:31:21,047 --> 00:31:25,468 Okay, very slow now. Let's ease it down to 700. 395 00:31:28,804 --> 00:31:32,141 - Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow. - I didn't move any rods there. 396 00:31:41,734 --> 00:31:45,154 - What is this? - I'm not even touching it. 397 00:32:10,179 --> 00:32:11,305 We did everything right. 398 00:32:11,388 --> 00:32:12,765 I think that maybe the core is poisoned. 399 00:32:12,848 --> 00:32:14,266 Well, if you thought the core was poisoned, 400 00:32:14,350 --> 00:32:16,894 then you didn't do everything right, because you're choking my reactor! 401 00:32:16,977 --> 00:32:18,020 Get it back up! 402 00:32:18,104 --> 00:32:20,314 I think if we turn off LAC, 403 00:32:20,397 --> 00:32:22,316 it may be possible to get more control. 404 00:32:22,399 --> 00:32:25,111 - Do it. Go. - Switch off local automatic control. 405 00:32:25,194 --> 00:32:27,279 Go to global. Leonid. 406 00:32:28,155 --> 00:32:30,574 LAC disabled. Global control activated. 407 00:32:36,747 --> 00:32:38,207 What did you do? 408 00:32:39,208 --> 00:32:41,836 - I did what you said. I switched... - Look at it! 409 00:32:43,212 --> 00:32:45,464 - I don't understand. - Fucking amateurs. 410 00:32:45,548 --> 00:32:47,383 You've stalled the reactor. 411 00:32:47,466 --> 00:32:49,301 How the fuck did you get this job? 412 00:32:49,385 --> 00:32:50,469 Comrade Dyatlov... 413 00:32:50,553 --> 00:32:52,179 You're gonna tell me you did everything right again, 414 00:32:52,263 --> 00:32:53,639 you incompetent asshole? 415 00:32:53,722 --> 00:32:56,433 I apologize for this unsatisfactory result. 416 00:33:02,314 --> 00:33:03,399 What are you doing? 417 00:33:03,732 --> 00:33:05,568 We have to shut all the way down. 418 00:33:05,651 --> 00:33:08,112 - No. - We could be in a xenon pit. 419 00:33:08,195 --> 00:33:09,655 We have to shut down and wait 24 hours. 420 00:33:09,738 --> 00:33:11,782 No. We're doing the test tonight. Raise power to 700. 421 00:33:11,866 --> 00:33:13,242 We can't raise the power from here. 422 00:33:13,325 --> 00:33:14,910 - The rules... - Don't talk to me about rules. 423 00:33:14,994 --> 00:33:17,163 - If we fall from 80%... - No, no. We fell from 50%. 424 00:33:17,246 --> 00:33:19,415 - 50% is even worse. - The rules don't say 50. 425 00:33:19,498 --> 00:33:20,791 There is no rule! 426 00:33:20,875 --> 00:33:24,753 Comrade Dyatlov, I apologize, but what you're saying makes no sense. 427 00:33:24,837 --> 00:33:26,755 - Raise the power. - No. 428 00:33:28,132 --> 00:33:29,967 I won't do it. It isn't safe. 429 00:33:39,310 --> 00:33:42,062 Safety first. Always. 430 00:33:42,938 --> 00:33:45,399 I've been saying that for 25 years. 431 00:33:45,482 --> 00:33:47,484 That's how long I've done this job, 25 years. 432 00:33:47,568 --> 00:33:48,861 Is that longer than you, Akimov? 433 00:33:48,944 --> 00:33:50,029 Yes. 434 00:33:50,112 --> 00:33:52,323 - Is it much longer? - Yes. 435 00:33:52,406 --> 00:33:54,950 And you with your mother's tit barely out of your mouth? 436 00:33:57,536 --> 00:33:59,705 So if I say it's safe, it's safe. 437 00:33:59,788 --> 00:34:01,081 And if the two of you disagree, 438 00:34:01,165 --> 00:34:03,125 then you don't have to work here and you won't. 439 00:34:03,209 --> 00:34:04,210 But not just here. 440 00:34:04,293 --> 00:34:07,755 You won't work at Kursk or Ignalina or Leningrad or Novovoronezh. 441 00:34:07,838 --> 00:34:10,883 You won't work anywhere ever again. I'll see to it. 442 00:34:11,258 --> 00:34:13,677 I think you know I will see to it. 443 00:34:15,346 --> 00:34:16,597 Raise the power. 444 00:34:20,226 --> 00:34:21,936 I would like you to record your command. 445 00:34:23,229 --> 00:34:24,313 Raise the power. 446 00:34:40,162 --> 00:34:41,372 Together, then. 447 00:34:45,167 --> 00:34:46,752 I wasn't even there. 448 00:34:47,544 --> 00:34:48,963 What? 449 00:34:51,006 --> 00:34:53,425 I wasn't in the room when they raised the power. 450 00:34:54,176 --> 00:34:55,636 If you weren't there, then where were you? 451 00:34:55,719 --> 00:34:58,639 Comrade Legasov, you are a witness, not a prosecutor. 452 00:34:58,722 --> 00:35:00,557 I will ask the questions here. 453 00:35:01,809 --> 00:35:03,852 If you weren't in the room, then where were you? 454 00:35:06,563 --> 00:35:07,648 The toilet. 455 00:35:08,565 --> 00:35:10,901 The toilet? 456 00:35:12,695 --> 00:35:14,488 Comrade Khomyuk interviewed everyone 457 00:35:14,571 --> 00:35:15,990 who was in the control room that night. 458 00:35:16,073 --> 00:35:17,866 They all told the same story. 459 00:35:21,453 --> 00:35:23,706 "I knew what Dyatlov ordered was wrong, 460 00:35:24,164 --> 00:35:26,500 "but if I didn't do what he said, I would be fired." 461 00:35:27,084 --> 00:35:28,585 Leonid Toptunov. 462 00:35:30,254 --> 00:35:31,880 One day before he died. 463 00:35:32,923 --> 00:35:34,800 No, Comrade Dyatlov, you were in the room. 464 00:35:35,175 --> 00:35:37,636 You ordered them to raise the power. This is a fact. 465 00:35:47,896 --> 00:35:50,607 Court is now in recess. Thirty minutes. 466 00:36:34,526 --> 00:36:37,363 Do you know anything about this town, Chernobyl? 467 00:36:38,989 --> 00:36:40,407 Not really, no. 468 00:36:41,784 --> 00:36:44,244 It was mostly Jews and Poles. 469 00:36:45,788 --> 00:36:49,458 The Jews were killed in pogroms, and Stalin forced the Poles out. 470 00:36:50,292 --> 00:36:53,379 And then the Nazis came and killed whoever was left. 471 00:36:54,463 --> 00:36:55,631 But after the war, 472 00:36:57,091 --> 00:36:59,051 people came to live here anyway. 473 00:37:00,427 --> 00:37:04,014 They knew the ground under their feet was soaked in blood, 474 00:37:04,098 --> 00:37:05,307 but they didn't care. 475 00:37:07,017 --> 00:37:09,103 Dead Jews, dead Poles. 476 00:37:10,312 --> 00:37:11,355 But not them. 477 00:37:15,025 --> 00:37:17,194 No one ever thinks it's going to happen to them. 478 00:37:19,363 --> 00:37:20,406 And here we are. 479 00:37:30,374 --> 00:37:31,375 How much time? 480 00:37:32,501 --> 00:37:33,752 Maybe a year. 481 00:37:34,628 --> 00:37:37,423 They call it a... 482 00:37:37,506 --> 00:37:39,675 They call it a "long illness." 483 00:37:39,758 --> 00:37:41,468 It doesn't seem very long to me. 484 00:37:42,678 --> 00:37:44,763 I know you told me, and I believed you. 485 00:37:46,265 --> 00:37:47,933 But time passed, and I thought 486 00:37:48,851 --> 00:37:50,519 it wouldn't happen to me. 487 00:37:51,645 --> 00:37:53,021 I wasted it. 488 00:37:53,730 --> 00:37:55,816 I wasted it all for nothing. 489 00:37:58,110 --> 00:37:59,361 For nothing? 490 00:38:00,821 --> 00:38:03,615 Do you remember that morning when I first called you, 491 00:38:03,699 --> 00:38:05,617 how unconcerned I was? 492 00:38:05,701 --> 00:38:07,578 I don't believe much that comes out of the Kremlin, 493 00:38:07,661 --> 00:38:11,957 but when they told me they were putting me in charge of the cleanup 494 00:38:12,916 --> 00:38:15,419 and they said it wasn't serious, I believed them. 495 00:38:17,337 --> 00:38:18,422 You know why? 496 00:38:20,132 --> 00:38:21,884 Because they put you in charge. 497 00:38:22,843 --> 00:38:23,886 Yeah. 498 00:38:27,014 --> 00:38:29,391 I'm an inconsequential man, Valery. 499 00:38:30,142 --> 00:38:31,852 That's all I've ever been. 500 00:38:33,187 --> 00:38:35,981 I hoped that one day I would matter, but I didn't. 501 00:38:38,275 --> 00:38:41,195 I just stood next to people who did. 502 00:38:43,697 --> 00:38:46,116 There are other scientists like me. 503 00:38:46,200 --> 00:38:48,577 Any one of them could have done what I did. 504 00:38:48,660 --> 00:38:49,870 But you... 505 00:38:51,038 --> 00:38:54,791 Everything we asked for, everything we needed. 506 00:38:56,210 --> 00:38:59,630 Men, material, lunar rovers. 507 00:39:02,466 --> 00:39:04,384 Who else could have done these things? 508 00:39:06,720 --> 00:39:09,264 They heard me, but they listened to you. 509 00:39:10,474 --> 00:39:14,102 Of all the ministers and all the deputies, 510 00:39:14,186 --> 00:39:17,814 entire congregation of obedient fools, 511 00:39:18,774 --> 00:39:21,735 they mistakenly sent the one good man. 512 00:39:22,819 --> 00:39:24,821 For God's sakes, Boris, 513 00:39:25,822 --> 00:39:28,242 you were the one who mattered most. 514 00:39:51,390 --> 00:39:53,058 Ah, it's beautiful. 515 00:40:35,100 --> 00:40:36,935 Comrade Legasov. 516 00:40:49,531 --> 00:40:51,575 The time is 38 past midnight. 517 00:40:52,576 --> 00:40:54,411 The reactor is nearly shut down. 518 00:40:55,078 --> 00:40:56,872 The operators of Reactor 4 are locked 519 00:40:56,955 --> 00:40:59,124 on a path that leads directly to disaster. 520 00:40:59,708 --> 00:41:01,335 There's no way to turn back. 521 00:41:01,752 --> 00:41:04,212 They do not yet know it, but the die is cast. 522 00:41:05,047 --> 00:41:08,675 At 30 megawatts, xenon is still being created, 523 00:41:08,759 --> 00:41:10,510 but none of it is burning away. 524 00:41:12,763 --> 00:41:14,681 The reactor is drowning in poison. 525 00:41:15,432 --> 00:41:19,102 To make matters worse, the reactor isn't hot enough 526 00:41:19,186 --> 00:41:21,772 to produce sufficient steam. 527 00:41:23,732 --> 00:41:26,485 The only way to safely raise power from this state 528 00:41:26,568 --> 00:41:30,906 is to do it very, very slowly over the course of 24 hours. 529 00:41:31,698 --> 00:41:33,992 But Dyatlov wants it done now. 530 00:41:34,534 --> 00:41:37,996 Akimov and Toptunov have only one course of action. 531 00:41:38,914 --> 00:41:41,249 They begin pulling control rods out. 532 00:41:41,917 --> 00:41:42,918 Dozens at a time. 533 00:41:43,418 --> 00:41:46,004 Halfway out, three-quarters of the way out, 534 00:41:46,088 --> 00:41:48,882 still, the power does not budge. 535 00:41:48,965 --> 00:41:51,677 So they begin pulling them all the way out. 536 00:41:51,760 --> 00:41:55,555 There were 211 control rods in Reactor 4. 537 00:41:55,639 --> 00:42:00,310 Akimov and Toptunov completely withdrew 205. 538 00:42:00,394 --> 00:42:04,398 Remember, control rods are the brakes on this car. 539 00:42:05,107 --> 00:42:11,613 Of 211 rods, only six now remain in the reactor. 540 00:42:13,115 --> 00:42:15,909 As for the fuel, it's gone cold, 541 00:42:15,992 --> 00:42:17,994 so the negative temperature coefficient 542 00:42:18,078 --> 00:42:20,664 is no longer weighing down the reactivity. 543 00:42:20,747 --> 00:42:24,626 But even still, the xenon poisoning is so strong, 544 00:42:24,710 --> 00:42:28,296 the best they can do is raise the power to 200 megawatts. 545 00:42:29,715 --> 00:42:31,508 The control rods are out. 546 00:42:31,967 --> 00:42:34,428 The emergency system has been disconnected. 547 00:42:34,511 --> 00:42:36,680 The only thing keeping the reactor in check 548 00:42:36,763 --> 00:42:39,349 is water and xenon. 549 00:42:39,433 --> 00:42:43,353 It's 1:00 in the morning. The test is minutes away. 550 00:43:17,888 --> 00:43:20,015 I'm sorry, this is all we can get. 551 00:43:20,515 --> 00:43:22,934 It's 200 megawatts. We've pulled almost everything out. 552 00:43:23,518 --> 00:43:24,978 If that's all we have, that's all we have. 553 00:43:25,437 --> 00:43:28,982 - But the test requires 700. - Stolyarchuk, let's get ready. 554 00:43:29,065 --> 00:43:30,734 - Switch on pump four. - No, wait a second. 555 00:43:30,817 --> 00:43:32,778 - Stolyarchuk... - We have barely enough steam as it is. 556 00:43:32,861 --> 00:43:35,280 The turbine is going too slow for the test to deliver any valid results. 557 00:43:35,363 --> 00:43:36,740 - It's enough. - And if we add more water, 558 00:43:36,823 --> 00:43:38,492 - there will be even less... - I said it's enough. 559 00:43:38,575 --> 00:43:39,743 I know what I'm doing. Stolyarchuk. 560 00:43:46,082 --> 00:43:47,459 Main pump four, connected. 561 00:43:47,834 --> 00:43:49,544 We should warn Khodemchuk. The pipes are gonna be... 562 00:43:49,628 --> 00:43:51,129 Never mind him. Kirschenbaum? 563 00:43:54,508 --> 00:43:57,219 The steam in the separator drum is too low, five atmospheres. 564 00:43:57,302 --> 00:44:00,013 All right, let's all help him. Get it up as best you can. 565 00:44:04,309 --> 00:44:05,393 We should stop. 566 00:44:06,061 --> 00:44:07,729 Turn that fucking thing off. 567 00:44:08,897 --> 00:44:10,524 You have 15 minutes. 568 00:44:12,400 --> 00:44:13,568 Fifteen minutes. 569 00:44:14,820 --> 00:44:17,239 They may as well have had 15 days. 570 00:44:17,572 --> 00:44:20,325 The problem they were facing was not solvable. 571 00:44:20,408 --> 00:44:23,036 The power was too low. The water was too high. 572 00:44:23,119 --> 00:44:24,746 The test was already ruined. 573 00:44:24,830 --> 00:44:27,791 The results would have been useless, but Dyatlov didn't care. 574 00:44:28,208 --> 00:44:30,919 All he wanted to do was report a completed test. 575 00:44:32,379 --> 00:44:34,506 1:22 a.m. 576 00:44:35,215 --> 00:44:37,092 Less than two minutes remain. 577 00:44:38,343 --> 00:44:42,305 Yuvchenko, a mechanical engineer, is in his office. 578 00:44:46,518 --> 00:44:48,895 Perevozchenko, reactor section foreman, 579 00:44:48,979 --> 00:44:50,146 is in the refueling hall, 580 00:44:50,730 --> 00:44:54,317 high above the 1,000-ton steel reactor cover. 581 00:44:56,736 --> 00:44:58,738 Degtaryenko, Khodemchuk, 582 00:44:58,822 --> 00:45:01,616 circulation operators, are in the pump room. 583 00:45:03,869 --> 00:45:07,122 None of them have been told about the test. 584 00:45:07,205 --> 00:45:09,040 None of them know what is about to happen. 585 00:45:09,833 --> 00:45:14,880 At 1:22 and 30 seconds, Toptunov sees a report 586 00:45:15,755 --> 00:45:18,592 from the reactor's SKALA computer system. 587 00:45:19,801 --> 00:45:23,138 Based on the absence of sufficient control rods, 588 00:45:23,221 --> 00:45:26,391 the computer is recommending that the reactor be shut down. 589 00:45:32,314 --> 00:45:34,774 Well, of course it's saying that. It doesn't know we're running a test. 590 00:45:36,943 --> 00:45:38,028 All right, comrades. 591 00:45:39,863 --> 00:45:42,365 Another few minutes, it will all be over. 592 00:45:42,449 --> 00:45:43,825 Kirschenbaum, when you're ready. 593 00:45:45,160 --> 00:45:46,244 We did everything right. 594 00:45:48,747 --> 00:45:50,248 Oscillograph on. 595 00:45:52,292 --> 00:45:53,960 Closing number eight throttle valve. 596 00:45:55,086 --> 00:45:56,630 Generator rotor beginning rundown. 597 00:45:57,088 --> 00:45:59,799 1:23 and four seconds. 598 00:46:00,634 --> 00:46:04,512 With every decision, they have pulled this reactor back like a slingshot, 599 00:46:04,596 --> 00:46:06,640 further than anyone has ever pulled. 600 00:46:07,223 --> 00:46:08,808 Now the test begins. 601 00:46:09,351 --> 00:46:12,312 The pumps are shut down, and they've let go. 602 00:46:15,440 --> 00:46:18,193 The pumps stop moving water through the reactor. 603 00:46:18,860 --> 00:46:21,947 Uranium fuel is now unchecked by fresh coolant, 604 00:46:22,030 --> 00:46:23,990 unchecked by control rods. 605 00:46:24,074 --> 00:46:27,077 The balance immediately swings in the opposite direction. 606 00:46:27,160 --> 00:46:30,288 In less than a second, reactivity increases. 607 00:46:31,623 --> 00:46:33,041 Inside the core, 608 00:46:33,124 --> 00:46:35,460 the remaining water is quickly converting to steam. 609 00:46:35,543 --> 00:46:37,712 A void is being created. 610 00:46:37,796 --> 00:46:40,340 There is no fresh water to replace it. 611 00:46:40,423 --> 00:46:43,343 Steam increases reactivity, 612 00:46:43,426 --> 00:46:46,721 increases heat, increases steam, 613 00:46:46,805 --> 00:46:48,431 increases reactivity. 614 00:46:49,724 --> 00:46:52,769 The remaining xenon decays away. 615 00:46:54,187 --> 00:46:55,689 The power is rising. 616 00:46:57,983 --> 00:46:59,484 There's nothing left to stop it. 617 00:47:00,860 --> 00:47:04,280 1:23 and 35 seconds. 618 00:47:07,617 --> 00:47:09,703 We have a power surge! Sasha! 619 00:47:15,208 --> 00:47:16,334 What did you do? 620 00:47:16,918 --> 00:47:20,130 1:23 and 40 seconds. 621 00:47:28,346 --> 00:47:30,849 In every control room of every nuclear reactor in the world, 622 00:47:30,932 --> 00:47:34,102 there is a button with one single purpose, 623 00:47:34,185 --> 00:47:37,605 to "scram," or instantly shut down the reaction. 624 00:47:37,689 --> 00:47:40,942 In Soviet reactors, that button is called AZ-5. 625 00:47:41,860 --> 00:47:43,903 You press AZ-5, 626 00:47:43,987 --> 00:47:46,197 all of the control rods insert at once, 627 00:47:46,281 --> 00:47:49,826 and the reaction is stopped dead. 628 00:47:50,910 --> 00:47:52,078 But... 629 00:47:58,626 --> 00:47:59,919 What are you waiting for, Legasov? 630 00:48:00,003 --> 00:48:01,921 Tell your lies. 631 00:48:02,005 --> 00:48:04,215 Comrade Dyatlov, you will not be warned again. 632 00:48:04,299 --> 00:48:06,509 - Or what? - For God's sake, Dyatlov. 633 00:48:06,593 --> 00:48:08,595 - Legasov's already given it away. - That's enough. 634 00:48:08,678 --> 00:48:11,723 He said before there was no way to avoid what was coming. 635 00:48:11,806 --> 00:48:13,433 - He knows something. - Comrade Dyatlov. 636 00:48:13,516 --> 00:48:15,101 She knows something. 637 00:48:16,394 --> 00:48:18,438 I know what you are, Valery Alexeyevich. 638 00:48:18,521 --> 00:48:21,524 - You're a liar. - We've heard enough for today. 639 00:48:22,692 --> 00:48:25,403 The defendants will be remanded in custody. 640 00:48:25,487 --> 00:48:28,490 - Court will... - I haven't finished. 641 00:48:28,573 --> 00:48:30,700 I still have more evidence to give. 642 00:48:30,784 --> 00:48:34,079 It's not necessary. Your testimony is concluded. 643 00:48:34,162 --> 00:48:37,332 - Your Honor. - Court is now adjourned. 644 00:48:37,415 --> 00:48:39,626 - We will resume tomorrow with... - Let him finish. 645 00:48:42,337 --> 00:48:43,671 Comrade Shcherbina... 646 00:48:46,424 --> 00:48:47,467 Let him finish. 647 00:49:12,742 --> 00:49:15,078 Dyatlov broke every rule we have. 648 00:49:18,790 --> 00:49:21,918 He pushed a reactor to the brink of destruction. 649 00:49:26,464 --> 00:49:29,050 He did these things believing there was a failsafe. 650 00:49:29,134 --> 00:49:32,595 AZ-5, a simple button to shut it all down. 651 00:49:32,679 --> 00:49:37,225 But in the circumstances he created, there wasn't. 652 00:49:37,308 --> 00:49:40,520 The shutdown system had a fatal flaw. 653 00:49:42,647 --> 00:49:47,902 At 1:23:40, Akimov engages AZ-5. 654 00:49:55,952 --> 00:49:59,747 The fully withdrawn control rods begin moving back into the reactor. 655 00:49:59,831 --> 00:50:02,500 These rods are made of boron, which reduces reactivity, 656 00:50:02,584 --> 00:50:03,668 but not their tips. 657 00:50:04,502 --> 00:50:08,798 The tips are made of graphite, which accelerates reactivity. 658 00:50:09,299 --> 00:50:10,300 Why? 659 00:50:14,971 --> 00:50:16,097 Why? 660 00:50:18,725 --> 00:50:21,019 For the same reason our reactors 661 00:50:21,102 --> 00:50:23,188 do not have containment buildings around them, 662 00:50:24,147 --> 00:50:25,273 like those in the West. 663 00:50:25,356 --> 00:50:30,069 For the same reason we don't use properly enriched fuel in our cores. 664 00:50:30,320 --> 00:50:32,655 For the same reason we are the only nation 665 00:50:32,739 --> 00:50:37,076 that builds water-cooled, graphite-moderated reactors 666 00:50:37,160 --> 00:50:39,621 with a positive void coefficient. 667 00:50:41,497 --> 00:50:42,540 It's cheaper. 668 00:50:48,755 --> 00:50:50,006 The first part 669 00:50:50,089 --> 00:50:51,883 of the rods that enter the core 670 00:50:51,966 --> 00:50:53,301 are the graphite tips. 671 00:50:53,384 --> 00:50:55,720 And when they do, the reaction in the core, 672 00:50:55,803 --> 00:50:58,681 which had been rising, skyrockets. 673 00:50:58,765 --> 00:51:03,770 Every last molecule of liquid water instantly converts to steam, 674 00:51:03,853 --> 00:51:07,148 which expands and ruptures a series of fuel rod channels. 675 00:51:07,232 --> 00:51:11,319 The control rods in those channels can move no further. 676 00:51:11,402 --> 00:51:13,863 The graphite tips are fixed in position, 677 00:51:13,947 --> 00:51:16,824 endlessly accelerating the reaction. 678 00:51:16,908 --> 00:51:20,745 Chernobyl Reactor 4 is now a nuclear bomb. 679 00:51:21,287 --> 00:51:23,831 1:23:42. 680 00:51:23,915 --> 00:51:27,877 Perevozchenko looks down on the enormous steel lid of the reactor 681 00:51:27,961 --> 00:51:29,963 and sees the impossible. 682 00:51:30,046 --> 00:51:31,839 The control rod and fuel channel caps, 683 00:51:31,923 --> 00:51:34,008 which each weigh 350 kilograms, 684 00:51:34,092 --> 00:51:35,760 are jumping up and down. 685 00:51:36,302 --> 00:51:38,513 He runs to warn the control room. 686 00:51:38,596 --> 00:51:41,516 But there's nothing he can do to stop what is coming. 687 00:51:41,599 --> 00:51:44,602 1:23 and 44 seconds. 688 00:51:45,228 --> 00:51:48,648 The steam blows more fuel channels apart. 689 00:51:48,731 --> 00:51:50,775 We do not know how high the power went. 690 00:51:50,858 --> 00:51:52,068 We only know the final reading. 691 00:51:54,654 --> 00:51:59,200 Reactor 4, designed to operate at 3,200 megawatts, 692 00:51:59,951 --> 00:52:02,495 went beyond 33,000. 693 00:52:08,251 --> 00:52:12,046 The pressure inside the core can no longer be held back. 694 00:52:12,130 --> 00:52:18,428 At long last, we have arrived. 1:23:45, explosion. 695 00:52:20,054 --> 00:52:23,016 In the instant the lid is thrown off the reactor, 696 00:52:23,099 --> 00:52:24,142 oxygen rushes in. 697 00:52:24,225 --> 00:52:28,313 It combines with hydrogen and super-heated graphite. 698 00:52:30,356 --> 00:52:33,192 The chain of disaster is now complete. 699 00:52:55,340 --> 00:52:56,758 Comrade Dyatlov! 700 00:53:02,013 --> 00:53:03,348 Comrade Dyatlov! 701 00:53:14,859 --> 00:53:17,737 No one in the room that night knew 702 00:53:17,820 --> 00:53:20,990 the shutdown button could act as a detonator. 703 00:53:22,617 --> 00:53:23,951 They didn't know it, 704 00:53:25,620 --> 00:53:27,622 because it was kept from them. 705 00:53:27,705 --> 00:53:32,460 Comrade Legasov, you're contradicting your own testimony in Vienna. 706 00:53:32,877 --> 00:53:34,837 My testimony in Vienna was a lie. 707 00:53:36,339 --> 00:53:38,633 I lied to the world. 708 00:53:39,467 --> 00:53:41,302 I'm not the only one who kept this secret. 709 00:53:41,386 --> 00:53:42,387 There are many. 710 00:53:43,971 --> 00:53:45,390 We were following orders, 711 00:53:46,974 --> 00:53:48,601 from the KGB, from the Central Committee. 712 00:53:48,684 --> 00:53:51,229 And right now, there are 16 reactors in the Soviet Union 713 00:53:51,312 --> 00:53:53,773 with the same fatal flaw. 714 00:53:53,856 --> 00:53:55,733 Three of them are still running 715 00:53:55,817 --> 00:53:58,236 less than 20 kilometers away at Chernobyl. 716 00:53:58,319 --> 00:54:02,240 Professor Legasov, if you mean to suggest the Soviet state 717 00:54:02,323 --> 00:54:04,158 is somehow responsible for what happened, 718 00:54:04,242 --> 00:54:06,953 then I must warn you, you are treading on dangerous ground. 719 00:54:07,662 --> 00:54:09,330 I've already trod on dangerous ground. 720 00:54:09,414 --> 00:54:11,457 We're on dangerous ground right now, 721 00:54:11,541 --> 00:54:14,293 because of our secrets and our lies. 722 00:54:14,377 --> 00:54:17,422 They're practically what define us. 723 00:54:17,505 --> 00:54:20,716 When the truth offends, we lie and lie 724 00:54:20,800 --> 00:54:23,052 until we can no longer remember it is even there. 725 00:54:23,136 --> 00:54:24,720 But it is still there. 726 00:54:28,391 --> 00:54:32,437 Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. 727 00:54:34,814 --> 00:54:36,983 Sooner or later, that debt is paid. 728 00:54:41,904 --> 00:54:46,826 That is how an RBMK reactor core explodes. 729 00:54:50,872 --> 00:54:51,873 Lies. 730 00:56:56,539 --> 00:56:58,833 Valery Alexeyevich Legasov, 731 00:57:00,418 --> 00:57:02,628 son of Alexei Legasov, 732 00:57:02,837 --> 00:57:05,298 Head of Ideological Compliance, Central Committee. 733 00:57:06,340 --> 00:57:07,842 Do you know what your father did there? 734 00:57:08,175 --> 00:57:09,176 Yes. 735 00:57:10,553 --> 00:57:13,889 As a student, you had a leadership position in Komsomol. 736 00:57:13,973 --> 00:57:16,017 Communist Youth, correct? 737 00:57:17,393 --> 00:57:19,312 - You already know. - Answer the question. 738 00:57:19,729 --> 00:57:20,771 Yes. 739 00:57:22,773 --> 00:57:24,775 At the Kurchatov Institute, 740 00:57:24,859 --> 00:57:27,028 you were the Communist Party secretary. 741 00:57:27,737 --> 00:57:31,407 In the position, you limited the promotion of Jewish scientists. 742 00:57:36,370 --> 00:57:37,955 Yes. 743 00:57:38,039 --> 00:57:40,666 To curry favor with Kremlin officials. 744 00:57:46,297 --> 00:57:48,174 You're one of us, Legasov. 745 00:57:50,009 --> 00:57:51,886 I can do anything I want with you. 746 00:57:53,638 --> 00:57:56,515 But what I want the most is for you to know that I know. 747 00:57:57,808 --> 00:57:59,310 You're not brave. 748 00:58:00,853 --> 00:58:02,313 You're not heroic. 749 00:58:03,981 --> 00:58:07,360 You're just a dying man who forgot himself. 750 00:58:07,443 --> 00:58:10,905 I know who I am, and I know what I've done. 751 00:58:13,699 --> 00:58:16,077 In a just world, I'd be shot for my lies, 752 00:58:16,160 --> 00:58:18,371 but not for this, not for the truth. 753 00:58:19,330 --> 00:58:21,499 Scientists, 754 00:58:21,582 --> 00:58:25,294 and your idiot obsession with reasons. 755 00:58:25,378 --> 00:58:29,799 When the bullet hits your skull, what will it matter why? 756 00:58:37,473 --> 00:58:39,809 No one's getting shot, Legasov. 757 00:58:41,519 --> 00:58:43,187 The whole world saw you in Vienna. 758 00:58:44,021 --> 00:58:46,107 It would be embarrassing to kill you now. 759 00:58:46,190 --> 00:58:47,233 And for what? 760 00:58:48,609 --> 00:58:51,654 Your testimony today will not be accepted by the State. 761 00:58:51,737 --> 00:58:54,073 It will not be disseminated in the press. 762 00:58:54,740 --> 00:58:56,575 It never happened. 763 00:58:57,952 --> 00:59:02,206 No, you will live, however long you have, 764 00:59:02,998 --> 00:59:05,751 but not as a scientist, not anymore. 765 00:59:06,752 --> 00:59:10,715 You'll keep your title and your office, 766 00:59:11,924 --> 00:59:16,262 but no duties, no authority, no friends. 767 00:59:16,345 --> 00:59:17,680 No one will talk to you. 768 00:59:18,514 --> 00:59:19,890 No one will listen to you. 769 00:59:22,351 --> 00:59:25,771 Other men, lesser men, 770 00:59:26,897 --> 00:59:29,608 will receive credit for the things you have done. 771 00:59:30,568 --> 00:59:32,862 Your legacy is now their legacy. 772 00:59:32,945 --> 00:59:35,156 You'll live long enough to see that. 773 00:59:39,118 --> 00:59:40,953 What role did Shcherbina play in this? 774 00:59:41,704 --> 00:59:42,788 None. 775 00:59:42,872 --> 00:59:44,707 He didn't know what I was gonna say. 776 00:59:46,625 --> 00:59:48,711 What role did Khomyuk play in this? 777 00:59:49,378 --> 00:59:50,379 None. 778 00:59:51,255 --> 00:59:52,673 She didn't know either. 779 00:59:55,217 --> 00:59:57,678 After all you've said and done today, 780 00:59:57,762 --> 01:00:03,392 it would be curious if you chose this moment to lie. 781 01:00:06,604 --> 01:00:10,608 I would think a man of your experience would know a lie when he hears one. 782 01:00:14,945 --> 01:00:17,948 You will not meet or communicate with either one of them ever again. 783 01:00:19,450 --> 01:00:22,912 You will not communicate with anyone about Chernobyl ever again. 784 01:00:24,413 --> 01:00:26,665 You will remain so immaterial to the world around you 785 01:00:26,749 --> 01:00:28,626 that when you finally do die, 786 01:00:29,251 --> 01:00:32,838 it will be exceedingly hard to know that you ever lived at all. 787 01:00:37,301 --> 01:00:39,011 And if I refuse? 788 01:00:42,389 --> 01:00:45,309 Why worry about something that isn't going to happen? 789 01:00:46,727 --> 01:00:49,939 "Why worry about something that isn't going to happen?" 790 01:00:50,898 --> 01:00:52,441 Oh, that's perfect. 791 01:00:53,317 --> 01:00:55,152 They should put that on our money. 792 01:02:05,598 --> 01:02:08,350 To be a scientist is to be naive. 793 01:02:09,685 --> 01:02:12,021 We are so focused on our search for truth, 794 01:02:12,104 --> 01:02:16,275 we fail to consider how few actually want us to find it. 795 01:02:16,817 --> 01:02:21,030 But it is always there, whether we see it or not, 796 01:02:21,113 --> 01:02:23,073 whether we choose to or not. 797 01:02:23,157 --> 01:02:25,868 The truth doesn't care about our needs or wants. 798 01:02:25,951 --> 01:02:27,620 It doesn't care about our governments, 799 01:02:27,703 --> 01:02:30,039 our ideologies, our religions. 800 01:02:31,498 --> 01:02:33,959 It will lie in wait for all time. 801 01:02:35,252 --> 01:02:39,173 And this, at last, is the gift of Chernobyl. 802 01:02:39,256 --> 01:02:41,717 Where I once would fear the cost of truth, 803 01:02:41,800 --> 01:02:43,427 now I only ask, 804 01:02:45,596 --> 01:02:47,556 "What is the cost of lies?"