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I hear they might
promote Bryukhanov.

This little problem
we have with the safety test...

..if it's
completed successfully...

..yes, I think promotion's
very likely.

Who knows? Maybe Moscow.

Naturally, they'll put me
in charge once he's gone

and then I'll need someone
to take my old job.

I could pitch Sitnikov.

I would like to be considered.

We'll keep that in mind.

Viktor Petrovich.

Preparations for the test
have gone smoothly.

Comrade Dyatlov's been working
per my instructions.

And Reactor4 output's
been reduced to 1600 megawatts.

With your approval, we're ready
to continue lowering power...

It'll have to wait.

Is er...

Are you going to ask me
if there's a problem, Nikolai?

You can't read a fucking face?

Three years
I've tried to finish this test.

Three years.

I've just had a call from
the grid controller in Kiev.

He says we can't lower power
further for another ten hours.

A grid controller?
Where does he get off...

It's not the grid controller's
decision, Dyatlov.

It's the end of the month.

All the productivity quotas.

Everyone's working overtime,
the factories need power,

someone's pushing down
from above.

Not that we'll ever know who.

So, do we have to scrap it,
or what?

No, I don't think so.

No, if we need to wait
ten hours, we wait.

Running at half power, we're not
going to have stability issues?

- No, I should think...
- I'm not asking you.

It's safe.

We'll maintain at 1600.

I'll go home, get some sleep,
come back tonight.

We'll proceed then.

I'll personally supervise
the test...

..and it will be completed.

Well, I'm not waiting around.

Call me when it's done.

How do you feel?

You went to the doctor
yesterday. How is your health?

You don't know?

From Vienna.
Do you read German?

It says, "At last, a Soviet
scientist who tells the truth."

Obviously, I resent the
insinuation but it's fair to say

you made an excellent impression
at the conference.

Turns out
you're quite good at this.

At what? Lying?

Statecraft, Legasov.

Statecraft.

The West is now satisfied

that Chernobyl was solely
the result of operator error.

Which it essentially was.

We have you to thank for that.

And we intend to.

Hero of the Soviet Union.

Our highest honour.

They haven't even
given it to me.

Promotion to Director
of the Kurchatov Institute.

I'm humbled.

I don't think there's anything
humble about you,

Valery Alexeyevich.

And these rewards
are not yours yet.

First, your testimony
at the trial.

Comrade Charkov, I understand
my duty to the state.

But you gave us assurances
the reactors would be made safe.

It's been months.
No changes have been made,

no changes even discussed.

First, the trial.

Once it's over,
we will have our villains,

we will have our hero,
we will have our truth.

After that,
we can deal with the reactors.

Did you take a train?

Yes, I took a train.

Now, let's talk about Vienna.

I'm not here to scold you.

I know how the world works,

despite what Shcherbina says.

So... why are you here?

Because I'm brutally stubborn.

Which you were hoping for.

Charkov is saying they will fix
the reactors after the trial.

Do you believe him?

The state will never
willingly fix the reactors,

because acknowledging
the problem

means admitting that they lied.

They will have to be forced.

At the trial, you're going
to tell the truth.

You're going to convince a jury.

It's a show trial!

The jury's already been
handed their verdict.

I'm not talking about them.

The Central Committee

have invited members of
the scientific community

to observe the trial.

Our colleagues from Kurchatov,

from Sredmash, from Minenergo,

they will be sitting
in the crowd,

listening to every word
you say -

a jury that
only we know is there.

And when your testimony arrives

at the moment of
the explosion...

..that is when our jury
will finally hear the truth.

And do what with it?

Insist on reform.

Not just to the RBMK,
but the entire industry.

No, no, no, no, no.

They can't function without us.
If we...

Do you know
what happened to Volkov,

the man whose report you found?

They just removed him from
his position at the institute.

Sacked,
for the crime of knowing.

And you think
that these scientists,

hand-picked
to witness a show trial,

will somehow be stirred
into action by me,

because of some heroic stance
I take in defiance of the state?

- Yes.
- Why?

Because you're Valery Legasov
and you mean something.

I'd like to think that if I
spoke out, it would be enough.

But I know how the world works.

They will shoot me, Khomyuk.

You told me to find out
what happened.

I spoke to dozens of people.

Every word they said,
I wrote down.

All in these books.

These are the ones
who are still alive,

these are the ones who are dead.

They died rescuing each other,
putting out fires,

tending to the wounded.

They didn't hesitate,
they didn't waver,

they simply did
what had to be done.

So have I.

So have I.

I went willingly
to an open reactor,

so I've already given my life.

Isn't that enough?

No, I'm sorry, but it is not.

The Central Committee

of the Communist Party
of the Soviet Union

and Presidium of the
Supreme Soviet of the USSR

is determined that justice
be carried out

on behalf of the people

in accordance with
the general goal of our Party,

as determined by its 20th,
21st and 22nd Congresses,

which is a Leninist goal.

It was, is and will be

the only immutable goal
in the Soviet state.

The path of Leninist principles

shall be consistently
and undeviatingly followed,

as it expresses the vital
interests of the Soviet people,

its hopes and aspirations

as we guide the life
of the Party and state.

This session of court
is now open.

Comrade Judge
Milan Kadnikov presiding.

Indictments - Viktor Bryukhanov,
Anatoly Dyatlov,

Nikolai Fomin

are accused of violating
Article 220, Section 2

of the Criminal Code
of the Soviet Union,

resulting in a nuclear disaster
on April 26th, 1986.

The state calls witnesses
Comrade Khomyuk

of the Belarussian
Nuclear Institute,

Comrade Legasov of the Kurchatov
Institute of Atomic Energy,

and Comrade Boris
Edvokimovich Shcherbina,

Deputy Chairman of
the Council of Ministers

and head of the Bureau
for Fuel and Energy.

It began with, of all things,
a safety test.

Why was there need
for a safety test at all?

Reactor No.4 was not new
when the accident occurred.

In fact, it went into operation
on December 20th, 1983.

And 11 days later,
on the last day of the year,

plant director Viktor Bryukhanov
signed this document...

..certifying the completion of
the construction of the reactor.

As a result
of finishing the work

before the end of the year...

..Comrade Bryukhanov was awarded
Hero of Socialist Labour.

Comrade Fomin was awarded
for Valorous Labour.

Comrade Dyatlov was given
an Order of the Red Banner.

But the work was not finished.

This document was a lie.

In order to sign
this certificate,

all safety tests had to have
been successfully completed,

and yet one remained.

A nuclear reactor generates heat
in the core, here.

A series of pumps,
here and here,

send a constant flow of
cooling water through the core.

The core's heat
turns the water to steam

and the steam
spins the turbine here,

and the result is electricity.

But what if a power plant
has no power?

What if the power feeding
the plant itself is disrupted -

a blackout, equipment failure
or an attack by a foreign enemy?

If there's no power,

the pumps cannot move water
through the core,

and without water, the core
overheats, the fuel melts down.

In short, a nuclear disaster.

The solution: three diesel fuel
backup generators, here.

So, problem solved?

No.

Bryukhanov knew the problem
was not solved at all.

The backup generators took
approximately one minute

to reach the speed required

to power the pumps
and prevent a meltdown.

And by that time,
it would be too late.

So we arrive at the safety test.

The theory was this:

if the facility lost power, the
turbine which had been spinning

would take some time
to slow down and stop.

What if you could take

the electricity
it was still generating

and transfer it to the pumps?

What if the dying turbine

could keep the pumps working
long enough

to bridge the 60-second gap
until the generators came on?

Any questions?

No. Continue, please.

To test this theory...

..the reactor is placed in
a reduced power mode,

700 megawatts,

to simulate
a blackout condition.

Then the turbines
are turned off,

and as they slowly spin down,

their electrical output
is measured,

to see if it's enough
to power the pumps.

The science is strong.

But a test is only as good
as the men carrying it out.

The first time they tried,
they failed.

The second time they tried,
they failed.

The third time they tried,
they failed.

The fourth time they tried...

..was April 26th, 1986.

Comrade Khomyuk.

To understand
what happened that night,

we have to go back
ten hours earlier:

April 25th, the day the test
was meant to take place.

By two in the afternoon, the
reactor has been lowered by half

from its normal output level
of 3200 megawatts,

to 1600 megawatts,

and is stable
and ready to be reduced

to its final output level
for the test: 700 megawatts.

But, before they can proceed,
there is a phone call.

Power grid officials in Kiev
say that they cannot afford

a further reduction in
electricity till after midnight.

They are asking
for a ten-hour delay.

This is the first
critical moment,

the first link
in the chain of disaster.

Competent management would have
insisted on cancelling the test.

These three men
allowed it to proceed.

Why was this delay so dangerous?

It created two problems.

One of them
is scientific in nature.

And the other is very human.

This is the one
we will consider first.

At midnight...

there is a shift change.

- Khodemchuk...
- Forget it. Find another fool.

Toptunov, want to buy
a motorcycle?

Toptunov?
He's just a little boy.

He's got more hair on his face
than on his balls.

Hair? Is that what's on his lip?

Leonid Fedorovych?

Akimov says come to the
control room as soon as you can.

- He's already here?
- He came in early.

Something about a test.

You see? Desperate!

Sasha.

You know the test they were
supposed to run?

Turbine rundown,
they tried it last year.

They couldn't do it
on the dayshift,

so they've given it to us.

To us?

- We don't know what...
- Ssh.

- We don't know what it is.
- It's fine.

We take it down to 700,
hold it there.

The rest is Stolyarchuk
and Kirschenbaum.

But... Dyatlov
is gonna be supervising.

I have to do something
I've never done

with Dyatlov
looking over my shoulder?

Yeah, well, don't worry,
we'll do it together.

I'm just looking
at the instructions now.

Are we supposed to do those,
or not?

Yes, this is Akimov in 4.

I have the manual
for the rundown test.

You did it last year on...

Yes, in the programme, there's
instructions of what to do.

Well, there's a lot of things
crossed out, what should I...

Well, what should I...

What, you're sure?

Right. Thank you.

He says to follow
the crossed-out instructions.

Then why are they crossed out?

We've been cleared
to run the test.

1600, good.

Now, is it too much to ask that
you all know what you're doing?

- Well...
- Yes, absolutely.

Stolyarchuk?

- Yes.
- Kirschenbaum?

I haven't reviewed.
We only just found out.

There. Review it.

Or you can just do
what I tell you.

I think even you, as stupid
as you are, can manage that.

Well, let's go.

Switch the turbine off while
the reactor's still running?

- That's not good...
- Shut up and do your job!

Toptunov, reduce power to 700.

I've never done this with
the power so low before.

It's OK, I'm with you.

Reducing power to 700.

I want you to think
of Yuri Gagarin.

I want you to imagine
that he has been told nothing

of his mission into space

until the moment
that he is on the launch pad.

I want you to imagine that all
he has is a list of instructions

that he has never seen before,

some of which
have been crossed out.

This is exactly
what was happening

in the control room
of Reactor4.

The nightshift had not been
trained to do the experiment.

They hadn't even been warned
it was happening.

Leonid Toptunov,

the operator responsible
for controlling and stabilising

the reactor that night was...

..all of 25 years old.

And his total experience
on the job: four months.

This is the human problem
created by the delay.

But inside the reactor core,

in the space between
the atoms themselves,

something far more dangerous
is forming: a poison.

The time is 28-past midnight.

Comrade Legasov.

I'm pleased to see
some of my colleagues here

from the Kurchatov Institute
and Minenergo.

But you don't need to be
a nuclear scientist

to understand what happened
at Chernobyl.

You only need to know this:

there are essentially
two things that happen

inside a nuclear reactor.

The reactivity,
which generates power,

either goes up or it goes down.

That's it.

All the operators do
is maintain balance.

Uranium fuel.

As uranium atoms split apart
and collide, reactivity goes up.

If you don't balance
the reactivity,

it never stops rising.

So...

..boron control rods.

They reduce reactivity,
like brakes on a car.

But there's a third factor
to consider: water.

Cool water takes heat
out of the system.

As it does, it turns to steam,
or what we call a void.

In an RBMK reactor of the type
used at Chernobyl,

there's something called
a "positive void coefficient".

What does that mean?

It means that the more steam
present within the system,

the higher the reactivity,

which means more heat,

which means more steam,
which means...

It would appear we have
a vicious cycle on our hands.

And we would,
were it not for this...

And we would,
were it not for this:

the negative temperature
coefficient.

When nuclear fuel gets hotter,
it gets less reactive.

So...

..fuel increases reactivity.

Control rods and water
reduce it.

Steam increases it.

The rise in temperature
reduces it.

This is the invisible dance
that powers entire cities

without smoke or flame.

And... it is beautiful...

..when things are normal.

As uranium splits apart
to release energy,

it breaks down into
a new element, xenon.

Xenon reduces reactivity.

This is the poison
Comrade Khomyuk mentioned.

When the core is running
at full power,

it burns the xenon away
before it can cause a problem.

But, because of the delay,
Chernobyl Reactor 4

has been held at half power
for ten hours.

The xenon did not burn away.

It built up, poisoning the core.

We're starting to lose balance.

At 28 minutes past midnight,

the reactor is now
primed to slow down.

And yet, in less than an hour,
it will explode.

If you can't understand
how a stalled nuclear reactor

could lead to an explosion,
I don't blame you.

After all, you don't work in

the control room
of a nuclear power plant.

But, as it turned out,

the men who did
didn't understand it either.

Easy now.

Take it down.
Good.

- Like that.
- You should've finished by now.

We're following protocol
for reduction rate.

You're procrastinating!

Ten other men in this plant
would've done it already.

Keep working.
You're doing fine.

Kirschenbaum, come get me
when these old women are ready.

Yes, Comrade Dyatlov.

OK, very slow now.

Let's... ease it down to 700.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow.

I-I didn't move any rods there.

- What is this?
- I'm not even touching it.

We did everything right.
Maybe the core is poisoned.

If so, then
you didn't do everything right.

Because you're choking
my reactor! Get it back up!

I think if we turn off LAC,

it may be possible
to get more control.

Do it. Go.

Switch off local automatic
control, go to global.

Leonid.

LAC disabled,
Global control activated.

What did you do?

I-I did what you said,
I switched...

- Look at it!
- I don't understand.

Fucking amateurs,
you stalled the reactor.

- How did you get this job?
- Comrade Dyatlov...

You're gonna tell me you
did everything right again,

you incompetent arsehole?

I apologise for
this unsatisfactory result.

What are you doing?

We have to shut
all the way down.

- No.
- We could be in a xenon pit.

We have to shut down,
wait 24 hours.

Test's tonight.
Raise power to 700.

We can't raise the power
from here - the rules.

- Don't talk about rules.
- If we fall from 80%...

No, no,
we fell from 50% of power.

The rules don't say 50.
There is no rule!

Comrade Dyatlov...

I apologise, but what you're
saying makes no sense.

- Raise the power.
- No.

I won't do it. It isn't safe.

Safety first. Always.

I've been saying that
for 25 years.

That's how long I've done
this job. 25 years.

Is that longer than you, Akimov?

- Yes.
- Is it much longer?

Yes.

And you, with your mother's tit
barely out your mouth?

If I say it's safe, it's safe.

If the two of you disagree,

you don't have to work here,
and you won't.

But not just here.
You won't work at Kursk,

or Ignalina, or Leningrad,
or Novovoronezh.

You won't work anywhere
ever again. I'll see to it.

I think you know
I will see to it.

Raise the power.

I would like you to record
your command in...

Raise the power.

Together, then.

I wasn't even there.

What?

I wasn't in the room
when they raised the power.

If you weren't there,
then where were you?

Comrade Legasov, you are
a witness, not a prosecutor.

I will ask the questions here.

If you weren't in the room,
then where were you?

The toilet.

The toilet?

Khomyuk interviewed everyone
who was in the control room.

They all told the same story.

"I knew what Dyatlov ordered
was wrong.

But if I didn't do what he said,
I would be fired."

Leonid Toptunov,
one day before he died.

No, Comrade Dyatlov,
you were in the room.

You ordered them to raise
the power. This is a fact.

The court is now in recess
for 30 minutes.

Do you know anything
about this town, Chernobyl?

Not really, no.

It was mostly Jews and Poles.

The Jews were killed in pogroms
and Stalin forced the Poles out.

And then the Nazis came
and killed whoever was left.

But after the war...

..people came to
live here anyway.

They knew the ground under
their feet was soaked in blood,

but they didn't care.

Dead Jews, dead Poles...

..but not them.

No-one ever thinks
it's going to happen to them.

And here we are.

How much time?

Maybe a year.

They call it a...

They call it a long illness. It
doesn't seem very long to me.

I know you told me,
and I believed you.

But time passed and I thought
it wouldn't happen to me.

I wasted it.

I wasted it all for nothing.

For nothing?

Do you remember that morning
when I first called you,

how unconcerned I was?

I don't believe much
that comes out of the Kremlin,

but when they told me

they were putting me
in charge of the clean-up,

and they said it wasn't serious,
I believed them.

You know why?

Because they put you in charge.

Yeah.

I'm an inconsequential man,
Valery.

That's all I've ever been.

I hoped that one day
I would matter, but I didn't.

I just stood next to people
who did.

There are other scientists
like me.

Any one of them
could have done what I did.

But you...

Everything we asked for,
everything we needed...

..men, material, lunar rovers...

..who else could have done
these things?

They heard me,
but they listened to you.

Of all the ministers
and all the deputies,

the entire congregation
of obedient fools,

they mistakenly sent
the one good man.

For God's sake, Boris...

..you were the one
who mattered most.

Ah, it's beautiful.

Comrade Legasov.

The time is 38-past midnight.

The reactor is nearly shut down.

The operators of Reactor 4
are locked on a path

that leads directly to disaster.

There's no way to turn back.

They do not yet know it,
but the die is cast.

At 30 megawatts,
xenon is still being created,

but none of it is burning away.

The reactor is
drowning in poison.

To make matters worse,

the reactor isn't hot enough
to produce sufficient steam.

The only way to safely
raise power from this state

is to do it very, very slowly,

over the course of 24 hours.

But Dyatlov wants it done now.

Akimov and Toptunov have
only one course of action:

they begin pulling control rods
out, dozens at a time.

Halfway out, three-quarters
of the way out.

Still, the power does not budge.

So, they begin pulling them
all the way out.

There were 211 control rods
in Reactor4.

Akimov and Toptunov
completely withdrew 205.

Remember, control rods
are the brakes on this car.

Of 211 rods...

..only six now remain
in the reactor.

As for the fuel, it's gone cold,

so the negative temperature
coefficient

is no longer weighing down
the reactivity.

But even still, the xenon
poisoning is so strong,

the best they can do is raise
the power to 200 megawatts.

The control rods are out,

the emergency system
has been disconnected.

The only thing keeping
the reactor in check

is water and xenon.

It's one in the morning,
the test is minutes away.

I'm sorry, this is all we can
get. It's 200 megawatts.

We've pulled
almost everything out.

If that's all we have,
that's all we have.

But the test requires 700.

Stolyarchuk, let's get ready.
Switch on pump four.

- Wait a second.
- Stolyarchuk.

We haven't enough steam,
the turbine is too slow

for the test to deliver valid...

- It's enough.
- And if we add more water...

I said it's enough. I know
what I'm doing. Stolyarchuk.

Main pump four connected.

We should warn Khodemchuk
the pipes are gonna be...

Never mind him. Kirschenbaum.

The steam in the separator drum
is too low: five atmospheres.

All right, let's all help him.
Get it up as best you can.

- We should stop.
- Turn that fucking thing off.

You have 15 minutes.

15 minutes.

They may as well
have had 15 days.

The problem they were facing
was not solvable:

the power was too low,
the water was too high.

The test was already ruined. The
results would've been useless.

But Dyatlov didn't care.

All he wanted to do
was report a completed test.

1:22 am.
Less than two minutes remain.

Yuvchenko, a mechanical
engineer, is in his office.

Perevozchenko,
reactor section foreman,

is in the refuelling hall,

high above the 1,000-tonne
steel reactor cover.

Degtaryenko, Khodemchuk,
circulation operators,

are in the pump room.

None of them have been told
about the test.

None of them know
what is about to happen.

At 1:22 and 30 seconds

Toptunov sees a report from the
reactor's SKALA computer system.

Based on the absence
of sufficient control rods,

the computer is recommending
that the reactor be shut down.

Of course it's saying that.

It doesn't know
we're running a test.

All right, comrades.

Another few minutes,
it'll all be over.

Kirschenbaum,
when you're ready.

We did everything right.

Oscillograph on.

Closing No.8 throttle valve.

Generator rotor
beginning rundown.

1:23 and four seconds.

With every decision,

they have pulled this reactor
back like a slingshot,

further than anyone
has ever pulled.

Now the test begins.

The pumps are shut down
and they've let go.

The pumps stop moving water
through the reactor.

The uranium fuel is now
unchecked by fresh coolant,

unchecked by control rods.

The balance immediately swings
in the opposite direction.

In less than a second,
reactivity increases.

Inside the core,
the remaining water

is quickly converting to steam.

A void is being created.

There is no fresh water
to replace it.

Steam increases reactivity,

increases heat,

increases steam,

increases reactivity.

The remaining xenon decays away.

The power is rising.

There's nothing left to stop it.

1:23 and 35 seconds.

We... We have a power surge.
Sasha!

What did you do?

1:23 and 40 seconds.

In every control room of every
nuclear reactor in the world,

there is a button
with one single purpose.

The SCRAM will instantly
shut down the reaction.

In Soviet reactors,
that button is called AZ-5.

You press AZ-5, all of the
control rods insert at once

and the reaction is...
stopped dead.

But...

What are you waiting for,
Legasov?

Tell your lies.

Comrade Dyatlov, you will
not be warned again.

- Or what?
- For God's sake...

- Comrade Dyatlov, enough.
- Legasov's given it away.

Comrade Dyatlov.

..there was no way to avoid what
was coming. He knows something.

- Comrade Dyatlov.
- She knows something!

I know what you are, Valery
Alexeyevich. You're a liar.

We've heard enough for today.

The defendants
will be remanded in custody.

- Court will...
- I-I haven't finished.

I still have
more evidence to give.

It's not necessary.
Your testimony is concluded.

- Your Honour.
- Court is now adjourned.

- We'll resume tomorrow with...
- Let him finish!

Comrade Shcherbina.

Let him finish.

Dyatlov broke every rule
we have.

He pushed a reactor
to the brink of destruction.

He did these things,
believing there was a failsafe.

AZ-5: a simple button
to shut it all down.

But in the circumstances
he created, there wasn't.

The shutdown system
had a fatal flaw.

At 1:23:40,

Akimov engages AZ-5.

The fully-withdrawn control rods

begin moving back
into the reactor.

These rods are made of boron,
which reduces reactivity.

But not the tips.

The tips are made of graphite,
which accelerates reactivity.

Why?

Why?

For the same reason
our reactors do not have

containment buildings
around them,

like those in the West.

For the same reason we don't use

properly-enriched fuel
in our cores.

For the same reason
we are the only nation

that builds water-cooled
graphite-moderated reactors

with a positive void
coefficient.

It's cheaper.

The first part of the
rods that enter the core

are the graphite tips,

and when they do,

the reaction in the core, which
had been rising, skyrockets.

Every last molecule
of liquid water

instantly converts to steam,

which expands and ruptures
a series of fuel rod channels.

The control rods in those
channels can move no further.

The graphite tips
are fixed in position,

endlessly accelerating
the reaction.

Chernobyl Reactor 4
is now a nuclear bomb.

1:23:42.
Perevozchenko looks down

on the enormous steel lid
of the reactor

and sees the impossible.

The control rod
and fuel channel caps,

which each weigh 350kg,
are jumping up and down.

He runs to warn
the control room.

But there's nothing he can do
to stop what is coming.

1:23 and 44 seconds.

The steam blows
more fuel channels apart.

We do not know
how high the power went.

We only know the final reading.

Reactor 4, designed to operate
at 3200 megawatts,

went beyond 33,000.

The pressure inside the core
can no longer be held back.

At long last, we have arrived:
1:23:45...

Explosion.

In the instant the lid
is thrown off the reactor,

oxygen rushes in.

It combines with hydrogen
and superheated graphite.

The chain of disaster
is now complete.

Comrade Dyatlov!

Comrade Dyatlov!

No-one in the room that night
knew the shutdown button

could act as a detonator.

They didn't know it.

Because it was kept from them.

Comrade Legasov,
you are contradicting

your own testimony in Vienna.

My testimony in Vienna
was a lie.

I lied to the world.

I'm not the only one who kept
the secrets. There are many.

We were following orders.

From the KGB,
from the Central Committee.

And right now, there are
16 reactors in the Soviet Union

with the same fatal flaw.

Three of them are still running,

less than 20km away,
at Chernobyl!

Professor Legasov,
if you mean to suggest

the Soviet state is somehow
responsible for what happened,

then I must warn you, you are
treading on dangerous ground.

I've already trod
on dangerous ground.

We're on dangerous ground
right now,

because of our secrets
and our lies!

They are practically
what define us.

When the truth offends, we...
we lie and lie,

until we can no longer remember
it is even there,

but it is still there.

Every lie we tell
incurs a debt to the truth.

Sooner or later,
that debt is paid.

That is how...

an RBMK reactor core explodes.

Lies.

Valery Alexeyevich Legasov.

Son of Alexei Legasov,

Head of Ideological Compliance,
Central Committee.

Do you know
what your father did there?

Yes.

As a student, you had
a leadership position

in Komsomol.

Communist Youth, correct?

- You already know...
- Answer the question.

Yes.

At the Kurchatov Institute,

you were
the Communist Party secretary.

In that position,
you limited the promotion

of Jewish scientists.

Yes.

To curry favour
with Kremlin officials.

You're one of us, Legasov.

I can do anything
I want with you.

But what I want the most
is for you to know that I know.

You're not brave.

You're not heroic.

You're just a dying man
who forgot himself.

I know who I am.

And I know what I've done.

In a just world, I'd be shot
for my lies, but not for this.

Not for the truth.

Scientists...

and your idiot obsession
with reasons.

When the bullet hits your skull,
what will it matter why?

No-one's getting shot, Legasov.

The whole world
saw you in Vienna.

It would be embarrassing
to kill you now.

And for what?

Your testimony today will not
be accepted by the state.

It will not be disseminated
in the press.

It never happened.

No. You will live,
however long you have,

but not as a scientist.

Not any more.

You'll keep your title
and your office,

but no duties, no authority,
no friends.

No-one will talk to you.

No-one will listen to you.

Other men...

lesser men will receive credit
for the things you have done.

Your legacy is now their legacy.

You will live long enough
to see that.

What role
did Shcherbina play in this?

None.

He didn't know
what I was gonna say.

What role did Khomyuk
play in this?

None.
She didn't know, either.

After all you've said
and done today,

it would be... curious
if you chose this moment to lie.

I would think a man
of your experience

would know a lie
when he hears one.

You will not meet or communicate

with either one of them
ever again.

You will not communicate
with anyone

about Chernobyl ever again.

You will remain so immaterial
to the world around you

that when you finally do die...

it will be exceedingly hard to
know that you ever lived at all.

And if I refuse?

Why worry about something
that isn't going to happen?

"Why worry about something
that isn't going to happen?"

Oh, that's perfect.

They should put that
on our money.

To be a scientist
is to be naive.

We are so focused
on our search for truth,

we fail to consider how few
actually want us to find it.

But it is always there,
whether we see it or not,

whether we choose to or not.

The truth doesn't care about
our needs or wants.

It doesn't care about
our governments,

our ideologies, our religions.

It will lie in wait
for all time.

And this, at last,
is the gift of Chernobyl.

Where I once would fear the cost
of truth, now I only ask:

What is the cost of lies?