1 00:00:06,301 --> 00:00:11,384 Congratulations, comrades. You're the last of 3,828 men. 2 00:00:14,092 --> 00:00:16,343 I found this in the state archive. 3 00:00:16,426 --> 00:00:17,426 I need your help. 4 00:00:17,635 --> 00:00:20,051 Can you confirm that the reactor exploded 5 00:00:20,134 --> 00:00:22,217 after they attempted to shut it down? 6 00:00:22,301 --> 00:00:23,569 What, you think the right question 7 00:00:23,593 --> 00:00:24,801 will get you the truth? 8 00:00:25,926 --> 00:00:28,046 They're going to put Dyatlov on trial. 9 00:00:28,092 --> 00:00:31,051 We're going to be asked to give expert testimony. 10 00:00:31,259 --> 00:00:32,718 I've analyzed the data. 11 00:00:32,926 --> 00:00:35,760 They shut the reactor down, and then it exploded. 12 00:00:36,760 --> 00:00:37,885 You've seen this before. 13 00:00:37,967 --> 00:00:40,051 I had no idea it could cause an explosion. 14 00:00:40,134 --> 00:00:42,027 - So, it is their fault? - Yes. 15 00:00:42,051 --> 00:00:43,235 But not only their fault. 16 00:00:43,259 --> 00:00:44,943 We can make a deal with the KGB. 17 00:00:44,967 --> 00:00:46,843 You'll leave this information out in Vienna. 18 00:00:46,926 --> 00:00:49,676 They quietly let us fix the remaining reactors. 19 00:00:49,760 --> 00:00:51,926 You have a chance to talk to the world. 20 00:00:52,426 --> 00:00:54,259 Someone has to start telling the truth. 21 00:03:29,051 --> 00:03:32,176 I hear they might promote Bryukhanov. 22 00:03:32,259 --> 00:03:36,259 This little problem we have with the safety test... 23 00:03:36,343 --> 00:03:40,092 if it's completed successfully, 24 00:03:40,176 --> 00:03:43,926 yes, I think promotion's very likely. 25 00:03:44,009 --> 00:03:46,176 Who knows, maybe Moscow. 26 00:03:48,009 --> 00:03:50,384 Naturally, they'll put me in charge once he's gone, 27 00:03:50,468 --> 00:03:53,509 and then I'll need someone to take my old job. 28 00:03:55,301 --> 00:03:57,593 I could pick Sitnikov. 29 00:04:06,301 --> 00:04:08,468 I would like to be considered. 30 00:04:11,593 --> 00:04:13,176 I'll keep that in mind. 31 00:04:15,009 --> 00:04:16,551 Viktor Petrovich, 32 00:04:16,635 --> 00:04:18,885 preparations for the test have gone smoothly. 33 00:04:18,967 --> 00:04:22,217 Comrade Dyatlov's been working per my instructions, 34 00:04:22,301 --> 00:04:26,551 and Reactor 4 output's been reduced to 1600 megawatts. 35 00:04:26,635 --> 00:04:30,134 With your approval, we're ready to continue lowering power to... 36 00:04:30,217 --> 00:04:32,009 We have to wait. 37 00:04:33,092 --> 00:04:34,426 Is, uh...? 38 00:04:34,509 --> 00:04:37,426 Are you going to ask me if there's a problem, Nikolai? 39 00:04:37,509 --> 00:04:39,760 You can't read a fucking face? 40 00:04:39,843 --> 00:04:42,384 Three years, I've tried to finish this test. 41 00:04:42,468 --> 00:04:44,009 Three years. 42 00:04:50,843 --> 00:04:53,092 I've just had a call from the grid controller in Kiev. 43 00:04:53,176 --> 00:04:55,426 He says we can't lower power any further, 44 00:04:55,509 --> 00:04:56,676 not for another ten hours. 45 00:04:56,760 --> 00:04:58,551 The grid controller? Where does he get off... 46 00:04:58,635 --> 00:05:02,551 It's not the grid controller's decision, Dyatlov. 47 00:05:02,635 --> 00:05:04,676 It's the end of the month. 48 00:05:04,760 --> 00:05:07,384 All the productivity quotas. 49 00:05:07,468 --> 00:05:10,217 Everyone's working overtime, the factories need power. 50 00:05:10,301 --> 00:05:12,176 Someone's pushing down from above. 51 00:05:12,259 --> 00:05:14,843 Although, we'll never know who. 52 00:05:22,384 --> 00:05:24,676 So, do we have to scrap it or what? 53 00:05:24,760 --> 00:05:27,134 No, I don't think so. 54 00:05:27,217 --> 00:05:29,134 If we need to wait ten hours, 55 00:05:29,217 --> 00:05:30,843 - we wait - Running at half power, 56 00:05:30,926 --> 00:05:33,217 we're not going to have stability issues? 57 00:05:33,301 --> 00:05:36,551 - No, I-I should think... - I'm not asking you. 58 00:05:39,176 --> 00:05:40,509 It's safe. 59 00:05:40,593 --> 00:05:42,134 We'll maintain at 1600. 60 00:05:42,217 --> 00:05:44,801 I'll go home, get some sleep, come back tonight. 61 00:05:44,885 --> 00:05:46,843 We'll proceed then. 62 00:05:46,926 --> 00:05:49,217 I'll personally supervise the test. 63 00:05:49,301 --> 00:05:51,801 And it will be completed. 64 00:05:55,468 --> 00:05:58,217 Well, I'm not waiting around then. 65 00:05:58,301 --> 00:05:59,801 Call me when it's done. 66 00:07:37,259 --> 00:07:38,843 How do you feel? 67 00:07:40,676 --> 00:07:42,134 You went to the doctor yesterday. 68 00:07:42,217 --> 00:07:44,343 How is your health? 69 00:07:44,426 --> 00:07:46,635 You don't know? 70 00:07:47,760 --> 00:07:49,301 From Vienna. 71 00:07:49,384 --> 00:07:50,926 Do you read German? 72 00:07:52,426 --> 00:07:57,926 It says, "At last a Soviet scientist who tells the truth." 73 00:07:58,009 --> 00:07:59,843 Obviously, I resent the insinuation, 74 00:07:59,926 --> 00:08:03,551 but I think it's fair to say, you made an excellent impression at the conference. 75 00:08:03,635 --> 00:08:06,635 Turns out, you're quite good at this. 76 00:08:06,718 --> 00:08:08,593 At what? Lying? 77 00:08:08,676 --> 00:08:11,676 Statecraft, Legasov. Statecraft. 78 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:14,176 The West is now satisfied 79 00:08:14,259 --> 00:08:17,217 that Chernobyl was solely the result of operator error, 80 00:08:17,301 --> 00:08:19,301 which it essentially was. 81 00:08:19,384 --> 00:08:21,301 We have you to thank for that, 82 00:08:21,384 --> 00:08:23,051 and we intend to. 83 00:08:27,092 --> 00:08:29,551 "Hero of the Soviet Union." 84 00:08:29,635 --> 00:08:31,676 Our highest honor. 85 00:08:31,760 --> 00:08:34,509 They haven't even given it to me. 86 00:08:34,593 --> 00:08:38,593 "Promotion to Director of the Kurchatov Institute." 87 00:08:41,051 --> 00:08:42,635 I'm humbled. 88 00:08:42,718 --> 00:08:47,259 I don't think there's anything humble about you, Valery Alexeyevich. 89 00:08:47,343 --> 00:08:49,801 These rewards are not yours yet. 90 00:08:49,885 --> 00:08:51,635 First, your testimony at the trial. 91 00:08:51,718 --> 00:08:56,885 Comrade Charkov, I understand my duty to the State. 92 00:08:56,967 --> 00:08:59,635 But you gave us assurances. 93 00:08:59,718 --> 00:09:02,134 The reactors would be made safe. 94 00:09:02,217 --> 00:09:04,635 It's been months, no changes have been made. 95 00:09:04,718 --> 00:09:08,384 - No changes even discussed. - First, the trial. 96 00:09:09,593 --> 00:09:11,926 Once it's over, we will have our villains, 97 00:09:12,009 --> 00:09:16,051 we will have our hero, we will have our truth. 98 00:09:16,134 --> 00:09:19,676 After that, we can deal with the reactors. 99 00:10:44,176 --> 00:10:46,092 Did you take a train? 100 00:10:46,176 --> 00:10:48,926 Yes, I took a train. 101 00:10:49,009 --> 00:10:51,843 Now let's talk about Vienna. 102 00:10:51,926 --> 00:10:53,967 I'm not here to scold you. 103 00:10:54,051 --> 00:10:57,718 I know how the world works despite what Shcherbina says. 104 00:10:58,926 --> 00:11:02,301 So... why are you here? 105 00:11:02,384 --> 00:11:05,301 Because I'm brutally stubborn. 106 00:11:05,384 --> 00:11:07,593 Which you were hoping for. 107 00:11:11,384 --> 00:11:15,801 Charkov is saying they're going to fix the reactors after the trial. 108 00:11:17,426 --> 00:11:18,926 Do you believe him? 109 00:11:21,967 --> 00:11:24,009 The State will never willingly fix the reactors, 110 00:11:24,092 --> 00:11:27,718 because acknowledging the problem means admitting that they lied. 111 00:11:27,801 --> 00:11:29,718 They will have to be forced. 112 00:11:36,718 --> 00:11:40,426 At the trial, you're going to tell the truth. 113 00:11:41,760 --> 00:11:43,885 You're going to convince the jury. 114 00:11:43,967 --> 00:11:46,217 It's a show trial. 115 00:11:46,301 --> 00:11:50,426 - The jury's already been handed their verdict. - I'm not talking about them. 116 00:11:52,092 --> 00:11:53,801 The Central Committee have invited 117 00:11:53,885 --> 00:11:57,509 members of the scientific community to observe the trial. 118 00:11:57,593 --> 00:12:01,259 Our colleagues, from Kurchatov, 119 00:12:01,343 --> 00:12:03,384 from Sredmash, from Minenergo, 120 00:12:03,468 --> 00:12:07,176 they will be sitting in the crowd listening to every word you say. 121 00:12:07,259 --> 00:12:09,343 A jury that only we know is there. 122 00:12:09,426 --> 00:12:13,509 And when your testimony arrives at the moment of the explosion? 123 00:12:15,134 --> 00:12:18,635 That is when our jury will finally hear the truth. 124 00:12:18,718 --> 00:12:21,509 - And do what with it? - Insist on reform. 125 00:12:23,176 --> 00:12:26,718 - Not just to the RBMK, but the entire industry. - No, no, no, no, no. 126 00:12:26,801 --> 00:12:29,217 - They can't function without us. - No, no, no. 127 00:12:29,301 --> 00:12:31,509 Do you know what happened to Volkov 128 00:12:31,593 --> 00:12:34,051 the man whose report you found? 129 00:12:34,134 --> 00:12:38,843 They just removed him from his position at the Institute. 130 00:12:38,926 --> 00:12:42,051 Sacked for the crime of knowing. 131 00:12:42,134 --> 00:12:44,426 And you think that these scientists, 132 00:12:44,509 --> 00:12:47,259 handpicked to witness a show trial, 133 00:12:47,343 --> 00:12:50,967 will somehow be stirred into action by me? 134 00:12:51,051 --> 00:12:55,092 Because of some heroic stance I take in defiance of the State? 135 00:12:55,176 --> 00:12:57,051 - Yes. - Why? 136 00:12:57,134 --> 00:13:01,092 Because you're Valery Legasov, and you mean something. 137 00:13:02,051 --> 00:13:05,843 I'd like to think that if I spoke out, it would be enough. 138 00:13:07,009 --> 00:13:09,509 But I know how the world works. 139 00:13:12,217 --> 00:13:15,468 They will shoot me, Khomyuk. 140 00:13:18,343 --> 00:13:21,551 You told me to find out what happened. 141 00:13:21,635 --> 00:13:23,760 I spoke to dozens of people. 142 00:13:23,843 --> 00:13:28,384 Every word they said, I wrote down. 143 00:13:28,468 --> 00:13:30,801 All in these books. 144 00:13:30,885 --> 00:13:32,551 These are the ones who are still alive. 145 00:13:32,635 --> 00:13:34,301 These are the ones who are dead. 146 00:13:34,384 --> 00:13:35,967 They died rescuing each other. 147 00:13:36,051 --> 00:13:39,259 Putting out fires, tending to the wounded. 148 00:13:39,343 --> 00:13:41,134 They didn't hesitate, they didn't waiver. 149 00:13:41,217 --> 00:13:43,384 They simply did what had to be done. 150 00:13:43,468 --> 00:13:45,718 So have I. 151 00:13:45,801 --> 00:13:47,635 So have I. 152 00:13:47,718 --> 00:13:50,635 I went willingly to an open reactor. 153 00:13:50,718 --> 00:13:54,009 So I've already given my life. 154 00:13:54,092 --> 00:13:56,217 Isn't that enough? 155 00:13:57,718 --> 00:14:00,885 No, I'm sorry, but it is not. 156 00:15:09,343 --> 00:15:12,259 The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union 157 00:15:12,343 --> 00:15:15,343 and the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. 158 00:15:15,426 --> 00:15:17,343 has determined that justice be carried out 159 00:15:17,426 --> 00:15:18,843 on behalf of the People 160 00:15:18,926 --> 00:15:21,426 in accordance with the general goal of our Party 161 00:15:21,509 --> 00:15:25,217 as determined by its 20th, 21st, and 22nd Congresses, 162 00:15:25,301 --> 00:15:27,217 which is a Leninist goal. 163 00:15:27,301 --> 00:15:28,509 It was, is, and will be 164 00:15:28,593 --> 00:15:31,259 the only immutable goal in the Soviet state. 165 00:15:31,343 --> 00:15:32,635 The path of Leninist principles 166 00:15:32,718 --> 00:15:35,426 shall be consistently and undeviatingly followed 167 00:15:35,509 --> 00:15:38,760 as it expresses the vital interests of the Soviet People, 168 00:15:38,843 --> 00:15:40,092 its hopes and aspirations 169 00:15:40,176 --> 00:15:42,343 as we guide the life of the Party and the State. 170 00:15:42,426 --> 00:15:44,635 This session of court is now open, 171 00:15:44,718 --> 00:15:47,843 Comrade Judge Milan Kadnikov presiding. 172 00:15:49,343 --> 00:15:50,509 Indictments: 173 00:15:50,593 --> 00:15:52,635 Viktor Bryukhanov, 174 00:15:52,718 --> 00:15:54,926 Anatoly Dyatlov, 175 00:15:55,009 --> 00:15:56,926 Nikolai Fomin... 176 00:15:57,009 --> 00:15:59,967 are accused of violating Article 220 Section 2 177 00:16:00,051 --> 00:16:02,092 of the Criminal Code of the Soviet Union, 178 00:16:02,176 --> 00:16:07,217 resulting in a nuclear disaster on April 26, 1986. 179 00:16:07,301 --> 00:16:09,801 The State calls witnesses Comrade Khomyuk 180 00:16:09,885 --> 00:16:12,259 of the Byelorussian Nuclear Institute, 181 00:16:12,343 --> 00:16:16,426 Comrade Legasov of the Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy, 182 00:16:16,509 --> 00:16:21,092 and Comrade Boris Evdokimovich Shcherbina, 183 00:16:21,176 --> 00:16:23,593 Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers 184 00:16:23,676 --> 00:16:27,217 and head of the Bureau for Fuel and Energy. 185 00:17:01,092 --> 00:17:06,676 It began with, of all things, a safety test. 186 00:17:06,760 --> 00:17:09,676 Why was there need for a safety test at all? 187 00:17:09,760 --> 00:17:14,009 Reactor Number 4 was not new when the accident occurred. 188 00:17:14,092 --> 00:17:19,635 In fact, it went into operation on December 20th, 1983. 189 00:17:19,718 --> 00:17:23,676 Eleven days later, on the last day of the year, 190 00:17:23,760 --> 00:17:28,509 Plant Director Viktor Bryukhanov signed this document... 191 00:17:28,593 --> 00:17:34,926 certifying the completion of the construction of the reactor. 192 00:17:36,593 --> 00:17:40,967 As a result of finishing the work before the end of the year, 193 00:17:41,051 --> 00:17:44,801 Comrade Bryukhanov was awarded Hero of Socialist Labor. 194 00:17:44,885 --> 00:17:49,551 Comrade Fomin was awarded for Valorous Labor. 195 00:17:49,635 --> 00:17:54,301 Comrade Dyatlov was given an Order of the Red Banner. 196 00:17:56,217 --> 00:17:58,843 But their work was not finished. 197 00:18:00,384 --> 00:18:04,593 And this document was a lie. 198 00:18:04,676 --> 00:18:07,551 In order to sign this certificate, 199 00:18:07,635 --> 00:18:12,009 all safety tests had to have been successfully completed, 200 00:18:12,092 --> 00:18:15,217 and yet, one remained. 201 00:18:17,259 --> 00:18:22,426 A nuclear reactor generates heat in the core here. 202 00:18:22,509 --> 00:18:24,718 A series of pumps, here and here, 203 00:18:24,801 --> 00:18:28,259 send a constant flow of cooling water through the core. 204 00:18:28,343 --> 00:18:30,801 The core's heat turns the water to steam, 205 00:18:30,885 --> 00:18:33,259 and the steam spins the turbine here, 206 00:18:33,343 --> 00:18:35,635 and the result is electricity. 207 00:18:35,718 --> 00:18:39,468 But what if a power plant has no power? 208 00:18:40,343 --> 00:18:43,926 What if the power feeding the plant itself is disrupted? 209 00:18:44,009 --> 00:18:46,551 A blackout, equipment failure, 210 00:18:46,635 --> 00:18:49,426 or an attack by a foreign enemy? 211 00:18:49,509 --> 00:18:51,301 If there's no power, 212 00:18:51,384 --> 00:18:54,259 the pumps cannot move water through the core. 213 00:18:54,343 --> 00:18:57,134 And without water, the core overheats, 214 00:18:57,217 --> 00:18:58,718 the fuel melts down. 215 00:18:58,801 --> 00:19:01,217 In short, a nuclear disaster. 216 00:19:01,301 --> 00:19:02,967 The solution? 217 00:19:03,051 --> 00:19:06,967 Three diesel fuel backup generators here. 218 00:19:07,051 --> 00:19:09,301 So, problem solved? 219 00:19:09,384 --> 00:19:11,009 No. 220 00:19:11,092 --> 00:19:13,635 Bryukhanov knew that the problem was not solved at all. 221 00:19:13,718 --> 00:19:17,134 The backup generators took approximately one minute 222 00:19:17,217 --> 00:19:19,509 to reach the speed required 223 00:19:19,593 --> 00:19:21,635 to power the pumps and prevent a meltdown, 224 00:19:21,718 --> 00:19:26,259 and by that time, it would be too late. 225 00:19:26,343 --> 00:19:28,718 So we arrive at the safety test. 226 00:19:30,426 --> 00:19:34,051 If the facility lost power, 227 00:19:34,134 --> 00:19:35,967 the turbine, which had been spinning, 228 00:19:36,051 --> 00:19:38,760 would take some time to slow down and stop. 229 00:19:38,843 --> 00:19:41,217 What if you could take the electricity 230 00:19:41,301 --> 00:19:44,509 it was still generating and transfer it to the pumps? 231 00:19:44,593 --> 00:19:46,176 What if the dying turbine 232 00:19:46,259 --> 00:19:48,384 could keep the pumps working long enough 233 00:19:48,468 --> 00:19:52,926 to bridge the 60-second gap until the generators came on? 234 00:19:57,801 --> 00:19:59,259 Any questions? 235 00:20:00,718 --> 00:20:04,134 No. Continue, please. 236 00:20:05,760 --> 00:20:07,967 To test this theory, 237 00:20:08,051 --> 00:20:11,009 the reactor is placed in a reduced power mode... 238 00:20:11,092 --> 00:20:12,676 700 megawatts... 239 00:20:12,760 --> 00:20:15,343 to simulate a blackout condition. 240 00:20:15,426 --> 00:20:17,343 Then the turbines are turned off, 241 00:20:17,426 --> 00:20:19,426 and as they slowly spin down, 242 00:20:19,509 --> 00:20:21,301 their electrical output is measured 243 00:20:21,384 --> 00:20:25,051 to see if it's enough to power the pumps. 244 00:20:25,134 --> 00:20:27,384 The science is strong, 245 00:20:27,468 --> 00:20:32,509 but a test is only as good as the men carrying it out. 246 00:20:33,801 --> 00:20:37,217 Now, the first time they tried, they failed. 247 00:20:37,301 --> 00:20:40,051 The second time they tried, they failed. 248 00:20:40,134 --> 00:20:42,801 The third time they tried, they failed. 249 00:20:42,885 --> 00:20:45,885 The fourth time they tried 250 00:20:45,967 --> 00:20:50,134 was April 26th, 1986. 251 00:21:01,843 --> 00:21:03,843 Comrade Khomyuk. 252 00:21:27,509 --> 00:21:29,259 To understand what happened that night, 253 00:21:29,343 --> 00:21:31,343 we have to go back ten hours earlier... 254 00:21:31,426 --> 00:21:34,926 April 25th, the day the test was meant to take place. 255 00:21:35,009 --> 00:21:36,259 By two in the afternoon, 256 00:21:36,343 --> 00:21:38,384 the reactor has been lowered by half 257 00:21:38,468 --> 00:21:41,635 from its normal output level of 3200 megawatts 258 00:21:41,718 --> 00:21:43,926 to 1600 megawatts and is stable 259 00:21:44,009 --> 00:21:47,134 and ready to be reduced to its final output level for the test: 260 00:21:47,217 --> 00:21:49,134 700 megawatts. 261 00:21:49,217 --> 00:21:53,176 But before they can proceed, there is a phone call. 262 00:21:54,217 --> 00:21:57,217 Power grid officials in Kiev say that they cannot afford 263 00:21:57,301 --> 00:22:00,676 a further reduction in the electricity until after midnight. 264 00:22:00,760 --> 00:22:03,384 They are asking for a ten-hour delay. 265 00:22:04,426 --> 00:22:06,301 This is the first critical moment, 266 00:22:06,384 --> 00:22:08,843 the first link in the chain of disaster. 267 00:22:08,926 --> 00:22:13,509 Competent management would have insisted on canceling the test. 268 00:22:13,593 --> 00:22:16,593 These three men allowed it to proceed. 269 00:22:18,301 --> 00:22:20,301 Why was this delay so dangerous? 270 00:22:20,384 --> 00:22:23,051 It created two problems: 271 00:22:23,134 --> 00:22:26,092 One of them is scientific in nature... 272 00:22:27,217 --> 00:22:29,843 and the other is very human. 273 00:22:29,926 --> 00:22:32,051 This is the one we will consider first. 274 00:22:32,967 --> 00:22:37,092 At midnight, there is a shift change. 275 00:22:48,760 --> 00:22:51,343 Hey. 276 00:22:52,092 --> 00:22:54,676 - Khodemchuk... - Forget it. Find another fool. 277 00:22:54,760 --> 00:22:57,718 Toptunov, want to buy a motorcycle? 278 00:22:57,801 --> 00:23:00,176 - Toptunov? - He's just a little boy. 279 00:23:00,259 --> 00:23:02,179 He's got more hair on his face than on his balls. 280 00:23:02,259 --> 00:23:04,551 Hair? Is that what's on his lip? 281 00:23:06,718 --> 00:23:08,217 Leonid Fedorovych. 282 00:23:08,301 --> 00:23:10,885 Akimov says to come to the control room as soon as you can. 283 00:23:10,967 --> 00:23:12,718 - Is he already here? - He came in early. 284 00:23:12,801 --> 00:23:14,801 Something about a test. 285 00:23:15,967 --> 00:23:19,967 You see? Desperate. 286 00:23:27,760 --> 00:23:29,468 Sasha? 287 00:23:30,509 --> 00:23:34,217 Ah. You know the test they were supposed to run? 288 00:23:34,301 --> 00:23:36,885 The turbine rundown, they tried it last year. 289 00:23:36,967 --> 00:23:40,384 They couldn't do it on the day shift, so they've given it to us. 290 00:23:40,468 --> 00:23:41,509 To us? 291 00:23:41,593 --> 00:23:43,176 - We don't know what... - Shh. 292 00:23:44,801 --> 00:23:46,885 We don't know what it is. - It's fine. 293 00:23:46,967 --> 00:23:49,092 We take it down to 700, hold it there, 294 00:23:49,176 --> 00:23:51,926 the rest is Stolyarchuk and Kirschenbaum, but... 295 00:23:52,009 --> 00:23:54,259 Dyatlov is gonna be supervising. 296 00:23:54,343 --> 00:23:56,843 I have to do something I've never done before 297 00:23:56,926 --> 00:23:58,277 with Dyatlov looking over my shoulder? 298 00:23:58,301 --> 00:24:01,176 Yeah, well, don't worry, we'll do it together. 299 00:24:01,259 --> 00:24:03,843 I'm looking at the instructions now. 300 00:24:03,926 --> 00:24:07,468 Are we supposed to do those or not? 301 00:24:15,384 --> 00:24:17,926 Yes, this is Akimov in 4. 302 00:24:18,009 --> 00:24:21,593 I have the manual for the rundown test. 303 00:24:21,676 --> 00:24:24,509 You did it last year. 304 00:24:24,593 --> 00:24:26,967 Yes, in the program there's instructions of what to do, 305 00:24:27,051 --> 00:24:29,509 and then, well, there's a lot of things crossed out. 306 00:24:29,593 --> 00:24:31,051 What should I...? 307 00:24:32,843 --> 00:24:34,718 Well, what should I...? 308 00:24:36,551 --> 00:24:38,092 Are you sure? 309 00:24:38,176 --> 00:24:40,885 Right. Thank you. 310 00:24:42,259 --> 00:24:45,051 He says to follow the crossed-out instructions. 311 00:24:45,134 --> 00:24:47,343 So then why are they crossed out? 312 00:24:53,926 --> 00:24:56,468 We've been cleared to run the test. 313 00:24:56,551 --> 00:24:58,301 1600. Good. 314 00:24:58,384 --> 00:25:01,551 Now, is it too much to ask that you all know what you're doing? 315 00:25:01,635 --> 00:25:03,676 - Well... - Yes. Absolutely. 316 00:25:05,051 --> 00:25:06,468 - Stolyarchuk? - Yes. 317 00:25:06,551 --> 00:25:09,593 - Kirschenbaum? - Uh, I haven't reviewed. 318 00:25:09,676 --> 00:25:11,551 We only just found out really... 319 00:25:11,635 --> 00:25:12,926 There, review it. 320 00:25:13,009 --> 00:25:14,843 Or you can just do what I tell you. 321 00:25:14,926 --> 00:25:17,967 I think even you, stupid as you are, can manage that. 322 00:25:18,885 --> 00:25:20,551 Well, let's go. 323 00:25:23,593 --> 00:25:26,110 I'm supposed to switch the turbine off while the reactor's still running? 324 00:25:26,134 --> 00:25:30,426 - This is not good... - Shut the fuck up and do your job! 325 00:25:31,259 --> 00:25:34,301 Toptunov, reduce power to 700. 326 00:25:36,384 --> 00:25:38,611 I've never done this with the power so low before. 327 00:25:38,635 --> 00:25:40,885 It's okay. I'm with you. 328 00:25:45,926 --> 00:25:47,718 Reducing power to 700. 329 00:25:48,926 --> 00:25:51,468 I want you to think of Yuri Gagarin. 330 00:25:53,384 --> 00:25:55,885 I want you to imagine that he has been told nothing 331 00:25:55,967 --> 00:25:59,718 of his mission into space until the moment that he is on the launch pad. 332 00:25:59,801 --> 00:26:01,885 I want you to imagine that all he has 333 00:26:01,967 --> 00:26:04,676 is a list of instructions that he has never seen before, 334 00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:07,217 some of which have been crossed out. 335 00:26:07,301 --> 00:26:09,217 This is exactly what was happening 336 00:26:09,301 --> 00:26:10,926 in the control room of Reactor 4. 337 00:26:11,009 --> 00:26:14,384 The night shift had not been trained to perform the experiment. 338 00:26:14,468 --> 00:26:17,217 They hadn't even been warned it was happening. 339 00:26:17,301 --> 00:26:19,092 Leonid Toptunov, 340 00:26:19,176 --> 00:26:22,718 the operator responsible for controlling and stabilizing 341 00:26:22,801 --> 00:26:27,967 the reactor that night was... all of 25 years old. 342 00:26:29,217 --> 00:26:32,343 And his total experience on the job? 343 00:26:32,426 --> 00:26:34,134 Four months. 344 00:26:35,217 --> 00:26:38,176 This is the human problem created by the delay. 345 00:26:39,092 --> 00:26:41,885 But inside the reactor core, 346 00:26:41,967 --> 00:26:44,092 in the space between the atoms themselves, 347 00:26:44,176 --> 00:26:47,426 something far more dangerous is forming. 348 00:26:47,509 --> 00:26:48,967 A poison. 349 00:26:50,635 --> 00:26:52,843 The time is 28 past midnight. 350 00:27:11,009 --> 00:27:13,343 Comrade Legasov. 351 00:27:50,384 --> 00:27:52,801 I'm pleased to see some of my colleagues here 352 00:27:52,885 --> 00:27:56,635 from the Kurchatov Institute and Minenergo. 353 00:27:56,718 --> 00:27:59,092 But you don't need to be a nuclear scientist 354 00:27:59,176 --> 00:28:02,217 to understand what happened at Chernobyl. 355 00:28:02,301 --> 00:28:04,301 You only need to know this: 356 00:28:04,384 --> 00:28:06,967 there are essentially two things that happen 357 00:28:07,051 --> 00:28:09,676 inside a nuclear reactor. 358 00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:12,301 The reactivity which generates power 359 00:28:12,384 --> 00:28:16,259 either goes up, or it goes down. 360 00:28:16,343 --> 00:28:17,760 That's it. 361 00:28:17,843 --> 00:28:22,092 All the operators do is maintain balance. 362 00:28:24,009 --> 00:28:25,885 Uranium fuel. 363 00:28:27,718 --> 00:28:30,760 As uranium atoms split apart and collide, 364 00:28:30,843 --> 00:28:32,384 reactivity goes up. 365 00:28:32,468 --> 00:28:34,676 But if you don't balance the reactivity, 366 00:28:34,760 --> 00:28:36,967 it never stops rising. So... 367 00:28:38,885 --> 00:28:41,217 Boron control rods. 368 00:28:41,301 --> 00:28:45,926 They reduce reactivity like brakes on a car. 369 00:28:47,468 --> 00:28:51,468 But there's a third factor to consider: water. 370 00:28:52,843 --> 00:28:55,343 Cool water takes heat out of the system. 371 00:28:55,426 --> 00:28:58,760 As it does, it turns to steam, or what we call a "void." 372 00:28:58,843 --> 00:29:02,259 In an RBMK reactor of the type used at Chernobyl, 373 00:29:02,343 --> 00:29:06,384 there's something called a "positive void coefficient." 374 00:29:06,468 --> 00:29:08,217 What does that mean? 375 00:29:08,301 --> 00:29:12,760 It means that the more steam present within the system, 376 00:29:12,843 --> 00:29:14,843 the higher the reactivity, 377 00:29:14,926 --> 00:29:17,967 which means more heat, which means more steam, 378 00:29:18,051 --> 00:29:19,593 which means... 379 00:29:19,676 --> 00:29:23,593 It would appear we have a vicious cycle on our hands. 380 00:29:23,676 --> 00:29:26,551 And we would, were it not for this... 381 00:29:32,176 --> 00:29:37,967 And we would, were it not for this: 382 00:29:38,051 --> 00:29:41,468 the negative temperature coefficient. 383 00:29:41,551 --> 00:29:47,551 When nuclear fuel gets hotter, it gets less reactive, so... 384 00:29:48,801 --> 00:29:51,176 fuel increases reactivity. 385 00:29:51,259 --> 00:29:54,217 Control rods and water reduce it. 386 00:29:54,301 --> 00:29:56,593 Steam increases it, 387 00:29:56,676 --> 00:29:59,967 and the rise in temperature reduces it. 388 00:30:00,051 --> 00:30:03,676 This is the invisible dance 389 00:30:03,760 --> 00:30:07,593 that powers entire cities without smoke or flame. 390 00:30:07,676 --> 00:30:10,967 And it is beautiful 391 00:30:11,051 --> 00:30:13,051 when things are normal. 392 00:30:14,343 --> 00:30:17,217 As uranium splits apart to release energy, 393 00:30:17,301 --> 00:30:20,801 it breaks down into a new element, xenon. 394 00:30:20,885 --> 00:30:23,760 Xenon reduces reactivity. 395 00:30:23,843 --> 00:30:27,259 This is the poison Comrade Khomyuk mentioned. 396 00:30:27,343 --> 00:30:29,301 When the core is running at full power, 397 00:30:29,384 --> 00:30:32,384 it burns the xenon away before it can cause a problem. 398 00:30:32,468 --> 00:30:34,593 But because of the delay, 399 00:30:34,676 --> 00:30:38,551 Chernobyl Reactor 4 has been held at half power 400 00:30:38,635 --> 00:30:40,217 for ten hours. 401 00:30:40,301 --> 00:30:43,051 The xenon did not burn away. 402 00:30:44,384 --> 00:30:48,760 It built up, poisoning the core. 403 00:30:48,843 --> 00:30:50,509 We're starting to lose balance. 404 00:30:50,593 --> 00:30:54,676 At 28 minutes past midnight, 405 00:30:54,760 --> 00:30:58,176 the reactor is now primed to slow down. 406 00:30:58,259 --> 00:31:01,760 And yet, in less than an hour, it will explode. 407 00:31:01,843 --> 00:31:05,635 If you can't understand how a stalled nuclear reactor 408 00:31:05,718 --> 00:31:08,426 could lead to an explosion, I don't blame you. 409 00:31:08,509 --> 00:31:10,551 After all, you don't work in the control room 410 00:31:10,635 --> 00:31:12,384 of a nuclear power plant. 411 00:31:12,468 --> 00:31:17,885 But as it turned out, the men who did 412 00:31:17,967 --> 00:31:20,176 didn't understand it either. 413 00:31:26,176 --> 00:31:27,635 Easy now. 414 00:31:27,718 --> 00:31:29,718 Take it down. 415 00:31:29,801 --> 00:31:31,885 Good. Like that. 416 00:31:31,967 --> 00:31:33,485 You should have finished by now. 417 00:31:33,509 --> 00:31:35,551 We're following protocol for reduction rate. 418 00:31:35,635 --> 00:31:37,259 You're procrastinating. 419 00:31:37,343 --> 00:31:39,943 There are ten other men in this plant who would've done it already. 420 00:31:39,967 --> 00:31:42,635 Keep working. You're doing fine. 421 00:31:51,635 --> 00:31:55,343 Kirschenbaum, come get me when these old women are ready. 422 00:31:55,426 --> 00:31:56,843 Yes, Comrade Dyatlov. 423 00:32:15,967 --> 00:32:17,718 Okay, very slow now. 424 00:32:17,801 --> 00:32:20,718 Let's ease it down to 700. 425 00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:27,676 - Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow. - I-I didn't move any rods there. 426 00:32:36,718 --> 00:32:40,384 - What is this? - I'm not even touching it. 427 00:33:05,092 --> 00:33:07,760 We did everything right. I think that maybe the core is poisoned. 428 00:33:07,843 --> 00:33:09,360 Well, if you thought the core was poisoned, 429 00:33:09,384 --> 00:33:10,611 then you didn't do everything right, 430 00:33:10,635 --> 00:33:12,009 because you're choking my reactor! 431 00:33:12,092 --> 00:33:12,967 Get it back up! 432 00:33:13,051 --> 00:33:15,343 Uh, I think if we turn off LAC, 433 00:33:15,426 --> 00:33:17,259 it may be possible to get more control. 434 00:33:17,343 --> 00:33:20,176 - Do it. Go. - Switch off local automatic control. 435 00:33:20,259 --> 00:33:23,051 Go to global. Leonid. 436 00:33:23,134 --> 00:33:25,843 LAC disabled. Global control activated. 437 00:33:31,926 --> 00:33:33,426 What did you do? 438 00:33:34,176 --> 00:33:37,092 I-I did what you said. I switched... Look at it! 439 00:33:38,176 --> 00:33:40,551 - I don't understand. - Fucking amateurs. 440 00:33:40,635 --> 00:33:42,426 You stalled the reactor. 441 00:33:42,509 --> 00:33:44,343 How the fuck did you get this job? 442 00:33:44,426 --> 00:33:47,110 - Comrade Dyatlov... - You're gonna tell me you did everything right again, 443 00:33:47,134 --> 00:33:48,635 you incompetent asshole? 444 00:33:48,718 --> 00:33:52,092 I apologize for this unsatisfactory result. 445 00:33:56,885 --> 00:34:00,593 - What are you doing? - We have to shut all the way down. 446 00:34:00,676 --> 00:34:03,134 - No. - We could be in a xenon pit. 447 00:34:03,217 --> 00:34:04,652 We have to shut down and wait for 24 hours. 448 00:34:04,676 --> 00:34:06,801 No. We're doing the test tonight. Raise power to 700. 449 00:34:06,885 --> 00:34:08,235 We can't raise the power from here. 450 00:34:08,259 --> 00:34:09,902 - The rules... - Don't talk to me about rules. 451 00:34:09,926 --> 00:34:12,092 - If we fall from 80%... - No, no. We fell from 50%. 452 00:34:12,176 --> 00:34:14,496 - Fifty percent is worse! - The rules don't say 50! 453 00:34:14,551 --> 00:34:17,718 - There is no rule! - Comrade Dyatlov, 454 00:34:17,801 --> 00:34:19,843 I apologize, but what you're saying makes no sense. 455 00:34:19,926 --> 00:34:22,551 - Raise the power. - No. 456 00:34:22,635 --> 00:34:25,593 I won't do it. It isn't safe. 457 00:34:34,426 --> 00:34:37,301 Safety first. Always. 458 00:34:37,384 --> 00:34:40,384 I've been saying that for 25 years. 459 00:34:40,468 --> 00:34:42,509 That's how long I've done this job, 25 years. 460 00:34:42,593 --> 00:34:44,051 Is that longer than you, Akimov? 461 00:34:44,134 --> 00:34:45,051 Yes. 462 00:34:45,134 --> 00:34:47,217 - Is it much longer? - Yes. 463 00:34:47,301 --> 00:34:50,426 And you with your mother's tit barely out of your mouth? 464 00:34:52,551 --> 00:34:54,718 So if I say it's safe, it's safe. 465 00:34:54,801 --> 00:34:56,134 And if the two of you disagree, 466 00:34:56,217 --> 00:34:58,134 then you don't have to work here and you won't. 467 00:34:58,217 --> 00:35:00,092 But not just here. You won't work at Kursk 468 00:35:00,176 --> 00:35:02,760 or Ignalina or Leningrad or Novo-Voronezh. 469 00:35:02,843 --> 00:35:06,217 You won't work anywhere ever again. I'll see to it. 470 00:35:06,301 --> 00:35:09,051 I think you know I will see to it. 471 00:35:10,509 --> 00:35:12,009 Raise the power. 472 00:35:15,259 --> 00:35:17,176 I would like you to record your command. 473 00:35:18,343 --> 00:35:19,676 Raise the power. 474 00:35:35,259 --> 00:35:36,635 Together, then. 475 00:35:40,217 --> 00:35:41,885 I wasn't even there. 476 00:35:41,967 --> 00:35:44,217 What? 477 00:35:46,092 --> 00:35:48,593 I wasn't in the room when they raised the power. 478 00:35:48,676 --> 00:35:50,635 If you weren't there, then where were you? 479 00:35:50,718 --> 00:35:53,718 Comrade Legasov, you are a witness, not a prosecutor. 480 00:35:53,801 --> 00:35:56,301 I will ask the questions here. 481 00:35:56,384 --> 00:35:59,551 If you weren't in the room, then where were you? 482 00:36:01,760 --> 00:36:03,051 The toilet. 483 00:36:04,885 --> 00:36:06,760 The toilet? 484 00:36:07,718 --> 00:36:09,509 Comrade Khomyuk interviewed everyone 485 00:36:09,593 --> 00:36:11,110 who was in the control room that night. 486 00:36:11,134 --> 00:36:13,092 They all told the same story. 487 00:36:16,426 --> 00:36:19,176 "I knew what Dyatlov ordered was wrong, 488 00:36:19,259 --> 00:36:22,134 but if I didn't do what he said, I would be fired." 489 00:36:22,217 --> 00:36:24,259 Leonid Toptunov. 490 00:36:25,384 --> 00:36:27,843 One day before he died. 491 00:36:27,926 --> 00:36:29,843 No, Comrade Dyatlov, you were in the room. 492 00:36:29,926 --> 00:36:31,676 You ordered them to raise the power. 493 00:36:31,760 --> 00:36:34,301 This is a fact. 494 00:36:43,051 --> 00:36:44,718 Court is now in recess. 495 00:36:44,801 --> 00:36:46,301 Thirty minutes. 496 00:37:29,509 --> 00:37:32,635 Do you know anything about this town, Chernobyl? 497 00:37:34,092 --> 00:37:35,635 Not really, no. 498 00:37:36,801 --> 00:37:39,468 It was mostly Jews and Poles. 499 00:37:40,801 --> 00:37:42,593 The Jews were killed in pogroms, 500 00:37:42,676 --> 00:37:45,176 and Stalin forced the Poles out. 501 00:37:45,259 --> 00:37:48,760 And then the Nazis came and killed whoever was left. 502 00:37:48,843 --> 00:37:50,885 But after the war... 503 00:37:52,134 --> 00:37:54,343 people came to live here anyway. 504 00:37:55,384 --> 00:37:59,092 They knew the ground under their feet was soaked in blood, 505 00:37:59,176 --> 00:38:00,885 but they didn't care. 506 00:38:02,217 --> 00:38:05,343 Dead Jews, dead Poles. 507 00:38:05,426 --> 00:38:07,009 But not them. 508 00:38:10,009 --> 00:38:13,176 No one ever thinks it's going to happen to them. 509 00:38:14,551 --> 00:38:16,009 And here we are. 510 00:38:25,551 --> 00:38:27,593 How much time? 511 00:38:27,676 --> 00:38:29,051 Maybe a year. 512 00:38:29,134 --> 00:38:32,468 They call it a... 513 00:38:32,551 --> 00:38:34,760 They call it a "long illness." 514 00:38:34,843 --> 00:38:37,635 It doesn't seem very long to me. 515 00:38:37,718 --> 00:38:40,259 I know you told me, and I believed you. 516 00:38:41,343 --> 00:38:43,134 But time passed, and I thought, 517 00:38:43,217 --> 00:38:45,843 it wouldn't happen to me. 518 00:38:46,760 --> 00:38:48,718 I wasted it. 519 00:38:48,801 --> 00:38:51,593 I wasted it all for nothing. 520 00:38:53,217 --> 00:38:54,885 For nothing? 521 00:38:55,760 --> 00:38:58,718 Do you remember that morning when I first called you, 522 00:38:58,801 --> 00:39:00,593 how unconcerned I was? 523 00:39:00,676 --> 00:39:02,611 I don't believe much that comes out of the Kremlin, 524 00:39:02,635 --> 00:39:04,593 but when they told me they were putting me 525 00:39:04,676 --> 00:39:07,843 in charge of the cleanup 526 00:39:07,926 --> 00:39:10,885 and they said it wasn't serious, I believed them. 527 00:39:12,468 --> 00:39:14,217 You know why? 528 00:39:15,259 --> 00:39:17,509 Because they put you in charge. 529 00:39:17,593 --> 00:39:19,092 Yeah. 530 00:39:22,051 --> 00:39:25,134 I'm an inconsequential man, Valera. 531 00:39:25,217 --> 00:39:27,092 That's all I've ever been. 532 00:39:28,259 --> 00:39:31,384 I hoped that one day I would matter, but I didn't. 533 00:39:33,301 --> 00:39:36,635 I just stood next to people who did. 534 00:39:38,718 --> 00:39:41,092 There are other scientists like me. 535 00:39:41,176 --> 00:39:43,676 Any one of them could have done what I did. 536 00:39:43,760 --> 00:39:45,092 But you... 537 00:39:46,009 --> 00:39:49,926 Everything we asked for, everything we needed. 538 00:39:51,343 --> 00:39:55,134 Men, material, lunar rovers. 539 00:39:57,468 --> 00:39:59,635 Who else could have done these things? 540 00:40:01,718 --> 00:40:05,051 They heard me, but they listened to you. 541 00:40:05,134 --> 00:40:09,092 Of all the ministers and all the deputies... 542 00:40:09,176 --> 00:40:13,718 entire congregation of obedient fools... 543 00:40:13,801 --> 00:40:17,843 they mistakenly sent the one good man. 544 00:40:17,926 --> 00:40:19,926 For god's sake, Boris, 545 00:40:20,009 --> 00:40:23,468 you were the one who mattered most. 546 00:40:46,509 --> 00:40:48,343 Ah, it's beautiful. 547 00:41:30,009 --> 00:41:32,217 Comrade Legasov. 548 00:41:44,551 --> 00:41:47,551 The time is 38 past midnight. 549 00:41:47,635 --> 00:41:49,635 The reactor is nearly shut down. 550 00:41:49,718 --> 00:41:52,343 The operators of Reactor 4 are locked on a path 551 00:41:52,426 --> 00:41:54,384 that leads directly to disaster. 552 00:41:54,468 --> 00:41:56,676 There's no way to turn back. 553 00:41:56,760 --> 00:41:59,426 They do not yet know it, but the die is cast. 554 00:41:59,509 --> 00:42:03,760 At 30 megawatts, xenon is still being created, 555 00:42:03,843 --> 00:42:06,092 but none of it is burning away. 556 00:42:07,801 --> 00:42:09,676 The reactor is drowning in poison. 557 00:42:09,760 --> 00:42:14,176 To make matters worse, the reactor isn't hot enough 558 00:42:14,259 --> 00:42:17,051 to produce sufficient steam. 559 00:42:18,676 --> 00:42:21,509 The only way to safely raise power from this state 560 00:42:21,593 --> 00:42:23,885 is to do it very, very slowly 561 00:42:23,967 --> 00:42:26,760 over the course of 24 hours. 562 00:42:26,843 --> 00:42:29,384 But Dyatlov wants it done now. 563 00:42:29,468 --> 00:42:33,843 Akimov and Toptunov have only one course of action. 564 00:42:33,967 --> 00:42:36,718 They begin pulling control rods out. 565 00:42:36,801 --> 00:42:37,926 Dozens at a time. 566 00:42:38,009 --> 00:42:41,051 Halfway out, three-quarters of the way out, 567 00:42:41,134 --> 00:42:43,885 still, the power does not budge. 568 00:42:43,967 --> 00:42:46,676 So they begin pulling them all the way out. 569 00:42:46,760 --> 00:42:50,551 There were 211 control rods in Reactor 4. 570 00:42:50,635 --> 00:42:55,259 Akimov and Toptunov completely withdrew 205. 571 00:42:55,343 --> 00:43:00,009 Remember... control rods are the brakes on this car. 572 00:43:00,092 --> 00:43:06,843 Of 211 rods, only six now remain in the reactor. 573 00:43:08,259 --> 00:43:10,885 As for the fuel, it's gone cold, 574 00:43:10,967 --> 00:43:13,051 so the negative temperature coefficient 575 00:43:13,134 --> 00:43:15,593 is no longer weighing down the reactivity. 576 00:43:15,676 --> 00:43:19,593 But even still, the xenon poisoning is so strong, 577 00:43:19,676 --> 00:43:23,843 the best they can do is raise the power to 200 megawatts. 578 00:43:23,926 --> 00:43:26,885 The control rods are out. 579 00:43:26,967 --> 00:43:29,426 The emergency system has been disconnected. 580 00:43:29,509 --> 00:43:31,760 The only thing keeping the reactor in check 581 00:43:31,843 --> 00:43:34,301 is water and xenon. 582 00:43:34,384 --> 00:43:38,635 It's one in the morning. The test is minutes away. 583 00:44:12,926 --> 00:44:15,384 I'm sorry, this is all we can get. 584 00:44:15,468 --> 00:44:18,426 It's 200 megawatts. We've pulled almost everything out. 585 00:44:18,509 --> 00:44:20,068 If that's all we have, that's all we have. 586 00:44:20,092 --> 00:44:23,967 - But the test requires 700. - Stolyarchuk, let's get ready. 587 00:44:24,051 --> 00:44:25,694 - Switch on pump 4. - No, wait a second. 588 00:44:25,718 --> 00:44:27,569 Stolyarchuk... - We have barely enough steam as it is. 589 00:44:27,593 --> 00:44:30,193 The turbine is going too slow for the test to deliver any valid results. 590 00:44:30,217 --> 00:44:32,152 - It's enough. - And if we add more water, there will be even less... 591 00:44:32,176 --> 00:44:34,134 I said it's enough. I know what I'm doing. 592 00:44:34,217 --> 00:44:35,676 Stolyarchuk. 593 00:44:41,217 --> 00:44:42,760 Main Pump 4, connected. 594 00:44:42,843 --> 00:44:44,694 We should warn Khodemchuk. The pipes are gonna be... 595 00:44:44,718 --> 00:44:46,426 Never mind him. Kirschenbaum? 596 00:44:49,426 --> 00:44:52,176 The steam in the separator drum is too low... five atmospheres. 597 00:44:52,259 --> 00:44:55,092 All right, let's all help him. Get it up as best you can. 598 00:44:59,134 --> 00:45:01,009 We should stop. 599 00:45:01,092 --> 00:45:02,760 Turn that fucking thing off. 600 00:45:02,843 --> 00:45:05,760 You have 15 minutes. 601 00:45:07,593 --> 00:45:09,718 Fifteen minutes. 602 00:45:09,801 --> 00:45:12,468 They may as well have had 15 days. 603 00:45:12,551 --> 00:45:15,384 The problem they were facing was not solvable. 604 00:45:15,468 --> 00:45:18,176 The power was too low, the water was too high. 605 00:45:18,259 --> 00:45:19,843 The test was already ruined. 606 00:45:19,926 --> 00:45:21,551 The results would have been useless, 607 00:45:21,635 --> 00:45:23,134 but Dyatlov didn't care. 608 00:45:23,217 --> 00:45:26,593 All he wanted to do was report a completed test. 609 00:45:27,509 --> 00:45:29,551 1:22 a.m. 610 00:45:29,635 --> 00:45:32,593 Less than two minutes remain. 611 00:45:32,676 --> 00:45:38,176 Yuvchenko, a mechanical engineer, is in his office. 612 00:45:41,509 --> 00:45:43,885 Perevozchenko, reactor section foreman, 613 00:45:43,967 --> 00:45:45,593 is in the refueling hall, 614 00:45:45,676 --> 00:45:50,301 high above the 1,000-ton steel reactor cover. 615 00:45:50,384 --> 00:45:53,676 Degtaryenko and Khodemchuk, 616 00:45:53,760 --> 00:45:56,843 circulation operators, are in the pump room. 617 00:45:58,967 --> 00:46:00,718 None of them have been told 618 00:46:00,801 --> 00:46:02,092 about the test. 619 00:46:02,176 --> 00:46:04,134 None of them know what is about to happen. 620 00:46:04,217 --> 00:46:08,509 At 1:22 and 30 seconds, 621 00:46:08,593 --> 00:46:10,635 Toptunov sees a report 622 00:46:10,718 --> 00:46:14,676 from the reactor's SKALA computer system. 623 00:46:14,760 --> 00:46:18,051 Based on the absence of sufficient control rods, 624 00:46:18,134 --> 00:46:21,676 the computer is recommending that the reactor be shut down. 625 00:46:26,885 --> 00:46:28,551 Well, of course it's saying that. 626 00:46:28,635 --> 00:46:30,635 It doesn't know we're running a test. 627 00:46:32,009 --> 00:46:33,301 All right, comrades. 628 00:46:34,843 --> 00:46:37,426 Another few minutes, it will all be over. 629 00:46:37,509 --> 00:46:39,051 Kirschenbaum, when you're ready. 630 00:46:40,217 --> 00:46:41,635 We did everything right. 631 00:46:43,801 --> 00:46:46,176 Oscillograph on. 632 00:46:47,426 --> 00:46:49,967 Closing Number 8 throttle valve. 633 00:46:50,051 --> 00:46:51,736 Generator rotor beginning rundown. 634 00:46:51,760 --> 00:46:55,635 1:23 and four seconds. 635 00:46:55,718 --> 00:46:57,051 With every decision, 636 00:46:57,134 --> 00:46:59,551 they have pulled this reactor back like a slingshot, 637 00:46:59,635 --> 00:47:01,885 further than anyone has ever pulled, 638 00:47:01,967 --> 00:47:04,301 now the test begins. 639 00:47:04,384 --> 00:47:08,051 The pumps are shut down, and they've let go. 640 00:47:10,509 --> 00:47:13,760 The pumps stop moving water through the reactor. 641 00:47:13,843 --> 00:47:17,009 Uranium fuel is now unchecked by fresh coolant, 642 00:47:17,092 --> 00:47:18,926 unchecked by control rods. 643 00:47:19,009 --> 00:47:22,134 The balance immediately swings in the opposite direction. 644 00:47:22,217 --> 00:47:23,635 In less than a second, 645 00:47:23,718 --> 00:47:25,551 reactivity increases. 646 00:47:26,760 --> 00:47:28,009 Inside the core, 647 00:47:28,092 --> 00:47:30,551 the remaining water is quickly converting to steam. 648 00:47:30,635 --> 00:47:32,718 A void is being created. 649 00:47:32,801 --> 00:47:35,426 There is no fresh water to replace it. 650 00:47:35,509 --> 00:47:38,426 Steam increases reactivity, 651 00:47:38,509 --> 00:47:41,843 increases heat, increases steam, 652 00:47:41,926 --> 00:47:44,676 increases reactivity. 653 00:47:44,760 --> 00:47:48,051 The remaining xenon decays away. 654 00:47:49,384 --> 00:47:51,468 The power is rising. 655 00:47:53,051 --> 00:47:54,885 There's nothing left to stop it. 656 00:47:54,967 --> 00:47:59,551 1:23 and 35 seconds. 657 00:48:02,760 --> 00:48:05,092 We have a power surge! Sasha! 658 00:48:10,343 --> 00:48:11,468 What did you do?! 659 00:48:11,551 --> 00:48:16,301 1:23 and 40 seconds. 660 00:48:23,301 --> 00:48:25,843 In every control room of every nuclear reactor in the world, 661 00:48:25,926 --> 00:48:29,092 there is a button with one single purpose... 662 00:48:29,176 --> 00:48:32,551 to "scram," or instantly shut down, the reaction. 663 00:48:32,635 --> 00:48:36,176 In Soviet reactors, that button is called AZ-5. 664 00:48:36,259 --> 00:48:41,217 You press AZ-5, all of the control rods insert at once, 665 00:48:41,301 --> 00:48:45,384 and the reaction is stopped dead. 666 00:48:45,468 --> 00:48:47,301 But... 667 00:48:53,176 --> 00:48:56,843 What are you waiting for, Legasov? Tell your lies. 668 00:48:56,926 --> 00:48:59,217 Comrade Dyatlov, you will not be warned again. 669 00:48:59,301 --> 00:49:01,551 - Or what? - For god's sake, Dyatlov. 670 00:49:01,635 --> 00:49:03,509 Legasov's already given it away. 671 00:49:03,593 --> 00:49:06,635 - He said before, there was no way to avoid what was coming. - Comrade Dyatlov. 672 00:49:06,718 --> 00:49:09,718 - He knows something. She knows something. - Comrade Dyatlov. 673 00:49:09,801 --> 00:49:13,426 I know what you are, Valery Alexeyevich. 674 00:49:13,509 --> 00:49:16,468 - You're a liar. - We've heard enough for today. 675 00:49:16,551 --> 00:49:20,426 The defendants will be remanded in custody. 676 00:49:20,509 --> 00:49:23,509 - Court will... - I... I haven't finished. 677 00:49:23,593 --> 00:49:25,635 I still have more evidence to give. 678 00:49:25,718 --> 00:49:29,092 It's not necessary. Your testimony is concluded. 679 00:49:29,176 --> 00:49:32,301 - Your Honor. - Court is now adjourned. 680 00:49:32,384 --> 00:49:34,777 - We will resume tomorrow with... - Let him finish. 681 00:49:37,384 --> 00:49:39,384 Comrade Shcherbina... 682 00:49:41,551 --> 00:49:43,885 Let him finish. 683 00:50:07,760 --> 00:50:10,176 Dyatlov broke every rule we have. 684 00:50:14,009 --> 00:50:17,426 He pushed a reactor to the brink of destruction. 685 00:50:21,593 --> 00:50:24,217 He did these things believing there was a failsafe. 686 00:50:24,301 --> 00:50:27,551 AZ-5, a simple button to shut it all down. 687 00:50:27,635 --> 00:50:32,217 But in the circumstances he created, there wasn't. 688 00:50:32,301 --> 00:50:35,760 The shutdown system had a fatal flaw. 689 00:50:37,760 --> 00:50:43,259 At 1:23:40, Akimov engages AZ-5. 690 00:50:50,718 --> 00:50:52,468 The fully-withdrawn control rods 691 00:50:52,551 --> 00:50:54,676 begin moving back into the reactor. 692 00:50:54,760 --> 00:50:57,635 These rods are made of boron, which reduces reactivity, 693 00:50:57,718 --> 00:50:59,384 but not their tips. 694 00:50:59,468 --> 00:51:04,426 The tips are made of graphite, which accelerates reactivity. 695 00:51:04,509 --> 00:51:06,301 Why? 696 00:51:10,176 --> 00:51:12,134 Why? 697 00:51:13,509 --> 00:51:16,009 For the same reason our reactors 698 00:51:16,092 --> 00:51:19,176 do not have containment buildings around them, 699 00:51:19,259 --> 00:51:20,301 like those in the West. 700 00:51:20,384 --> 00:51:22,718 For the same reason we don't use 701 00:51:22,801 --> 00:51:25,343 properly enriched fuel in our cores. 702 00:51:25,426 --> 00:51:27,718 For the same reason we are the only nation 703 00:51:27,801 --> 00:51:32,092 that builds water-cooled, graphite-moderated reactors 704 00:51:32,176 --> 00:51:35,301 with a positive void coefficient. 705 00:51:36,676 --> 00:51:37,760 It's cheaper. 706 00:51:44,134 --> 00:51:46,967 The first part of the rods that enter the core 707 00:51:47,051 --> 00:51:48,301 are the graphite tips. 708 00:51:48,384 --> 00:51:50,760 And when they do, the reaction in the core, 709 00:51:50,843 --> 00:51:53,509 which had been rising, skyrockets. 710 00:51:53,593 --> 00:51:57,009 Every last molecule of liquid water 711 00:51:57,092 --> 00:51:58,718 instantly converts to steam, 712 00:51:58,801 --> 00:52:02,092 which expands and ruptures a series of fuel rod channels. 713 00:52:02,176 --> 00:52:06,301 The control rods in those channels can move no further. 714 00:52:06,384 --> 00:52:08,926 The graphite tips are fixed in position, 715 00:52:09,009 --> 00:52:11,801 endlessly accelerating the reaction. 716 00:52:11,885 --> 00:52:15,885 Chernobyl Reactor 4 is now a nuclear bomb. 717 00:52:15,967 --> 00:52:18,509 1:23:42. 718 00:52:18,593 --> 00:52:20,343 Perevozchenko looks down 719 00:52:20,426 --> 00:52:22,967 on the enormous steel lid of the reactor... 720 00:52:23,051 --> 00:52:24,967 ...and sees the impossible. 721 00:52:25,051 --> 00:52:26,926 The control rod and fuel channel caps, 722 00:52:27,009 --> 00:52:29,092 which each weigh 350 kilograms, 723 00:52:29,176 --> 00:52:30,760 are jumping up and down. 724 00:52:30,843 --> 00:52:33,426 He runs to warn the control room. 725 00:52:33,509 --> 00:52:36,967 But there's nothing he can do to stop what is coming. 726 00:52:37,051 --> 00:52:39,468 1:23 and 44 seconds. 727 00:52:39,551 --> 00:52:43,635 The steam blows more fuel channels apart. 728 00:52:43,718 --> 00:52:45,801 We do not know how high the power went. 729 00:52:45,885 --> 00:52:48,176 We only know the final reading. 730 00:52:49,760 --> 00:52:50,801 Reactor 4, 731 00:52:50,885 --> 00:52:54,967 designed to operate at 3200 megawatts, 732 00:52:55,051 --> 00:52:58,718 went beyond 33,000. 733 00:53:03,217 --> 00:53:07,009 The pressure inside the core can no longer be held back. 734 00:53:07,092 --> 00:53:14,801 At long last, we have arrived. 1:23:45, explosion. 735 00:53:14,885 --> 00:53:19,051 In the instant the lid is thrown off the reactor, oxygen rushes in. 736 00:53:19,134 --> 00:53:23,593 It combines with hydrogen and super-heated graphite. 737 00:53:25,343 --> 00:53:28,426 The chain of disaster is now complete. 738 00:53:50,384 --> 00:53:52,509 Comrade Dyatlov! 739 00:53:57,301 --> 00:53:59,134 Comrade Dyatlov! 740 00:54:09,801 --> 00:54:12,718 No one in the room that night knew 741 00:54:12,801 --> 00:54:16,259 the shutdown button could act as a detonator. 742 00:54:17,801 --> 00:54:19,551 They didn't know it, 743 00:54:19,635 --> 00:54:22,551 because it was kept from them. 744 00:54:22,635 --> 00:54:25,092 Comrade Legasov, you're contradicting 745 00:54:25,176 --> 00:54:27,509 your own testimony in Vienna. 746 00:54:27,593 --> 00:54:30,301 My testimony in Vienna was a lie. 747 00:54:30,384 --> 00:54:34,384 I lied to the world. 748 00:54:34,468 --> 00:54:36,801 I'm not the only one who kept this secret. 749 00:54:36,885 --> 00:54:39,092 There are many. 750 00:54:39,176 --> 00:54:41,885 We were following orders, 751 00:54:41,967 --> 00:54:43,567 from the KGB, from the Central Committee. 752 00:54:43,635 --> 00:54:46,301 And right now, there are 16 reactors in the Soviet Union 753 00:54:46,384 --> 00:54:48,843 with the same fatal flaw. 754 00:54:48,926 --> 00:54:50,760 Three of them are still running 755 00:54:50,843 --> 00:54:53,134 less than 20 kilometers away at Chernobyl. 756 00:54:53,217 --> 00:54:57,259 Professor Legasov, if you mean to suggest the Soviet State 757 00:54:57,343 --> 00:54:59,092 is somehow responsible for what happened, 758 00:54:59,176 --> 00:55:01,926 then I must warn you, you are treading on dangerous ground. 759 00:55:02,009 --> 00:55:04,343 I've already trod on dangerous ground. 760 00:55:04,426 --> 00:55:06,468 We're on dangerous ground right now, 761 00:55:06,551 --> 00:55:09,301 because of our secrets and our lies. 762 00:55:09,384 --> 00:55:12,468 They're practically what define us. 763 00:55:12,551 --> 00:55:15,676 When the truth offends, we lie and lie 764 00:55:15,760 --> 00:55:18,134 until we can no longer remember it is even there. 765 00:55:18,217 --> 00:55:21,217 But it is still there. 766 00:55:23,384 --> 00:55:27,718 Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. 767 00:55:29,843 --> 00:55:32,718 Sooner or later, that debt is paid. 768 00:55:36,885 --> 00:55:42,426 That is how an RBMK reactor core explodes. 769 00:55:46,092 --> 00:55:47,635 Lies. 770 00:57:51,593 --> 00:57:54,635 Valery Alexeyevich Legasov, 771 00:57:54,718 --> 00:57:57,760 son of Alexei Legasov, 772 00:57:57,843 --> 00:58:01,301 Head of Ideological Compliance, Central Committee. 773 00:58:01,384 --> 00:58:03,384 Do you know what your father did there? 774 00:58:03,468 --> 00:58:04,926 Yes. 775 00:58:05,009 --> 00:58:08,967 As a student, you had a leadership position in Komsomol. 776 00:58:09,051 --> 00:58:11,384 Communist Youth, correct? 777 00:58:12,384 --> 00:58:14,801 - You already know. - Answer the question. 778 00:58:14,885 --> 00:58:16,051 Yes. 779 00:58:17,843 --> 00:58:19,967 At the Kuchartov Institute, 780 00:58:20,051 --> 00:58:22,676 you were the Communist Party secretary. 781 00:58:22,760 --> 00:58:24,176 In the position, you limited 782 00:58:24,259 --> 00:58:27,176 the promotion of Jewish scientists. 783 00:58:31,635 --> 00:58:33,009 Yes. 784 00:58:33,092 --> 00:58:36,760 To curry favor with Kremlin officials. 785 00:58:41,426 --> 00:58:43,718 You're one of us, Legasov. 786 00:58:45,134 --> 00:58:47,551 I can do anything I want with you. 787 00:58:48,760 --> 00:58:52,843 But what I want most is for you to know that I know. 788 00:58:52,926 --> 00:58:55,301 You're not brave. 789 00:58:55,384 --> 00:58:57,593 You're not heroic. 790 00:58:59,092 --> 00:59:02,343 You're just a dying man who forgot himself. 791 00:59:02,426 --> 00:59:06,134 I know who I am, and I know what I've done. 792 00:59:08,718 --> 00:59:11,092 In a just world, I'd be shot for my lies, 793 00:59:11,176 --> 00:59:14,343 but not for this, not for the truth. 794 00:59:14,426 --> 00:59:16,551 Scientists... 795 00:59:16,635 --> 00:59:20,384 and your idiot obsessions with reasons. 796 00:59:20,468 --> 00:59:22,718 When the bullet hits your skull, 797 00:59:22,801 --> 00:59:25,343 what will it matter why? 798 00:59:32,593 --> 00:59:35,134 No one's getting shot, Legasov. 799 00:59:36,635 --> 00:59:38,967 The whole world saw you in Vienna. 800 00:59:39,051 --> 00:59:41,217 It would be embarrassing to kill you now. 801 00:59:41,301 --> 00:59:42,760 And for what? 802 00:59:42,843 --> 00:59:46,635 Your testimony today will not be accepted by the State. 803 00:59:46,718 --> 00:59:49,760 It will not be disseminated in the press. 804 00:59:49,843 --> 00:59:51,801 It never happened. 805 00:59:53,092 --> 00:59:56,051 No, you will live, 806 00:59:56,134 --> 00:59:57,926 however long you have, 807 00:59:58,009 --> 01:00:01,718 but not as a scientist, not anymore. 808 01:00:01,801 --> 01:00:06,343 You'll keep your title and your office, 809 01:00:06,426 --> 01:00:11,343 but no duties, no authority, no friends. 810 01:00:11,426 --> 01:00:13,509 No one will talk to you. 811 01:00:13,593 --> 01:00:15,509 No one will listen to you. 812 01:00:17,468 --> 01:00:21,760 Other men, lesser men, 813 01:00:21,843 --> 01:00:25,509 will receive credit for the things you have done. 814 01:00:25,593 --> 01:00:27,885 Your legacy is now their legacy. 815 01:00:27,967 --> 01:00:30,718 You'll live long enough to see that. 816 01:00:34,134 --> 01:00:36,551 What role did Shcherbina play in this? 817 01:00:36,635 --> 01:00:37,760 None. 818 01:00:37,843 --> 01:00:40,384 He didn't know what I was gonna say. 819 01:00:41,676 --> 01:00:44,760 What role did Khomyuk play in this? 820 01:00:44,843 --> 01:00:46,301 None. 821 01:00:46,384 --> 01:00:48,885 She didn't know either. 822 01:00:50,259 --> 01:00:52,635 After all you've said and done today, 823 01:00:52,718 --> 01:00:58,676 it would be curious if you chose this moment to lie. 824 01:01:01,593 --> 01:01:03,468 I would think a man of your experience 825 01:01:03,551 --> 01:01:05,885 would know a lie when he hears one. 826 01:01:10,051 --> 01:01:11,343 You will not meet or communicate 827 01:01:11,426 --> 01:01:13,593 with either one of them ever again. 828 01:01:13,676 --> 01:01:16,176 You will not communicate with anyone 829 01:01:16,259 --> 01:01:18,384 about Chernobyl ever again. 830 01:01:19,426 --> 01:01:21,843 You will remain so immaterial to the world around you 831 01:01:21,926 --> 01:01:23,718 that when you finally do die, 832 01:01:23,801 --> 01:01:28,092 it will be exceedingly hard to know that you ever lived at all. 833 01:01:32,426 --> 01:01:34,259 What if I refuse? 834 01:01:37,426 --> 01:01:40,509 Why worry about something that isn't going to happen? 835 01:01:41,926 --> 01:01:45,926 "Why worry about something that isn't going to happen?" 836 01:01:46,009 --> 01:01:48,259 Oh, that's perfect. 837 01:01:48,343 --> 01:01:51,426 They should put that on our money. 838 01:03:00,509 --> 01:03:04,593 To be a scientist is to be naive. 839 01:03:04,676 --> 01:03:06,926 We are so focused on our search for truth, 840 01:03:07,009 --> 01:03:11,635 we fail to consider how few actually want us to find it. 841 01:03:11,718 --> 01:03:16,092 But it is always there, whether we see it or not, 842 01:03:16,176 --> 01:03:18,009 whether we choose to or not. 843 01:03:18,092 --> 01:03:20,843 The truth doesn't care about our needs or wants. 844 01:03:20,926 --> 01:03:22,635 It doesn't care about our governments, 845 01:03:22,718 --> 01:03:26,426 our ideologies, our religions. 846 01:03:26,509 --> 01:03:30,134 It will lie in wait for all time. 847 01:03:30,217 --> 01:03:34,134 And this, at last, is the gift of Chernobyl. 848 01:03:34,217 --> 01:03:36,843 Where I once would fear the cost of truth, 849 01:03:36,926 --> 01:03:39,718 now I only ask: 850 01:03:40,718 --> 01:03:43,551 What is the cost of lies?