The original Russian transcripts from the recorded tapes of Valery Legasov. With great difficulty I managed to find the head of the department that developed and supported stations with RBMK reactors (the same type as in Chernobyl) - Alexander Konstantinovich Kulagin. Equipped with many measurement devices It was almost by accident that he found himself included in the state commission on response to the Chernobyl disaster on April 26, 1986, his daughter Inga Legasova recalls. It is important to understand that Legasovs tapes are not the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. This comment has been removed by the author. Dollezhal Research and Development Institute of Power Engineering (NIKIET) led by comrade Egorov supplied us with most precise data on isotope composition and on the spread of radioactivity. Probably, he didnt want to be a burden on my mother. They had Swedish (Ada company) devices, such as thermovisors, and started constant flyovers around the 4th block to record the temperature of the surface. This may have indicated that the reactor was still working. There was such unpreparedness, such disorder, such fear. Following his brilliant thesis work, Valery received an offer to do a Ph.D. at the Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy, but didnt accept the offer right away - he was eager to go to the Siberian Chemical Plant in Tomsk (aka Seversk) to work on the development of plutonium for nuclear weapons. The various services of the station were fully ready. Immediately after we had decided how to cool down the reactor in the 4th block, the discussion about Pripyat started. This error kept following me for some reason. He would fly over Chernobyl a few times a day, and it was under his command that it was decided to dump boron carbide in large quantities from helicopters to act as a neutron absorber and prevent any renewed chain reaction. But within 25 - 75 biological roentgens, the decision to evacuate lied with the local authorities. He understood quite well what he was doing and how much radiation he was being exposed to.. I have already spoken about that. It has become clear now that none of the almost 50,000 civilians of Pripyat, that were not at the station after the accident, had received any considerable amount of radiation. To our surprise, or at least to my surprise, we were not presented with sufficiently precise information of the situation both on the station and in the city. WebThis is a compilation of Valery Legasov's tape recordings extracted from documentary films. The clay and sand that was dropped in large amounts was intended to be used as a filtering layer which could hold at least part of the radioactive components should the uranium dioxide cells start to melt. The signal was encrypted according to defined procedure; that during each and every deviation from normal operation, the station shall inform the Ministry of Energetics or the ministry it belongs to about the situation by using a special code. As soon as Boris Evdokimovich arrived at Vnukovo, he immediately boarded our plane and we flew out to Kiev. WebIt is an English translation of reflections on the Chernobyl accident by academician Valery Legasov, a nuclear scientist, and one of the principal Soviet officials in the field of atomic energy at the time; he was the head of the Soviet delegation at the first international postaccident meeting. https://youtu.be/926ShgBaWZ8?t=657 Immediately it became evident that the leaders of the station and the leaders of the Ministry of Energetics were confused. I just want to say: fantastic job! It was like mulberry, or even crimson maybe, glowing above the station, which made it absolutely unlike how it should be in a nuclear power station. https://youtu.be/926ShgBaWZ8?t=657. Of course, because of my nature, and old habits, I called a car and went to the activists meeting. That internal contamination had happened because of the ventilation intake. Nevertheless, all the station workers from the ordinary up to the ministerial staff, were ready for the most rigorous and courageous, so to say, actions. These were some of the smaller issues. As a result, even basic measurement culture wasn't guaranteed at all measuring points. People get recognized all the time for volunteer work, for humanitarian work, what ever, but the editors of this blog are owed a debt of thanks for their efforts. But some simple, repetitive tasks could have been done by small crewless, radio-controlled aircrafts. Two explosions happened and that caused the destruction of the reactor building. According to my estimates, 200 tons of lead had been ordered but I immediately told Boris Eudokimovich that 200 tons wont solve any problems. So we had to send a considerable number of helicopters to take the measurements and investigate. In all my life, it never occurred to me that I would have to start this part of my life. The evacuation was fast and precise, despite being carried out in unusual conditions. Boris Eudokimovich Scherbina was an intelligent man, with the railway engineering degree (Masters degree by modern standards) and exceptional organisational skills. After two years at the plant, he finally joined the Kurchatov Institute. Execution of that command begun immediately. Testifying in court during the final episode, Legasov says, Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. WebTranscripts of Legasovs records were published in Pravda by his friend, Vladimir Gubarev, two days after his suicide. a specialized armored vehicle, used by the military to recon the nuclear blast areas. He, as usual, was praising the atomic energy program and the progress that had been achieved. my driver If a customer asks if you have a particular feature, although they were really invented on the fly, has been dispatched to the plant. The number was not precise, but it was clear that around 100 people had gotten radiation injuries. This blog is dedicated to translating the text that comes from the audio tapes recorded by academician V.Legasov. Firstly, the fate of the population, and the number of station personnel that should remain at the station and, even in such a state, continue to service it. After the 2nd of May, we stopped the drops and held a pause. tape storage. The next question arose before us when it became clear that the crater of the wrecked 4th block was erupting a lot of aerosol gas radioactivity. The Commission arrived at 20:20 on the 26th of April. Soon after, the working quarters were organized. Sometimes they say that many firemen got high radiation doses pointlessly, because they were standing at certain spots monitoring that new fires dont start. Because we could miss the lower stabilisation temperature levels. In this video he speaks with a journalist about exactly the same thing - the crimson sky that he described in this tape, a few years later. -Tim. This is Tape 1, part 2. WebIt is an English translation of reflections on the Chernobyl accident by academician Valery Legasov, a nuclear scientist, and one of the principal Soviet officials in the field of atomic energy at the time; he was the head of the Soviet delegation at the first international postaccident meeting. So in these conditions we started the discussion. Valery Alekseevich Legasov About the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant annotation The text of the five cassette tapes, dictated by Academician Legasovym V.A. This opening scene of HBOs Chernobyl mini-series sets the tone for the horrific story of the 1986 nuclear disaster and Valery Legasov, a prominent Soviet inorganic chemist, who played a key role in Chernobyls response team and subsequent investigation into its causes. Click here to find out more. This blog is simply amazing! The original was posted in a Soviet magazine. Valery Legassov transcriptions from his tapes Valery Legassov transcriptions from his tapes Open navigation menu Close suggestionsSearchSearch enChange Language close menu Language English(selected) Espaol Portugus http://accidont.ru/evid02.html). 16th head office of medium machine building ministry was dealing with nuclear power, He lived in a private house in a special district, Elite scientists of such level as Legasov had personal drivers, housekeepers and other similar services provided for free by the ministry, a specialized armored vehicle, used by the military to recon the nuclear blast areas. The 26th of April, 1986 was a Saturday, a beautiful day and I was thinking of either going to my university department and finishing something for them, or maybe letting things slide and going with my wife, Margarita Mikhailovna, and my friend to rest somewhere, or of going to the party activists meeting that was scheduled at 10 oclock at the Ministry which supervises our Institute - The Kurchatov Nuclear Institute. After taking all the necessary documentation and receiving from Comrade Kalugin some understanding about the structure of the station and the possible issues that could occur, I dropped by It is important to understand that Legasovs tapes are not the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. The station personnel was transferred to a Pioneers camp Skazochniy, that was 10 km from Pripyat. The upper I was told that the members of the commission should gather at Vnukovo airport at 1600 hours. However, an event occurred, of such a scale, of such involvement of people with controversial interests, of errors and victories, failures and successes. Warning: heartwrenching discussion of the aftermath of the earthquake, three patriotic volunteers dive into radioactive water to So, the upper part of the reactor hall was completely destroyed. Based on their data, we adopted one or another decision. this interview I don't speak any Russian at all, but I could help edit the translations into more fluent and lyrical English if that would be of interest or help? Special solutions were filled in plastic bags and dropped into the reactor. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. He has succeeded in sending his message: Legasov claims political pressure censored the mention of Soviet nuclear secrecy in his report to the IAEA, secrecy which forbade even plant operators having knowledge of previous accidents and known problems with reactor Especially after the evacuation, many people didn't know where their children, mothers were, because people had been evacuated in all directions. The amount of dropped lead grew from day to day. These were based in Chernigov, with General Antoshkin who was the Head of Headquarters of that Air Force division. I guess just a link won't do for a custom right? This is what occupied us on our hour-long flight. So we had ourselves a new difficult task: the graphite burns at a speed of 1 ton per hour, there was 2500 tons of graphite in the 4th block, so for The isotope composition was analyzed more thoroughly. For example, the operators of 1st and 2nd blocks didnt leave their posts. He attended secondary school in Kursk.
He was appointed by the Soviet Government to investigate the Chernobyl disaster less than 24 hours after it occurred Valery Legasov was the chief investigator of the Chernobyl accident. However, while they were on the way, new messages arrived from the station stating that the reactor (and this was 4th block reactor) was fairly under control. WebValery Alekseyevich Legasov was born on September 1, 1936, in Tula, Russian SFSR, into a family of civil workers. Earlier I described the work before and after the localization of the accident, but a much more important decision to make on the 26th of April was the population question. Luckily, there were large amounts (40 tons) of Boron Carbide in storage which was urgently dropped into the reactor. It is clear that dropping anything from a height of 200m created a complex situation around the 4th block. He has succeeded in sending his message: Legasov claims political pressure censored the mention of Soviet nuclear secrecy in his report to the IAEA, secrecy which forbade even plant operators having knowledge of previous accidents and known problems with reactor There's a dot between 'al' and 'uk138'? I was in a car with comrade Plyushch. Initially, it was head of state Mikhail Gorbachev who should have done it, but the leader decided it should be Legasov, a scientist who had worked at the site. [sic] that mass would have been burning, carrying out radioactivity with the smoke. all possible types of hazards. This blog is dedicated to translating the text that comes from the audio tapes recorded by academician V.Legasov. There, Legasov built his name as one of the most prominent scientists in the field of inorganic chemistry - ie. Having put the tapes in the ventilation system of the house, he returns home, feeds his cat, smokes a cigarette, and hangs himself. weight 450 tons However in between his praise he somewhat abruptly mentioned that there had been an accident at Chernobyl. I believe that you have incorrectly spelled or translated this as Legasov seems to be referencing the Three Mile Island incident (Here is the wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Mile_Island_accident). But the situation was complex. For some reason, many believe that my father was disappointed by the fact that he wasnt awarded. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. The IAEA report made a huge impact and father instantly became very popular. The first measure showed that there was a powerful source of neutron radiation. During the initial days in Pripyat, food was delivered: cucumbers, tomatoes, sausages, Pepsi-cola bottles, lemonades. By analyzing this entire set of data gathered as described, we came to a conclusion that inside the reactor, there were small areas of high temperature around 2000C, while most of the surfaces were heated up to around 300C. The total amount of materials dumped on the reactor weighed about 5,000 tons, including about 40 tons of boron compounds, 2,400 tons of lead, 1,800 tons of sand and clay, and 600 tons of dolomite, as well as sodium phosphate and polymer liquids (Bu93). Lead was included as a radiation absorber, as well as sand and clay, which it was hoped would prevent the release of particulates. WebValery Legasov Audiotapes CC Tape 1 Part 2 YouTube. Congratulations!I lived that event as a kid in the Socialist Republic of Romania. I only find really cut versions in YouTube. They were used to flying in constrained areas and under difficult conditions. WebThe following piece of audio is a self-made recording in English, based on the original Russian transcripts from the recorded tapes of Valery Legasov.
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An intelligent man, with General Antoshkin who was the head of Headquarters of Air. Time he recorded these tapes after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, and causes! And held a pause also in constant contact with all relevant Moscow organisations all... Man, with General Antoshkin who was the head of Headquarters of that Air Force.! Of inorganic chemistry - ie and precise, but it was less than the melting temperature of steel then... Based in Chernigov, with the railway engineering degree ( Masters degree by modern )!I think you can omit us as translators - Legasov is the real author :). We will see where the project will move on, after we finish translating the tapes. We could only kick ourselves for not having external automatic dosimetry devices set up around the station, that would record the telemetry about radiation conditions within, say, 1 km, 2 km, 4 km and 10 km radius. . Valery Alekseyevich Legasov was a Soviet inorganic chemist and a member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Thank you! The crater in the reactor constantly flowed with white column of smoke, consisting probably of graphite combustion by-products. At this time He recorded these tapes after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, and not long before his death. Every service, for example the firemen in their part, were also in constant contact with all relevant Moscow organisations. The Government Commission had to do all of it. Sooner or later, that debt is paid. His departure shocked readers and the scientific community, and the causes of the accident were again discussed. As had been observed, a lot of radiation had leaked out of the 4th block, but at that time we were mostly worried about whether the reactor was still working. And what made him take his own life? Around noon, a break was announced and I went up to the second floor, to the office of the Science Secretary Nikolay Sergeevich Babay to discuss the report. In this case, they had received the following signal: "1-2-3-4"; which means that an event had occurred at the station that involved nuclear hazard, radiation hazard, fire hazard and explosive hazard, i.e. Immediately the first session of the Government Commission was arranged. Hi, how would I cite this in a research paper? This blog is dedicaded to the text that comes from academician V.Legasov audio tapes which he recorded after the Chernobyl accident and not long before his death.
I invited two or three experienced journalists to it. However, I will repeat myself that the evacuation had been carried out at such a time when the radiation levels of Pripyat were not that high; and therefore the level of contamination of the items, as well as the people themselves, was also not high. Some sort of a balance would be achieved. This was followed by a routine report that continued for 2 hours. But this one looked like a metallurgical factory or a giant chemistry plant with a huge crimson glow over half of the visible sky. WebTranscripts of Legasovs records were published in Pravda by his friend, Vladimir Gubarev, two days after his suicide.
WebSo difficult for valery legasov tapes transcript for themselves walked quicker than a transcript for retirement, if a grid ratio. For example, if it was less than the melting temperature of steel, then dropping it won't be sufficient. Same for the 3rd block which was in the same building as the 4th block. But they were soon passed to Gubarev and cleared for publication in Pravda. I can be contacted via al . uk138 . at . hotmail .dot . com. Two people had died, others were in the hospitals and that the radiation conditions in the station were rather complex. Everyone was tense and everyone was anxious to get there quicker to understand what had happened there, of what scale was the disaster that we had to face. After that they would send it to TASS, to the television and the newspapers to inform people about what was going on, what the situation was. I was wondering if you knew where I could listen to the tapes? What did they need to do in such a situation? . When I try to open this google doc, it tells me I don't have access. That is wrong because the engine room had a lot of oil, hydrogen inside the generators and other sources that could not only start a fire, but could even cause another explosion that would devastate the 3rd block. Legasov(O.k., i know, nick name sounds little bit crazzy), Hi, I am a native English speaker and am really interested in Chernobyl and all the events surrounding it. The station personnel was also surprising in a way. I'd like to cite this blog in the APA format. In Kiev, after we unboarded our plane, what surprised us was a long line of black government cars and an anxious crowd of various chairmen of Ukraine, who were led by comrade Lyashko Aleksander Petrovich. In 19491954, he attended School No. Upon arrival, Valery immersed himself into the emergency response work: he insisted on the evacuation of the population of Pripyat nearby (which happened on Apr. Great way to share the legacy of Valerij Aleksejevic with English speaking "comrades"! Sometimes scientists and specialists would spend a few days at our place. This was very disturbing and made the situation very unusual. The case of Valery is mysterious and unsettling to this day. But they were soon passed to Gubarev and cleared for publication in Pravda. This is Tape 1, part 2. And so, the first team which went in there had to immediately to start the reactor shutdown procedure of the 1st and 2nd blocks. Valery Alekseevich Legasov About the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant annotation The text of the five cassette tapes, dictated by Academician Legasovym V.A. I was trying to explain to Boris Evdokimovich about the accident at the Three Mile Island in 1979. It was either graphite or some metallic construction of rather high temperature. Like in 1941, but even worse, Legasov later recalled. WebAfter Legasovs suicide, the tapes were confiscated by Boris Shcherbina as part of the investigation. Get the week's best stories straight to your inbox. Additionally the same thing was done to surfaces that could create dust. This was very clearly seen in such an exceptional situation. WebTapes did exist but whetver it was Legasov himself who recorded is unknown. The second task was to drop materials that would stabilize the temperature. Mayorec was already there; he had arrived even before the Government Commission. It is important to understand that Legasovs tapes are not the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. A man in a sweater and large horn-rimmed glasses sits in a kitchen listening to his own voice coming from a cassette player. This was the localisation part. WebValery Legassov transcriptions - Free download as PDF File (.pdf), Text File (.txt) or read online for free. These were the localisation efforts. Valery Alekseevich Legasov About the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant Academician V. Legasov (text from cassette N1) The group led by Evgeny Ivanovich Vorobiev was assigned to handle all the medical problems. This way, we fulfilled our first task and introduced as much neutron absorbers as we could. Transport was needed; it was called from Kiev. We had to develop non-traditional ways of solving this problem. A whole team of specialists worked on the report, Inga Legasova remembers. 16th head office of medium machine building ministry was dealing with nuclear power And this part is tragic, confusing and incomprehensible. The state plane was already waiting. The report of minister Efim Pavlovich Slavsky began, and it was rather dull, standard and mundane. At least not at the age that I currently am, just into my fifties. So my father went to Vnukovo [airport] and left for Chernobyl the same day.. Hello there!Great work with the translation of the tapes, this is a large project and you have done well.Mid way through the document there is the sentence " I was trying to tell Boris Evdokimovich about accident at Three May Island in 1979".