The 1986 Chernobyl catastrophe stands as the planet’s most devastating nuclear incident, claiming 31 immediate lives while impacting countless others across the region – its repercussions were both instant and profound. Share Article Share Article Facebook X LinkedIn Reddit Bluesky Email Copy Link Link copied Bookmark Comments
The most ruinous nuclear event ever seen drastically affected a town, particularly for Oleksiy Breus, who willingly entered the command center just hours after the horrifying blast.
The Chernobyl tragedy in 1986 echoed throughout the Ukrainian population for decades – but the radioactive pollution also impacted Oleksiy during a solitary work period.
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The 67-year-old, who began employment at the plant in 1982, was the last individual in the control room when reactor No 4 malfunctioned during a safety test.
He told the BBC that the acclaimed series Chernobyl faithfully presented the intense, rapid, and noticeable effects the explosion had on the human form.
“It seemed it would be a mass burial ground,” Oleksiy informed Sky News, remembering when he got to work in 1986.
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“I felt confident that the whole [night] team had perished there. At the time of the explosion I was in Pripyat, in my apartment. I was sound asleep; I didn’t hear or see anything. In the morning, I was due to go to my job, and that’s what I did. I was unaware of the disaster; I simply boarded a bus and went to work.”, the Mirror reports.
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“As I approached the plant, I observed from the bus that the unit was wrecked. I always mention that my hair stood up on end when I saw that.
“I was perplexed as to why myself and other workers were brought there. However, it became clear that a lot remained to be done.”
In the immediate aftermath, Oleksiy conferred with shift supervisor Oleksandr Akimov and technician Leonid Toptunov. Oleksiy recollected: “They appeared unwell, to say the least. It was evident they felt ill. They were extremely pale. Toptunov had practically turned ashen.”
Both succumbed to acute radiation sickness (ARS) within weeks.
He continued: “I saw other colleagues who were on duty that night. Their skin had a vivid red hue. They subsequently died in a Moscow hospital.
“Radiation exposure, flushed skin, radiation wounds, and steam burns were frequently spoken about, yet never displayed in such a manner.”
Regarding his personal condition – he seemed sunburned by the close of the day. He clarified: “When my shift concluded, my skin was tanned, as if I had an all-over tan. Areas of my body not covered by garments, like my hands, face, and neck, were red.”
During the weeks succeeding the explosion, 29 power station employees and emergency responders passed away from ARS, Soviet authorities verified. Two more lost their lives to accident-related injuries.
Relating the events of that crucial day, Oleksiy indicated that any attempts to manage the disaster seemed doomed from the start.
Plant manager Viktor Bryukhanov, chief engineer Nikolai Fomin, and deputy chief engineer Anatoly Dyatlov each received 10-year sentences in labor camps for their involvement in the catastrophe.
Concerning Dyatlov, Oleksiy remarked: “The operators were wary of him. His presence at the unit created anxiety for all. But no matter how demanding he was, he was still a seasoned expert.”
Vasily Ignatiev was among the first firemen sent to put out the flames. Tragically, arriving from the nearby town of Pripyat, he remained ignorant of the radiation threat.
Ignatiev died from acute radiation syndrome on 13 May 1986.
In a harrowing twist, three plant personnel were compelled to plunge beneath the tunnel to unseal a defective drain valve, preventing the outflow from reaching the water source and potentially initiating a significantly more disastrous explosion.
Oleksiy Ananenko, a head engineer of a reactor’s sections, conveyed his perspective when diving to fix the valve: “It was simply part of my job. If I had declined, they could have simply dismissed me. How would I have found alternative employment after that?”.
Miners were then deployed to tunnel under the reactor to prepare space for a heat exchanger designed to stop the reactor’s core from poisoning the water table and possibly triggering an irreversible sequence of deaths.
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Heartbreakingly, several Pripyat residents ventured out to observe the devastation and subsequently became ill. Ananenko added: “In hospital, I received treatment with a man who rode his bike to that bridge the morning of April 26 to observe it. A physician stated he developed a moderate case of acute radiation sickness.
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“Another acquaintance undergoing treatment concurrently mentioned he had a date with his girlfriend adjacent to the [Pripyat] bridge that night. He experienced health issues subsequently.”
Oleksiy holds the conviction that Chernobyl, in his estimation, impelled the Soviet administration to act and terminated its ethos of secrecy. He declared: “For instance, that pointless secrecy, which evolved into a central cause underlying the Chernobyl disaster. When the operators activated the emergency shutdown, the reactor failed to halt but rather exploded.”