The whole country is looking at us

We continue to acquaint readers with some materials of the “Tribune of energetic”, the Kiev regional newspaper of the Construction Department of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant named after V.I. Lenin, published in the late 80s of the last century. These practically rare chronicles are more than thirty years old.

Today, reading materials impregnated with party slogans and appeals are at least strange. On the one hand, there is a nomenclature falsehood, which permeates every heading, and on the other, the heroic work of a simple person, unprecedented by the standards of an almost dying political system. This is most striking …

From the materials of “Tribunes of energetic” for October 21, 1986:

The stubborn and selfless struggle of builders, installers, military units against the out-of-control atom at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant continues for more than five and a half months. Huge amounts of work have already been completed, but many remains to be done. Our party spares neither funds, nor equipment for the prompt liquidation of the consequences of the accident.

This is precisely what the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee M. Gorbachev aimed at in one of his recent speeches, saying that the most important task today is to eliminate the consequences of the Chernobyl accident. Today, these words have become a guide to action for people employed in Chernobyl.

The Communists are, as befits, ahead

The Secretary of the Party Committee, Shevtsov F.I., says that the communists of the construction department of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant showed themselves on the good side from the very first days. It’s even difficult today to single out someone so as not to offend others who are equally worthy.

But still, it’s worthwhile to stop separately and emphasize the excellent work of our comrades such as V.I. Poddubnaya, Y.P. Ksheminsky, A.I. Ragulin, S.B. Zhovnerchuk. These are young guys who have been recently admitted to the CPSU, oh it’s very nice that they didn’t go out in difficult times, but they confirmed with honor the high rank of communist.

Telegrams, packages, equipment are coming from all over today to Chernobyl, experts are hurrying to overcome the aftermath of the accident. Many arrivals show examples of selfless productive labor.

The account № 904

These figures, of course, are known to every citizen of our state. In this regard, industrial enterprises, institutions, individual Soviet citizens transfer funds to combat the consequences of the accident. Recently, an interesting case has occurred in one of the savings banks.

One small and thin old woman brought three hundred rubles to the savings bank and asked employees to transfer the entire sum to 904 account for those who suffered from the Chernobyl accident. The Soviet people is great and unbending in moments of universal grief, misfortune. This minor case is common for today. It is in such examples that the strength of our socialist system and the inviolability of its positions are manifested.

Selflessness, courage, fidelity to their duty – these concepts have become the norm for most who work in Chernobyl. Fidelity to duty, to their cause, to the work of their comrades. The history of the development of nuclear energy will include the names of heroes-firefighters forever who were the first to take the blow of a raging atom.

They, at the cost of their lives, did the seemingly impossible. They remained faithful to their professional duty in the first hours of the accident. Victor Kibenok, Vladimir Pravik, Leonid Telyatnikov are awarded the Golden Star of Heroes of the Soviet Union, the streets are called with their names, the time will come – books will be written and films will be made about them.

In the meantime, thousands of people are working hard for one purpose — to make the Chernobyl accident as soon as possible hardly memorable of the ordeals that our state has had to face, so that this sad page in the history of nuclear energy can be quickly turned over.

Work is ongoing. Its main volume on the burial of the fourth emergency power unit has already been completed; the first Chernobyl power unit has begun to supply current to the country’s energy system. But there is still a lot of work to be done to thoroughly decontaminate the territory adjacent to the nuclear power plant, to complete the construction of special hydraulic structures that will protect the Pripyat River basin from radioactive contamination.

In general, there is still a lot of responsible and necessary work ahead. And it must be completed in the shortest possible time, because otherwise it is impossible. There is a poster – “The whole country is looking at us” – at one of the entrances to Chernobyl. It is hard to add anything to this.