On April 26th, 1986, scientists at the Byelorussian Institute of Nuclear Energy detected a significant amount of radiation on the grounds and presumed there was a leak in one of their own labs. However, no leak could be found. They contacted the closest nuclear plant in lgnalina; they too had detected elevated radiation levels but had found no source of a leak. The next phone call was to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, a full 250 miles away in Pripyat, Ukraine. No one answered the phone.

The explosion of Reactor #4 at Chernobyl was the result of the lies, mistakes, cover-ups, ignorance and arrogance that were the hallmarks of the Soviet system. A group of scientists resolved to discover the truth, even as the Soviet system worked to conceal its complicity in the disaster. Together they uncovered the truth of what happened that night.