A Chilling Disaster That Still Mystifies ...



The events of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant explosion left only a slight imprint on my memory back in 1986. As a college sophomore, my attention was focused mostly on the happenings within the insular world that a college campus seems to provide most nineteen year olds, and for the most part, world events didn't factor into the equation. My recollection is that Chernobyl did not resonate with most Americans as it should have; the Challenger disast

A Chilling Disaster That Still Mystifies ...



The events of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant explosion left only a slight imprint on my memory back in 1986. As a college sophomore, my attention was focused mostly on the happenings within the insular world that a college campus seems to provide most nineteen year olds, and for the most part, world events didn't factor into the equation. My recollection is that Chernobyl did not resonate with most Americans as it should have; the Challenger disaster (several months earlier) still consumed a healthy share of news coverage and the highly secretive nature of the Soviet Union rarely gave the rest of the world a glimpse of occurrences behind the Iron Curtain. Ironically, it was a video game (more specifically, the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. video game series that lets you explore Pripyat and the exclusion zone) that generated a strong desire to learn more about Chernobyl and its aftermath. My quest to learn more started with Grigori Medvedev's THE TRUTH ABOUT CHERNOBYL, a book that delivers a before-and-after account of the Chernobyl explosion, as well as a peek into the dark heart of the Soviet Union and its efforts to downplay and conceal a disaster of epic proportions.



There were two things I considered in choosing this book: 1) Medvedev's expertise as a Soviet nuclear engineer and 2) the year the book was first published (originally in 1991 ... five years after the event). I was interested in hearing the voice of an expert from within the Soviet Union at a time when the events were still relatively fresh. Medvedev is not merely an outside expert with an opinion, but someone with first-hand knowledge of the Chernobyl plant, before and after the explosion (as an investigator). His words carry a degree of authority that resonates throughout the book. His criticisms of the Soviet state regarding its lackadaisical approach to safety at nuclear power plants, as well as the rampant political "cronyism" that led to unqualified people being placed in positions requiring expertise is quite revealing ... and bold (considering his attempt to publish some of these criticisms prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union).



I found Medvedev's book to be a slow start as the first two chapters focus primarily on nuclear science and operational details of nuclear reactors. Those untrained in the nuclear science field may discover this material (being presented by an expert in the field) as educational, but also rather complex. While these first chapters are a difficult read, they provide a base knowledge that proves beneficial as the book progresses and the events leading up to the explosion and its aftermath are discussed. While the exact causes of the explosion(s) still present somewhat of a mystery, it is quite clear that critical procedural errors were made which assured the likelihood of a disaster. This is where Medvedev focuses on the political influence and lack of expertise among those in crucial positions ... political appointees that had no business being even near a nuclear power plant. The details of the explosion itself are quite chilling in that it is easy to envision the dark serenity of town of Pripyat sleeping through the near-distant explosion(s) at the reactor in the middle of the night ... only to be preyed upon by the ensuing radioactive plume quietly emanating from the reactor No. 4. Knowing that this quiet and deadly plume leaves Pripyat as a massive, modern-day ghost town following the forced evacuation its 50,000 inhabitants only intensifies the eeriness of the Chernobyl story.



It is the events following the destruction of the reactor that I found particularly interesting and exciting to read about. Most notably was the naiveté of those responding to an explosion at a nuclear plant ... it was quite apparent that such an event was never considered as the burning reactor was treated no differently than an ordinary structure fire (I did not know that a nuclear fire is not only impervious to water, but is intensified by it). Medvedev paints a bleak post-explosion picture as radiation spreads not only by the smoke plume, but by anyone and anything leaving the "zone" (the area immediately affected by the radiation). Filled with eyewitness accounts and as well as his personal visit to the plant and the town of Pripyat, Medvedev details the futility and limited capacity of the Soviet Union to handle the enormity of what was unfolding (simply putting out the fire was a monumental task, let alone dealing with the massive and deadly radioactive emission). We also see the political efforts to cover-up and marginalize the catastrophe. Most telling, however, are the numerous accounts of those who succumbed to high levels of radiation and the utmost misery they experienced prior to their deaths.



THE TRUTH ABOUT CHERNOBYL may be dated, but I found it extremely helpful to place it in its proper context. Chernobyl occurred in an era when the Soviet Union could keep most internal troubles from being exposed to the outside world. While the rest of the world was made aware of the situation, the details were still mostly left to one's imagination. Medvedev's book is an eye-opener for sure; he does an excellent job in providing much needed clarity on the subject matter and delivers it from a neutral point-of-view. It serves as a sobering warning to the lethality of using such an energy source, but does not in any way suggest that nuclear power is wrong. My only wish is that there would have been pictures and maps to enhance the text (although there were relatively few pictures released of the site at the time). While THE TRUTH ABOUT CHERNOBYL does satisfy my curiosity to a degree, there still exists a chilling sense of mystery as to what has occurred and what still occurs in that exclusion zone surrounding the destroyed plant.