Cleaning Up Chernobyl: Tragedy of Valery Legasov

Its been exactly twenty years since Valery Legasov -- one of the Soviet Union's highly acclaimed scientists -- committed suicide. He headed the scientific group involved in the clear-up of the Chernobyl blast in 1986 and threw himself into finding what caused the disaster. However he met a lot of difficulties in his path, which - as some say -broke him . Russia Today's Alexey Yaroshevsky brings an XL report about Valery Legasov's life.

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[TheSouthernGentleman]

Mr. Legasov was truly a great man. It is unfortunate that he never got the recognition he deserved during his lifetime.

[PhotoFuck]

Loved the documentary!! Very concise and clear.

[nicelittlerunner]

this story is different to every other I have seen.

i have never heard that they were trying to shut it down and then someone called up and said 'actually turn it on again' and it blew up.

it was the graphite tips of the boron controlling rods that made the reactor surge when they tried to stop meltdown (a design flaw)

initially there was a water cooling problem as water was pumped by the reactors power, when the reactor was on low power the water stopped and made it overheat

rip Valery

[puncheex]

There are several demonstrable errors in this:

The fatal test was halted during the day shift; that moved it to the night shift's work. The delay had nothing to do with the accident, except to select the crew present in the facility. Since crew training had something to do with the accident, that might or might not have been significant.

There was water underneath the reactor; many sources tell of it and the work of the three man team who opened the valves to move it.

[esteban2106]

@b25364 True, it was Legasov who realized that the water had to be removed be any means possible.He was right, years later scientists found the infamous "Elephant's Foot" and many other flows which could have made contact with the water, resulting in a catastrophic Steam explosion, which could have sent all the radioactive materials even further than the first explosion. It's estimated that, given that situation, more than one third of Europe could've been rendered uninhabitable. Hats off to him

[b25364]

The helicopters missed the burning reactor – yes!

But below it were gallons of water. Men swam in that water, which had turned to bleach with the amount of Alpha radiation there was, to empty it. If they had not the melted corium would have produced a massive explosion. Legasov saw that. This programme does not give him that recognition. This programme is just Soviet propaganda for the modern age.

[starmanskye]

I admire those who have the courage of their convictions and against great opposition take a stand on the side of truth, speaking truth to power. I wouldn't be surprised if the calculated petty venality of the Soviet Institute members who refused to grant Legasov's Team the Medal of Soviet Labor for purely political reasons contributed to the decline of popular support & confidence for the Soviet Union system & encouraged its collapse. Legasov was truly a hero in the best sense of the word.

[ElyanSun]

Mr. Legasov was truly a Great Man. It is unfortunate that he never got the recognition he deserved during his lifetime.... Administrative inertia & Lack of material means Put the respectable Mr Valery Legasov in a critical situation: He & all his Team Deserve our Respect and so much more :. RIP

[DeathofSpecteR]

Interesting.

[youtert]

Hans Brix!

[jeremix2006]

Indeed. Good documental, but there is delay between what they say and the video shows.