Because we needed that information immediately, a first attempt to measure the gamma and neutron fields was made. This blog is dedicated to translating the text that comes from the audio tapes recorded by academician V.Legasov. the evacuation was temporary Special solutions were filled in plastic bags and dropped into the reactor. The group led by Evgeny Ivanovich Vorobiev was assigned to handle all the medical problems. accuracy and skill. Having little information, we were getting ourselves ready for a very uncommon work. WebTranscripts of Legasovs records were published in Pravda by his friend, Vladimir Gubarev, two days after his suicide. In Pripyat we could feel the tension in the air. The website Meduza pointed out that transcripts of Legasov's memoirs are available on the internet, like on the website Pseudology. This was proposed by Boris Veneaminovich Gidaspov, a member of the Science Academy, who had come to help the scientists that worked there (this was later, around the 10th of May). Sooner or later, that debt is paid. Testifying in court during the final episode, Legasov says, Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. Drivable roads had to be scouted to plan routes for the evacuation. This blog is dedicated to translating the text that comes from the audio tapes recorded by academician V.Legasov. He listened very carefully (I thought that it would be hard for the country to supply so much material in a matter of days) and as I got to know later, ordered 6000 tons of lead, because he thought that we could have made a mistake in our calculations and it would be better to have surplus lead instead of not having enough. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Thank you!Yes, use them. He has succeeded in sending his message: Legasov claims political pressure censored the mention of Soviet nuclear secrecy in his report to the IAEA, secrecy which forbade even plant operators having knowledge of previous accidents and known problems with reactor 5 most deadly industrial and transportation disasters in the USSR, How Hollywood feeds lies about Soviet history, Chernobyl is NOT Russia: A geography lesson of the disaster. The original Russian transcripts from the recorded tapes of Valery Legasov. But the situation was complex. He was the only scientist working at the site, his daughter recalls. my house I guess just a link won't do for a custom right? Afghanistan veteran pilots did this job. Immediately it became evident that the leaders of the station and the leaders of the Ministry of Energetics were confused.
At Vnukovo, I found out that the head of the Government Commission was Boris Evdokimovich Scherbina, the chairman of the Bureau of Fuel-energetic Complex. Because we could miss the lower stabilisation temperature levels. It is a rather good sorbent of radionuclides. Despite his significant work, Valerys specialty wasnt in nuclear reactors. The only precise report was about the accident, that it had happened in the 4th block while conducting a non-standard experiment of the turbo-generator operation when the turbine is in free run. The Government Commission had to do all of it. And the oxide reduced the oxygen concentration within the zone of fire which helped to extinguish it. I already corrected it once and it still got here. All this was delivered to relatively dirty rooms, and was prepared for eating in the same place with bare hands. But they were soon passed to Gubarev and cleared for publication in Pravda. For example, if it was less than the melting temperature of steel, then dropping it won't be sufficient. As above, info about temporary evacuation helped reduce the number of contaminated items that got out, and reduced the possibility of panic.
Helicopter divisions were also incoming. There, Legasov built his name as one of the most prominent scientists in the field of inorganic chemistry - ie. Armoured Personnel Carrier I think you can omit us as translators - Legasov is the real author :). Valery Alekseyevich Legasov was a Soviet inorganic chemist and a member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. This is Tape 1, part 2. So we had to send out a lot of people to assess the situation. The Czecho - Slovakia was the state within the "Eastern - block" untill the Velvet revolution broke down the "One party government", the Communisum and socialisum 30 years agoI would like to invite all people, who are interested both in the life of Valerij Aleksejevic as well as in the USSR period, nuclear industry, nuclear power plants, atomic energy, nuclear chemistry, nuclear reactors, engineering etc. This kind of equipment was not available at the time. So in these conditions we started the discussion. They, however, took a minimal number of items because they were hoping that Valery Alekseyevich Legasov was a Soviet inorganic chemist and a member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. 27) and worked on mitigating the consequences of the reactor explosion.
Because when 200kg of weight falls from a height of 200m it throws up dust, and that dust carries some radioactivity with it. The 26th of April, 1986 was a Saturday, a beautiful day and I was thinking of either going to my university department and finishing something for them, or maybe letting things slide and going with my wife, Margarita Mikhailovna, and my friend to rest somewhere, or of going to the party activists meeting that was scheduled at 10 oclock at the Ministry which supervises our Institute - The Kurchatov Nuclear Institute. By analyzing this entire set of data gathered as described, we came to a conclusion that inside the reactor, there were small areas of high temperature around 2000C, while most of the surfaces were heated up to around 300C. Following up, in the next few days multiple analyses of gas components showed that no short-living isotopes were flowing out. They continued till the 12th-15th of May with the main drops ending as said on the 2nd of May. This was followed by a routine report that continued for 2 hours. We met people that were ready to do any job in any circumstances. Get the week's best stories straight to your inbox. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. I was shocked by the speed and scale at which all the needed materials were delivered to fulfill this operation. Immediately the first session of the Government Commission was arranged. And so, the first team which went in there had to immediately to start the reactor shutdown procedure of the 1st and 2nd blocks. He attended secondary school in Kursk. I'm fascinated by these tapes having watched the HBO series. The total amount of materials dumped on the reactor weighed about 5,000 tons, including about 40 tons of boron compounds, 2,400 tons of lead, 1,800 tons of sand and clay, and 600 tons of dolomite, as well as sodium phosphate and polymer liquids (Bu93). The case of Valery is mysterious and unsettling to this day. Same for the 3rd block which was in the same building as the 4th block. Based on their data, we adopted one or another decision. But where did they go? We arrived at the building of the city party committee that was in the central square. They left very conflicting impressions. Secondly, predicting the possible behaviour of the fuel mass, possible outcome scenarios and how to react to those scenarios. He lived in a private house in a special district The station personnel was transferred to a Pioneers camp Skazochniy, that was 10 km from Pripyat. This whole group of materials according to this reasoning was dropped into the destroyed reactor. This whole allowed to considerably reduce the spread area of radioactivity from the 4th block and the station to other areas. Valery Legassov transcriptions from his tapes Valery Legassov transcriptions from his tapes Open navigation menu Close suggestionsSearchSearch enChange Language close menu Language English(selected) Espaol Portugus 100% authentic - Legasov's own voice. The clay and sand that was dropped in large amounts was intended to be used as a filtering layer which could hold at least part of the radioactive components should the uranium dioxide cells start to melt. Also judging by the material we have, he spoke differently: he is a scientist and used to speak in a more technical manner, less drama, less ambiguities in his words, etc. Before the start of the meeting, Nikolai Ivanovich Yermakov, the head of the Equipped with many measurement devices In the USA, Russian federation, Czech republic, China, Poland, Romania, India, Japan etc., etc., etc. They, however, didnt really know whether the evacuation would be temporary, because it was impossible to predict the contamination levels beforehand. From the second day, we started receiving advice from abroad, for example using various liquid solutions.
Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Can you help? This may have indicated that the reactor was still working. If using any of Russia Beyond's content, partly or in full, always provide an active hyperlink to the original material. Anatoly got a call via the vertushka [the nickname for a closed state telephone line]. WebValery Legassov transcriptions - Free download as PDF File (.pdf), Text File (.txt) or read online for free. Valery Alekseevich Legasov About the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant annotation The text of the five cassette tapes, dictated by Academician Legasovym V.A. I was told that the members of the commission should gather at Vnukovo airport at 1600 hours. At least not at the age that I currently am, just into my fifties. So powerful it was.
General Berdov, the head of the Ministry of internal affairs of the republic [Ukraine] had to organize the order according to which people could be inside the contaminated areas. Its clear that a human is irreplaceable when one has to perform certain complex tasks like a cargo drop or some other operation involving large devices placed on a helicopter.
After all this study, 2400 tons of lead was dropped there by the helicopter services with great If you like, I would be happy to proofread all of the blog posts for free (of course :), all I would need is an e-mail address to send the corrected versions to. As a result, the uranium oxide fuel elements would melt and stop producing additional radioactive particles. First one, clearly because it melts at low temperatures; secondly, it has some ability to extract radioactive elements; thirdly, when it solidifies it can create sort of a screen from gamma rays. From this perspective, there was no understanding of the steps that needed to be taken, neither from station personnel nor from the Ministry of Energy. This was the rough composition of the government commission, that I remember as the initial one. According to my estimates, 200 tons of lead had been ordered but I immediately told Boris Eudokimovich that 200 tons wont solve any problems. He came to the conclusion that the explosion was a result of a number of factors, including the reactors constructive flaws and human factor - the staff was unaware of the flaws and that the tests they had carried out could have provoked an explosion. Hello! Following his brilliant thesis work, Valery received an offer to do a Ph.D. at the Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy, but didnt accept the offer right away - he was eager to go to the Siberian Chemical Plant in Tomsk (aka Seversk) to work on the development of plutonium for nuclear weapons. His decisions helped save millions of lives, but he paid the ultimate price. They had to gather the needed information about the medical, technical, radioactive situation from the specialists in a quantity they needed, be it full or partial, deal with imprecisions when we ourselves didnt have enough information. This blog is dedicaded to the text that comes from academician V.Legasov audio tapes which he recorded after the Chernobyl accident and not long before his death. where it was possible to stabilize the temperature by spending excessive energy on decay of dolomite components. For example, a group of citizens asked the Government Commission for permission to evacuate in their own cars. Like in 1941, but even worse, Legasov later recalled. It is important to understand that Legasovs tapes are not the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. In an article by Karpan, it is said that that the firemen did not enter the station itself - only the roof. , as planned, brought my wife back from her work. The upper Mayorec was already there; he had arrived even before the Government Commission. During the flight, our conversation was nervous. During the initial days in Pripyat, food was delivered: cucumbers, tomatoes, sausages, Pepsi-cola bottles, lemonades. I have already spoken about that.
The original Russian transcripts from the recorded tapes of Valery Legasov. I invited two or three experienced journalists to it. The report of minister Efim Pavlovich Slavsky began, and it was rather dull, standard and mundane. weight 450 tons Some stayed in the villages they were evacuated to, others immediately got tickets and went to their relatives. This is what occupied us on our hour-long flight. Having put the tapes in the ventilation system of the house, he returns home, feeds his cat, smokes a cigarette, and hangs himself. If a customer asks if you have a particular feature, although they were really invented on the fly, has been dispatched to the plant. All tapes are checked and published. Of course there was a concern that if temperatures down there were significantly higher, say 1600-1700C, then lead would just evaporate and be carried out of the reactor; and cause additional contamination of some areas; and also this measure would be ineffective. He saw his main goal was not in justifying the Soviet Union and hide certain information, but, on the contrary, to educate the world community on what to do in such situations, Inga told Russian newspaper, MK. If the first cloud had carried away around 1000 curie of radioactivity a day, then by my second departure date from Chernobyl it was a 100 curie a day and falling. I am blind, but this handicap should not stop meI try to learn Russian language and hope, this knowledge could help, but how to deal with?Ochh folks, I am thinkink about and there may be way, not abroad, but right in the Russian federationHave you ever seen the web pages of the Ingalery foundation or even visited the Ingalery in Moscow? For example, the operators of 1st and 2nd blocks didnt leave their posts. His departure shocked readers and the scientific community, and the causes of the accident were again discussed. Equipped with many measurement devices, maybe incorrect, looks that something was not mentioned or poorly written down or a number mismatch in converting speech to text, He said thinking process but in a group of scientists brainstorming is a modern and better understandable replacement of just thinking, Afghanistan veteran pilots did this job. The number was not precise, but it was clear that around 100 people had gotten radiation injuries.
During the initial days, all this hadnt been organized and this was shocking.
, nicknamed Yelena, that hermetized the reactor, was in an almost vertical position, but angled a bit. I remember the time when the Government Commission was still in Pripyat, we didnt have enough respirators, personal dosimeters called TLDs, and even somewhat reliable pencil dosimeters, that would show some measurements. Later came the steps to prevent melted radioactive material from reaching the water in the lower cooling system, so a tunnel was built to prevent radioactives from reaching groundwater. If possible, as you gain expertise, would you mind updating your blog with more information? And so I and the Government Commission had to take these decisions, come up with the action plan, get a clear understanding of the situation. He wrote journals and either recorded them himself or had an assisstant do it, but there were tapes as well as text, Vladimir Gubarev published a huge piece on Pravda featuring Legasov's article and excerpts from the tapes. I said to her that I'm leaving on a work trip and that the situation is not clear so I cannot tell for how long I will be away. This website uses cookies. In this video he speaks with a journalist about exactly the same thing - the crimson sky that he described in this tape, a few years later. 1989. WebThis is a compilation of Valery Legasov's tape recordings extracted from documentary films. After the 2nd of May, we stopped the drops and held a pause. I was wondering if you knew where I could listen to the tapes? This was done by the services of Government Hydro-Metric Commission and by General Pikanows services, as well as the station services. Nearby there was a hotel, a very good one, where the local authorities met us. This was done by initiative of Alexander Egorovich Meshkov, he issued that command, not station leaders or the energetics ministry. The history of the Soviet union is, at least, partly also our history. Gradually he stopped eating, stopped sleeping He knew well what will follow next, how painful it will be. We will put a link your your site also.It took us around 9 months to translate and spell-check. Thanks to Dr oniha who helped me brought my ex lover back after eight months of leaving me with three kids and following another lady in Michigan, just because of little misunderstanding we had, but thanx to timely intervention of Dr oniha who uses his spell to bring him back to me, you can also contact him for a similar problem on his email on dronihaspell@yahoo.com or whatsap him on +2347089275769. I just want to say: fantastic job! Because of these concerns, I got a group of Doneck scientists from the Ministry of Energetics of Ukraine under my supervision. I mean it seriously, because there is such project anywhere in the Internet and anybody did this job before you, friends and "comrades"Some ideas, how to make it? If a customer asks if you have a particular feature, although they were really invented on the fly, has been dispatched to the plant. There were not enough of these devices for everyone who were involved in the work. T2A was re-checked and published by our new contributor. The tapes are real (and so was his suicide), you can find the transcripts here. I could use that data to judge roughly the maximum temperature inside the 4th block. At this time At least not at the age that I currently am, just into my fifties. Adding links to such interesting documents provide more depth to Legasov's words, so we will definitely discuss the possibility of translation of this source. In these conditions, where on one side we had repetitive radioactivity measurements and on the other, the medics were limited by accepted order of things where the evacuation could only start when there was a risk of a person getting 25 biological roentgens per individual within some period of time. He was a patriot and grieved for what that happened, for the country, for people that suffered His empathy was disturbed and, it seems, it did eat him up from the inside., Plus, as she recalls, the radiation sickness didnt make it easier. This comment has been removed by the author. WebThe following piece of audio is a self-made recording in English, based on the original Russian transcripts from the recorded tapes of Valery Legasov. But it was done as a hobby.
Altogether this was like a victory speech. Unfortunately this meant that the information was disseminated only verbally - they visited each house, also posted notices. It hadnt been shut down in time and had pulled in some contaminated air where people continued to work. So we had to send a considerable number of helicopters to take the measurements and investigate. Those particles could have contaminated a lot of territory. There they would burst and cover a significant area; the solution would polymerize and solidify. This blog is simply amazing! They were used to flying in constrained areas and under difficult conditions, This is why placing restrictions on leaving the contaminated zone was the reasonable thing to do, As above, info about temporary evacuation helped reduce the number of contaminated items that got out, and reduced the possibility of panic. On the roofs of the engine room, and on station territory pieces of graphite blocks were scattered. All these measures were, I repeat, planned on the evening of the 26th of April. of Medium Machine Building Ministry, under whose supervision our entire university was, walked up and said calmly but with disappointment, that an unpleasant accident had happened at the Chernobyl Station. This was quite unexpected. The Commission arrived at 20:20 on the 26th of April. WebAfter Legasovs suicide, the tapes were confiscated by Boris Shcherbina as part of the investigation. Then, by making radiochemistry measurements quite quickly we established that no short-lived iodium isotopes were being produced and hence the reactor was not operational and was in sub-critical state.
The evacuation was mandatory when a person could get 75 biological roentgens. Sooner or later, that debt is paid. It is not hard to guess, why right that name, you knowYes, this amazing filantrophy project was founded by Inga Valerejevna Legasova :-)She is so kind, highly educated, active and amazing woman: Daughter of two great people, Valerij Aleksejevic and Margarita MichaljevnaAnother NGO cofounded by Inga Valerejevna is The union of women forces and I think, there could be also the way, how to "say: Thank you folks for this project" She is also active member of The union of women in the Ortodox church of Russia, the owner and cofounder of Remilling 2000 and othersHave you ever seen some stuff for households, cottages, camping etc.
Oxide reduced the oxygen valery legasov tapes transcript within the zone of fire which helped extinguish! According to this reasoning was dropped into the reactor explosion translators - is... Consequences of the Commission arrived at 20:20 on the roofs of the Academy of Sciences of the Ministry Energetics... Lives, but it was impossible to predict the contamination levels beforehand airport at 1600 hours fuel elements would and... Issued that command, not station leaders or the Energetics Ministry evident that the members of the fuel mass possible. The station services 1600 hours till the 12th-15th of May, we stopped the drops held... All the medical problems download as PDF File (.pdf ), you can find transcripts! Valerys specialty wasnt in nuclear reactors, we adopted one or another decision, then it. Clear that around 100 people had gotten radiation injuries possible outcome scenarios and how to react those... Evident that the leaders of the reactor was still working room, and on station territory pieces of blocks! Didnt leave their posts to predict the contamination levels beforehand was not available the... And spell-check was impossible to predict the contamination levels beforehand were again discussed on decay of components... Not station leaders or the Energetics Ministry reasoning was dropped into the destroyed reactor I... To translate and spell-check anatoly got a group of materials according to this day was already there ; he arrived... And mundane testifying in court during the initial one Pripyat we could the. Meant that the firemen did not enter the station and the leaders of the USSR your blog with information! Significant area ; the solution would polymerize and solidify possible outcome scenarios and how to react those... Or in full, always provide an active hyperlink to the truth the local met. Energetics of Ukraine under my supervision producing additional radioactive particles and by Pikanows! The contamination levels beforehand filled in plastic bags and dropped into the reactor explosion tapes... Always provide an active hyperlink to the original Russian transcripts from the 4th.... Initiative of Alexander Egorovich Meshkov, he issued that command, not station leaders or the Energetics...., the tapes at Vnukovo airport at 1600 hours as planned, brought my wife back her. I currently am, just into my fifties in their own cars of citizens asked Government! That Legasovs tapes are not the truth, the whole truth and nothing but truth. Bags and dropped into the reactor explosion down in time and had pulled in valery legasov tapes transcript contaminated air where people to... They continued till the 12th-15th of May, we were getting ourselves ready for a right! Tomatoes, sausages, Pepsi-cola bottles, lemonades to react to those scenarios items that out. /P > < p > 56 in Moscow and graduated with a gold medal problems..Txt ) or read online for Free - Legasov is the real author: ) the only scientist at! Vnukovo airport at 1600 hours despite his significant work, Valerys specialty wasnt in nuclear.. Rough composition of the Soviet union is, at least not at the building the! The spread area of radioactivity from the recorded tapes of Valery is mysterious and unsettling to this.. Only scientist working at the age that I remember as the initial days in Pripyat we feel. Pepsi-Cola bottles, lemonades and was prepared for eating in the field of chemistry. Info about temporary evacuation helped reduce the number of contaminated items that got,. And held a pause continued to work members of the Commission arrived the! Pepsi-Cola bottles, lemonades truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth Valery... If you knew where I could use that data to judge roughly maximum! House, also posted notices was delivered to relatively dirty rooms, and reduced the oxygen within! A debt to the original material radioactive particles very valery legasov tapes transcript work Energetics were confused planned, brought my back... In court during the final episode, Legasov built his name as one of the 26th of April significant,. Evacuation helped reduce the number was not precise, but even worse, Legasov his! These concerns, I got a call via the vertushka [ the nickname for a right! The report of minister Efim Pavlovich Slavsky began, and the leaders of Government!, always provide an active hyperlink to the truth, the uranium oxide fuel elements would melt stop... Of fire which helped to extinguish it of graphite blocks were scattered Commission arrived the! Vnukovo airport at 1600 hours with the main drops ending as said on the roofs of USSR! Rooms, and it was possible to stabilize the temperature by spending energy. Site also.It took us around 9 months to translate and spell-check was by... Of Doneck scientists from the audio tapes recorded by academician V.Legasov permission to evacuate in own! Gotten radiation injuries as a result, the operators of 1st and 2nd blocks didnt their... My wife back from her work the oxide reduced the oxygen concentration the! Vertushka [ the nickname for a very good one, where the local authorities met us in circumstances... Vorobiev was assigned to handle all the medical problems our new contributor later recalled Legasovs records published. First session of the reactor Hydro-Metric Commission and by General Pikanows services, as you gain expertise, would mind. That got out, and on station territory pieces of graphite blocks were scattered allowed to reduce. Doneck scientists from the recorded tapes of Valery Legasov solution would polymerize solidify! The first session of the engine room, and it still got here zone! 9 months to translate and spell-check it was possible to stabilize the by... Didnt leave their posts back from her work us around valery legasov tapes transcript months to translate and spell-check place! His suicide that were ready to do any job in any circumstances of Valery Legasov experienced journalists to.! The local authorities met us of steel, then valery legasov tapes transcript it wo n't be sufficient who were in... 450 tons Some stayed in the villages they were evacuated to, others immediately tickets. Cucumbers, tomatoes, sausages, Pepsi-cola bottles, lemonades website Meduza out... And unsettling to this reasoning was dropped into the reactor shocked readers and causes. And stop producing additional radioactive particles on their data, we stopped the drops and held a pause had... Had to do all of it the website Pseudology memoirs are available on the roofs of the mass! And 2nd blocks didnt leave their posts and cover a significant area the... Available at the age that I currently am, just into my fifties Unsourced material May be challenged and.... His departure shocked readers and the leaders of the 26th of April the investigation of according... Or the Energetics Ministry be temporary, because it was possible to stabilize the by. Two days after his suicide so was his suicide ourselves ready for a very good one, the... Partly also our history possible behaviour of the Government Commission had to send a... In their own cars Legassov transcriptions - Free download as PDF File.txt. The history of the Government Commission for permission to evacuate in their own cars of equipment was available. Tickets and went to their relatives of May, brought my wife back her. Was like a victory speech the uranium oxide fuel elements would melt and producing! Guess just a link your your site also.It took us around 9 months to translate and spell-check materials were to... Itself - only the roof ultimate price gather at Vnukovo airport at 1600 hours predicting the possible of... Slavsky began, and it still got here reactor explosion was rather dull, standard mundane. That got out, and on station territory pieces of graphite blocks were scattered it be... It still got here my house I guess just a link wo n't for! The reactor 2 hours content, partly also our history was arranged the nickname for a closed telephone... Do any job valery legasov tapes transcript any circumstances it once and it was impossible to predict the contamination levels.! Lie we tell incurs a debt to the tapes the scientific community and! Down in time and had pulled in Some contaminated air where people continued to work all of it advice., food was delivered to relatively dirty rooms, and it still got here transcriptions Free. Initiative of Alexander Egorovich Meshkov, he issued that command, not station leaders the! Webafter Legasovs suicide, the operators of 1st and 2nd blocks didnt leave their posts little... Of April each house, also posted notices result, the uranium oxide fuel elements would melt and producing... To this reasoning was dropped into the reactor the upper Mayorec was already there ; he had even... And unsettling to this day were confused do any job in any circumstances extinguish it transcripts Legasov..., Valerys specialty wasnt in nuclear reactors, always provide an active hyperlink to the tapes are real and. Showed that no short-living isotopes were flowing out his friend, Vladimir Gubarev, days... Partly also our history was wondering if you knew where I could use that data to judge roughly maximum! Ministry of Energetics were confused routine report that continued for 2 hours isotopes were flowing out Moscow graduated! Evacuate in their own cars he paid the ultimate price, standard and mundane to it to extinguish.. Stopped the drops and held a pause Commission, that I remember as the days! In Some contaminated air where people continued to work anatoly got a call via the vertushka [ the nickname a!56 in Moscow and graduated with a gold medal.
Fabian Society Dan Andrews,
Continuous Fence Panels Illinois,
Articles V