The National Academy of Sciences Archives

Initial efforts to minimize the consequences of the Chernobyl accident

The situation that developed at the destroyed 4th power unit in particular, and at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant as a whole, required

The Chernobyl tragedy: Beginning
At 1:23 a.m., April 26, 1986, the world counted down …
The Chernobyl tragedy: Test preparation
00:23 a.m. The control panel of the 4th power unit …
The Chernobyl tragedy: 00:27 a.m.
On the clock 00:27 a.m. By this time, the capacity …
The Chernobyl tragedy: Power failure
00:30 a.m. During the transition to an automatic control regulator, …
The Chernobyl tragedy: Trials at all costs
01:03 a.m. Dyatlov made sure that the power was brought …
The Chernobyl tragedy: The experiment is still going on
01:11 a.m. The experiment continues. The power rises sharply in …
The Chernobyl tragedy: Second from disaster
01:23 a.m. Having instantly assessed the situation, the senior operator …
The Chernobyl tragedy: The first explosion
The light goes out from the shock wave as a …