The Chernobyl tragedy: The experiment is still going on
The Chernobyl tragedy: The experiment is still going on

01:11 a.m. The experiment continues. The power rises sharply in the lower zone of the reactor, which is not always controlled by sensors. The reactor became an invisible time bomb.

01:17 a.m. Akimov, following Dyatlov’s order to speed up the start of the test, gives an order to fix the initial parameters of the turbogenator.

01:18 a.m. Dyatlov issues the next order and the backup pumping equipment is connected to the work, the turbines are almost silent. It is planned that after 40 seconds the backup generators will provide power. There is a question about the possibility, of practically stopped turbines, to ensure the operation of water pumps before turning on the generators –  the reactor can boil to dryness without a timely supply of water. For Dyatlov, who was unaware of the risk of an impending catastrophe, such a danger remains purely theoretical.

01: 22 a.m. The turbine power is stopped, as they exit work, the pumps supply a minimum amount of water to the reactor, which during evaporation forms a huge amount of steam. Every second, its pressure rises and as a result a spectacle occurs in the huge reactor hall, comparable to the end of the world – the vapor pressure in the reactor lifts the tips of the control rods weighing more than 350 kg with their power.