Only in five days after explosion, on May 1, 1986, the Soviet authorities in Chernobyl have made terrible discovery: the active zone of the exploded reactor still melted. The kernel contained 185 tons of nuclear fuel, and nuclear reaction continued with the terrifying speed.
Under these 185 tons of the melted nuclear material there was a tank with five million gallons of water. Water was used at power plant as the heat carrier, and the only thing that separated a kernel of the melting reactor from water, was a thick concrete plate. The melting active zone slowly burned this plate, going down to water in the smoldering stream of the melted radioactive metal.
If this kernel of the reactor made white-hot, melting has concerned water, it would cause the massive, polluted by radiation steam explosion. Radioactive infection of the most part of Europe could become result. On a death toll the first Chernobyl explosion would look insignificant incident.
So, the journalist Stephen McGuinty (Stephen McGinty) wrote: "It would cause nuclear explosion which, by calculations of the Soviet physicists, would cause evaporation of fuel in three other reactors, has razed to the ground 200 square kilometers [77 square miles], has destroyed Kiev, has polluted the system of water supply used by 30 million inhabitants and on more than century has made northern Ukraine unsuitable for life" (The Scotsman ot16 March, 2011).
The school of the Russian and Asian researches in 2009 has given even more gloomy assessment: if the melting core of the reactor has reached water, the explosion which has followed that "would destroy a half of Europe and has made Europe, Ukraine and part of Russia uninhabited for about 500 thousand years".
The experts working at the place have seen that the melting kernel devoured that concrete plate, burned it — every minute approaching water.
Engineers immediately developed the plan for preventing of possible explosions of the remained reactors. It was decided that via the flooded cameras of the fourth reactor in aqualungs three persons will go. When they reach the heat carrier, will find pair of locking valves and will open them, so that from there water until the fissile region of the reactor adjoined to it completely flowed out.
For millions of residents of the USSR and Europeans for whom the inevitable death waited, diseases and other loss in view of the approaching explosion, it was the excellent plan.
What couldn't be told about divers. There was no worst place on the planet then, than the tank with water under slowly melting fourth reactor. All perfectly understood that any who will get to this radioactive soup will be able to live enough to finish the work, but, perhaps, no more.
The Soviet authorities have explained circumstances of the approaching second explosion, the plan for his prevention and consequences: in fact, it was the inevitable death from radiation poisoning.
Three persons were called.
Three men have voluntarily offered the help, knowing that it will probably be the last that they will make in the life. It were the senior engineer, the engineer of an average link and the shift supervisor. The task of the shift supervisor consisted in holding an underwater lamp, so that engineers could identify valves which were required to be opened.
Next day the Chernobyl three has put on equipment and has plunged into the killing pool.
The outer darkness, and light of a waterproof lamp at the shift supervisor reigned in the pool as it is reported, I was dim and periodically died away.
Moved ahead in the turbid darkness, search didn't bring results. Divers aimed to finish radioactive float as soon as possible: every minute of dipping isotopes freely destroyed their bodies. But they still didn't find drain valves. And therefore continued searches, even in spite of the fact that light could go out at any time, and over them the darkness could be closed.
The lamp has really fused, but there was it how his beam has pulled out a pipe from a gloom. Engineers have noticed her. They knew that the pipe conducts to those latches.
Divers have in the dark swum up to that place where have seen a pipe. They have grabbed her and began to rise, intercepting hands. Light wasn't. There was no protection against ionization, radioactive, pernicious for a human body. But there, in a gloom, there were two latches which could rescue millions of people.
Divers have opened them, and water has rushed outside. The pool has begun to become empty quickly.
When three men have returned on a surface, their business has been made. The staff of the NPP and soldiers have met them as heroes, they also were those actually. They say that people literally jumped with joy.
During the next day all five million gallons of radioactive water have flowed out from under the fourth reactor. By then as the melting kernel located over the pool has done to itself a way to the tank, water in him wasn't any more. The second explosion managed to be avoided.
Results of the analyses which are carried out after this immersion met in one: if the three hasn't plunged into the pool and hasn't drained it, from steam explosion which would turn the course of history, millions of people would die.
During the next days at three inevitable and faultless symptoms began to be shown: radial illness. After several weeks all three died.
Men were buried in lead coffins with the soldered covers. Even the deprived lives, their bodies have been through impregnated with radioactive radiation.
Many heroes went on feats for the sake of others, having only small chance to survive. But these three men knew that they had no chance. They peered into depths where they were waited by certain death. Also have plunged into them.
They were called by Alexey Ananenko, Valery Bespalov and Boris Baranov.
It's an honor to be a diver.
I read about these heroes who sacrificed themselves for everyone else a long time ago. They should never be forgotten.