(Dosimeter crackling)
(Heavy breathing)
(Torch crank pumping and whirring)
(Crackling continues)
(Pumping and whirring continues)
(Water splashing)
(Grunting)
(Splashing continues)
(Dosimeter crackling)
(Pumping continues)
(Grunts)
(Pumping continues)
Is it possible that the water has already killed them?
- Yes. - Then what?
If it doesn't work?
(Helicopter whirring nearby)
(Water splashing)
(Dosimeter crackling)
(Grunting)
(Dosimeter crackling)
(Grunting)
(Banging on door)
(Panting)
- Urgh! - (Applause)
(Door slams)
Get them in the truck.
Get the hoses in. Start pumping.
Uh... I'm here to see my husband, Vasily Ignatenko.
He's a firefighter from Chernobyl. I have permission.
Chernobyl? I'm sorry. No visitors.
Well... but Major Burov told me.
- He said... - No exceptions.
Please. I've come all the way from Kievskaya oblast.
(Stamp thuds)
Uh... excuse me.
- Uh... excuse me, excuse me. - Who are you?
- What are you doing here? - I have a pass.
You can't be here. It's not safe.
I am here to see my husband. Vasily Ignatenko.
He's a firefighter from Chernobyl.
I know who Ignatenko is. But you can't.
I have permission. I... I've...
You can see him for 30 minutes. Not a minute more.
And you cannot touch him in any way.
- Do you understand? - Yeah.
Room 15.
Thank you.
- You're not pregnant, are you? - No.
I won't have to give that to you.
There they are.
Wait, wait. I haven't finished yet.
No, no, he has it. Yeah, that's good.
Look who the cat dragged in.
What did I tell you?
There's no hiding from you, is there? Eh?
(Groaning) Just... easy.
Easy. It's OK. OK.
Yeah. OK.
(Helicopter whirring)
(Dosimeter crackling)
(Muffled radio chatter)
How? How... How did this happen? Who gave them the idea?
- Are you suggesting I did? - Someone did.
Someone decided that the evacuation zone
should be 30 kilometres, when we know, here...
Caesium-137 in the Gomel District,
that's 200 kilometres away!
- It was decided. - Based on what?
- I don't know! - Forgive me.
Maybe I... I've just spent too much time in my lab.
Or maybe I'm just stupid.
Is this really the way it all works?
An uninformed, arbitrary decision
that will cost who knows how many lives,
made by some apparatchik, some career Party man?
I'm a career Party man.
You should watch your tone, Comrade Legasov.
Comrades, we have visual confirmation
that the fire is nearly extinguished.
There's also been a reduction in Iodine-131
- and Caesium-137 emissions. - Good. Yes?
But the temperature is rising.
And uh...
There's a spike in Zirconium-95.
That's from the cladding on the fuel rods.
Meaning what?
The meltdown has begun.
(Helicopter whirring)
(Groaning in distance)
(Moans of pain)
VASILY: Get off me!
(Wails) Get off me!
(Distressed shouting)
- Stop moving. - Get off me!
Get off him! You're hurting him!
- (Vasily cries out) - You can't be in here.
- What's happening to him? - Get out!
- Please! - You can't be in here.
(Vasily screaming)
(Screaming continues)
(Phone rings)
Yes?
Put him through.
- Well? - The fire's nearly out.
Bubbler tanks are being drained.
We have successfully eliminated the risk of a thermal explosion.
And?
The situation inside the core
is deteriorating faster than anticipated.
The concrete pad will last for six to eight weeks
but, after that, Legasov estimates a 50% chance
that the fuel will breach the pad
and melt down into the groundwater itself.
Wh... And where does this groundwater go?
The Pripyat River, which feeds into the Dnieper...
..the primary water supply for approximately 50 million people.
Not to mention crops and livestock would be unusable.
We're recommending we install a heat exchanger under the pad
to lower the core temperature and halt the meltdown.
And in order to do that, I'm told that we will need...
..all of the liquid nitrogen in the Soviet Union.
Ah.
- Oh. All right. - Of course, we'll also need...
Whatever you need, you have it. That should be clear.
- Yes. - Anything else?
- No. Thank you. - Yes.
I'd like to address the 30km exclusion zone.
Wait... Who? Professor Legasov, is that you?
What exclusion zone?
Minor details, General Secretary.
Um... Premier Ryzhkov has determined...
If he determined, then he determined.
Look, Professor Legasov,
you are there for one reason only.
Do you understand? To make this stop.
I don't want questions. I want to know when this will be over.
If you mean when will Chernobyl be completely safe,
the half-life of Plutonium-239 is 24,000 years.
So, perhaps we should just say, "Not within our lifetimes."
(Gorbachev hangs up)
(Drone of helicopters in background)
I think you and I should take a walk.
It's late. I'm tired.
- We're taking a walk. - (Exhales)
(Dog panting)
What is it you want? An apology?
Not gonna sit back and...
(Sighs)
What will happen to our boys?
Which boys? The divers?
The divers, the firefighters, the men in the control room.
What does the radiation do to them, precisely?
Well, at the level some of them were exposed,
ionising radiation tears the cellular structure apart.
The skin blisters, turns red then black.
This is followed by a latency period.
The immediate effects subside.
The patient appears to be recovering.
Healthy, even, but they aren't.
This usually only lasts for a day or two.
Continue.
Then the cellular damage begins to manifest.
The bone marrow dies.
The immune system fails.
The organs and soft tissue begin to decompose.
The arteries and veins spill open like sieves...
..to the point where you can't even administer morphine
for the pain, which is... unimaginable.
Within three days to three weeks, you're dead.
That is what will happen to those boys.
And what about us?
Well, we've...
We've gotten a steady dose, but not as much of it.
Not strong enough to kill the cells,
but consistent enough to damage our DNA.
So, in time... cancer.
Or aplastic anaemia.
Either way, fatal.
Well...
In a sense, it would seem we've gotten off easy, then...
..Valery.
I've seen them before.
Now you know why I wanted to take a walk.
You can presume the work site is bugged.
And our rooms. Even our bathrooms.
They've been here the whole time?
Of course they've been here the whole time.
But if we're seeing them out in the open now...
..it's because they want us to know.
(Helicopter whirring in distance)
(Outer door opens)
(Door slams)
You've seen that?
The fuel is melting faster than we expected.
I know. I have a plan.
- Heat exchanger, I hope. - (Gulps) Yes.
There's something I've wanted to ask you, comrade,
but I see you're already asking yourself the same question.
Why did it explode?
I've worked the numbers over and over,
presuming the worst possible conditions in an RBMK reactor.
And I always get the same answer.
Which is?
- It's not possible. - And yet...
You're not gonna solve this here.
Not on paper.
Everyone who was in the control room -
Dyatlov, Akimov, Toptunov -
they're all in Moscow.
Hospital number six.
We need to find out exactly what happened that night.
Moment by moment, decision by decision.
Go now, while they're still alive. Talk to them.
Because if we don't find out how this happened,
it will happen again.
And, Khomyuk...
..be careful.
(Lift bell pings)
- (Laughter) - Well, fuck you.
Here's one. Here's one.
What's as big as a house, burns 20 litres of fuel every hour...
..puts out a shitload of smoke and noise...
..and cuts an apple into three pieces?
A Soviet machine made to cut apples into four pieces!
(All laugh)
(Chuckling)
(Vehicle approaching)
- Who's in charge here? - I'm the crew chief.
I'm Shadov, Minister of Coal Industries.
We know who you are.
How many men do you have?
On this shift, 45 here. 100 in total.
I need all the 100 men to gather their equipment
and get on the trucks.
Do you? To where?
That's classified.
Come on, then. Start shooting.
You haven't got enough bullets for all of us.
Kill as many as you can.
Whoever's left, we'll beat the living piss out of each of you.
- You can't talk like that! - Shut the fuck up!
This is Tula. This is our mine.
We don't leave unless we know why.
You're going to Chernobyl.
Do you know what's happened there?
We dig up coal, not bodies.
The reactor fuel is going to sink into the ground
and poison the water from Kiev to the Black Sea - all of it.
Forever, they say.
They want you to stop that from happening.
How are we supposed to do that?
They didn't tell me, because I don't need to know.
Do you need to know, or have you heard enough?
(Miner pats minister)
(Chatter)
Now you look like the Minister of Coal.
- (He groans) - Vasily?
Vasily?
(Gasping)
(Softly) Ah. No, no, no. They told you, no touching.
It's not safe.
(Kisses) They touch you.
If it's safe for them, it's safe for me.
You...
Where are the others?
They took them to a special room.
They won't tell me where.
Can you open the curtains?
- Hm? - Open the curtains.
(He groans)
Mm.
(She laughs)
Please tell me what you see outside.
Tell me everything.
Um...
I can see the Red Square.
And... the Kremlin.
Spasskaya Tower, Mausoleum.
Do you see St Basil's?
- Yeah. - Ah.
(Chuckling) Yes. It's beautiful.
I told you.
I told you I'd show you Moscow, didn't I?
- Huh? - Yeah. Yes.
Thank you.
(Plastic rustling)
(Door creaks)
(Door closes)
I'm not eating that, it's shit.
Give me something else.
I'm not a nurse, Comrade Dyatlov.
I'm a nuclear physicist.
Well, then, Comrade Nuclear Physicist...
..unless you happen to have
a butter and caviar sandwich on you...
..you can get the fuck out of my room.
(Chatter)
What?
I'm not good at this, Boris.
The lying.
Have you ever spent time with miners?
No.
My advice, tell the truth.
These men work in the dark. They see everything.
Andrei Glukhov, crew chief.
(Door closes)
Do these work?
To an extent.
Of course.
So, what's the job?
We need to install a liquid nitrogen heat exchanger
underneath this concrete pad.
There's no way to approach
from the interior of the building,
so you have to get at it from underground.
And what's above the pad?
The core of the nuclear reactor,
which is... melting down.
What, like...?
Essentially.
Is it gonna fall on top of us?
Not if you're done within six weeks.
Dimensions?
Break ground here...
dig a tunnel 150 metres to here,
excavate a space 30 by 30 metres for the heat exchanger.
Because we need to keep
disruption of the ground above to a minimum,
you can't use any heavy machinery.
- It has to be done by hand. - I'm gonna need more men.
400, at least. We'll have to work round the clock.
How deep do you want this tunnel? Six metres?
- 12. - 12? Why?
For your protection.
At that depth, you'll be shielded
from much of the radiation.
The entrance to the tunnel won't be 12 metres below ground.
No.
And we're not 12 metres below ground now.
(Clicks tongue) No. We're not.
SHCHERBINA: We have some equipment here on site.
More will arrive by midnight.
- You can start in the morning. - No. We start now.
I don't want my men here
one more second than they need to be.
If these worked... you'd be wearing them.
(Door opens and closes)
- Are they all like that? - They're all like that.
(Grunting and thudding)
(Rattling)
(Helicopter whirring in distance)
MAN: Yes? - What's it up to?
It's uh... 50 degrees.
Fuck.
Hey!
Hey, you.
- We need fans. - For what purpose?
What do you mean, "For what purpose?"
To dig your fucking tunnel, that's why!
- Who's talking to you? - Whoa, whoa. Comrades...
It's 50 degrees in there.
We can't breathe without masks, we can't breathe with the masks.
It's like a fucking oven. We need ventilation.
Fans will put dust in the air, the dust will go in your lungs.
I've been breathing dust in my lungs for 20 years.
Not this dust. I'm sorry.
For your own good, no fans.
(Rasping breaths)
My name is Ulana Khomyuk.
I'm a nuclear physicist with the Chernobyl Commission.
I want you to tell me everything that happened
on the night of the accident.
Is that all right?
Yes.
I want to tell.
All right.
Your official title was...?
My name is Leonid Fedorovych Toptunov.
I am the Senior Reactor Control Chief Engineer
at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.
Senior engineer?
How old are you?
(Gasping) I'm 25.
(Bed wheels clattering)
Lyusya. Lyusya.
Yes, I'm here. I'm here. I'm...
(Wheels clattering)
Have you been here this whole time?
No-one said I should leave.
I did.
30 minutes, I said.
Where have you been... when he's in pain?
When the sores stick to his gown,
when he soils himself five times a night,
I looked after him. Where have you been?
In the north and west wing, where there are dozens
of patients from Chernobyl exactly like him.
- It isn't safe for you here. - He's my husband.
Not any more. He's something else now.
Do you understand? He's dangerous to you.
- He's burned. - (Sighs)
Go home.
Please...
I won't take much longer. I uh...
I don't want him to die, though.
Stay on the other side of the plastic...
..or I'll have you removed by security.
(Rasping breaths)
(Door closes)
(Rasping breaths continue)
- (Weakly) Lyusya. - Yes, my love.
Is it day?
No, it's night-time now.
I think I had a dream.
And it's just gone.
Vasya...
..we're gonna have a baby.
(Exhausted breaths)
(Door opens)
The fire is out.
It's out, Valery.
The miners are making incredible progress.
They say the whole job will be finished in four weeks.
- Four weeks? - Can you believe that?
I know the job isn't over...
..but it's the beginning of the end.
(Knocking on door)
(Door opens)
I'm sorry to bother you, Deputy Minister, but...
..it is the miners.
(Shovels scraping)
What? You wouldn't give us fans. It's too hot for clothes.
So we're digging the old way, the way our fathers mined.
We're still wearing the fucking hats.
What do you want?
You're not as protected now.
Are you telling me that'll make a difference?
When this is over... will they be looked after?
I don't know.
You don't know.
(Shallow breathing)
So, the power level jumped from 200 to 400 megawatts?
Yes. Very fast.
Why didn't you initiate an emergency shutdown?
Why didn't you press the AZ-5 button?
We did.
I reported the increase to Akimov,
and he pressed the button.
Leonid, that's... that's not possible.
He did. I swear.
I saw him do it.
And that's when it exploded.
What?
(Door opens)
(Wheels rattling)
Um...
Which room is Akimov?
27.
(Gasping)
AKIMOV: I pressed it before the explosion. Before...
(Weakly) Why? Why would that happen?
I shut it down. I pressed AZ-5.
Thank you, Comrade Akimov.
I did everything right.
Get out. Get out! Get out of here.
Let me go. Let me go!
- Stop it. Stop it! - Get out.
You let her in that room, inside the plastic, touching him?
- Did you know she's pregnant? - It's not true.
- What have you done? - What kind of a place is this?
Where is her protection?
Do you have any idea what you're dealing with?
- Of course, I do. Please, I... - No!
- People will hear about this. - Wait.
People are going to hear. Understand?
Everyone is going to hear.
What is everyone gonna hear?
I am with the official Chernobyl Commission.
I've been authorised by Valery Legasov.
- You can check. My name is... - We know who you are.
What is everyone gonna hear?
- You have your notes? - Yes.
(Sighs)
Khomyuk was arrested last night.
What?
- Why? - I don't know.
Was it...
Of course it was.
- I'm working on it. - Boris...
I'm working on it.
What more do you want from me? Fix your tie.
(Door opens)
They'll see you now.
After thousands of sorties, our brave helicopter crews
successfully extinguished the fire.
The miners are working heroically to ensure
the fuel does not reach the groundwater
and, furthermore,
there's no longer a threat of additional explosion.
The Soviet people have faced the challenge
and risen to the task, and they and everyone in this room
are to be commended.
Lastly, Professor Legasov and I have been vigilant
to protect the security interests of the state.
Since the unfortunate release of information
following the accident,
we believe that there has been no further lapse.
Comrade Charkov... we hope we have lived up to
the highest standards of the KGB.
- You have. - Thank you.
Professor Legasov will now speak about the work that remains.
Thank you.
(Papers rustling)
Deputy Chairman Shcherbina has given you the good news,
and it is good.
The immediate danger is over.
Now, I'm afraid, a long war must begin.
There is an enormous amount of radioactive debris
and contamination spread out across a zone
of approximately 2,600 square kilometres.
This entire region must be completely evacuated.
We must go to every town, every village, to ensure this.
All animals still surviving within the zone,
whether domesticated or wild,
must be presumed contaminated
and will have to be destroyed
to prevent the spread of radiation and disease.
In the immediate area surrounding Chernobyl,
uh... every rock, every tree,
the very ground itself,
has absorbed a dangerous amount of radionuclides,
which will be carried by the wind and the rain
if left exposed, so we will have to raze entire forests.
We will have to rip up the top layer of earth
and bury it under itself,
approximately 100 square kilometres.
Um... and finally,
we will need to construct a containment structure
around the power plant itself,
which will, of course, still be extremely...
There will be deaths.
What amount of time and how many men do you require?
We expect this liquidation effort to take three years
and approximately 750,000 men,
including a number of doctors and structural engineers.
How many deaths?
Thousands. Perhaps tens of thousands.
Begin at once.
- Comrade Charkov. - Valery!
Yes, Professor?
My associate was arrested last night.
Oh?
I mean no disrespect,
but I was wondering if you could tell me why.
I don't know who you're talking about.
She was arrested by the KGB.
You are the First Deputy Chairman of the KGB.
I am. That's why I don't have to bother with
arresting people any more.
But you are bothering with having us followed.
I think the Deputy Chairman is busy.
No, no. It's perfectly understandable.
Comrade, I know you've heard the stories about us.
When I hear them, even I am shocked.
But we are not what people say.
Yes, people are following you.
People are following those people.
You see them?
They follow me.
The KGB is a circle of accountability.
Nothing more.
You know the work we're doing here.
- You really don't trust us? - Of course I do.
But you know the old Russian proverb. "Trust but verify."
And the Americans think that Ronald Reagan thought that up.
Can you imagine?
It was very nice speaking with you.
I need her.
So, you will be accountable for her?
Then it's done.
- Her name... - I know who she is.
Good day, Professor.
Well, that went surprisingly well.
You came off like a naive idiot.
Naive idiots are not a threat.
(Traffic passing)
(Keys rattling)
I'll come back when the paperwork's complete.
(Door being locked)
- Are you all right? - They didn't hurt me.
They let a pregnant woman into a room with a...
(Sighs) Doesn't matter.
They were stupid, I was stupid.
Dyatlov won't talk to me.
Akimov, yes, Toptunov, yes, but...
Valery, Akimov...
..his face was gone.
You want to stop?
Is that a choice I even have?
Do you think the fuel will actually melt through
- the concrete pad? - I don't know.
40% chance, maybe.
I said 50. (Scoffs)
Either way, the numbers mean the same thing. "Maybe."
Maybe the core will melt through to the groundwater.
Maybe the miners I've told to dig under the reactor
will save millions of lives.
Maybe I'm killing them for nothing.
I don't wanna do this any more.
I want to stop...
..but I can't.
I don't think you have a choice any more than I do.
I think, despite the stupidity, the lies - even this -
you're compelled.
The problem has been assigned
and you will stop at nothing until you find an answer,
because that is who you are.
A lunatic, then.
A scientist.
(Door being unlocked)
Did you know that they were running a safety test?
- Yeah. - There's something else.
Akimov says they shut the reactor down,
and Toptunov confirms it.
- They pressed the AZ-5. - Apparently not soon enough.
No...
They say Akimov pressed AZ-5...
and then the reactor exploded.
If it had been just one of them,
I would've put it down to faulty memory, or...
delusion, even, but... they both agreed.
They were adamant.
Comrade.
- Do you think it's possible? - I think it makes no sense.
I think it's what I would say
if I was trying to cover my own mistakes.
But?
I believe them.
Then you should pursue it.
We have to pursue every possibility,
no matter how unlikely...
..no matter what or who is to blame.
I'll go back to the hospital
and re-interview Akimov and Toptunov...
..if they're still awake.
They're not.
ATTENDANT: Khomyuk.
(Officer speaking Russian)
(Speaks Russian)
(Fizzing)
(Vehicle approaching)