The names of the three engineers, gone in diving suits under incandescent Chernobyl nuclear reactor, and saved the whole of Europe:
Alex Ananenko
Valeri Bespalov
Boris Baranov.
These three people have saved millions of people around the world.
Chernobyl could result in even more terrible scourge, if not self-sacrifice of these heroes, that most of us have never heard of.
Only five days after the explosion, 1 May 1986 of the year, Soviet authorities at Chernobyl made a terrible discovery: active area exploded reactor still melted. At the core contained 185 tons of nuclear fuel, a nuclear reaction continued at an alarming rate.
under these 185 tons of molten nuclear material was a tank with five million gallons of water. The water used at the power plant as a coolant, and the only, that the melting reactor core separated from the water, It was a thick concrete slab. Afloat core is slowly burning through the plate, down to the water in molten glow stream radiometal.
If it is white-hot, reactor core melts affected water, it would have caused massive, radiation contaminated steam explosion. The result could be a radioactive contamination of much of Europe. According to the number of victims first Chernobyl explosion would look like a minor incident.
So, journalist Stephen McGinty (Stephen McGinty) I wrote: "This would entail a nuclear explosion, which the, according to calculations by Soviet physicists, would cause the evaporation of the fuel in the other three reactors, razed to the ground 200 square kilometers [77 square miles], destroyed Kiev, contaminated the water supply system, used 30 million people, and for more than a century did the northern Ukraine uninhabitable " (The Scotsman of 16 Martha 2011 of the year).
School of Russian and Asian Studies in 2009 year brought even more grim assessment: If hot melt reactor core reached the water, aftermath of the explosion "would have destroyed half of Europe and to make Europe, Ukraine and the Russian part of the uninhabited for about 500 thousand years ".
Experts working in the field have seen, that melts the core devoured the very concrete slab, burned through it - every minute closer to the water.
Engineers immediately developed a plan to prevent possible explosions remaining reactors. It was decided, that after the fourth reactor chamber flooded three people go in aqualungs. When they reach the coolant, then find a pair of shut-off valves and open them, so that there is completely drained water, yet it is not adjoined reactor core.
For millions of people in the Soviet Union and the Europeans, which was waiting for imminent death, disease and other damage due to impending explosion, It was an excellent plan.
Which can not be said of the divers themselves. There was then the worst place on the planet, than a tank containing water under slow melts fourth reactor. Everyone understands, that any, who fall into this radioactive brew, enough to be able to live, to complete its work, but, perhaps, no more.
Soviet authorities explained the circumstances coming second explosion, plan for its prevention and consequences: in fact it was inevitable death from radiation poisoning.
Cheloveka.Troe caused three men volunteered to help, knowing, what is it, probably, will last, what they will do in their lives. It was the senior engineer, mid-level engineer and shift supervisor. The task of the shift was that, to keep underwater lamp, so that engineers can identify valves, are required to open.
The next day, the Chernobyl trio donned gear and plunged into a deadly basseyn.V pool reigned pitch darkness, and the light waterproof flashlight in the shift, reportedly, It was dim and periodically quenched.
We moved into the murky darkness, search does not yield results. The divers tried to finish the radioactive swimming as soon as possible: every minute immersion isotopes freely destroying their bodies. But they still have not found the drain valves. And so the search continued, despite the fact that the light could go out at any time, and above them could link up the darkness.
Lantern really blown, but this happened only after, his vytsepil ray tube of darkness. Engineers have noticed it. They knew, the pipe leads to thereby zadvizhkam.Vodolazy dark sailed to the place, where we saw the pipe. They grabbed it and began to climb, intercepting arms. Light was not. There was no protection against radioactive, destructive to the human body ionization. But there, in the darkness, There were two valves, which could save millions.
Divers discovered them, and water gushing out. Pool started quickly pustet.Kogda three men returned to the surface, their job was done. NPP employees and soldiers greeted them as heroes, as such, they were really. they say, that people literally jumped for joy.
During the next day the five million gallons of radioactive water flowed out of the fourth reactor. By the time located above the pool afloat kernel has done its way to the reservoir, the water in it was no longer. Second explosion was avoided.
Test results, conducted after the immersion, converged in one: if not triple plunged into the pool and drained it, by steam explosion, which would change the course of history, were killed and hundreds of thousands or even millions of people affected.
The lives of hundreds of thousands of people rescued three people.
Many of the characters were going to great deeds for the sake of others, with only a small chance to survive. But these three men knew, that they had no chance. They peered into the depths, where they were waiting for certain death. And immerse yourself in them.
Again, to be remembered:
they were called - Alexei Ananenko, Valery Baranov, and Boris Bespalov.
