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One of the most impressive documentaries I've ever seen is "Chernobyl 3828"[1]. It is about the 3828 "liquidators" (cleanup crew) - euphemistically called the "

by pdkl95 11y ago

One of the most impressive documentaries I've ever seen is "Chernobyl 3828"[1]. It is about the 3828 "liquidators" (cleanup crew) - euphemistically called the "bio robots" - that had to clean up the worst section of roof above the reactor. Maximum allowed dose was two minutes exposure to that section the roof. It has some of the same footage as the sequence in your link to t=3430, but there is a key difference: Chernobyl 3828 is about the people. The psychology of the cleanup was complicated. Some people ran while others faced the danger and accepted a "red badge of courage" because if they didn't, someone else would have to go in their place. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfDa8tR25dk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfDa8tR25dk

saganus 11y ago
This is very dense... wow.
InclinedPlane 11y ago
See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_liquidators https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_liquidators
- acqq 11y ago
  Wow, the differences in the number of victims from different sources are immense: "- According to Vyacheslav Grishin of the Chernobyl Union, the main organization of liquidators, "25,000 of the Russian liquidators are dead and 70,000 disabled, about the same in Ukraine, and 10,000 dead in Belarus and 25,000 disabled", which makes a total of 60,000 dead (10% of the 600 000, liquidators) and 165,000 disabled.[6] - A UNSCEAR report places the total confirmed deaths from radiation at 64 as of 2008.[citation needed] - Estimates of the number of deaths potentially resulting from the accident vary enormously: the World Health Organization (WHO) suggest it could reach 4,000" According to the WHO report from 2006 (which is stupidly in the form that can be neither searched nor copy-pasted, I guess intentionally!) 600,000 persons did receive the official certificates that they worked as the liquidators there: around 200,000 people worked during the first two years, others afterwards. See page 2. http://www.who.int/ionizing_radiation/chernobyl/who_chernobyl_report_2006.pdf http://www.who.int/ionizing_radiation/chernobyl/who_chernoby... The same report on page 107: "The RNMDR data indicate that 4.6% of the Russian emergency workers fatalities that occurred during the 12 years following the accident can be attributed to radiation-induced diseases."
  - lorenzhs 11y ago
    About the un-searchable pdf: you can use OCRfeeder to fairly easily OCR pdfs that use such obfuscation techniques. It processes around ten pages per minute for me, so best get a cup of tea. Unfortunately uploading an OCRed copy would probably violate the WHO's copyright :(
varjag 11y ago
I met one on a commuter train in Belarus in early 1990s. A pale shell of a human being, crumbling from cancer. Wish I could tell you he still had spirits high despite imminent death but he didn't. Pretty sure he's not even counted on Wikipedia in the accident death toll.
kbart 11y ago
My uncle was a driver in Chernobyl cleanup works. There was no question asked if he agreed or not, the soldiers simply came in the middle of a night, told him to pack things, took him having no clue what's going on or where he's going and left a wife with two young children in panic. Only the next day his wife received a message that he's ok and "somewhere in Ukraine". Thanks to his driver's profession, he avoided going inside the reactor building, what probably saved his health/life. Also, there was no official announcement of disaster until after few days later.
- toyg 11y ago
  I'm curious, what was your father's doing before then? Surely if "they" needed drivers, they wouldn't need to go all the way to another region to get them. You say being a driver saved his life, but it could be that it actually was what put him in harm's way...? Or did they have lists of "expendables" for such emergencies, which would have been sorted by profession directly on-situ? Surely it wasn't completely random... EDIT: hey downvoters, these are simple questions that help paint a better picture.
  - pilsetnieks 11y ago
    They did go to other regions, probably because there weren't enough expendable human bodies in Ukraine alone. Altogether at least 600 000 people were involved in the cleanup (I've also seen numbers as high as 1 million.)[1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_liquidators#Exposures_and_health_effects_experienced_by_liquidators https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_liquidators#Exposure...
    - lostlogin 11y ago
      Not sure if it's a factor, but it's an age old technique to get people from far away regions to do the dirty work. The locals might understand or have opinions - those from far away have little prior knowledge.
      - pilsetnieks 11y ago

by pdkl95 11y ago

saganus 11y ago

This is very dense... wow.

InclinedPlane 11y ago

See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_liquidators https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_liquidators

acqq 11y ago
Wow, the differences in the number of victims from different sources are immense: "- According to Vyacheslav Grishin of the Chernobyl Union, the main organization of liquidators, "25,000 of the Russian liquidators are dead and 70,000 disabled, about the same in Ukraine, and 10,000 dead in Belarus and 25,000 disabled", which makes a total of 60,000 dead (10% of the 600 000, liquidators) and 165,000 disabled.[6] - A UNSCEAR report places the total confirmed deaths from radiation at 64 as of 2008.[citation needed] - Estimates of the number of deaths potentially resulting from the accident vary enormously: the World Health Organization (WHO) suggest it could reach 4,000" According to the WHO report from 2006 (which is stupidly in the form that can be neither searched nor copy-pasted, I guess intentionally!) 600,000 persons did receive the official certificates that they worked as the liquidators there: around 200,000 people worked during the first two years, others afterwards. See page 2. http://www.who.int/ionizing_radiation/chernobyl/who_chernobyl_report_2006.pdf http://www.who.int/ionizing_radiation/chernobyl/who_chernoby... The same report on page 107: "The RNMDR data indicate that 4.6% of the Russian emergency workers fatalities that occurred during the 12 years following the accident can be attributed to radiation-induced diseases."
- lorenzhs 11y ago
  About the un-searchable pdf: you can use OCRfeeder to fairly easily OCR pdfs that use such obfuscation techniques. It processes around ten pages per minute for me, so best get a cup of tea. Unfortunately uploading an OCRed copy would probably violate the WHO's copyright :(

varjag 11y ago

I met one on a commuter train in Belarus in early 1990s. A pale shell of a human being, crumbling from cancer. Wish I could tell you he still had spirits high despite imminent death but he didn't. Pretty sure he's not even counted on Wikipedia in the accident death toll.

kbart 11y ago

My uncle was a driver in Chernobyl cleanup works. There was no question asked if he agreed or not, the soldiers simply came in the middle of a night, told him to pack things, took him having no clue what's going on or where he's going and left a wife with two young children in panic. Only the next day his wife received a message that he's ok and "somewhere in Ukraine". Thanks to his driver's profession, he avoided going inside the reactor building, what probably saved his health/life. Also, there was no official announcement of disaster until after few days later.

toyg 11y ago
I'm curious, what was your father's doing before then? Surely if "they" needed drivers, they wouldn't need to go all the way to another region to get them. You say being a driver saved his life, but it could be that it actually was what put him in harm's way...? Or did they have lists of "expendables" for such emergencies, which would have been sorted by profession directly on-situ? Surely it wasn't completely random... EDIT: hey downvoters, these are simple questions that help paint a better picture.
- pilsetnieks 11y ago
  They did go to other regions, probably because there weren't enough expendable human bodies in Ukraine alone. Altogether at least 600 000 people were involved in the cleanup (I've also seen numbers as high as 1 million.)[1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_liquidators#Exposures_and_health_effects_experienced_by_liquidators https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_liquidators#Exposure...
  - lostlogin 11y ago
    Not sure if it's a factor, but it's an age old technique to get people from far away regions to do the dirty work. The locals might understand or have opinions - those from far away have little prior knowledge.
    - pilsetnieks 11y ago