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The Ukrainian Security Service declassified documents from the Soviet KGB about the 1986 accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. on the night of April 26. The second set of the KGB dossier on Chernobyl. From Construction to Accident ”contains 229 documents covering the period from 1970 onwards. until 1986 November. Most of these documents, 190, are published for the first time.
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According to Anton Drobovich, director of the National Institute of Memory of Ukraine, the new data will help to better understand the causes of this catastrophe. The book includes, among other things, transcripts of telephone conversations at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant at night, copies of the first report of the accident, information about the Soviet security investigation into the accident and the construction of the sarcophagus.
The explosion, which devastated the morning of April 26, 1986, during a failed reactor test, released huge amounts of radioactive contaminants into the atmosphere, which spread to much of Europe. Most of them were hampered by Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia.
About thirty people working at the time, called liquidators, died on the spot or died of radiation sickness in the coming weeks. The final number of victims of this tragedy is unknown, as the Soviet authorities went to great lengths to hide everything.
In 2005, the United Nations discovered that after the Chernobyl accident, around 4,000 people died or died of cancer and other radiation-related illnesses. However, Greenpeace estimates that the actual number is closer to 100,000.
The construction of the power plant was controlled by the KGB
The documents establish that KGB personnel, who were also engaged in economic counterintelligence and the protection of the scientific and technical achievements of the Soviet Union, were tasked with ensuring the safety of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
Since the start of the power plant construction, the KGB has supervised 40 power plant related organizations and 9,294 people.
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KGB staff initially focused on explaining “unreliable elements”: people of German and Chinese descent, people convicted of particularly serious state crimes, former members of Ukrainian nationalist organizations, people who had contacts with people from “capitalist” countries.
The KGB had several officers at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, whose task was to explain the facts of negligence and theft of construction materials, record fire and radiation safety violations, and cases of non-compliance with technological standards for the operation of the nuclear power plant. The number of alarms reportedly increased considerably as construction of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was expedited.
Poor quality construction
In reports to the KGB Board in Moscow in 1975-1976. It is written about low-quality construction and installation work of the power plant.
This is believed to have led to many crisis situations at the plant later. 1975 In the summer, there were a number of defects during the installation of the radioactive waste storage facility, posing a threat of environmental contamination.
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At the same time, the KGB agency detected unacceptable deviations from the design during the installation of a pressure compensator on the reactor shaft. The accident was avoided. 1976 In February, the KGB received information that end-of-life pipelines were being supplied to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, but appropriate measures had not been taken. Defective products were also used in the construction of the power plant in later years.
According to reports from the power plant, KGB staff members wrote periodic reports alleging a persistent shortage of construction materials and parts and inadequate staff qualifications. Violations of technological standards have been reported, which has raised serious doubts about the safety and reliability of the equipment.
The first power unit was slated to start in 1976. however, the plan failed due to staff shortages, incompetence, and equipment supply disruptions.
The KGB also regularly reported that the power plant management had carelessly evaluated radiation safety. 1981 In a March report, security officials were outraged that the power plant administration was raising fish in a radionuclide-contaminated pond and then selling the fish to the public through a local fish factory.
Soviet authorities withheld information about the accidents.
Among the documents published were reports of accidents at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant that occurred before 1986. April.
From 1971 to 1981 29 accidents occurred at the power plant. Eight of them are due to technical staff. The reports also mention accidents during the construction of the second power unit and point out the mistakes of engineers and builders.
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The KGB had received evidence that “some leaders are deliberately allowing serious infringements of construction technology to be completed to complete the facility as quickly as possible, without thinking about the future and the possible tragic consequences.” Viktor Kločko, head of the KGB branch of the Chernobyl district, 1978-1979. He sent alarming messages to Kiev about it. Finally, a commission was formed to rectify the situation.
One of the first events that showed that a power plant could be a disaster occurred in 1979. in February. Then, when the automatic protection was activated, the first power unit stopped emergency. The cause of the incident was the disconnection of the main circulation pumps, which supplied water to cool the reactor. The blame was later attributed to staff at the Leningrad Design Institute, who indicated in the documentation a technically inappropriate device.
1979 In the summer of 2006, the KGB received operational data on the emergency situation at the chemical water treatment plant. It was caused by low-quality waterproofing work. Despite the potentially dangerous situation, party leaders did not pay due attention to this incident. 1981 In April, another serious incident occurred: radiation contamination was recorded in the sanitary area because the shift manager did not take action to stop the radioactive water leak in time.
1984 The KGB has received information that the safety level of the РБМК-1000 nuclear reactor is extremely low, in addition, there are structural defects. The KGB also reported repairs to the power plant that had to be rejected. After it became clear that the measures taken would not avoid the threat of an accident in Unit 3, Leonid Bychov, Head of the Sixth Board of the KGB of Ukraine, sent a message to the Soviet Ministry of Energy. However, it later became clear that the risks could not be eliminated in time.
The Soviet Union was not prepared for such a tragedy.
After 1986 April 26 The KGB investigated the version of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster that the reactor explosion was caused by sabotage.
However, a careful investigation in early May allowed this version to be rejected as unfounded. Examination of the damage caused by the explosion, fire and intelligence also allowed the version of the terrorist attack to be rejected. After two weeks of investigation, the main version began to assume that the disaster was caused by human error.
Subsequently, the KGB repeatedly reported problems and deficiencies in disaster relief work. The lack of special clothing, protective equipment and equipment for rescuers, inadequate sanitation, lack of iodine, poor information, evacuation of people from the disaster and forced liquidators were reported to be living in extremely poor conditions.
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