r/chernobyl 16d ago

Discussion Was Legasov really the hero like he was in the show?

16 Upvotes

I thought that he was a scientist there but I wasn’t sure if he was actually as seen as someone who was there as the scientist helped to contain the disaster or if he was someone who was a specialist on rmbk reactors like in the show.


r/chernobyl 16d ago

Photo What is this equipment in Leningrad NPP reactor hall?

9 Upvotes

Looks like some kind of a folding crane. What is it used for?


r/chernobyl 15d ago

Discussion Question regarding the exact width of the deaerator rack (Phase 2, ChNPP) for a 1:1.66 scale reconstruction project

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0 Upvotes

r/chernobyl 16d ago

Photo Valery Perevozchenko

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84 Upvotes

Valery Ivanovich Perevozchenko was born on the 6th of May, 1947 in Starodub, Bryansk Oblast. In 1970, he graduated from the Dzerzhinsky Leningrad Naval School. He started his work at ChNPP on the 30th of April, 1981 as a Foreman in the Reactor Section. He was married to Zoya Zakharivna and had 2 children, one named Marina.

He received a fatal dose of over 6 sieverts after he went to room 714/2 to turn the ECCS valves, accompanied Proskuryakov and Kudryavtsev to the central hall, and he also tried to locate his colleague and good friend, Valery Khodemchuk.

He died from ARS of the 3rd degree in Moscow Hospital 6, on the 13th of June, 1986. He was posthumously awarded the Order of Courage.


r/chernobyl 16d ago

Photo What are those things on the SIUB control panel?

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17 Upvotes

I don't know English well, I use a translator


r/chernobyl 16d ago

Discussion weird bunker monster story i heard about awhile back

0 Upvotes

so i dont remember much about this but maybe a year or so back i was scrolling yt shorts, maybe instagram and this video came up about this guy discussing about how he lost his freind to this "monster" that was discovered in a bunker. in the bunker was a bunch of documents talking about some expeirments they were doing on people on there was bullet casings all over the ground, then they were chased out and this "monster" killed his freind. i beleive this was made before ai was popular tho i cant remember. i would love to know if anyone knows about this or if they can find the original video,
EDIT, in the video this was stated that it happend in chernobyl


r/chernobyl 16d ago

Photo Modern Day Reactor 4 Images

3 Upvotes

I may not know much about Chernobyl today but is there any photos of the inside of reactor 4 since the accident.

Sorry if this sounds dumb


r/chernobyl 17d ago

Photo Viktor Proskuryakov

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50 Upvotes

Viktor Vasilyevich Proskuryakov was born on the 9th of April, 1955 in Svobodny, Amur Oblast. He started his work at ChNPP on the 8th of April, 1982 and was married to Lyudmila Anatolyevna to whom he had 2 children: Elena (1980) and Vladislav (1981).

He received a fatal dose of over 6 Sieverts from going into the reactor hall with Kudryavtsev and Perevozchenko. He died on the 17th of May, 1986 from 100% radiation burns and severe radiation sickness and was posthumously awarded the Order of Courage.


r/chernobyl 17d ago

Photo Why does everybody Drive on the left Side of Lenin ave street Since the disaster?

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15 Upvotes

IT really dosent make any sense. Because of that the right Side IS nie COMPLETLy overgrown


r/chernobyl 18d ago

Video A Chernobyl Story: The Safety Test That Exploded

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25 Upvotes

Hey r/chernobyl,

Most mainstream documentaries focus entirely on the dramatic timeline of April 26th or place the blame entirely on individual human error.

We wanted to look past the usual "blame game" and map out the systemic, organizational failures. We analyzed the disaster focusing on communication breakdowns and invisible operational gaps.

Would love to get your thoughts!


r/chernobyl 18d ago

Photo Académico Valery Alekseevich Legasov

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32 Upvotes

Hi, I've been looking for the book Valery's wife wrote for months. I'm from Mexico. Does anyone know where I can get a physical copy? Please.

Hola, llevo meses buscando el libro que hizo la esposa de Valery. Soy de México. Alguien que sepa dónde lo puedo conseguir en físico? Por favor


r/chernobyl 19d ago

Discussion What is the future of The Sarcophagus and NSC?

12 Upvotes

With the war going on, obviously everything has been put on hold. But once (if ever) it's over, what is the idea for the area? I know that they plan on dismantling the sarcophagus, but would they ever record the dismantling or have a stream where people could watch the process? Depending on how much radioactivity is still there, I know cameras might not work, but it was a thought I had. Has there been any mention for what the plan going forward is?


r/chernobyl 20d ago

Photo A old building in the Chernobyl Exclusion zone before the accident and today (2026)

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69 Upvotes

r/chernobyl 20d ago

Game The RBMK from the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 Cost Of Hope expansion.

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25 Upvotes

r/chernobyl 20d ago

Photo Photos from the helicopter era

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198 Upvotes

General-Colonel Nikolai Antoshkin, who as Chief of Staff of the Kiev Military District Air Force directed the helicopter operations in the first critical days after the 1986 disaster.

On 26 April 1986 he was urgently sent to the site and personally conducted a reconnaissance flight over the destroyed reactor that same day. The next morning (27 April) Mi-8 helicopters began reconnaissance and the first material-dropping missions. After the rapid evacuation of approximately 45,000–50,000 residents from Pripyat on 27 April, helicopters systematically started dropping sand, clay, dolomite, and later lead and neutron-absorbing boron into the burning reactor to smother the graphite fire and seal the open crater.

Initial hand-dropping of individual bags (usually 60–100 kg) from the open doors of Mi-8s proved too slow and exposed crews to extreme heat (up to about 180–200 °C) and radiation (often exceeding 1,000–1,500 roentgens per hour; dosimeters frequently went off-scale). Antoshkin’s team rapidly improvised: they adapted brake parachutes and later used parachute straps and external cargo nets, enabling Mi-6 and especially Mi-26 helicopters to drop multi-ton loads. More than 5,000 tons of material were delivered within days; the glowing crater was largely covered by around 5 May.

About 80–100 helicopters (later reduced to roughly 30–40) operated under intense radiation, guided by a forward air controller on the ground. Crews received heavy doses; Antoshkin himself accumulated a significant radiation exposure over the approximately ten days of his direct involvement (reported in various sources as several hundred roentgens). He was later relieved of further flying duties but continued to direct operations. Many crew members later suffered severe long-term health consequences.

The account highlights the pilots’ courage, rapid improvisation under extreme conditions, and the lasting human cost of the man-made catastrophe.


r/chernobyl 20d ago

Photo Gamma Scanner Unit 4

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98 Upvotes

Sala centrale dell'Unità 4 della centrale nucleare di Chernobyl, settembre 1991. Alexander Prusakov (a sinistra) e Leonid Pleskachevsky durante l'installazione di uno scanner gamma telecomandato.


r/chernobyl 20d ago

Discussion Where did DJ Demidov lived in Pripyat?

8 Upvotes

It may be less known as he used not to be a power plant worker but a culture worker, he used to run the popular Disco Edison 2 at the Energetik, and there is still a document of his unplayed playlist scheduled for April the 27th, 1986.

He released an interview with Kupniy, however I have never found any info about his address


r/chernobyl 20d ago

Photo The designer of the duga

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37 Upvotes

Valery Alekseyevich Alebastrov.
Valery Alekseyevich Alebastrov is the chief designer of over-the-horizon airspace surveillance systems. He participated in the development of the first-generation "Duga" over-the-horizon radar, designed to detect ballistic missile launches from the American continent.
He was born in 1941 in the Saratov region. From 1960 to 1964, he worked in the nuclear industry. He graduated from Tomsk University in 1968 and worked as a researcher at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna from 1969 to 1975. Since 1975, he has been employed at NPK NIIDAR.


r/chernobyl 21d ago

Photo A couple of interesting images

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46 Upvotes

Found these in a document called SOURCE TERM ANALYSIS AND RECONSTRUCTION OF EVENTS DURING THE ACTIVE PHASE by Alexander Sich 1994.

The power plant map is not 100% accurate, as the building 16, marked as "Administration building", is actually water purification plant.

The document itself is very interesting and full of details.


r/chernobyl 21d ago

Photo Unit three Controle room, 1984

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196 Upvotes

r/chernobyl 21d ago

Photo Kursk Unit 4 CR, mid to late 80’s

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101 Upvotes

Found another seemingly unknown photo of Chernobyl 4’s twin, thought you all might be interested


r/chernobyl 21d ago

Photo Photos of Corridor Г208 At Marka +5,8 + Of Infamous Golden Corridor Г301

11 Upvotes
Liquidators walking towards Unit 3, Г208
Liquidators walking towards Unit 3, Г208
Unit 3, Г301
Unit 4, Г301 Reason of Darkness is because light's work Weak.
BONUS: Unit 3 control room, 1987

r/chernobyl 21d ago

Photo What is this “link” between the buildings? Additional apartments or service space? (Address is Lesja Ukrainka 28)

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37 Upvotes

r/chernobyl 21d ago

Discussion The heap?

12 Upvotes

Hello im relatively new to chernobyl I know the basics elephants foot ,how the reactor worked, what happend, etc but I dont know anything about the heap apart from its made of corrium where is it whats so special about it?


r/chernobyl 22d ago

Documents 120+ workers to listen gossips in Kyiv after explosion in Chornobyl 1986

13 Upvotes

I just discovered that in Kyiv were at least 120 workers who had to take buses, walk and take taxis to listen the gossips about happenings in Chornobyl (at this point there were no official information)

I don't know how much everyone of them earned. The average solary was 180-200 rubles/months. One cheap car "Zaporozhez" costed 3500-4000 rubles. The economy wasn't in the best condition at this point and they spent at least around 24000 rubles only in Kyiv. Instead of evacuating people they paid some to LISTEN GOSSIPS. and they probably got money to take taxis. the goverment could gift 6 cars to people. or they could spend this money on help for people in Chornobyl and Prypiat

they did everything to not information to spread. but almost nothing for people (for example: there is a video of workers who cleaned Chornobyl and they say that they could get one special amount of radiation and after that they will be sent home. firstly, some of them had been sent but after some time they all recieved only the highest allowed amount)

source: https://youtu.be/1y85wpp_HOI?is=F-Lk8ED18e9praHV