第1期:抢救切尔诺贝利(1)

Friday, April 25, 1986. A beautiful spring day for the 43,000 inhabitants of Pripyat, in the Ukraine. A day that will remain forever engraved in their memory.

3 kilometers from the city- the Vladimir llitch Lenin nuclear power plant where several thousand people go to work each day. Tonight, the 176 employees of block 4 have been ordered to carry out a test on a self-fueling system of the reactor. Something that could save energy.

At 1: 23 a. m. , the security systems are deactivated and the experiment begins. A series of detonations go off in the core of the reactor. While Pripyat sleeps peacefully the floor of the plant begins to tremble. The 1200 ton cover of the reactor suddenly blasts into the air.

An ultra-powerful stream of radioactive vapor releases uranium and graphite over hundreds of meters around the plant. From the gaping hole, a spray of fire charged with radioactive particles in fusion shoots a thousand meters into the sky.

There were a lot of colors and they were really bright: Orange, red, sky blue. Colors like blood. A rainbow. It was beautiful. The most serious nuclear accident in history has just taken place.

During the night, early in the morning. I got the call around 5 AM. I was told there'd been some accident at the Chernobyl nuclear plant. The first firemen on the scene battle the fire without the adequate protective gear. They pour tons of water this strange fire.

But nothing seems capable of putting out. They are all exposed to lethal doses of radiation.