May 12th, 1986 Untitled notice on public attitudes toward the Chernobyl accident (HDA SBU, Fond 11, Sprava 992, Tom 29). These materials were introduced by Higginbotham in an essay titled An Explosion Occurred in Power Unit No. The Nuclear Proliferation International History Project and the Cold War International History Project, both part of the Wilson Center's History and Public Policy Program, have published new translations of 28 documents about the Chernobyl nuclear accident from the archives of the Ukrainian Security Service, or the Ukrainian KGB. April 30th, 1986 Deputy Head of the 6th Department of the KGB Administration Lieut. When the accident occurred the Soviet Union was using 17 RBMKs and Lithuania was using two. Not two months after the evacuation of people from the black zoneas the 30kilometer zone was termed in the secret letters of the Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine Vladimir Shcherbitskythe authorities hastily began the reverse process: re-evacuation! Thirty-three years ago, on April 26, 1986, a series of explosions destroyed Chernobyl's reactor No. Two weeks after the accident, an unnamed KGB officer from the Ukrainian SSR reports on the situation in evacuation sites, the sentiment of local people, the situation in transportation hubs and at key industrial facilities in Kyiv, as well as about the measures taken to prevent foreign journalists from gathering information about the case. Present: members of the Politburo of the CC CPSU Comrades N.I. Top Secret Chernobyl is the first part of a two-volume documentary publication, taking the Chernobyl story through July 1986. Member of the Politburo Vitaly Vorotnikov writes in his diary about the first information Politburo members received regarding the accident at the Chernobyl NPS (Nuclear Power Station). In conclusion, Major Komarevich reports that his informers were instructed to identify and locate those who were spreading these panicked rumors. May 7th, 1986 Minutes of Meeting of the Operative Group of the Kiev Party City Committee Office, 7 May 1986. Schmid, S. D. (2015). On the rest of the territory of the station it is up to 15-200 microroentgens per second, and at the city limit it is up to . The document describes levels of radiation in the immediate area, populations which may have been affected, and steps which have been taken in the days following the incident. 7. Based on the latest data that has been gathered since we learned of the accident, it appears that the radioactive air mass from the Chernobyl nuclear reactor . for only $11.00 $9.35/page. Survivors of one of the world's worst ever nuclear accidents at the Chernobyl power plant in Ukraine on 26 April 1986 have been reflecting on the events of that fateful day 37 years ago, as. The document lists the extent to which various information related to Chernobyl which should be classified, and for what reasons certain items may be shared. 202-994-7000 ornsarchiv@gwu.edu. Similarly, Finlandanother country that had measured abnormally high radiation levelsrefrained from condemning the USSRs failure to release detailed information. May 8, 1986. 4. Primary Sources - Rights and Responsibilities of the Chernobyl Accident. March 1st, 1984 Report to M. Z. Banduristiy, the KGB Chief of the Ukrainian SSR in Kiev and the surrounding region on the emergency at the 3rd and 4th units of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. With much of this information available in English translation, the historical documents enrich international scholarship, history education, and public policy debate on important global issues and challenges. Ryzhkov, E.K. Adding to these anxietiesstemming from the lack of information about the nuclear disasterwas the backdrop of the Cold War and fear of a nuclear war. This note describes the levels of radiation around the reactor, decontamination techniques, the number of troops involved in the cleanup process. Photo Credit: Ukrainian Society for Friendship and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries (USFCRFC), National Security Archive The residents were told they would only be gone for several days, so they left nearly everything behind. August 15th, 1986 Report Memo from S. Mukha to Comrade A.P. Col. Aksenov, "Notice of Emergency Incident', Notice: Information from Places of Evacuation, Political Fallout: The Failure of Emergency Management at Chernobyl'. This document discusses the violation of technical rules of reinforcement and concrete work in the construction of the Chernobyl plant, concluding that these deficiencies will diminish the quality of the energy output. Top Secret Chernobyl: The Nuclear Disaster through the Eyes of the Soviet Politburo, KGB, and U.S. Intelligence. In this document, an unnamed KGB agent reports on the situation two weeks after the incident, including transportation and journalist suppression methods. This memoreviews early Soviet informationreceived through U.S. intelligence and speculates about the number of fatalities on the day of the explosion. Another richly documented account that begins with the trial of the Chernobyl plant operators in 1987 and analyzes the entire rise of the Soviet nuclear power industry is Sonja D. Schmids Producing Power (2015). This working copy ofa Politburo session provides details from the first discussion ofthe Chernobyl accident. Samoilov, Head of the 3rd Department of the 6th Service of the KGB Administration of the USSR for the City of Moscow, 'Information about Several Problems in the Use of Atomic Energy Stations in the USSR' (HDA SBU, Fond 11, Sprava 992, Tom 6). It turns out that pregnant women and children were re-evacuated nearly to the red forest! Source: IAEA Imagebank #02790036, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0. This report details government action after the Chernobyl incident including containment and evacuation efforts. The 1987 report Radioactive Fallout from the Chernobyl Nuclear Reactor AccidentThe Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory performed a variety of measurements to determine the level of the radioactive fallout on the western United States. Political fallout: The failure of emergency management at Chernobyl. Chernobyl, Ukraine Marina Shkvyria watches for animal tracks as she walks toward an abandoned village in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, the area sealed to the public after a nuclear power plant. Former Adviser to the President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin. Isnt this criminal? Volume 2. National Security Archive. May 3rd, 1986 Deputy Head of the 6th Department of the KGB Administration Lieut. I dropped in on the head of the special units of the Secretariat of the Armed Forces of the USSR Anatoly Burko, and explained that I had the right. Page 4, Chernobyl disaster worker Russian newspaper interview translation part 1, Chernobyl disaster worker Russian newspaper interview translation part 2, Key links related to the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster, Wikipedia article about the 1986 nuclear plant accident in Ukraine.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disasterWorld Nuclear Association Information Library on the Chernobyl Accident 1986http://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/safety-and-security/safety-of-plants/chernobyl-accident.aspxInternational Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) - The Chernobyl Projecthttp://www-ns.iaea.org/projects/chernobyl.Nuclear Energy Institute Chernobyl Accident and Its Consequences Fact Sheetshttps://www.nei.org/Master-Document-Folder/Backgrounders/Fact-Sheets/Chernobyl-Accident-And-Its-ConsequencesHuffington Post: 30 Years After the Chernobyl Disaster, a Nuclear Menace Still Hides in Plain Sighthttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/ioana-moldovan-/chernobyl-nuclear-menace_b_9774040.htmlCIA Breiefing video on the Chernobyl Nuclesr DisasterThe CIA created video briefing created to give information to President Reagan and the Reagan Administration about the Chernobyl nuclear accident, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster. The MIT Press. This document discusses weaknesses in the technical designs of nuclear power plants in the USSR and their potential consequences, concluding that the Leningrad, Kursk, and Chernobyl plants are extremely dangerous. Wilson Center History and Public Policy Program Digital Archive. July 3rd, 1986 Gordienko, 'Notice on "OS" [Environmental Conditions]'. (HDA SBU, Fond 11, Sprava 992, tom 30). Key sources include protocols of the Politburo Operational Group on Chernobyl that were published in Russian by the journalist and former Supreme Soviet deputy Alla Yaroshinskaya in 1992. He alleged that thousands of casualties and widespread, long-term radioactive contamination occurred as the result of an explosion involving nuclear waste stored in underground shelters.The general consensus today is that a combination of events, rather than a single isolated incident at Kyshtym nuclear energy complex caused the radioactive contamination in the area. August 8th, 1984 Report from Colonel M.A. Both Cold War superpowers attempted to draw emphasis away from their own technological failings by criticizing their counterparts nuclear programs. 32. It was not until 1976, when the writings of Soviet dissent Dr. Zhores Medvedev began to appear, that wider attention was given to this subject. 4: The Story of Chernobyl in Documents. Volume 2. On May 2, 1986, one journalist demanded the most basic facts: What happened? Dozens more people contracted serious radiation sickness; some of them later died. The disastrous meltdown in the 4th reactor of the Chernobyl (Chornobyl) Atomic Electrical Station occurred on April 26th, 1986. ByAdam Higginbotham May 8th, 1986 Notice: Information from Places of Evacuation. (HDA SBU, Fond 11, Sprava 992, Tom 29). 35+ YEARS OF FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACTION, USSR Ministry of Energy, "Regarding the Accident at Reactor No. This report explains ecological and security problems which arose several years later as a result of the Chernobyl accident, as well as areas for improvement in control of the reactor site and medical testing of the local population. Chernobilsky Dossier KGB. On April 26, 1986, there was an explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the republic of Ukraine. These documents contain information regarding acceptable levels of radiation on individuals, in foods, as well as on roads, clothing, and equipment. The level of gamma radiation particles is up to 1000 microroentgens per second. The Chernobyl disaster, the worst nuclear disaster in history, forced change upon the Soviet government as it was not possible to disguise the damage. The Politburo Operational Group on Chernobyl was staffed by some of the most powerful and experienced leaders in the USSR. Slavic Review, 74(1), 104126. At the same time, Matlock believes that there are ways we can capitalize on this indirectly. He predicts correctly that one could expect an upsurge in generalized anti-nuclear sentiments, unless we act rapidly to lead public opinion. Matlock also outlines a notional proposal for the elimination of nuclear weapons clearly responding to Gorbachevs proposal of January 1986. The laboratory used gamma-spectroscopy to analyze air filters from the areas around Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. Chernobyl: From accident to sarcophagus. The four reports are Comparison of DOE's Hanford N-Reactor with the Chernobyl Reactor (1986); Nuclear Power Safety International Measures in Response to Chernobyl Accident (1988); Nuclear Power Safety Chernobyl Accident Prompted Worldwide Actions but Further Efforts Needed (1991); and Construction of the Protective Shelter for the Chernobyl Nuclear Reactor Faces Schedule Delays, Potential Cost Increases, and Technical Uncertainties (2007).UNITED STATES CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS634 pages of transcripts from three Congressional hearings: The Chernobyl Accident Hearing before the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Ninety-ninth Congress, 2nd session on the Chernobyl accident and implications for the domestic nuclear industry, June 19, 1986; The Effects of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant hearing before the Subcommittee on Nuclear Regulation, United States Senate, One Hundred Second Congress, second session, July 22, 1992; and The legacy of Chernobyl, 1986 to 1996 and beyond hearing before the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, One Hundred Fourth Congress, second session, April 23, 1996. goo, Chernobyl CIA Document on the Ukraine taking control of the area of Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Page from a Department of Defense report concerning the Chernobyl nuclear disaster fatalities, Chernobyl Disaster timeline, third page of a chronology from a Department of Energy report, Chernobyl Disaster timeline, fourth page of a chronology from a Department of Energy report, Chernobyl Shelter Project GAO report graphic shows proposed new shelter and its relative height to the State of Liberty and the enclosed existing shelter, Chernobyl Shelter Project GAO report information about the cost And funding of a Chernobyl shelter. The collection also demonstrates that the government failed to inform the public of the true scope of radiation damage for years after the accident. He also sharply criticizes scientists for their independence and lack of party oversight of the institutes. All Rights Reserved, International Dimensions of Decolonization in the Middle East and North Africa: A Primary Source Collection, The Jupiter Missiles and the Endgame of the Cuban Missile Crisis: Sealing the Deal with Italy and Turkey, Iraqi Archives and the Failure of Saddams Worldview in 2003, The CIA and the Committee for Free Asia under Project DTPILLAR, FJHUMMING: Radio Libertys Russian Language Broadcasts from Taiwan. An Explosion Occurred in Power Unit No. Historic disaster. May 1986 Background Radiation in the Institute of Atomic Research of the Ukr. IIn this secret letter to the Central Committee, Gubarev shares his observations and recommendations. Technological Momentum and System Failure. In all, 50 million curies of radiation were. The History and Public Policy Programmakes public the primary source record of 20th and 21st century international history from repositories around the world, facilitates scholarship based on those records, and uses these materials to provide context for classroom, public, and policy debates on global affairs. Explore newspaper articles, headlines, images, and other primary sources below. () Paragraph 10: Consider it expedient to store meat with an elevated level of radioactive contaminant in the government reserve, in storage, as well as subject for purchase in the current year.. 12. M.A. Protocol No. A report on how military personnel involved in the response to the Chernobyl accident are being improperly managed at the site, leading to inefficiencies in the cleanup process. According to Vladimir Dolgikh, the Central Committee Secretary in charge of heavy industry and energy production who received information from Station Director Viktor Bryukhanov, the fire was extinguished and the reactor was not damaged. July 8th, 1986 Inventory of Information Subject to Classification on Issues related to the Accident in Block # 4 of the Chernobyl Atomic Energy Station (ChAES). On April 26, 1986, an explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine led to the radioactive contamination of the surrounding countryside and to radioactive fallout throughout Eastern and Western Europe. Gorbachev. All but the main fire in the graphite moderator material still inside unit 4 were extinguished in a few hours. The Wilson Center Digital Archive is a resource where students, researchers and specialists can access once-secret documents from governments and organizations all over the world. This notice relays the level of radiation in the affected area and the measures undertaken for planned evacuations. Protocol No. Ligachev, V.I. Gorbachev blasts the nuclear industry leadership and academic scientists for making the wrong decisions, especially regarding placing nuclear power stations close to cities as if they had not been considered and approved by the party leadership and the Politburo itself. Top secret", 1992, The book by Politburo member Vitaly Vorotnikov, "This Is How It Went",1995. Gorbachev is also thinking about the connection between Chernobyl and the threat that nuclear weapons represent: One or two accidents like this and we would get it worse than from a total nuclear war., Archive of the President of the Russian Federation (APRF), Record of Session of the CC CPSU Politburo, 3 July 1986, working copy, published in Rudolph Pikhoia, Sovetskii Soyuz: Istoriya Vlasti, 1945-1991 (Novosibirsk: Sibirskii Khronograph, 2000), pp. The report contains further reports of violations of technical regulations at the Chernobyl NPP. This protocol of the second session of the Politburo Operational Group Chernobyl focuses on tasking representatives of government agencies with various emergency management duties. Voices from Chernobyl: The oral history of a nuclear disaster (K. Gessen, Trans.). Among those measures are assignments to accurately measure radiation, evacuate citizens from Pripyat, and deploy chemical troops and other emergency management services. Although Polish scientists were aware of abnormally high radiation levels on April 27, 1986, before Sweden sounded international alarms, Polish scientists later shared that they were fearful of sparking mass hysteria (Kaufman and New York Times 1986). Churchill and India: Manipulation or Betrayal? At the Forsmark nuclear reactor in eastern Sweden, a worker arrived for his shift and set off an alarm indicating abnormally high radiation levels. Schmid dissects the various competing explanations for the Chernobyl disaster, including operator error, reactor design, and deficiencies in the Soviet system overall, and cites to more than 100 pages of notes on sources. Up to 30 percent of Chernobyl's 190 metric tons of uranium was now in the atmosphere, and the Soviet Union eventually evacuated 335,000 people, establishing a 19-mile-wide "exclusion zone" around the reactor.. At least 28 people initially died as a result of the accident, while more than 100 were injured. (HDA SBU, Fond 11, Sprava 992, Tom 6). 4: The Story of Chernobyl in Documents Some of the shattered core material was propelled through the roof of the reactor building. Col. Aksenov, 'Notice of emergency incident.'" May 1986 Radiation Conditions in Kiev, Borodianka, Polesskoe, and Ivankov. Medvedev, an exiled Soviet geneticist, claimed in several articles and books that a "disaster" occurred near Kyshtym in 1957/58. This chapter is from the book titled Producing Power. The authors further encourage an expansion of International Atomic Energy Agency guidelines on sharing information. 2023 The Wilson Center. The decision is made to evacuate the town of Pripyat. Through an award winning Digital Archive, the Project allows scholars, journalists, students, and the interested public to reassess the Cold War and its many contemporarylegacies. The DOE team analyzed the accident in detail, assessed the plausibility and completeness of the information provided by the Soviets, and performed studies relevant to understanding the accident. Col. Aksenov, 'Notice of Emergency Incident' (HDA SBU, Fond 11, Sprava 992, Tom 29). Arthur Purcell, director of the Washington Resource Policy Institute, emphasized Chernobyls damning contribution to the international nuclear policy debate; the Chernobyl accident demonstrated that nuclear power is inherently unsafe (Purcell 1986). Former Peoples Deputy of the USSR 28 documents about the Chernobyl nuclear accident from the archives of the Ukrainian KGB now online at DigitalArchive.org. The authors conclude that the entire intelligence community believes that the fatality figure of two is preposterous. Intelligence analysis estimates the number of people in the immediate vicinity of the reactor at the time of the accident to be around 100. Primary SourceExcerpt. Alexievich, S. (2006). These protocols, and all the granular details of how the Soviet leadership dealt with the accident day-by-day, are available to scholars and citizens due to the courage and decisiveness of a brave Russian journalist and subsequently member of the first democratically elected Supreme Soviet, Alla Yaroshinskaya, who published these protocols after the August 1991 coup in Moscow. Quote from Mieczyslaw Sowinski, head of the Polish atomic energy agency, explaining why Poland refrained from mentioning high radiation levels measured on April 27, 1986 (Kaufman and New York Times 1986). Research Starter encyclopedia article about the Chernobyl nuclear accident. Florida Gov. The first protocol reviews necessary measures to combat the damage done by the explosion in energy block 4. The hot core material of reactor 4 started about 30 separate fires in the unit 4 reactor hall and turbine building, as well as on the roof of the adjoining unit 3. (HDA SBU, Fond 11, Sprava 992, Tom 29). State Archives Department of the Security Service of Ukraine. I decided to go to the newspaper Izvestia, where I found the coveted Xerox. The Western world was largely dissatisfied by the lack of detail in Moscows statement. According to Soviet data, the energy released was, for a fraction of a second, 350 times the rated capacity of the reactor. A full list of the new translations available on DigitalArchive.WilsonCenter.org is provided below. Vorotnikov, V.I. (HDA SBU, Fond. In April 2019, Higginbotham published an extremely useful selection of these documents on the Sources and Methods blog of the History and Public Policy Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. The Politburo is aware that the failures in addressing the accident will serve as judgment on the vitality of the system. Translated by Sarah Dunn for the National Security Archive. And the main deadly isotope leaking out the Chernobyl reactor was not Cesium-137, but Deception-86. As it follows from the documents, the first meeting of the Politburo group was held on April 29, 1986. In areas with radiation levels of less than 5 mR/hr it is critical to introduce strict control for radioactive food, especially milk., It is interesting to compare with the secret Report of the head of the Chemical Corps of the Ministry Defense of the USSR V. Pikalov at a meeting of the CC CPSU on June 15, 1987.: in the red forest, because of the turn-down and the conservation of the forest, the radiation levels are lowered from 5 Roentgen/hr to 7.5 mR/hr, which surpasses admissible values by 15 times. Red was the name of the forest close to the NPP, which had been killed by a nuclear blast.

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