When I looked at this device, I was confused by, for example, an unusual and, in my opinion, insufficient construction of safety systems, that would work in extreme situations. The answer is NO. We never see these pets through the eyes of their owners. 27) and worked on mitigating the consequences of the reactor explosion. After two years at the plant, he finally joined the Kurchatov Institute. Valery Alekseyevich Legasov (Russian: ; 1 September 1936 - 27 April 1988) was a Soviet and Russian inorganic chemist and a member of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union.He is now mainly remembered for his work in containment of the Chernobyl disaster and presenting the investigation findings to the International Atomic Energy Agency . The Legasov tapes are kinda useless for finding cool quotations. [12]:261 He received the degree of Candidate in 1967 and his doctorate in chemistry in 1972. our search for truth we fail to consider how few actually want us to find it. The central figure in Chernobyl (screening in Australia on Foxtel) is Valery Legasov, a nuclear physicist sent to assess the reactor immediately following the initial explosion on 26 April 1986. of the show. You can make all the birth plans in the world, but at the end of the day - go with the flow. He saw his main goal was not in justifying the Soviet Union and hide certain information, but, on the contrary, to educate the world community on what to do in such situations, Inga told Russian newspaper, MK. When asked, by the prosecutor, why the reactor was designed this way, Legasov cites the same reason that other safety precautions are ignored and other corners are cut: Its cheaper. He seems to be damning the whole system. He died one day after the second anniversary of the According to the legend, the conflict broke out in 1325 after a group of Modenese soldiers dashed into the rival town of Bologna. Ulana Khomyuk, played by Emily Watson, in 'Chernobyl' on HBO. [25] Some details were censored by the Central Committee, including the full extent of the design flaws,[1] the institutional and cultural problems that led to the accident,[1] the full extent of the fallout,[1] as well as the ineffective efforts in dropping liquid nitrogen into the reactor. at last is the gift of Chernobyl. about Valery, and some of his memorable quotes. The state plane was already waiting. Instead, thousands of people came to Kiev, on [7] Under his leadership, a scientific school was created in the newest section of inorganic chemistry chemistry of noble gases. He allegedly committed suicide. Whatever they are, they are not the truth. It was not the first time that he attempted suicide. Kiev is less than 400 miles from Chernobyl, There was something new and extraordinary in the air this year, and it had to do with the intersection of history and memory. [7] In 1962, he joined the graduate school in the Department of Molecular Physics of the Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy,[12]:261 first as a junior then senior researcher, and finally as head of the laboratory. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. Before I get to what the series got so terribly wrong, I should acknowledge what it got right. [28] Legasov had an article on industrial safety entitled "From Today to Tomorrow" published in Pravda on 5 October 1987 but it received little interest. [1] Water in the lower barboteur was drained but Legasov was convinced that an explosion was not possible,[7] in contrast to what some scientists and politicians feared. Svetlana Alexievich, the Russian-language Belarusian writer who won the Nobel Prize for Literature, in 2015, for her work with oral history, has said that the book she found easiest to report was her book about Chernobyl. The Soviet media disseminated very little information about the disaster. In fact, Legasov would have lived in an entirely different kind of squalor than the fireman did. When one looks at the chain of events, why someone acted in this way and another in that way and so on, it is impossible to point to a single culprit, an initiator of all the unpleasant events that led to the crime. Two weeks later, on August 25, Valery Legasov, wearing a gray suit and striped tie, his face puffy and haggard behind thick glasses, took the floor on the opening day of the special . His specialty was physical chemistry, he worked on explosives, she explains(in Russian). Legasov wrote a report to prevent a future nuclear disaster. [28] He gave interviews to Novy Mir and Yunost in which he changed his public stance and expressed his concern that cultural failings and Soviet science losing its way had led inevitably to nuclear disaster. He was the chief of the investigation committee of the Chernobyl disaster. He was named Person of the Year in Europe and was included in the list of the top 10 scientists in the world. He graduated from the Mendeleev Moscow Institute of Chemistry and Technology. I am writing an informative speech on Chernobyl. "[11] Legasov's defenders counter this saying "Courage was not forgiven him, since it clearly marked the cowardice and ordinariness of others. Valery Legasov didn't have problems with the government. evacuation. Allegedly, Mikhail Gorbachev crossed his name out of the list of those to be awarded for the response work at Chernobyl, noting that other scientists dont recommend it. [2] While he was a shy student, he excelled in both academic work and social activities being elected secretary of his school's Komsomol committee. "Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. Valery was a proponent of transparency between the commission's findings and the public in spite of the Soviet government's efforts to downplay the Chernobyl . magicalquote.com. 1 mo. disaster as an inevitable apotheosis of the USSRs economic system. [7] Legasov received many telegrams from around the world containing advice ranging from benevolent to provocative. Later, dolomite was also added to act as a heat sink and a source of carbon dioxide to smother the fire. [5] During 1953, he proposed reforms to the Komsomol committee to address what he perceived as indifference and passivity of its members. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. I'm wondering how many of the quotes from the show are accurate, particularly the opening and closing quotes about the cost of lies. [23] In attendance was the former plant director Viktor Bryukhanov, RBMK designer Anatoly Alexandrov and Efim Slavsky of Sredmash. During this time he married a woman . Besides, if we told them that they were leaving forever, it would If you want to include real quotes, this page might be interesting for you: https://legasovtapetranslation.blogspot.com/. #ValeryLegasov #Chernobyl #ChernobylHBO. He wasnt meant to be in Chernobyl. Some in the Ministry of Medium Machine Building (Sredmash) opposed his appointment, fearing Legasov would be difficult to control, since the nuclear establishment wanted to divert blame to others if possible. He wanted to make sure all of the information was absolutely true.. One man's lady is another man's woman; sometimes, one man's . 56 in Moscow where he graduated with a gold metal. hours after it occurred. The series begins with Legasov's suicide which is . 21. r/chernobyl. And this part is tragic, confusing and incomprehensible. He just happened to be where he was in the food chain of Soviet science, where someone is important enough to appear before the government . By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. I was reading some portions of it but it felt as if he was mainly speaking on what happened and his experiences. He was appointed [11], There are several theories concerning Legasov's motivations and state of mind. This website uses cookies. "[5] That afternoon, he briefly visited his daughter. Second, the apparatchik might have worked at a shoe factory, but, if he was an apparatchik, he was no cobbler; he has come up the Party ladder, which might indeed have begun at the factorybut in an office, not on the factory floor. I have to start the part where I create my memoir. In the first episode, for example, during an emergency meeting of the Pripyat ispolkom, the towns governing council, an elder statesman, Zharkov (Donald Sumpter), delivers a chilling, and chillingly accurate, speech, urging his compatriots to have faith. We seal off the city, Zharkov says. This plan was rejected on 26 April 1988, the day before his death. Only eight years after his suicide in 1996 did Legasov receive a posthumous honorary title of Hero of the Russian Federation for the "courage and heroism" shown in his investigation of the disaster, awarded by then-president Boris Yeltsin. There are exceptions, flashes of brilliance that shed light on the bizarre workings of Soviet hierarchies. Glimmers of this understanding appear in the HBO series, too. University Teacher, Chemist, Physicist. I know that in the miniseries he speaks of the cost of lies, but I know that the miniseries isn't very accurate sometimes. David R. Marples has suggested the adversity of the Chernobyl disaster on his psychological state was the factor leading to his decision to take his own life[6] and that Legasov had become bitterly disillusioned with the failure of the authorities to confront the design flaws. Add to that his unpopularity among the younger scientists due to his meteoric rise in Soviet science and his questionable handling of the situation after the accident, and Legasov found himself being pushed back from all quarters. So the creators of Chernobyl imagine confrontation where confrontation was unthinkableand, in doing so, they cross the line from conjuring a fiction to creating a lie. The city that does not exist. the Chernobyl accident, why one person behaved in such a way and why another Express Valery Legasov presents his report in the Chernobyl investigation. Steven Brust. Legasov was 51 years old. [18] His colleague Harris' character is based on the real Legasov, a Soviet Union nuclear physicist who . Born in 1936 in Tula (173 km south of Moscow), Valery chose his career path early on. been evacuated forever, but I couldnt find the moral strength to tell it to We cut the phone lines. Legasov also tried to stop the May Day Parade in Ukraine, He was praised for his openness in discussing the causes [22] The report ran to 388 pages and was presented by Legasov to the conference in a 5-hour presentation, which many in the audience found disturbing. Photo: Liam Daniel/HBO. Valery Legasov is most famous for being the deputy chief engineer of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Despite his significant work, Valerys specialty wasnt in nuclear reactors. [5] Legasov was not religious but very interested in religious history and heritage. From that moment on, a working friendship, which then grew into a deeper friendship, was formed with him and with other comrades. For her other books, Alexievich interviewed people about their experience of the Second World War, the Soviet war in Afghanistan, and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. I would very much like to ask to make such a statement that, as of today, we do not have safe nuclear energy, or a concept of safe nuclear energy, or even a concept of a safe nuclear reactor that is completely ready[7], He had a lengthy stay in hospital during the fall of 1987, including experiencing acute appendicitis,[31] during which he attempted suicide. There was such unpreparedness, such disorder, such fear. Join. [1] Spending four months in and around Chernobyl,[23] he received a high dose of radiation. Valery Legasov: Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. In August 1986, Valery Legasov presented the Chernobyl report at the meeting of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna. The lead scientist dealing with the nuclear disaster, it's Valery Legasov who is perhaps the closest thing to a "central" character that Chernobyl has and the fate that is presented for Legasov in . A. Ustynyuk said of Legasov: "His main quality, which set him sharply apart from all the great organizing scientists I knew, was his exceptional dedication to the cause. Old guards of Soviet science were unexpectedly finding themselves in the backfoot as a result of the backlash from the Chernobyl incident. [Screams from intense radiation burns to hand] ". quotes delayed at least 15 minutes, all others at least 20 minutes. "What is the cost of lies?" This question, posed by scientist Valery Legasov (Jared Harris) opens HBO's Chernobyl and is the central focus of this television event.The series (created/written by Craig Mazin, directed by Johan Renck) follows the efforts of Legasov, Boris Shcherbina (Stellan Skrsgard), and Ulana Khomyuk (Emily Watson) to respond to the . Chernobyl. [8][9][10] He also had two grandchildren, Misha and Valerik. In the same way, its harder to see dozens of scientists looking for clues when you can just create a single fantasy character who will have all the good disaster-fighting traits. I was filled with trust and respect for him Valery Alekseevich himself flew over the reactor by helicopter 5-6 times a day. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. And you, chemists, are now making him almost a great martyr And in Chernobyl he screwed up enough - the shelter of the fourth unit turned out to be far from optimal. Lyudmilla Ignatenko , Chernobyl , Miniseries : 1. [14] At some stage, Legasov experienced face injuries and minor scarring as a result of chemical experimentation. The engagement ring hasnt always been what it is today. For some reason, many believe that my father was disappointed by the fact that he wasnt awarded. There were far greater criminals than him at work. By that time, Legasov was the first deputy director of the Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy. - MagicalQuote. The final episode of Chernobyl also contains a scene that encapsulates the Soviet system perfectly. Did Valery Legasov really commit suicide? If using any of Russia Beyond's content, partly or in full, always provide an active hyperlink to the original material. [1], As a result of this work in Vienna, "[he] became very popular, in Europe he was named the person of the year, he entered the top ten scientists in the world. Legasova, Valery was the one who ordered and organized the mass exodus of [27] Resistance came from the old guard who resisted change and among younger reformers who regarded Legasov as a relic of the previous Era of Stagnation. I've been wanting to read it for a long time. We hardly see any of the evacuees at all, and we are given only one indication that some people resisted and refused to leave: an old woman who, at the beginning of Episode 4, obstinately continues milking her cow after she is repeatedly ordered to move. A lot changed after Chernobyl. [13][9] In 1967,[citation needed] he defended his thesis at the Kurchatov Institute, under the supervisor Isaak Kikoin, on the synthesis of compounds of noble gases and the study of their properties[citation needed]. Visit. [1] Legasov admired the leadership of Boris Shcherbina, particularly for his ability to grasp what the specialists were telling him and his decision making. It was Dyatlov who was trying to find out the truth and get it out to the world for as long as he lived. Like in 1941, but even worse, Legasov later recalled. [7] Legasov reassured Gorbachev by phone that scale of contamination was understood and the reactor was not a continuing threat to other countries. A year earlier, in 1987, he took a lethal dose of . The Crown's Jared Harris plays impassioned scientist Valery Legasov.He became a key member of the government commission created to investigate the causes of Chernobyl and to plan the mitigation of . Best legasov memes - popular memes on the site br.ifunny.co. work. Legasov's health had worsened and he often made visits to Moscow Hospital 6 for long term effects of radiation exposure. ", "Responsabilites Occidentales Dans les Consequences Sanitaires de la Catastrophe de Tchernobyl, en Bielorussie, Ukraine et Russie", "Western responsibility regarding the health consequences of the Chernobyl catastrophe in Belarus, the Ukraine and Russia", "Chernobyl scientist's suicide described", " - .. Lies. One would think that a vacuum created by lies could be filled by truth. A page for describing Quotes: Chernobyl. Written by Craig Mazin. This made some of his colleagues jealous, she adds. She is also a truth-seeker: she interviews dozens of people (some of them as they are dying of radiation exposure), digs up a scientific paper that has been censored, and figures out exactly what happened, minute by minute. This is what I was passionately working on, mainly figuring out the dangers in sources of energy alternative to nuclear energy. Footage of Legasov's address does exist -- but perhaps not the whole address. [37] However, the operators were found to have deviated from operational procedures, changing test protocols on the fly, as well as having made "ill judged" actions, making human factors a major contributing factor. Eighteen years ago, we published an article about the life and death of Valery Legasov. Valery Legasov is one of the real people in HBO's miniseries, Chernobyl. That is how we keep the people from undermining the fruits of their own labor. This statement has everything: the bureaucratic indirectness of Soviet speech, the privileging of fruits of labor over the people who created them, and, of course, the utter disregard for human life. Sometimes scientists and specialists would spend a few days at our place. 'Chernobyl' creator and writer Craig Mazin discusses depicting the 1986 nuclear disaster, the HBO miniseries' slow-burn success and how the story resonates with climate change denialism. "[5], Legasov researched hydrogen energy as a byproduct of nuclear energy, nuclear energy strategy, energy generation safety and synthesis of unusual compounds, which he regarded as a neglected niche within the institute's activities. In a July 3 meeting of the Soviet politburo on the Chernobyl crisis, the Soviet deputy energy minister, G.A. Essay Topics. The case of Valery is mysterious and unsettling to this day. Up until Chernobyl, he was being groomed to be the de facto leader of the Soviet scientific community - a place full of politics and nepotism. Valery Legasov Quotes & Sayings. people. As a young man he attended School No. [7], At Vnukovo airport, Legasov met Boris Shcherbina, the head of the government commission dealing with the accident response. HBO 86 years ago, on September 1, 1936 was born one of the most famous Soviet nuclear physicist in the world - Valery Legasov. He came to the conclusion that the explosion was a result of a number of factors, including the reactors constructive flaws and human factor - the staff was unaware of the flaws and that the tests they had carried out could have provoked an explosion. I cant think of one anyway. One of the most remarkable facts about Chernobyl is that the narrative vacuum had persisted for that long, and, in fact, it has persisted since: Alexievichs book came to prominence, both in Russia and in the West, only following her Nobel Prize win. But the most demoralizing part, which makes one worried and sick, is that the measures needed are known.[22]. [20][21] He had been involved in work on industrial safely with the GKNT (State Committee for Science and Technology), in which he had explored the risks involved in energy generation. Assessment of the problem and implementation of operations had to be undertaken by the government commission. Legasov was . [15][16] From 1978 to 1983, he was a professor at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. I wanted to include quotes from the real tapes of Valery Legasov. He led the commission that investigated the catastrophe. [7] Legasov was impressed by the operation of the KGB in the area but considered the Civil Defence group to be in shambles. Contain the spread of misinformation. The next two years were difficult for Legasov, both mentally and physically. The viewer is invited to fantasize that, if not for Dyatlov, the better men would have done the right thing and the fatal flaw in the reactor, and the system itself, might have remained latent. The truth doesnt care about our needs or wants - it doesnt care about our Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. The deputy director of the Kurchatov Institute, Valery Legasov is among the men selected to travel to Chernobyl in the immediate aftermath of the explosion as part of a government commission to contain the effects of the disaster. It was the system, made up primarily of pliant men and women, that cut its own corners, ignored its own precautions, and ultimately blew up its own nuclear reactor for no good reason except that this was how things were done. Vasily Ivanovich Ignatenko was born on 13 March 1961, in the Brahin District of the Gomel Region of the Byelorussian SSR. I dont believe any of the many lines said by the character were said by the real person. This was one of the biggest challenges for the creators But the real story of Valery Legasov in Chernobyl, played by Jared Harris, makes it somehow even more tragic. [1] After the meeting, Scherbina told him that he could work from Moscow but was quickly ordered back to Chernobyl. On the second anniversary of the world's worst manmade disaster the Chernobyl nuclear explosion, Valery Legasov, Russia's top scientist, was found dead in his apartment on April 27, 1988. [28], Some in the scientific community were still displeased by Legasov and his legacy. But this reactor was not considered bad because of safety reasons. [7] At Tomsk Polytechnic University, he started researching gaseous uranium hexachloride in a gaseous fission reactor. take quite a long time to pack their bags. [7], Reactor 4 of Chernobyl nuclear plant exploded on 26 April 1986 at 1:23:45 a.m, releasing a massive amount of radiation and contaminating a large area. In Episode 2, for example, the Central Committee member Boris Shcherbina (Stellan Skarsgrd) threatens to have Legasov shot if he doesnt tell him how a nuclear reactor works. 56 in Moscow and graduated with a gold medal. but officials did not cancel it. [25], I did not lie in Vienna but I did not tell the full truth. Valery Legasov was born in September 1, 1936 in Tula in the Soviet Union to a Russian family. It was almost by accident that he found himself included in the state commission on response to the Chernobyl disaster on April 26, 1986, his daughter Inga Legasova recalls. [17] In 1981, he became a full member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, in the Department of Physical Chemistry and Technology of Inorganic Materials. Important Quotes. No one leaves. Everything he tried to do after Vienna was frustrated by his peers with a vengeance. Valery Legasov Real Quotes & Sayings. At least 31 people died in the explosion and its aftermath, in the world's . He told people it was temporary, even though he knew the evacuation is Instead, it is filled by an entirely fictional, fantastical trial at which a large group of peoplescientists, we are toldare given an accurate assessment of events in an accessible, brilliant speech, the likes of which Soviet courts didnt feature. (miniseries) To them, a just world is a sane world. Conference Footage. [23], With the first draft of Legasov's report received by the Central Committee, some were shocked and one minister forwarded it to the KGB with the recommendation that the authors be prosecuted.