Chapter 381
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Chernobyl
Pripyat was one of the Soviet Union's meticulously planned industrial cities.
The city housed a population of 50,000, with long-term plans to accommodate over 100,000.
"So, what about jobs?"
A city needed workplaces to match.
In the outskirts of Pripyat stood the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.
The plant was a symbol of the growing city and its source of power.
People imagined the city's future intertwined with the plant.
Just as Chernobyl's smokestacks rose high, the city's tomorrow would shine brightly.
Everyone painted such a hopeful picture of the future, but that faith vanished in an instant.
BOOM!
In the early dawn hours, an inexplicable roar heralded an unprecedented catastrophe that struck the city without warning.
"There's a fire at the power plant? Got it. We're heading out now."
The firefighters rushed to the plant, unaware it was a radiation incident.
People had no idea how dire the disaster they faced truly was.
Even at the emergency meeting held at the plant, party officials treated the accident like a routine disaster.
"Radiation leak? The readings aren't that high, right?"
That's what everyone thought, so such words were spoken.
"We must act with composure. As senior party members who set the example for the state and the party, how can we show fear? What will the people believe in to feel safe?"
"You're absolutely right."
Reports were heavily downplayed as they went up the chain.
"What's the radiation level?"
"3.6 roentgen."
The 3.6 roentgen figure came straight from the dosimeter reading.
"It's not insignificant, but not extreme either."
Even the Soviet Communist Party leadership initially believed this number.
In such circumstances, Valery Legasov raised an objection.
"Does that make any sense? The plant exploded, and it's only 3.6 roentgen?"
As radiation spread across Europe, demands for explanations about the "fallout" grew heated, alerting the Soviet government that something was off.
Shelepin bowed his head to European nations and swiftly ordered a proper investigation.
"Don't give me nonsense like 3.6 roentgen—bring me real numbers!"
Distrusting the plant's staff, the Soviet government handed the investigation to the military.
"If we send soldiers to measure radiation at the accident site while driving, will they be safe?"
"I can't guarantee it."
"Then I'll measure it myself."
Soviet Army Chemical Corps Commander Major General Vladimir Karpovich Pikalov personally attached a high-end dosimeter to his vehicle and visited the site.
The measurement was shocking.
"15,000 roentgen?"
Only then did the Soviet government realize the situation was beyond imagination.
"This is bad. The core is exposed."
Pyongyang sent advice to Moscow the moment they heard of the accident.
"You should evacuate everyone within 30 kilometers."
"But the cost..."
"Worrying about costs now will make cleanup even harder."
After Korea's repeated persuasion, the Soviet government agreed to evacuate all residents within 30 kilometers.
The decision was slow, but the evacuation itself was swift.
The Soviet government evacuated all 50,000 Pripyat residents in just two hours.
Of course, evacuating residents didn't solve everything.
To extinguish the fire at the plant, the Soviets had to dump massive amounts of sand and boron over it.
The quantity reached thousands of tons.
"That's all money down the drain."
The Soviet government had no time to fret over the enormous financial drain.
They threw every available asset into Chernobyl.
Helicopter assets like the Mi-6 were no exception.
The Mi-6, the backbone of helicopter forces, was central to the response effort.
"It's risky, but okay. Fly at an angle to the plant."
Mi-6 squadrons periodically flew over the Chernobyl plant, dropping loads of sand and boron.
"But won't they be exposed to radiation?"
That was a risk they accepted.
The Soviet military had to scrap the Mi-6s deployed in the operation.
"And we need to dig underground. If the exposed core reaches the aquifer, it could cause a massive explosion."
The Soviet government decided to dig a barrier tunnel underground.
"The chances of it melting that far are low."
"Even 1% chance means we dig."
Despite Korea's warnings, the Soviets proceeded with digging a shielding tunnel under Chernobyl.
Miners were mobilized in large numbers for the task.
"Better than Japan, but still, grinding through people like this feels off."
Korea supplied the Soviets with essentials for radiation issues: lead, cobalt blue, iodine, and more.
Korea wasn't the only one providing aid.
Europe, and even the U.S., which had been attacking the Soviets from behind, sent aid supplies.
"If they don't handle it, fallout could keep raining over the entire Northern Hemisphere."
The fallout was already inflicting massive damage worldwide.
"What if kids are born deformed?"
Over 100,000 abortions occurred in Northern Europe alone.
Damage to farms and dairy industries was just icing on the cake.
East Asia wasn't spared from the radiation fallout either.
Korea, Japan, and China issued fallout alerts.
"Please refrain from going out for the time being, and wash vegetables and fruits thoroughly before eating."
With constant reports of the severity, public anxiety was off the charts.
"Fucking commie bastards. If you couldn't run it right, don't build the damn plant."
Fallout issues fueled anti-Soviet sentiment in the EA.
Opposition parties nitpicked special aid related to Chernobyl over this sentiment.
"Is it right to send aid to commies harming us?"
Bae Seong-jun responded thus:
"So, we just let them keep spewing radiation fallout?"
No matter the reactions abroad, the Soviets couldn't afford to care about opinions.
After immense effort, the Soviet government succeeded in extinguishing the raging radioactive inferno.
But the war against radiation was far from over.
Now came the battle to contain it.
The Soviets mobilized hundreds of thousands to strip contaminated soil from the land.
The removed earth was stored in hastily built temporary structures.
The ruined plant couldn't be cleared so easily by sheer volume.
To remove graphite and other contaminated debris from the core, robots were needed.
The Soviets ordered these robots from the U.S. and Korea.
"We struggle to make robots that withstand 15,000 roentgen ourselves."
Both countries built and delivered robots as requested.
When former rivals America and Korea sent robots, a joke spread in the Soviet Union:
"The American robot broke after 5 minutes. The Korean one lasted 10. But the Soviet robot held up over an hour without issue. As everyone marveled at the federation's technology, the supervisor said, 'Comrade Ivan, step out for a smoke break now.'"
Of course, reality was different.
The most dangerous graphite chunks were cleared by robots from the West and Korea, while people handled the rest in 30-second shifts.
Anything longer meant unbearable exposure.
While this war raged at Chernobyl, Moscow grappled with severe political infighting.
Over accountability for the Chernobyl accident.
"Korea warned us plenty, yet who kept using outdated RBMK reactors without upgrades until disaster struck?"
The nuclear issue Bae Seong-jun had tipped off as a favor exploded into a political landmine for the Shelepin regime.
The regime had only one card to play.
"It's all the previous administration's fault!"
Brezhnev's complacency in building RBMK reactors trapped Soviet nuclear industry in path dependency.
That was the root of this problem.
So Shelepin claimed.
"And didn't they mismanage national finances, leaving us no leeway?"
The Kremlin sought to dodge blame for Chernobyl by pinning it on Brezhnev.
But Soviet hardliners weren't pushovers.
They seized the rare counterattack opportunity and hammered Shelepin.
"Nonsense! The ones in charge of running the country bear responsibility, not someone long out of office!"
As both sides snarled, Chernobyl cast a dark shadow over Soviet finances.
Half the national budget.
An unimaginable sum vanished into thin air.
And another amount that size was about to follow.
This fiscal deterioration led to the ruble's collapse.
"Can the ruble, fixed-rate like in capitalist countries, even crash?"
It could.
The official exchange rate stayed put, but black market ruble prices plummeted wildly.
Foreigners and even Soviets scrambled for dollars or won.
Modern Mart outlets in the Soviet Union converted daily ruble profits to won and wired them home.
This Soviet economic weakness showed in indicators too.
"GDP is regressing?"
Soviet GDP was so precarious it was threatened by much smaller-population West Germany and Britain.
An endless "disaster" with no end in sight, and a declining national stature.
Soviets began feeling disillusioned with reality bit by bit.
"Who cares about campaigns."
Order and principles.
Life without vodka.
Efforts for a better future.
Soviet people sneered at their government's slogans.
Workplace no-shows with fake illnesses rose again, and vodka consumption surged.
Dreams that the nation would one day rise to compete equally with America and Korea.
Those hopes were crushed by the Chernobyl catastrophe.
In their place remained only cynicism and disillusionment.