The weather is warm and the sky is clear
when
the plant workers clock on for the night shift
They
talk of plans for the May Day holidays
before they begin the safety test of the water pumps
before they begin the safety test of the water pumps
in
the newly commissioned No 4 reactor.
At midnight, in the control room two senior engineers
begin
to argue with the deputy chief engineer Dyatlov
about
the correct power level at which to start the test.
The two senior engineers argue that the power is too low
The two senior engineers argue that the power is too low
but
Dyatlov overrules them.
At
1.20am on April 26 1986, the test begins.
The
power levels are lowered,
but
drop too low and the reactor grinds to a stop.
A water shortage in the reactor sets off an alarm
but Dyatlov orders the engineers to continue.
A water shortage in the reactor sets off an alarm
but Dyatlov orders the engineers to continue.
They don’t know there is a flaw in the reactor
that
makes it unstable when run on low power.
A
hot spot is building deep at the bottom of the core.
The power to the turbine is turned off.
Steam pressure inside the core starts lifting
The power to the turbine is turned off.
Steam pressure inside the core starts lifting
the 350 kilogram caps of fuel rods out of their sockets.
The
engineers try to reduce the power but it’s too late –
the
power surges hundreds of time higher.
Power is doubling every second
and more alarms are going off.
Power is doubling every second
and more alarms are going off.
Steam pressure in the reactor’s hot spots
cannot
be contained.
Fifty fuel rod shafts are torn apart.
The power escalates and turns the reactor
Fifty fuel rod shafts are torn apart.
The power escalates and turns the reactor
into a volcanic steam pressure cooker.
The reactor explodes and the plant loses all its electricity.
Seconds after the first explosion there is another one
and the reactor becomes a giant blowtorch
blasting
the roof off sending 50 tonnes of nuclear fuel into the air,
ten
times greater than Hiroshima.
The
next day the Soviet government
makes an announcement:
An unsatisfactory radioactive situation has occurred
makes an announcement:
An unsatisfactory radioactive situation has occurred
and as a temporary precaution
all 135,000 people
must evacuate from the neighbourhood of Pripyat.
must evacuate from the neighbourhood of Pripyat.
 |
| Graffiti is pictured on a wall in the ghost city of Pripyat near the fourth nuclear reactor (background) at the Chornobyl Nuclear Plant. |
This is a scary series, but must be realistic
ReplyDeleteThanks, I appreciate your support with this series of documentary poems. (I actually call them research poems, but Kevin Brophy referred to them as documentary poems and I like that much better.
Delete"The next day..." Horrendous. On the day of the accident, a close friend living in the Midlands, UK pottering in his shed couldn't believe it when his Geiger counter suddenly went nuts - he's a scientist and he knew immediately that his machine was not playing up.
ReplyDeleteThank you Efi. What else did your friend say? I'm fascinated.
DeleteThe tension in it is so well done. I have kept searching back over the poems to find this one again, (and just did) as I have wanted to say something but haven't been able to think of anything adequate. It is a great series to work on, Myron. Efi, that geiger counter in the Midlands story sounds like it has the seed of a poem in response to me. :) (That sort of poem would take me a couple of years to write though I reckon!) :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sarah. I appreciate all responses to my Chornobyl suite. Am very pleased to learn that there is tension ion this poem and that it works.
DeleteSarah, go for it. ;) I've been sitting on it for over a decade, since he told me. (Thank you for jogging me along...)
ReplyDelete:)
ReplyDelete