# @science on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DSltlnAEjfO
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/38238460-science-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/5c4b87aa3c.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-12-23T02:30:12.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Science 🧬 (@science) — https://gondola.cc/science

## Caption

On 4 May 1986, just a few days after the initial disaster, mechanical engineer Alexei Ananenko, senior engineer Valeri Bespalov and shift supervisor Boris Baranov stepped forward to undertake a mission that many considered to be suicide. They were advised that if they did not survive, their families would be taken care of. The outcome of their mission would decide the fate of millions of people; its importance was unparalleled in its magnitude and represents one of history’s greatest sliding doors moments. So what exactly was their mission?⁠
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On the day of the disaster and in an effort to control the blazing fire, firefighters pumped water into the nuclear reactor. One of the side effects was that it flooded the basement with radioactive water. This basement contained the valves that when turned, would drain the ‘bubbler pools’ that sat beneath the reactor and which acted as a coolant for the plant.⁠
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Within a few days, it was discovered that molten nuclear material was melting through the concrete reactor floor, making its way slowly down towards the pools below. If the lava-like substance made contact with the water, it would cause a radiation-contaminated steam explosion that would destroy the entire plant along with its three other reactors, causing unimaginable damage and nuclear fallout the world would struggle to recover from. The pools containing some 20 million liters of water had to be drained and the only way to do that was by manually turning the correct valves down in the now flooded basement. Enter our three heroes.⁠
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If the three courageous men were not successful in their mission the Chernobyl death toll was likely to reach the millions. Nuclear physicist Vassili Nesterenko declared that the blast would have had a force of 3-5 megatons, leaving much of Europe uninhabitable for hundreds of thousands of years.⁠
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#chernobyl #disaster #toxic #divers #science

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## Tags

toxic, science, divers, disaster, chernobyl

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