About this episode

The episode discusses the clean-up efforts following the Chernobyl disaster, featuring insights from a radiological officer who monitored radiation exposure.

The disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, in Ukraine, on 26 April 1986, was the world’s worst nuclear accident. The explosion in reactor four caused radioactive parts to be spread over the nearby area. Hundreds of thousands of people were involved in the decontamination efforts, including soldiers and workers at the power station. They were known as the liquidators. Some even had to run out onto the roof of the reactors to clear debris which had been scattered from the radioactive core. Yurіy Skaletskyy was a radiological officer in the Soviet Navy. He monitored the radiation exposure faced by the liquidators and tells Tim O'Callaghan how workers improvised their own protective gear using sheets of lead foil. Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more. Recent episodes explore everything from how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation…

People in this episode

Host: Tim O'Callaghan

Guest: Yurіy Skaletskyy

Topics covered

• Chernobyl disaster
• nuclear accident
• radiation exposure
• decontamination efforts
• liquidators
• historical accounts

Keywords

• Chernobyl
• nuclear disaster
• liquidators
• radiation
• decontamination
• Soviet Navy
• Yurіy Skaletskyy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Soviet Navy

Places: Ukraine

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