15:49 26.04.2021

SBU releases part of classified documents about Chornobyl disaster

2 min read
SBU releases part of classified documents about Chornobyl disaster

On the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the disaster at Chornobyl nuclear power plant (NPP), the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has released some of the classified documents from its archives, including the very first report on the explosion from Director of Chornobyl NPP Viktor Bryukhanov, negotiations between the plant operators at the time of the disaster, and others.

In addition, as reported by the SBU press service on Monday, the documents contain evidence that Chornobyl accidents occurred before April 26, 1986.

"In 1982, a significant release of radioactive substances occurred at the first power unit. But the KGB [Committee for State Security] report on this ends with the usual 'measures were taken to prevent panic and provocative rumors.' In 1984, emergency situations were at the third and fourth power units," the message said.

It is noted that in 1983, Moscow authorities received information that Chornobyl NPP "is one of the most dangerous nuclear power plants in the USSR due to the lack of safety equipment."

"In the event of the disaster, the radioactivity was estimated 60 times higher than during the explosions of atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki," the security service said.

They add that after the disaster, the Soviet government "looked for various 'conspiracy theories,' but did not recognize reality."

"Already on April 27, a list of 'unreliable' residents of Prypiat, foreign delegations who visited Chornobyl nuclear power plant, as well as 'cult members, representatives of German nationality and those who corresponded abroad,' appeared. And then documents appeared that the 'nationalists' wanted to obtain samples of the contaminated soil with the help of an 'agent network in Kyiv' in order to discredit the Soviet leadership in the world," the SBU said.

In addition, it is noted that on July 8, 1986, a directive appeared that classified all the details of Chornobyl disaster: its causes, the nature of the destruction, the composition of the mixture thrown into the air during the explosion, the radiation situation, the scale of elimination work, morbidity and others.

"More facts about the disaster can be found in the two collections Chornobyl KGB Dossier prepared by the SBU Archive and the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance," the SBU said.

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