One of the "liquidators" who decontaminated Chernobyl: "We did not know the truth about the accident"

Nelson Castro was visiting the museum of the Chernobyl nuclear accident when a fundamental testimony to reconstruct what was lived 33 years ago surprised him. The reporter interviewed a soldier who participated in the cleaning operation on the roof of the Ukrainian factory, to eliminate the polluting graphite.

"I worked for two months at the Chernobyl plant from January to March 1987, "said the man, badisted by a translator, in the corridors of the museum that reflect the story of which he was the protagonist.

With a slow voice and great respect for what he remembered, he said, "The work was hard because the tasks were difficult and unsafe, Of course, but we knew we were the right people to do it and we felt united. It was badumed that the facilities would be operational again by the end of the year. "

After the explosion of the No. 4 Chernobyl reactor, thousands of Soviets were summoned by the government for decontamination operations in the region. These men and women, known as "liquidators", strove to minimize the consequences of the disaster without knowing the hell that awaited them. Many of them died years later, product of radiation-related diseases.

Since the work had to be developed in such a way that it did not suffer serious consequences, and bearing in mind that most of those who worked with him had died sometime later, he recalled: "When we arrived in the area, we had 15 or 20 minutes to work. 90 seconds to clean the roof, that's what we did in 1986. "

The teams of "liquidators" who took care to minimize the consequences of the catastrophe of April 26, 1986 were mainly composed of soldiers, firemen, workers, scientists and specialists of the nuclear industry. Those who managed to survive were decorated by the government with the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

"Of course I did not know the whole truth about the accident at the time of working there, most people have learned the truth after 15 or 20 years, "he acknowledged and so made it clear that they had no idea of ​​the danger to which they were exposed at that time, revealed that the series launched in recent days had reconstructed the story accurately and even quoting the original names of the majority of people involved.