10 Chernobyl Facts You Never Knew

[@jasonhaman4670]

Oh, and in my long-winded previous comment, I forgot - the producers of the HBO miniseries contacted you, to get their facts straight? That's awesome, and (as you are obviously an expert in this) reflects well on them, and their show.

[@ChernobylFamily]

Well, we made consultation and guiding work on site. I cannot say more (there are some rules of the movie industry), but it was interesting :)

[@jasonhaman4670]

@@ChernobylFamily Yeah, I can imagine non-disclosure agreements and the like. But that is awesome!

[@hamaljay]

I like pot flowers. My favorite is vanilla Kush. 13:53

[@ChernobylFamily]

@@hamaljay Michaela, my wife, has orchids. Those are amazing, but still a rocket science to me. Edit: typos

[@eliotmansfield]

duga will be interesting. As a kid in the 80’s in the UK whenever your radio wasn’t tuned right all you could here was the woodpecker - of course i didn’t know it was duga back then.

[@ChernobylFamily]

It is a very complex machine. Many people from the UK who have been on out tours remembered the same. There will be a few episodes about it.

[@keytron888]

Golden content, love it. Maybe in the future there could be a episode about special NPP facilities like hydrogen generation, electrolyzers, feed water pump stations and such. Its an endlessly interesting topic and I am glad there is a channel like yours.

[@ChernobylFamily]

Absolutey surely will be! We are going to cover the history and technology very detailed, this will happen gradually as we process hundreds of papers. Thank you!

[@Damien.D]

Never knew VVER were proposed for the Chernobyl power plan. Always thought the disaster was the reason why VVERs were favored afterward. History would have been completely different if these reactor were built in place of RBMKs, and maybe all these pretty nice projects would had a chance of being built.

[@ChernobylFamily]

Sometimes I am deeply creeped out of realization, that after all, all our life, what we love, what we do and what we have is caused by the fact that a particular concrete cylinder did not withstand a pressure.

[@emenem907]

Great work bro. I look forward to your duga documentary

[@ChernobylFamily]

Thank you for motivating words! Soon...)

[@swokatsamsiyu3590]

I recently discovered your channel, and a what a find it is! Thank you for these most interesting videos. I'm a reactor guy, but learning about the way they viewed the world, how they envisioned things to be ideal is very interesting as well. I always marvel at how they tried to even make their power stations look nice. In the West, these are butt-ugly without exception where in the Soviet Union/ Russia they tried to make them less of an eyesore without compromising safety. The VVER reactors have full containment, but they made them look nice and the the cooling system looks like fountains that would not be out of place in the nearest park. And I have to grin when I see some old Soviet footage of a turbine-hall at an NPP, and they're growing houseplants in between the machinery. That never fails to bring a smile to my face. Thank you and keep up the good work!

[@ChernobylFamily]

Thank you so much for such a comment! We will do!

[@Schneeweiss]

love you guys! keep it up 😍

[@ChernobylFamily]

Thank you!

[@cocusar]

I'd like to know more about the status of public services like power supply, water, gas, etc. on the remainders of the city. I understand they shut everything off, but I'm pretty sure there must be some places with utilities still running. And why they're still running. Also, are the main power lines that go into the NPP still powered? I would assume they're feeding power back to the installation and the nearby buildings. And speaking of Duga, I've always wondered if the antennas are still useful, like if it'd be possible to go there with a HF transceiver and use them to talk to ham radio operators. Hey in any case, this is amazing. I truly appreciate it!

[@ChernobylFamily]

It depends. There are facilities that operate for the enterprises of the zone and its stuff (mostly - at the town of Chernobyl, which a pretty usual town), and in Pripyat (for now - water drills for the NPP, a substation, etc). There were much more repaired after the disaster, but no longer used since the end of the 90s. Yes, the lines are powered, as the power plant has a lot of equipment that requires energy. Duga antenna is useful in a meaning it is a phased array, which is that or another form catches the waves. However, this was never a transmitter installation, but a receiver only. Thank you for your words and questions!

[@Decaydayz-Misha]

Great content!! I have been interested in this story since 6th grade when i was 12 year old. Now I'm 30 years old. In this video there are so many unheard facts! Thanks for sharing! I mean it!! Greetings from Bulgaria!

[@ChernobylFamily]

Thank you! Check new episodes!

[@mikolajkaraczyn6382]

Great content you've created! I've been interesting in Chernobyl for 25 years and never knew about informations you shared! Great great stuff.

[@ChernobylFamily]

Thank you! BTW, we found our HDD with some videos from the Zone, I think I'll compile some stuff and post it, maybe even today.

[@mikolajkaraczyn6382]

@@ChernobylFamily great, can't wait to see it! :)

[@zooropaforever]

Guys, just got into your channel! It's fantastic! So full of unheard before info!! Just subscribed!

[@ChernobylFamily]

We are happy that you liked!

[@ktotheswiss1617]

I can't believe the pool was still open up until 97, I thought the entire place became a ghost town overnight.

[@ChernobylFamily]

Can imagine..:) But, things were far more complex. We are translating some very rare documents on our Patreon (check 'Chernobyl 88' there). These (yet untranslated part, but we will come to this) describe in details the activities in Pripyat for the very first 2 years; given that levels of contamination vary very much, in the district IV it was possible to run even dormitories where staff lived on shifts. With natiral degradation of infrastructure there were a relocation of facilities to the town of Chornobyl. One of the last laboratories in Pripyat closed kind of in 2004.

[@MrWhitley]

Such amazing content.Thankyou and big love from the u.k.

[@ChernobylFamily]

Thank you for motivating words! Greetings from Ukraine!

[@TS84NO]

Thanks for these great videos :) One thing I'm struggeling to find any information about online, is hotels in Pripyat. I can easilyt find information about Hotel Polissya, however, I heard in a video (maybe it was in one of your videos?) that there was at least one more hotel in the city. On some old maps, I could see "Hotel Lastochka", not too far from the riverport cafe. Is that the seccond hotel in Pripyat? Or were there more than two?

[@ChernobylFamily]

Yes, there was a second one, Lastochka; legally it belonged to nearby Sonyachny preventorium, however, its exact purpose is unknown. I mean, some sources say it was for high delegations, some - that it was for guests attending families in preventorium. I once asked A. Esaulov, deputy mayor of Pripyat, he could not recall details anymore, but said that likely it was for both purposes depending on a situation. Lastochka likely was built before Polissya (which would be logical). As for hotel Polissya, nothing really special about it as for hotel itself, apart from the fact that sometimes those hired by ChNPP could live there on its cost until they get a dorm. I know such a family which spent there a year.

[@TS84NO]

@@ChernobylFamily Thanks so much, for both a fast reply, and great information :)

[@chicoroth8679]

thank you, like always a very interesting dokumentation 👍👍👍

[@ChernobylFamily]

Glad you enjoyed it! Check newer episodes, we have a few documentaries out here :)

[@Ajrocket]

I really like this video. Despite I knew some facts, you still learned me something new! I appreciate it. Hi from CZ!

[@ChernobylFamily]

Thank you! More to come - we found a presumably lost HDD with many interesting footages of our explorations!

[@Ajrocket]

@@ChernobylFamily That's nice. I somewhere have a full map of Pripyat, the last project for about 100K people. The town would be huge. I also have some interesting stuff that you would like.

[@ChernobylFamily]

@Ajrocket it would be interesting to take a look at that map; we have a few, but maybe it is something new!

[@Ajrocket]

@@ChernobylFamily I think you have seen it. Do you have a Discord or something else?

[@Ajrocket]

@@ChernobylFamily About the Chernobyl II NPP, I am also trying to research it. The problem is that over the years I've found only 2 good sources, which state 4 to 6 VVER-1000 units. They also planned a heat power plant in Kyiv oblast near Otashiv village with two VVER-1000.

[@bobl78]

9:20 black smoke from chimney at an NPP ?

[@ChernobylFamily]

That is not a chimney of the NPP, but if a VERY large thermal power plant located behind it.

[@projects6371]

These facts are amazing some of them I did not know yet!

[@ChernobylFamily]

Thank you!

[@projects6371]

@@ChernobylFamily Your nearly at 3,000 Subs which is nice

[@ChernobylFamily]

@@projects6371 not great, not terrible)))

[@projects6371]

@@ChernobylFamily I love it when some Russian person says that :)

[@ChernobylFamily]

@@projects6371 FYI, we are not russian, kind of, at all.

[@stroganoff2917]

ALEX you are a professional nuclear physicist? I watch you videos everyday and trying to understand USSR PC. You are such a valuable scientist 🇨🇿🇺🇦🍹🍷🍉🍇🍓

[@ChernobylFamily]

No, both me and Michaela are historians of Chernobyl disaster; tech is just one of aspects of it. Thank you so much! And more to come!

[@kasel1979krettnach]

For me, this "RBMK were run on natural Uranium and used to make Plutonium" story seems really like fantasy. I just wonder what type of reactor the USSR used for making Pu ? Fast reactors or graphite piles ?

[@ChernobylFamily]

For us too. Pu appeared inside RBMK, but in very small ignorable amounts. For Pu production, they used, e.g. AD-2 reactors, if I recall it correctly.

[@Dargalon]

Awesome. I want more.

[@ChernobylFamily]

More to come!

[@Underestimated37]

I always love hearing about the urban planning and architecture of Soviet cities, the concept of having a society where personal transport was/is scarce is only now starting to return to the public consciousness, and it makes the design of Soviet cities (and subsequently the concept of microdistricts) increasingly interesting and consequential for future development. As Pripyat was a relatively late model city at the time and entirely constructed from scratch for the plant, and then subsequently evacuated and left largely intact it leaves a really fascinating time capsule of what cities were like at the time, without the long term piecemeal patching and changes made Post Soviet Collapse that other still intact cities have needed to do to adapt to westernisation of society. It also shines a window as you say in the video into how the privileged citizens of the (from memory) then closed city had different lifestyles to those in other settlements as well. From the perspective of modern society, it’s like looking at a completely alien culture. Despite the flaws of generically designed buildings and prefabricated structures, the thing that stands out to me about Soviet designed districts is always the fact that a significant amount of green space was planned into these districts, something modern cities have to be forced to incorporate into their designs. It means that despite brutalist type architecture, there is a lot of liveable green space, and in Pripyat’s case; a lot of places for nature to reclaim too. Really appreciating the work you’re all putting into these videos, really loving seeing how things were and the photos from the former city and plant, and can’t wait to see what you do next!

[@ChernobylFamily]

We very much appreciate your comment, it gave a few ideas to talk about we should include in the episode about Pripyat when it will come out (this month for sure). Thank you very much. This will be a long series, as well as same long will be out tech one. Stay tuned and all the best!

[@Underestimated37]

@@ChernobylFamily thanks so much, I’m excited to see where you go, every video seems to be even better than the last!

[@ChernobylFamily]

@@Underestimated37 thank you...) well, slowly getting presentation skills and better equipment...)

[@Underestimated37]

@@ChernobylFamily even without that, the content is what makes it interesting, you’ve been able to bring a perspective that people very rarely get to see, and that alone makes these videos valuable and interesting.

[@ChernobylFamily]

@@Underestimated37 well, for us it is a daily life, not a kind of 'wow', so you got the point well. Thanks for motivating words!

[@AndrewTubbiolo]

So RBMK 4800 implied 4.8GW electrical? So roughly 20 GW thermal? Given how the RBMK was not understood how it operated in startup or shutdown as a volume (It seems it was probably designed in cross section and then generalized in the Z direction?) the 4800 would have been a real beast to control without in depth computer design and controls.

[@ChernobylFamily]

I am afraid I am unable to answer this, because never could find any details on anything bigger then RBMKP-2400 in the literature. Even at the Chernobyl NPP many seniors told that was only on paper in NIKIET institute, although discussed. No actual development have been done, and partly because of the reasons you said about - there were no clear vision how to control that. Some told an opinion, that these projects were more a response to party's approach "let's make bigger, bigger, bigger".

[@swokatsamsiyu3590]

A 1000 MWe reactor roughly translates to 3200 MWt. So, a 4800 MW electric reactor would have about 15,000 MW of thermal output. If built, these reactors would have been the most powerful in the world. They had a hard enough time controlling the RBMK at the then current size it was. I can only imagine the absolute nightmare it would have been to try and control a reactor almost five times its size. Good heavens. I study reactors as a hobby with a big emphasis on the good old RBMK. RBMKs weren't bad reactors per se, but they should have sat on the design a bit more before putting them out there. They were/ are (there are still RBMKs running today) extremely complex reactors that are a handful in the best of times. And the RBMK is so big that parts of it almost behave like several independent reactors in that one space. The neutrons cannot talk to each other because of the large core size. So you end up with a very loosely, almost decoupled core which does nothing for stability, to say the least. That nicely ties in with what you said about them not understanding it. That was very much true at the time. They didn't fully understand its neutronics, or how important the steam/water balance was for its stability, or lack thereof. The institutes didn't have the computing power to properly model its behaviour in various situations, whether that would be normal or emergency situations. It was well known that an RBMK could be very temperamental, especially when it was freshly refuelled, or towards the end of core-life. At the end of core-life it would become downright grumpy with a tendency to run away with itself if you forced it to do things it couldn't. An RBMK is the happiest somewhere in the middle of core-life when it is in a steady-state refuelling mode. You gently bring it to full power at the begin of core-life, you keep a close eye on it until steady-state and then you just let it run at full rated power without bothering it too much. It can't handle wild power swings (fast up, fast down), and it was never designed to run below half-power. You cannot do wild power swings with any commercial power reactor (naval reactors can handle this much better, they are specifically designed to operate under harsh battle conditions) regardless of the type, but the RBMK in particular is very ill-suited to cope with this. After the Chernobyl accident, they refurbished the remaining RBMKs with better safety systems, a separate fast-acting Scram system that can insert specially designed control rods into the core within 2 seconds to lower reactivity, more enriched fuel to combat the inherent instability, better computers to model the core, additional fixed absorbers in the core etc. You still have to treat them with the respect they deserve and there still is the not having full containment fact, but they have cleaned up quite nicely, as far as RBMKs go. I apologise for the long-winded reply.

[@ChernobylFamily]

Thank you for such amazing commentary. This is perfect!

[@AndrewTubbiolo]

@@swokatsamsiyu3590 Don't say you're sorry! Thank you!

[@swokatsamsiyu3590]

@@ChernobylFamily You're welcome 😄 And I'm by no means a scientific expert. Just a hobbyist with an extensive technical background (retired Master Welder) and a big soft spot for the RBMK. Those very early drawings/schematics you showed in the video? I managed to find those in pdf format a while back. I instantly recognised them when the video put them up on the screen. Feel free if you have more questions about the RBMK. I will try my best to answer them comprehensively.

[@Vikom07]

Actually I'm more interested in Prypiat and her alternatives rather than the powerplant and such. Do you plan more detailed videos about unbuilt Prypiat? (I have more specific questions but I'll keep this comment short)

[@ChernobylFamily]

There will be in next episodes... we will go gradually, for now it is an introduction stage...)

[@ChernobylFamily]

By the way, ask specific questions, this is very helpful for us, as we will be able to make future episodes more interesting.

[@Vikom07]

​@@ChernobylFamily Ok! - According to the city model in Slavutych, there seemed to be planned another main hospital building (254-1-20) next to the surgery building. I always found it interesting. Any more info about it? - More about the importance of MSČ 126? How large area did it serve? With all of the additional buildings it seemed to be quite large for 50k city. - Nearest plans to the city by the time of disaster? (3 sub-questions) -- According to a banner in one photo, in the next 5-year plan they planned a house of pioneers (we know which one) and another cinema. Any more info about the cinema? -- Somewhere I read something about plans to build a TV-tower like in Lviv, IF or practically any bigger city. Any more info? -- How about new districts? The mentioned part over the plateu already almost started, no? Since the streets are already marked in police station and other places. How about the part across the p. Budivelnykiv? Was it meant to be built concurrently, since there are already several built blocks? I'm surprised by the dumpload of kindergartens they built there. - Why is there a traffic light next to Lazurnyi? As far as I know, that's only one of the two locations. But why at this very place? Did kids from the 4th mkr go to the 3rd school? - Additional changes, when the city was still alive? I know the two 121-60-25 (L.U. 18a, 14a) were built additionally. Is anything else known? - Remaining village houses? I know there's one by the 16th kindergarten and one near yacht club. Everything from Semikhody? Did people live there up to the accident? - According to that detailed Polish map I bought at Dytiatky for (500+ UAH), there's a small cinema (open air?) near the water treatment facility. Any more facts? Photos? Does it actually exist? - Underground? When I was in the amusement park, everyone was excited by the ferris wheel, meanwhile I was looking at a manhole, wondering how the sewers look theese days and such. Also, somewhere I heard about tunnels connecting all of the hospital buildings, if it exists, any more info about this system? I guess that's all I wanted to know but was afraid to ask. At least if I didn't forget anything. If it gave you any suggestions what to talk about, that would be good news.

[@ChernobylFamily]

@@Vikom07 This is a true PLEASURE to receive such comments, thank you very very much. We really need to think how to answer, because while some things, such as TV tower were more just not really formalized concepts, the things like sewage use are a pretty long talk, and there are some documents on it as well. Probably, the best would be to talk about this in the future episodes, so we can gather some papers and so. Ohhhh that ferris wheel.. no words)))

[@ChernobylFamily]

By the way, in regards of the open-air cinema, got kind of a sudden visual flashback. There IS a stage in the yards close to the water pumping station. It is small, so not sure if that was a cinema, but for a certain performances that would fit. Need to check whether we have a picture.

[@SimonBauer7]

imagine if it was a vver or different pwr...probably wouldnt have exploded.

[@ChernobylFamily]

@@SimonBauer7 this.

[@enoladeveu3653]

Dear young friends. I am interested (very interested) of Chernobyl disaster story. I have a question. Please tell me do you know who is Nikolay Soloviev, what is his role in the disaster and what is his faith now - is he alive an if yes, what is he doing now...

[@ChernobylFamily]

He was a turbine engineer of the Unit II, one of those who has been on shift on that night. Let us check how he is doing and will come back to you.

[@enoladeveu3653]

@@ChernobylFamily Than you for this answer :). I know that. Am 54. I was 18 when the disaster happens. I am from Bulgaria. Radiation cloud came here on 5 of May 1986. We are part of all that. Chernobyl disaster is something that I am interested in. Your channel is pretty new and I hope that you can give fresh look to the events that lead to this disaster. Please share with me your opinion about the cause of the disaster, and specifically - do you think that Anatoly Diatlov is the main reason for this disaster.

[@ChernobylFamily]

@@enoladeveu3653 well, the channel is new, because we just finally got time for youtube, before was a decade on site :) but thank you for believing in us..) I'd say your question goes farther a comment format, this is what we wanted to discuss in the future episodes. If shortly, the cause is the Soviet System itself, a very illustrative thing to this are declassifoed documents of the KGB of the 1970-1986. Demonization of Dyatlow as a popular opinion is an overkill, though he was not an easy person.

[@enoladeveu3653]

@@ChernobylFamily Well :) thank you. I am asking a questions, but I already know the answer :) It was a reactor with a very significant design flows, I know that. The operational staff must follow the operational instruction manual (so called "Регламент") and that document was incomplete and is some sense misleading. Diatlov was a trained engineer, he was also a strange character - demanding and not forgiving. Any way, thank you for this channel, I will be your best fan :) I liked your videos about IT in Chernobil plant (I an an IT developer). I am very interested to see video about ЕВМ Скала.

[@enoladeveu3653]

One more question - is this an Ukraine channel?

[@jordantabary114]

Cool content

[@ChernobylFamily]

Thank you! Check also newer videos.

[@johnfarias7230]

Everything I learned about Chernobyl was from Kreosan Let's face it they're not too scientific you are a way more professional level thank you

[@ChernobylFamily]

Because for Kreosan it is hype, and for us it is a 10+ years of daily life, research and work on locations.

[@AmaanHasanDilawar]

Awesome.♥♥

[@ChernobylFamily]

Thank you!

[@UpLateGeek]

I couldn't watch much more than the first couple of episodes of the Chernobyl TV series. It just felt too realistic, and imagining so many of those people would have died or had serious long-term health effects just made me feel sick. In some ways I think it's easier to watch documentaries, even if they show pictures and film from the time, or just show modern footage of the area with degrading buildings, like your videos. It's not trying to make me feel how those people felt at the time, just showing the facts.

[@ChernobylFamily]

You know, an opinion of a few people from Pripyat and the Power Plant, who - important - were witnesses: "Many thing were much more complex, but the FEELING is so accurately distributed, that we needed to take a pause". With documentaries, yes, we can even agree. But when we come to documents, sometimes there are such "dry words" in these papers, that you'd like to throw that away and forget it is existing. People often do not know, how scary in fact is the history of the Zone. The devil is in numbers and particular sentences...

[@jasonhaman4670]

I'd say that's a high complement to the HBO mini-series. It indicates that it adds the human cost of the catastrophe to the existing documentaries. If we truly added and understood the human cost of so many historic events to studies of history, maybe we'd be less likely to repeat them.

[@creeperman4201]

First

[@ChernobylFamily]

Yeah!