Chernobyl Oddities: The Elephant's Foot, The Untold Story

Chernobyl Oddities is a series focused on the strange and unknown objects and locations in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. The Exclusion Zone is both very documented and undocumented at the same time, with areas such as Pripyat receiving much attention, and other areas receiving none. This series examines those areas that have received little to none.
The Elephant's Foot is by far the most famous of all the corium masses throughout the Sarcophagus, however the precise information about its discovery, research and ultimate fate remains untold to the general public. This video examines all points, as well as some interesting trivia about some of the people famous for their involvement with the Elephant's Foot, and the objects close by.
00:00 - Introduction
00:32 - From the Ashes
01:33 - December, 1986
03:38 - 1987
05:07 - 1990
05:50 - Artur Korneev
07:58 - Bitter Dust
10:11 - Trivia

[@DianaDeLuna]

"The most radioactive mop in the world" is the quality content I come to KZbin for. No irony-just facts. ✌🏼

[@Iaintwoke]

Yes, but now I really want to know who moved it and when and why??

[@UCCLdIk6R5ECGtaGm7oqO-TQ]

@@Iaintwoke Maybe it grew legs and walked itself away.

[@Iaintwoke]

@@UCCLdIk6R5ECGtaGm7oqO-TQ Maybe,😳

[@andrewallason4530]

Being used to clean Putin’s bunker to this very day.

[@TimPerfetto]

Mops are made with hair

[@reedr1659]

"How close can you get to the elephant's foot?" I don't know. I like to ask, "How far away can I get from that damn thing?"

[@thomasdaily4363]

Right?

[@ultrasometimes8908]

Bionerd23 has great videos

[@NyanCatHerder]

This comment has some serious, "Put that thing back where it came from or so help me" vibes.

[@whitetipvelociraptor5759]

IKR!? Like my mouth and teeth suddenly feel all tingly and my mouth tastes a little bit more metallic than usual.

[@matkurcher9469]

Auckland New Zealand is about as far as you can get from it.

[@ZZactionwow]

"Dont run to the Elephants Foot" sounds like a sentence in an arg/creepypasta

[@PrettySwelll]

Found your channel through the iceberg, and stayed for the quality content. It’s great to have you back!

[@thatchernobylguy2915]

Thank you for sticking around. Quite a lot of videos planned over summer, so I hope you stick around for those as well! :)

[@nfwrambo]

3:52 this is the most Soviet thing I have ever heard in my entire life

[@sErgEantaEgis12]

The only way it gets even more Soviet is if they were rewarded with a bottle of vodka but then the KGB had them gulaged anyway so they don't tell anyone about it.

[@bmstylee]

This part of history is fascinating to me. So much I wrote a paper on it in high school. Some years ago when Top Gear went through the Chernobyl exclusion zone and passed by block 4 I was as amazed as they were of the remains. Pripyat is one place I would be fascinated to see.

[@ericzerkle8486]

I've been interested in Chernobyl since the day it blew up. I saw it on tv.

[@LeCharles07]

It crumbles because as the radioisotopes decay, they end up decaying into gases creating voids and weakness in the structure.

[@k98k36]

The mop kinda breaks my heart

[@jungledyret100]

The Mop was the createst thing that I heard this week. And yes, I wrote Mop using capital letter and I will proceed to do so from now on when talking about this specific Mop.

[@fratercontenduntocculta8161]

Crazy to me that the core interior is just as hot today as when it exploded in 1986. The cooling system is interesting all on it's own.

[@doggonemess1]

12:40 I heard that The Mop grants wishes to anyone who can make it to the core. XD

[@whitetipvelociraptor5759]

It had better!😂🤣

[@eddjordan2399]

Didn't know about the mop. Excellent vid.

[@bluetiger2468]

Woooo! New video!! Please keep going with this channel ❤, been a while since you posted something new and I understand life can get in the way sometimes. Tho, I'll quickly jump to your channel when the stars alig and a new video is out. You have a good narration voice and radiation talk is a cool niche content to target on KZbin.

[@mhdgs9944]

The mop of death

[@thatchernobylguy2915]

Ha ha, yes.

[@ipac_o2572]

Good work as per usual.

[@BlackHattie]

Great work. Thanks.

[@shikharforfriends]

Wow you have done a great deal of research on the Elephant Foot

[@juice_in_liters]

One more possible erroneous thing that Kyle Hill mentions in that video referenced in the trivia section, is that one of the earliest photos taken of the elephant's foot cost a man his life. The photo in question appears at 12:10 but it clearly shows the trackway that the camera rig was slid on into the room that the foot resides during the first expedition.

[@thatchernobylguy2915]

It wasn't taken on a rig, it was taken by a person. Last anyone checked he was still alive, but that was almost a decade ago and he'd be in his 90s now. He also only has one leg due to spending a lot of time around radiation in general. It's somewhat sad he's basically forgotten because his brother's a famous musician. I will be doing a video about this soon. :)

[@juice_in_liters]

@@thatchernobylguy2915 I stand corrected then ;) I thought it was taken on the camera rigs seen in the BBC Horizon special.

[@gdrgsgdgdfsfgrgdfh]

Amazing video! Thank you

[@thatchernobylguy2915]

Glad you liked it!

[@jcdenton6074]

We need the chernobyl mop lore deep dive. I can just picture some delinquent liquidator attempting to furiously mop up the corium as it oozes.

[@RezaQin]

Wait, they just picked up fuel rods? Holy moly

[@taras3702]

Those who did died soon after doing that.

[@bonniedavidson5940]

“Wait a minute, this is looking good, I think, for once… oh no no no it’s all wrong.” Story of my life 😂

[@rakaman27]

In soviet Russia: go to the police, the army and the KGB to get a gun In America: "hey bob, reckon you can shoot that there elephants foot?" "I'll get my AR-15 from the truck."

[@danielroth8738]

God bless America!

[@Dee-nonamnamrson8718]

You left out the part where you end up in a gulag.

[@snowflakemelter7171]

Lucky Americans having the right to bear arms.

[@ChristopherMcgee-ur2rg]

May Artur Korneev rest in peace. God bless. ✝️🧡

[@JayB2]

I also did some research on this. When it first happened the foot was so radioactive if someone got within 20 ft of it they would die within a couple minutes.

[@catsthinkmynameisclaude6955]

That mop handle is radioactive! - and that's how I feel about all shovel handles,... I don't want to touch them!😅

[@strycker9682]

Hey, amazing content. can you share the source of the floor plans that you used? thanks.

[@apollomoon1]

Good info thanks.

[@thatchernobylguy2915]

You're welcome! :)

[@apollomoon1]

@@thatchernobylguy2915 Subscribed. Hope you post often have to look at your content. I remember when the news broke here in USA. It was terrifying to see it. Oddly, there is a vast amount of information now compared to then. Thanks.

[@ThePefger]

Hey awesome content! If I can give some constructive criticism it would be to invest in a better mic, some noise cancelling products (make or buy) and or some audio mixing. Also Idk if it's the track in the back or you, but to me it sounded like you are moving around or fiddling with something. If it's nervousness I 100% understand. Keep it up!

[@BillyNoMates1974]

Its the original mop with 15 heads and 10 handles replaced over time. ha ha

[@philtowle4683]

If you look after your mop, your mop will look after you

[@donniecatalano]

Very classy comment. Only a few will get it

[@TakahashiRyosuke13137]

I'd love to see that on person, how amazing

[@user-vq6fd3bb6y]

Where did you find the films for this video? And could you show me a link to the films for this video too.

[@melissajurczak2511]

So basically if you touch that you're Screwed

[@Luitger1521]

very interesting

[@wisteela]

It started to look really strange with those round lumps.

[@porkchopproductions0314]

What is the name of the scientist you reference that has a lot of pictures of inside the sarcophagus?

[@thomasdaily4363]

Is it just me, or does Kyle Hill look like he just stepped off the cover of a romance novel?

[@matiasjumppanen5756]

"That must be the elufan fuut"- Markiplier

[@DJ.LakeSea]

Ouch! Look out Kyle Hill, the Chernobyl Guy has thrown down! I wonder if this fight will be as cool as the Sheldon vs Leonard!

[@JoJoGranum]

I was in my last year of high school when Chernobyl happened . I was 17 years old. It was horrible.

[@haruhisuzumiya6650]

Blessed by the light of atom

[@trygvenelson9740]

How come nobody is asking where the other three elephant feet are?

[@pcgamerdude5625]

It was me, I moved the mop.

[@PlumSack79]

👍 brilliance in a video

[@t1me_breaker]

this is amazing, fun fact the reactor core exploded at 1:23:45 am

[@kbtechandmedia]

7:43 - LOL, My name is on this video. (Trey B.)

[@Snowsea-gs4wu]

Open it to tourists that could pay to get a small piece of the elephant foot home! Sell them the correct case to make it safe (leaded?). It would all be gone in a matter of months!

[@ALFvMelmak]

🔨🔝😅

[@gerdokurt]

A german scientist (in general a serious, trustworthy guy) made an expedition in the late 90s or early 2000s. He came to the conclusion that most likely the opposite of what officials say is true. They say most of fuel stayed on site (97% or something like that) and 3% went in the enviroment. The soviets made this up to play down the accident and to enhance the heroic story of saving the world from even bigger consequences. And the ukranians picked the story up again in the late 90s when they realised that chernobyl is basically a billion dollar transfer money business from western countries with little to no controle what is actually happening with the money. In his opinion, chernobyl isnt a big european security problem anymore, similiar to an empty vulcan. And most of the stuff they do and invest on site is the result of an "alliance" between western nuclear industry and more or less corrupt ukrainian officials. The usual come-together for plundering public money so to say.

[@supabass4003]

Sounds pretty Z.

[@gerdokurt]

​@@supabass4003 Considering the scale of the fallout and the fact that there is barely more radiation left on site than what you get on a plane (beside of some hotspots), his conclusion is more plausible than the claims that there is something left that threatens whole europe.

[@Nitrex725]

I always wondered what happened to the stem from the pipe. Of course the Russians shot it when they ran out of ideas

[@uraninite8151]

Have you watched the documentary of the Complex expedition searching for the fuel? I assume so. Been fascinated by this stuff since i was a kid too!

[@ExtraAmateur]

Where can I find it? I have been searching and searching. I remember it from years ago.

[@juice_in_liters]

@@ExtraAmateur It used to be on KZbin under the title "BBC Horizon: Inside Chernobyl's Sarcophagus" from 1996. It contains both the original expedition and a 10 year follow-up. It was removed some time ago, but can be found on Dailymotion now.

[@satrah101]

mop is currently on eBay and stored safely in its sarmophagus

[@infinitecanadian]

12:26 Where is the bottom of the mop?

[@thatchernobylguy2915]

It's the very small white thing at the bottom of the pillar on the left of the image.

[@infinitecanadian]

@@thatchernobylguy2915 Thank you.

[@julientihema4851]

I was 10 when this happened I watched it on the news with my parents in New Zealand those images stayed with me this started my fascination in later years with the USSR, Russian language and culture, traveled on and off to former Republics its a real letdown what Russia has done in Ukraine it saddens me.

[@supabass4003]

Yep Russia has burned its reputation for alot of people, I was actually quite interested in traveling to Russia to see the architecture and history, but now I'd rather go to Ukraine and give them my money.

[@7Andy77]

As if Russia had "reputation" before 2022...

[@Dasycottus]

So... Thats a big chunk of corium, but the reactor was pretty huge. Is it possible that under debris somewhere, there exists an even larger chunk of corium?

[@christopherroberts6089]

About a third of the uranium was blasted into the atmosphere as a result of the explosion, so not all the uranium is down there, I just what I've heard anyways might not be 100 percent accurate

[@halofreak1990]

Most of the corium is spread out on the floors between the Elephant's Foot and the reactor pit.

[@elric5371]

Would 10,000 roentgens really be fatal for just a few seconds of exposure? Masha was almost twice that on the night of the accident in some areas and Telyatnikov, Ivan Shavrey and prischepa all went on there for a minute or two and survived ARS.

[@bsadewitz]

It doesn't really make sense to talk about it as "roentgens". That is sort of like talking about the air pressure as "pounds" or speed as "miles". There needs to be a "per [...]". (I think) Anyway, it is HUGE.

[@bsadewitz]

medlineplus.gov/ency/article/000026.htm

[@taras3702]

It was emitting 10,000 roentgens or Rads an hour. Being near it at that level for a few minutes will be fatal.

[@bsadewitz]

@@taras3702 I'm not that great at math, but from what I found, ~5 seconds of that 50% of people exposed would die, I think . So it's like ... how many seconds are we talking about, here? That's why I said "you need to say the time period" even tho he did. Because it's so high that each second matters.

[@taras3702]

@@bsadewitz Just one minute of exposure of radiation will most likely make you very sick with Acute Radiation Syndrome. Most likely you will survive, with a greatly induced risk for developing cancer, harm to your fertility and for pregnant women, their babies. Two minutes results in much worse effects, three is a death sentence. Anything beyond that is not only a death sentence but the onset of symptoms are faster, they are worse and for ultra high doses coma then death within minutes or hours is the result.

[@raztastic]

Great video! I do hope that in the future you are able to get a better mic and a pop filter.

[@Robert-fx1lr]

I hear Chernobyl is nice this time of year

[@rayslife4k]

Shout out to Kyle Hill

[@PlagueDoctorscp049]

The math on the radiation emitted by the elephants foot doesn’t make any sense

[@bobl78]

if meanwhile you can touch it by hand, why isn´t it beeing removed from the building?

[@thatchernobylguy2915]

That's a very good question! The reason why is that, while it may be relatively safe to hold small parts of the Elephant's Foot, the large mass combined is still emitting a lot of radiation. Nowhere near as much as it did in 1986, but still a significant amount, and it is better not to cause unnecessary harm to people when we can wait and have better technology to completely process and dispose of it. There is no rush, like there was to clear the roof, so they don't need to send people in for short bursts and get significant doses. When they dismantled VT-2 (the large vent stack between Units 3 and 4), they had to limit shifts even then, and their cranes were specialised to maximise their radiation protection, and that was still much less radioactive than the Elephant's Foot. Lives are precious; waiting is cheap.

[@supabass4003]

It will be in time, this is one of the reasons why the NSF was built - so they could remove materials in a controlled environment. I dont think this will happen until Russia has left the country and stopped bombing Ukraine.

[@generalprincecodyhedgewolf2944]

Could it be possible to gut the entire ruins of the Nuclear Reactor of Chernobyl

[@halofreak1990]

That's the plan, eventually.

[@LordBeerus99]

Makes me believe in after life. Radiation makes the most sense when it comes to after life

[@cljoe35]

Is Quentin Tarantino interested in the elephant foot?

[@CelticKnight2004]

What's this about the pumps in Chernobyl failing, and what's left getting sufficiently went for fission to occur? There was a lot of ... excitement, regarding this during the Russian invasion in 2022.

[@crf80fdarkdays]

"and what's left getting sufficiently went for fission to occur" I'm sorry but what do you mean?

[@leechjim8023]

What if it was shot with a plutonium bullet!?😮

[@SIRKlLLALOT]

I WAS the person who posted that speedrun video and it wasn’t to show humor or disrespect, it was to show a glimpse of what the foot would have looked like when it was actually molten. I didn’t MAKE the game, I posted it to see what others thought, and you didn’t bother to blur any fucking names out or anything, so thanks a lot for that.

[@thatchernobylguy2915]

I am sorry, I thought I had already blurred it before uploading, it has been fixed now. :)

[@SIRKlLLALOT]

@@thatchernobylguy2915 Good, because I didn’t MAKE the game mate! I just thought it would be interesting for others to see what a liquidator would have seen, I have no idea why the actual guy with the elephants foot called me an idiot. Yeah he has his own opinions, but I thought it would have been interesting for all to see, clearly that backfired.

[@supabass4003]

Dont worry about it mate, it is interesting and a cool idea!@@SIRKlLLALOT

[@alangordon3283]

The molten fuel

[@WW5RM]

Everyone?

[@lilroc2168]

didnt super sus get to the elephants foot

[@robertstallard7836]

Holy Moly!

[@Dullahan161]

What would happen if I ate a piece of it?

[@whitetipvelociraptor5759]

You would DIE

[@bathtub1171]

Real

[@richardfolmer962]

Ask super sus

[@coinmandyl]

Single use mop

[@tomservo5347]

Universities should send all students wanting to be nuclear engineers on a field trip to Chernobyl; if anything it would leave an unforgettable experience and reminder of the sublime ignorance that state secrecy creates. I've read about a university that gives it's engineering students steel rings made from failed building structures to wear on their dominant hand as a sobering reminder of their responsibilities and the dangers of cutting corners in the name of 'progress'.

[@fredjones554]

So the police gave them an ak-47. Of course they did!

[@TheWhatIfChannel98]

This is where A AI robot would come in clutch ...

[@Flies2FLL]

The "elephant's foot". Engineering....The Russian way!

[@TimPerfetto]

I would like to take the time to ask everyone to not reinvent the wheel and keep their eggs in one basket. Every cloud has a silver lining and there's no need to cry over spilled milk

[@davidforrest5342]

Kyle hills channel is excellant. Not really a requirement to name and shame him for a mistake in your own video to be honest

[@amandahugankiss4110]

I gave that mop to my ex wife. No big mystery.

[@peterallen8413]

Lets shoot it. A truly Russian solution I am sure. Crude but affective.

[@Zzrdemon6633]

I wish I could understand your voice, I get bits but you talk way to fast

Calling elephants foot a beauty, is not respectful to people who died there.

[@whitetipvelociraptor5759]

Ikr? That things gross looking as all hell.

[@MeaHeaR]

All these details und she fprget to be told us what yellow stuffs is be 😟😟😰😩😩😩😩😩😧😦😧😳😵😶😵😳

[@supabass4003]

It's uranium.

[@Grombrindal]

The soviets were so desperately poor that they had to argue about who would provide a rifle to the expedition 😆 🤣

[@daleshelden8394]

You're an edge lord aren't you?

[@supabass4003]

Z

[@robertobradford3968]

It's not pronounced "kor-NEEV"; it's "kor-NYE-yev".