The Chernobyl Unit Two Turbine Hall Fire: The Untold Story

[@hotlavatube]

Can you imagine being a fireman called to Unit 2? "We swear, it's not a nuclear fire this time!" "Yeah, yeah, we've heard THAT one before..."

[@NitroNuggetTV]

Really feels like the entire powerplant was completely insufficient and destine for disaster. Absolute engineering and safety nightmare. Even its redundancy systems turned out to be flawed. A testament to what the soviet union was. We were just lucky how brave and resilient their population were. Really enjoy your videos. Interesting to hear the lesser known stories of Chernobyl

[@WindTurbineSyndrome]

The fact Chernobyl plant is still operating even after a massive China syndrome meltdown and yr wide contamination says a lot.

[@thatchernobylguy2915]

Thank you!

[@ThePhyry22]

Even prior to the 1986 incident, there had apparently been some incidents at the plant, like a partial core meltdown in 1982. And then in 2021 some KGB documents were declassified and accoring to them: serious incidents occurred in the third and fourth reactors in 1984. According to the same documents, the central government in Moscow knew as early as 1983 that the powerplant was "one of the most dangerous nuclear powerplants in the USSR"

[@swokatsamsiyu3590]

If there is one video I'd hoped you would make some day, it would be this one. And what a well-done, and detailed, video it is! I actually know about this accident, and how perilously close they came to losing a second reactor at Chernobyl NPP that day. The fact that they somehow managed to MacGyver the condensate pump as a substitute for the damaged feedwater pump is nothing short of amazing. It is such a shame we will (probably) never know the names of the fire fighters etc that acted so heroically. Thank you for making all this information available to the world.

[@MinSredMash]

An operator named Soloviev was fighting the fire basically singlehanded before the actual firefighters arrived. Also, he was present during the Unit 4 explosion as well. Still works at the plant to this day.

[@sharedknowledge6640]

It’s incredibly poor Russian engineering on top of more poor design. Even when they get a huge wake up call as to their failures they still are unable to get it right. Who wants to own a Russian designed car? Basically nobody as they’re junk. If Russian engineers can’t design even a remotely respectable car they certainly can’t design nuclear reactors.

[@lawrencebishton9071]

yea same here

[@Roamer17]

I'd always known there was a fire, and that's why they shut down Unit 2, but I didn't know it was this bad! Thank you for this video exposing more details of this story.

[@nateweter4012]

I knew unit 2 was shut down for good but I had absolutely no idea this happened. Thank you for making this video. It’s such a crazy story on its own, it definitely deserves more light. It also makes more sense to me now, why parts of unit 2 were cannibalized for repairs and work elsewhere. That never made sense to me until now!

[@postminchoppa]

All the respect to fire fighters and operators in these disasters, their actions saved so many

[@Projectdarke]

This channel really is a NUCLEUS of Information about about Chernobyl. This guy's passion about the subject really RADIATE through.

[@Megalania1]

He really does emit that energy ngl

[@robertschultz6922]

Oh my it seems like the entire power plant at Chernobyl is doomed for failure. One huge disaster to another

[@dez1989]

Thank you for doing this story! I knew there was a fire and they had to shut #2 down for good. Thing is, I couldn't find any documentary on what actually happened. Finally, someone covered what happened on that October day back in 1991. Just another huge story from the Chernobyl NPP that no one has covered. So thank you once again for your hard work to tell this story. It's a shame that the people who put their lives on the line got overlooked. Whoever they are, we owe them from what could have been another reactor meltdown only 5 and a half years after #4 reactor caused the biggest meltdown in history. Thank you all and may God bless you all!

[@jesseslaugenhoup9960]

And to think they were building a fifth and 6th reactor

[@flyingdutchy01]

So much incompetence and negliance. Its mind boggling

[@jackking5567]

A fascinating event. I'd always wondered if such a thing could be done - the reverse flow of electricity to a power station generator and now I know! I also learned of how terrible the consequences could be. A great channel and quite addictive. Please keep the content coming :)

[@swokatsamsiyu3590]

Oh, it can certainly be done, and if action is not taken within seconds, it will wreck your turbogenerator. Along with the building it's sitting in. Woe the poor staff that happens to be in the turbine hall at that very moment....

[@JAMESWUERTELE]

It’s not very common, and depending on the relay protection, it will trip the next circuit up. I’m surprised that it motored so long without a major transmission system trip.

[@compu85]

A friend worked in a cogen plant, burning landfill gas in large v16 engines. If the engines control system malfunctioned the grid would start trying to turn the engine! They had reverse current protection relays to prevent this.

[@TechOne7671]

Any generating station I have ever worked in has reverse power relays to stop shit like this happening. They also had disconnects that worked too.

[@DOWNTOWN_AUDIO]

Wow, I had never heard of this. Huge thanks to the workers for saving the world, quite literally, from another nuclear disaster! I honestly feel like the workers did everything they could have done, and did it as best they could after the fire broke out. Barely 5 years after the meltdown and right next door to reactor 4, that must have been terrifying for those men and women working that day!

[@krashd]

The world was not really in danger the second time, at worst the core would have melted and there would have been more radiation released, but nothing compared to the explosion 5 years earlier.

[@binarytrekker]

Love these videos! My obsession with Chernobyl grows. Great content!

[@Dave5843-d9m]

Power station generators use recirculating hydrogen as a coolant. Once it escapes, it’s gone. However the turbine and alternator bearings use an oil that will crack to petrol when heated too high. Oil fires like this are incredibly fierce and dangerous.

[@Technodude255]

Incredible! I always wondered what else happened that wasn't commonly publicized, thank you!

[@trevormurphy7041]

Thanks for making this video not too much information on this accident no you try to tell people about it people who don’t know think it’s always the accident happened in 86

[@bemseller5515]

This is what I was looking for, video very interesting. Sub for you. P. S. Can you explain why in old photos, in front of external pumps there was 2 pool, and after them was dried up? Ty

[@syntaxerorr]

I've never heard about problems at unit 2. Thanks for sharing.

[@cruickshankoutdoors7575]

Excellent video as always my dude

[@decry1979]

Another great and informative video. Thank you!

[@williamkane]

Thank you for the great video, I just subscribed yesterday and today you upload.. what a coincidence :)

[@hawker131]

NO WAY I WAS HOPING YOU MADE THIS VIDEO

[@thatchernobylguy2915]

Yes, I hope you enjoy it! :D

[@hawker131]

@@thatchernobylguy2915 yea bro I sure did :D

[@MrBanzoid]

I hadn't heard of this incident before. Thank you.

[@LeCharles07]

Not all heroes wear capes. Some wear dosimeters.

[@kerbsidemotors9249]

Terrifying design defects and surprised that one nightmare prior didn't have total safety review

[@Microbe_obliterator]

Dude thanks for the Chernobyl stories man I could use them to teach trainees in RBWR💀

[@dvraemdo]

Is there an official report about this incident, that's 1. accessible, and 2. in English? 😉 In a typical PWR, the condensate pumps are capable of supplying water to the steam generators (without feedwater pumps running), as long as the steam pressure is kept low enough. Interested in how it was done with a typical RBMK, and how much actual 'plumbing' was needed. With plumbing I mean connecting pipes with large capacity, cutting them and welding in situ... Or did they just use hoses, connected to already available valves? EDIT: I found the NRC notice 93-71, and indeed it mentions the 'low pressure condensate pumps'. They 'aligned' the low-pressure non-safety condensate pump to the piping of the auxiliary feedwater pumps. Could be that they had to cut/weld pipes for that (i.e. 'plumbing'), but not sure...

[@MinSredMash]

It's an RBMK, so the answer to 'how much plumbing' is always 'lots.'

[@swokatsamsiyu3590]

@@MinSredMash "A plumber's nightmare" would be an apt description. But so is the Canadian CANDU. It too has the pressure tube design. It even shares the same positive void coefficient with the RBMK. However, that didn't stop it from becoming one of the most robust and safest reactors bar none.

[@theladavaz2107]

Amazing video! Hope to see more! 👍

[@eigelgregossweisse9563]

Feels like there's a curse in this power plant.

[@goosedeathable]

Great content!

[@thatchernobylguy2915]

Thank you so much! :)

[@kevintaylor791]

Imagine being a fireman that night "Oh no, not this again!"

[@quartzy_jane2153]

I wonder if any of the survivors who fought the fire in 1986 were still well enough to be in the brigade and thus be summoned again? For their sake I hope not... the trauma... although according to their families several were indeed able to joke about it. Ukrainian resilience ❤️

[@paulslajchert937]

Thanks for covering this event. Between the 86 disaster and the collapse of the USSR this accident was really lost

[@christopherjones7459]

No plumbers involved, the Operators reduced the steam pressure and "aligned" a condensate pump to supply low pressure feed water to the reactor. In this context "aligned" means opening valves, probably remotely controlled from the control room, but may have required some valves to be opened in the turbine hall. Source of data NRC INFORMATION NOTICE 93-71. The shocking thing is the lack of redundant feed systems separately located from the pumps in the turbine hall.

[@thatchernobylguy2915]

Actually, no. These were not remotely operated valves. New systems had to be set up to bypass the polishers and the deaerators; they did a very similar thing on April 26th, which involved plumbers working in waist deep water. Given that Unit Two was a less advanced version of Unit Four, I see it unlikely that said reactor had the redundancy in place.

[@christopherjones7459]

@thatchernobylguy2915 OK you will have better information than the report I saw. I am surprised they had time to do pipe changes before the core became too hot. Are there any diagrams showing the plant design as I have never seen details of the condensate and feed systems and would be very interested. Thanks.

[@valerija.legasov548]

Thank You for this footage, friend! I even have footage about this accident in my personal archive - in Russian. Are You interested in?

[@hkszerlahdgshezraj5219]

Great vid! Keep it up!

[@JAMESWUERTELE]

Wow! Fantastic explanation. I run power plants, not anything near this size. Just a great explanation of what happened, I understood it very well.

[@archlich4489]

Thank you Carl Willis!

[@charlesdbruce]

This is why insurance companies require written emergency shutdown procedures for a turbine oil fire. I would bet that 1) the breaker in the switch yard wasn’t maintained properly, 2) there were no turbine bearing or underfloor fire suppression systems. RBMKs were a shitty design!

[@saintuk70]

Excellent

[@isbestlizard]

I swear anyone working at chernobyl when someone mentions 'turbine rundown' their ears must prick o.o

[@danielpittman889]

Good job!

[@RobbieHatley]

Interesting video, but the audio is a bit murky; I strongly suggest cleaning it up in future videos. Get a better mic; use less-live room acoustics; and use better recording equipment, software, and techniques. For example, I had to replay the sentence at 3:52 several times, with boosted volume and at half speed, because I couldn't understand what "their primary pline" means. I eventually deduced from context that you actually meant "their primary plan". Less-murky audio would prevent such confusion.

[@TheTransporter007]

Hold up. Did you say *120kA* short circuit on a *330kV* circuit?? 😳

[@thatchernobylguy2915]

Yes, that is reported in the NRC accident report.

[@skataskatata9236]

short circuit current is typically much much higher than nominal

[@davidbaca7853]

Great video

[@prismpyre7653]

this same reactor was already damaged anyway due to 1 fuel channel melting down in 1982, as I recall, which meant an entire corner of the reactor couldn't operate so def had to stay well under 100% output

[@thatchernobylguy2915]

That was Unit One, not Unit Two :)

[@patrickscheickl3883]

Whats that strange looking thing at 0:34? Looks like some kind of zeppelin :D

[@thatchernobylguy2915]

That's the Chernobyl Blimp. It was used as a light at night so they could illuminate the construction work on the Sarcophagus, meaning they could build 24/7. After the Sarcophagus was built, the Blimp was buried.

[@silver-berry]

Great catch! I've never noticed that airship even though I've had to have seen it in pictures plenty of times. I'll be pointing it out to everyone in the future.

[@patrickscheickl3883]

@@thatchernobylguy2915 Ah, I see. Thank you!

[@fgrau7376]

I still can't fathom that just a few years after the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 people were able to work in this environment wasn't everything highly radioactive at that point??? And wasn't Chernobyl specifically set up for the city of Pripyat with it being abandoned what was the need to even operate Chernobyl? Very confusing to me ?

[@quartzy_jane2153]

Someone with more knowledge of physics correct me if im wrong... OK, here goes. A lot of the contamination released in 1986 was made of very highly radioactive but short-lived isotopes, so even as early as 1991, these had already decayed into elements emitting lower levels of radiation. Items contaminated with long-life isotopes had also been removed or buried by this time, so radiation levels that had been caused by these were also reduced.

[@benedekhalda-kiss9737]

Pripyat was set up for the ChNPP. The remaining 3 reactors were needed for Ukraine and the USSR. A year or two after the accident the radiation levels became quite safe due to the containment building and the liquidators. To this day people still operate the switchyard at the NPP

[@spiralout112]

Kinda amazing how that incident just kept getting worse and worse 😂

[@EnterTheNameHere_Bohemian]

You should put the date to the description or title, so it's clear it's after the '86

[@EnterTheNameHere_Bohemian]

@@terencechevalier5756 It's about conveying the information to the viewer even before she decides to click on the video, because many people know Chernobyl 1986, not many will know Chernobyl 1991, so they might be more inclined to click on the video. Many people don't know Chernobyl powerplant kept running till 2000 and are surprised when they watch videos where it's mentioned. Same as I was surprised by fire in '91, though I knew Chernobyl was still in use...

[@AtomGradNPP]

Hi, this is maybe a wierd question but what songs you used in this video. Cool and Interesting video thought 👍🏻

[@thatchernobylguy2915]

The songs are by Myuu, there's a list of them at the end of the video :)

[@AtomGradNPP]

@@thatchernobylguy2915 Okey, Ty!

[@rahulsolorider9440]

Its time to repair and restart

[@jimmyjames_yt]

Crazy they still worked there

[@iamrussian5023]

Music was really nice

[@Matt18880]

At 3 minutes, 20 seconds, breakers open to stop electrical current not close

[@momsberettas9576]

They kept the plant running after the initial disaster? Workers were living and working that irradiated city and plant?

[@BakedRBeans]

After reactor 4 exploded, units 1,2,and 3 remained in use. The workers, however, could no longer live in Pripyat. They lived in Slavutich, a new city a few miles away.

[@ironsights9448]

Who ever came up with the saying it could be worse obviously had no idea Russia existed

[@gingernutpreacher]

Thank you I allways Wanted what burnt

[@v8pilot]

A bitumen roof. What could possibly go wrong?

[@laserdrip]

The high voltage main swithchboard breaking short circuiting is terrifying. Was it one of the last grumbling failures of the mighty Soviet engineering or just a freak accident?

[@stanislavczebinski994]

At this point, Soviet infrastructure was already crumbling for quite a long time. Eventually, something's gotta give.

[@RodSnocking350]

Maybe both. The power plant I worked at had safety procedures to eliminate the ability of the breaker to reclose during shutdown and protective relays to disconnect the generator in the event of reverse power. There had to be multiple failures or deficiencies in equipment and/or procedures for that incident to happen.

[@ElijahSalyer-r1l]

0:37 what is that anti aircraft balloon doing in the sky?

[@Deadbeatbeats]

I love your videos, and thought I'd share my mind. Im a avarage viewer so I know what I get, but since theres no music in the start I think its easy for people to get the impression that its just a "boring" presentation and not for the entertaining video it really is. I think your viewership could increase with simply adding a more thrilling intro, other than that its a chefs kiss.

[@SOU6900]

I think you mean the remote breaker opened, not closed.

[@BakedRBeans]

With electricity, "open" means disconnected, and "closed" means connected. It's the opposite terminology of plumbing. So the documentary statement is correct.

[@SOU6900]

Which is my point. He said the remote breaker closed to stop the flow of electricity to the turbine. If the breaker closed then it would have kept feeding power back to the generator like was already happening anyway.

[@TowelsKingdom]

I saw graphite 👀

[@z50king29]

AZ5 worked in this case?

[@IbishuCovet]

yeah, the flaw that caused unit 4 to explode with az-5 needed the reactor to be in very specific conditions, which unit 2 wasnt in, considering it was running at high power

[@FloarMin]

this should be interesting!

[@ruslankammisaroff4485]

Еще одна авария была в 1982 году

[@cameronjenner2970]

P=VxA so 120,000a x 11,000v = 1.32Gw not sure this is possible even for 10-12Seconds

[@VintageTechFan]

Well 1.0 GW is the rated operational electrical output power of 1 RBMK block with 2 generators. There were 2 of those running right next to the failing turbine (to be exact 1 was a little older and only 800MW). So the power was available quite easily.

[@keller_]

If I'm bothering you, I'd like to apologise, this isn't my intention, but since you never replied I feel like an apology is appropriate. Nonetheless I feel like I have to add that making money isn't anywhere near my goal with this, it more of a general passion for graphics, photo, video, web and generally anything visual :) Anyways, I'd love to be involved in some shape or form! Cheers

[@bmstylee]

I gotta say that between the USA and Soviet Union you could make nuclear disaster films for a long time. It's like the gift that unfortunately keeps on giving.

[@yarost12]

Disaster? There have been less than 10 actual disasters on the NPP-s all over the world

[@bmstylee]

@@yarost12 criticality events, broken arrows, orphan sources, etc. There are more than 10 significant incidents. Off the top on my head Windscale, TMI, SL1, Goiania, Chernobyl, Leningrad, Tomsk 7, NRX, Tokaimura, SRE incident, yeah definitely more than the 10 nuclear disasters you're claiming. I can list more if you want.

[@yarost12]

@@bmstylee what you're describing are accidents at most. Nothing noteworthy.

[@bmstylee]

@@yarost12 so you've told me you know nothing without actually telling me you know nothing. Go play with your toys in Mom's basement and leave the adults alone.

[@BakedRBeans]

Fukushima-Daiichi@@bmstylee

[@StsFiveOneLima]

So.... The roof steel support members collapsed? MUST have been an inside job! No way steel melts and the roof collapses 🙂

[@StsFiveOneLima]

@@sjs4850 It's almost like people don't understand thermodynamics.

[@eveningstar3230]

those folks were not really great at nuclear...

[@uweschmidt6052]

Ein Turbienenbrand kann immer passieren. Das hat nicht mir Atom zu tun.

[@IbishuCovet]

hast du denn wirklich das video geguckt? das war nicht einfach ein brand, sondern das dach is als folge eingestürzt und der reaktor hatte keine wasserzufuhr

[@udirt]

Still remember this and the urgent cries for financial support to the EU until finally enough of the plant was repaired or turned off. the USSR was a horrible thing for all their satellite states for sure.

[@cameronjenner2970]

It's impossible, you can't have a 120000a short circuit. Because mathematically it is impossible. 11kv divided by 0a is zero. 120,000A cable would be about 1000 meters in diameter IE 1km.lol😅

[@thatchernobylguy2915]

The 120,000 amp short circuit is confirmed in the accident report about the accident. And 120,000 amps is tiny compared to stuff we are producing nowadays. For example, here's an energy magnet system running on 12 million amps. www.tokamakenergy.co.uk/2023/07/11/12-million-amps-tokamak-energy-magnet-system-to-replicate-extreme-fusion-power-plant-forces/

[@krashd]

A 120kA cable is no wider than a human wrist...

[@supabass4003]

turbine go brr

[@Clarence_13x]

Too many points of failure and no redundancy.

[@ifwemadeit]

Distracting music

[@danybovyn2438]

Different story.... Fire at Chernobyl Unit-2 Nuclear Monitor Issue: #360 18/10/1991Article (October 18, 1991) On Friday evening, 11 October, a hydrogen explosion in a large machinery room in the generator building at unit 2 of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant resulted in a fire lasting for more than three hours. The explosion and fire totally destroyed the unit's generator. (360.3567) WISE Tarragona- According to a plant spokesperson, Sergei Akulinin, the origin of the fire was traced to rain water which had come into the machinery room through a large hole (60 x 48 meters!) in the roof. The water caused an electrical fault which in turn caused an increase in speed of unit 2's generator from 50 to 3,000 revolutions per minute. This then caused a break in one of the joints, resulting in an explosion of 500 cubic meters of hydrogen.

[@thatchernobylguy2915]

My video is based on the 1993 official report about the accident. Given the hole came after the hydrogen explosion, this version of events make no sense.

[@frenchguitarguy1091]

Can you provide sources for your information in the description? This disaster is a cluster fuck of misinformation so I don't know how trustworthy these videos are since the information could be made up. I enjoy your channel but I don't know if I can believe it.

[@walter4796]

Atomic playground

[@davidrobertson5700]

Russian technology, I doubt they could invent a working toothbrush with any reliability

[@skataskatata9236]

stop right here, comrade, soviet toothbrushes worked flawlessy, without a single failure. ever.

[@krashd]

World's biggest submarine, world's biggest helicopter, world's biggest plane, world's biggest hovercraft, etc Not to mention the first satellite, first space capsule and first space station.

[@Vladynko1]

In school in the 70's and 80's we were taught that the USSR was a country where yesterday means tomorrow... I think whoever came up with that didn't have the brain capacity to know that it was a double entendre, and that the opposite understanding is correct.

[@Lemon_army]

Second !

[@goosedeathable]

First!

[@irrelevant9023]

This story need a manlier voice to be told