All language subtitles for Chernobyl 1x03 - Open Wide, O Earth.MEMENTO_ION10_TBS.en-en

Where are you going?

Chernobyl.

Previously on Chernobyl...

Ignatenko, fire and rescue unit.
I need to find him!

Moscow.
Hospital number six.

Are you here
because of the fire?

Anything we should be
worried about?

No.

It cannot go over the core.

The nuclear plant in Sweden
has detected radiation.

At least evacuate Pripyat.

When the lava enters
these tanks,

it will instantly superheat,

causing a significant
thermal explosion.

And how long before
this happens?

Approximately 48 to 72 hours,

but we may have a solution.

CREDITS

Is it possible that the water
has already killed them?

Yes.

Then what?

If it doesn't work?

Get them
in the truck.

Get the hoses in!
Start pumping!

HOSPITAL NUMBER 6, MOSCOW
APRIL 30, 1986

FOUR DAYS AFTER THE EXPLOSION

Uh, I'm here to see my husband,
Vasily Ignatenko.

He's a firefighter from Chernobyl.
I have permission.

Chernobyl?
I'm sorry, no visitors.

Well, but Major Burov told me,

- he said...
- No exceptions.

Please. I've come all the way
from Kievskaya Oblast.

Excuse me.

Excuse me, excuse me.

Who are you?
What are you doing here?

- I have a pass.
- You can't be here. It's not safe.

I am here to see
my husband.

Vasily Ignatenko.

He's a firefighter
from Chernobyl.

I know who Ignatenko is,
but you can't.

I have permission. I-I've...

You can see him for 30
minutes, not a minute more.

And you cannot touch him in any way.
Do you understand?

- Yeah.
- Room 15.

Thank you.

- You're not pregnant, are you?
- No.

I won't have to give
that to you.

There they are.

No, wait, wait, wait.
I haven't finished yet.

No, he hasn't.

Yeah, that's good.

Yeah, better.

Look who the cat
dragged in.

What did I tell you?

There's no hiding from you, is there?

Easy, easy. It's okay.

We're all okay.
Yeah, we're okay.

How, how, how did this happen?
Who gave them the idea?

- Are you suggesting I did?
- Someone did.

Someone decided
that the evacuation zone

should be 30 kilometers,
when we know, here,

Cesium-137
in the Gomel district.

- That's 200 kilometers away!
- It was decided.

- Based on what?
- I don't know!

Forgive me. Maybe I've just
spent too much time in my lab.

Or maybe I'm just stupid.

Is this really the way
it all works?

An uninformed,
arbitrary decision

that will cost who knows
how many lives

made by some apparatchik,
some career party man?

I'm a career party man.

You should watch your tone,
Comrade Legasov.

Comrades...

We have visual confirmation that
the fire is nearly extinguished.

There has also been
a reduction in iodine 131

and cesium-137 emissions.

Good. Yes?

But the temperature is rising.

And, uh...

There's a spike
in zirconium-95.

It's from the cladding
on the fuel rods.

Meaning what?

The meltdown has begun.

Get it off me!

Get it off me!

Stop moving!

Get off him! You're hurting him!

- You can't be in here.
- What's happening to him?

Get out!

You can't be in here!

MAY 2, 1986

SUPREME SOVIET OF THE USSR

'HELP US' PLEA BY MOSCOW
Meltdown could kill 10,000 in 10 years

- Yes?
- Comrade Shcherbina is on the phone.

Put him through.

Well?

The fire's nearly out.

The bubbler tanks
are being drained.

We have successfully eliminated
the risk of a thermal explosion.

And?

The situation inside the core

is deteriorating
faster than anticipated.

The concrete pad will last
for six to eight weeks,

but after that,
Legasov estimates a 50% chance

that the fuel will
breach the pad

and melt down into
the groundwater itself.

And where does this
groundwater go?

The Pripyat River,

which feeds into the Dnieper.

The primary water supply for
approximately 50 million people,

not to mention crops
and livestock,

would be... unusable.

We're recommending we install
a heat exchanger under the pad

to lower to core temperature
and halt the meltdown.

And in order to do that,
I'm told that we will need...

all of the liquid nitrogen
in the Soviet Union.

Oh.

- All right.
- Yeah, and of course we'll also need...

Whatever you need,
you have it.

- That should be clear by now.
- Yes.

- Anything else?
- No, no, no. Thank you.

Yes. I'd like to address the
30-kilometer exclusion zone.

Wait, what?
Professor Legasov, is that you?

What exclusion zone?

Minor details,
General Secretary.

Um, Premier Ryzhkov
has determined that...

If he determined,
then he determined.

Look, Professor Legasov,

you are there
for one reason only.

Do you understand?
To make this stop.

I don't want questions.

I want to know when
this will be over.

If you mean when will
Chernobyl be completely safe,

the half-life of plutonium-239
is 24,000 years.

So perhaps we should just say,
"Not within our lifetimes."

I think you and I
should take a walk.

It's late. I'm tired.

We're taking a walk.

Was it it you want?
An apology?

Not gonna sit back and...

What will happen
to our boys?

Which boys?
The divers?

The divers, the firefighters,
the men in the control room.

What does the radiation
do to them precisely?

At the levels some
of them were exposed?

Ionizing radiation tears
the cellular structure apart.

The skin blisters,
turns red, then black.

This is followed
by a latency period.

The immediate
effects subside.

The patient appears
to be recovering.

Healthy, even.
But they aren't.

This usually only lasts
for a day or two.

Continue.

Then the cellular damage
begins to manifest.

The bone marrow dies,
the immune system fails,

the organs and soft tissue
begin to decompose.

The arteries and veins
spill open like sieves,

to the point where you can't
even administer morphine

for the pain,
which is... unimaginable.

And then three days
to three weeks, you are dead.

That is what will happen
to those boys.

And what about us?

Well, we've...

We've gotten a steady dose,
but not as much of it.

Not strong enough
to kill the cells,

but consistent enough
to damage our DNA.

So, in time... cancer.

Or aplastic anemia.
Either way, fatal.

Well...

in a sense, it would seem we've
gotten off easy then, Valery.

I've seen them before.

Now you know why
I wanted to take a walk.

We can presume
the work site is bugged.

And our rooms,
even our bathrooms.

They've been here
the whole time.

Of course they've been
here the whole time.

But if we're seeing them
out in the open now,

it's because
they want us to know.

You've seen that?

The fuel is melting
faster than we expected.

I know. I have a plan.

Heat exchanger, I hope.

Yes.

There's something I've wanted
to ask you, comrade,

but I see you're already asking
yourself the same question.

Why did it explode?

I've worked the numbers
over and over,

presuming the worst possible
conditions in an RBMK reactor.

And I always get
the same answer.

Which is?

It's not possible.

And yet...

You're not going
to solve this here.

Not on paper.

Everyone who was
in the control room,

Dyatlov, Akimov, Toptunov,

they're all in Moscow,
Hospital Number 6.

We need to find out exactly
what happened that night,

moment by moment,
decision by decision.

Go now while
they're still alive.

Talk to them.

Because if we don't find out
how this happened,

it will happen again.

And, Khomyuk...

be careful.

TULA, RUSSIAN SSR
MAY 3, 1986

Well, fuck you!

Hey, here's one, here's one.

What's as big as a house,

burns 20 liters
of fuel every hour,

puts out a shit-load
of smoke and noise,

and cuts an apple
into three pieces?

A Soviet machine made to cut
apples into four pieces!

- Who's in charge here?
- Glukhov: I'm the crew chief.

I am Shadov,
minister of coal industries.

We know who you are.

How many men do you have?

On this shift, 45 here,
a hundred in total.

I need all 100 men to gather their
equipment and get in the trucks.

Do you? To where?

That's classified.

Come on, then.

Start shooting.

You haven't got enough
bullets for all of us.

Kill as many as you can,
whoever's left,

they'll beat the living piss
out of each of you.

- You can't talk to us like that!
- Shut the fuck up!

This is Tula.
This is our mine.

We don't leave
unless we know why.

Mm.

You're going to Chernobyl.

Do you know
what's happened there?

We dig up coal, not bodies.

The reactor fuel is going
to sink into the ground

and poison the water
from Kiev to the Black Sea.

All of it.

Forever, they say.

They want you to stop
that from happening.

And how are
we supposed to do that?

They didn't tell me,
because I don't need to know.

Do you need to know,
or have you heard enough?

Now you look like
the minister of coal.

Vasya?

Vasya?

No, no, no.

They told you no touching.

It's not safe.

They touch you.

If it's safe for them,
it's safe for me.

Where are the others?

They took them
to a special room.

They won't tell me where.

Will you open the curtains?

- Hmm?
- Open the curtains.

Aah.

Please, tell me
what you see outside.

Tell me everything.

Huh.

I can see the Red Square.

And...

the Kremlin.

Spasskaya Tower,
the Mausoleum.

You see St. Basil's?

Yeah.

Ah.

Yes, it's beautiful.

I told you.

I told you I'd show
you Moscow, didn't I?

- Huh?
- Yeah. Yes.

Thank you.

I'm not eating that.
It's shit.

Get me something else.

I'm not a nurse,
Comrade Dyatlov.

I'm a nuclear physicist.

Well, then, Comrade
Nuclear Physicist...

unless you happen to have a
butter and caviar sandwich on you,

you can get the fuck
out of my room.

What?

I'm not good at this, Boris.

The lying.

Have you ever spent
time with miners?

No.

My advice: tell the truth.

These men work in the dark.
They see everything.

Andrei Glukhov, crew chief.

Do these work?

To an extent.

Of course.

So what's the job?

We need to install a liquid
nitrogen heat exchanger

underneath this concrete pad.

There's no way to approach from
the interior of the building,

so you have to get at it
from underground.

- And what's above the pad?
- The core of the nuclear reactor,

which is melting down.

What? Like...

Essentially.

Is it gonna fall
on top of us?

Not if you're done
within six weeks.

Dimensions?

Break ground here,

dig a tunnel
150 meters to here,

excavate a space
30 by 30 meters

for the heat exchanger.

And because we need to keep disruption
of the ground above to a minimum,

you can't use
any heavy machinery.

It has to be done by hand.

Then I need more men.

Four hundred at least.

We'll have to work
around the clock.

How deep do you want
this tunnel? Six meters?

- Twelve.
- Twelve? Why?

For your protection.

At that depth, you'll be shielded
from much of the radiation.

The entrance to the tunnel
won't be 12 meters below ground.

No.

And we're not 12 meters
below ground now.

No. We're not.

We have some equipment here on site.

More will arrive
by midnight.

You can start
in the morning.

No. We start now.

I don't want my men here one
more second than they need to be.

If these worked,
you'd be wearing them.

Are they all like that?

They're all like that.

MAY 6, 1986
NINE DAYS AFTER THE EXPLOSION

COMRADES! OUR TASK - ENSURE THE DAILY
ADVANCE OF THE BOTTOM ENTRANCE BY 13M

Yes?

- What's it up to?
- Uh, 50 degrees.

Fuck!

Hey!

Hey you!

- We need fans.
- For what purpose?

What do you mean,
"For what purpose?"

To dig your fucking tunnel,
that's why.

- Who's talking to you?
- Whoa, whoa. Comrades.

It's 50 degrees down there.

We can't breathe
without the masks,

we can't breathe
with the masks.

It's like a fucking oven.
We need ventilation.

Fans will put dust in the air,
the dust will go in your lungs.

I've been breathing dust
in my lungs for 20 years.

Not this dust.
I'm sorry.

For your own good,
no fans.

My name is Ulana Khomyuk.

I'm a nuclear physicist
with the Chernobyl Commission.

I want you to tell me
everything that happened

on the night of the accident.

Is that all right?

Yes.

I want to tell.

All right.

Your official title was?

My name is Leonid
Fedorovych Toptunov.

I am the senior reactor
control chief engineer

at Chernobyl Nuclear
Power Plant.

Senior engineer?

How old are you?

I'm 25.

Lyusya? Lyusya?

Yes, I'm here,
I'm here. I'm...

Have you been here
this whole time?

No one said
I should leave.

I did.

Thirty minutes, I said!

Well, where have you been?
When he's in pain?

When his sores
stick to his gown?

When he soils himself
five times a night?

I've been looking after him.
Where have you been?

I've been In the north
and west wing,

where there are dozens of patients
from Chernobyl exactly like him.

- It isn't safe for you here.
- He's my husband.

Not anymore.

He's something else now.
Do you understand?

He's dangerous to you.

He's burned.

Go home.

Please.

It won't take much longer.
I, uh...

I don't want him
to die alone.

Stay on the other side
of the plastic.

Or I'll have you
removed by security.

- Lyusya?
- Yes, my love.

Is it day?

No, it's nighttime now.

I think I had a dream,

it's just gone.

Vasya.

We're going to have a baby.

The fire's out.

It's out, Valera.

The miners are making
incredible progress.

They say the whole job
will be finished in four weeks.

Four weeks.

Can you believe that?

I know the job isn't over.

But it's the beginning
of the end.

I'm sorry to bother you,
Deputy Minister, but...

it is the miners.

What?

You wouldn't give us fans,
it's too hot for clothes.

So we're digging the old way.
This is how our fathers mined.

We're still wearing
the fucking hats.

What do you want?

You're not as protected now.

Are you telling me
it will make a difference?

When this is over,

will they be looked after?

I don't know.

You don't know.

So the power level jumped
from 200 to 400 megawatts?

Yes.

Very fast.

Why didn't you initiate
an emergency shutdown?

Why didn't you press
the AZ-5 button?

We did.

I reported the increase
to Akimov,

and he pressed
the button.

Leonid, that's...
that's not possible.

He did.

I s-swear.

I saw him do it.

And that's
when it exploded.

What?

Um...

- Which room is Akimov?
- Twenty-seven.

I pressed it... before the explosion.

Before.

But why?

Why would that happen?

I shut it down. I pressed AZ-5.

Thank you, Comrade Akimov.

I did everything right.

I did everything right.

Get out.

Get out. Get out of here.

Let me go! Let me go!

Stop it! Stop it!

You let her in that room?
Inside the plastic, touching him?

- Did you know she's pregnant?
- It's not true!

- What have you done? - What kind of
place is this? Where is her protection?

- Do you have any idea what you're
dealing with? - Of course I do.

- Please, I do not...
- No.

- People are going to hear about this.
- Wait.

People are going to hear.
Do you understand?

Everyone is going to hear.

What is everyone gonna hear?

I am with the official
Chernobyl Commission,

and I've been authorized
by Valery Legasov.

- You can check this. My name is
Ulana... - We know who you are.

What is everyone gonna hear?

MOSCOW
MAY 7, 1986

You have your notes?

Yes.

Khomyuk was arrested
last night.

What? Why?

I don't know.

- Was it...?
- Of course it was.

I'm working on it.

- Boris...
- I'm working on it.

What more do you
want from me?

Fix your tie.

They'll see you now.

After thousands of sorties,
our brave helicopter crews

successfully
extinguished the fire.

The miners are working
heroically to ensure

that the fuel does not
reach the groundwater.

And furthermore,
there is no longer

a threat of
additional explosion.

The Soviet people have faced the
challenge and risen to the task,

and they and everyone in this
room are to be commended.

Lastly, Professor Legasov
and I have been vigilant

to protect the security
interests of the State.

And since the unfortunate
release of information

directly following
the accident,

we believe that there
has been no further lapse.

Comrade Charkov,

we hope we have lived up to the
highest standards of the KGB.

You have.

Thank you.

Professor Legasov
will now speak about

the work that remains.

Thank you.

Deputy Chairman Shcherbina
has given you the good news,

and it is good.

The immediate danger is over.

Now, I'm afraid,
a long war must begin.

There is an enormous amount
of radioactive debris

and contamination
spread out across a zone

of approximately
2600 square kilometers.

This entire region must be
completely evacuated.

We must go to every town,
every village to ensure this.

And all animals still
surviving within the zone,

whether domesticated or wild,

must be presumed contaminated
and will have to be destroyed

to prevent the spread
of radiation and disease.

In the immediate area
surrounding Chernobyl,

uh, every rock, every tree,
the very ground itself,

has absorbed a dangerous
amount of radionuclides,

which will be carried by the wind
and the rain if left exposed.

So we will have to raze
entire forests.

We will have to rip up
the top layer of earth

and bury it under itself,

approximately,
100 square kilometers.

Um, and finally,
we will need to construct

a containment structure
around the power plant itself,

which will, of course,
still be extremely...

There will be deaths.

What amount of time,

and how many men
do you require?

We expect this liquidation
effort to take three years

and approximately 750,000 men,

including a number of doctors
and structural engineers.

How many deaths?

Thousands.

Perhaps tens of thousands.

Begin at once.

- Comrade Charkov.
- Valery!

Yes, Professor?

My associate was
arrested last night.

Oh?

I mean no disrespect, but I was
wondering if you could tell me why.

I assure you, I don't know
who you're talking about.

She was arrested
by the KGB.

You are the first deputy
chairman of the KGB.

I am.

That's why I don't have to bother
with arresting people anymore.

But you are bothering
with having us followed.

I think the deputy
chairman is busy.

No, no. It's perfectly
understandable.

Comrade, I know you've heard
the stories about us.

When I hear them,
even I am shocked.

But we are not
what people say.

Yes, people are
following you.

People are following
those people.

You see them?

They follow me.

The KGB is a circle
of accountability.

Nothing more.

You know the work
we're doing here.

- You really don't trust us?
- Of course I do.

But you know
the old Russian proverb:

"Trust but verify."

And the Americans think that
Ronald Reagan thought that up.

Can you imagine?

It was very nice
speaking with you.

I need her.

So you will be
accountable for her?

Then it's done.

- Her name is...
- I know who she is.

Good day, Professor.

No, that went
surprisingly well.

You came off like
a naive idiot.

And naive idiots
are not a threat.

I'll come back when
the paperwork is complete.

- Are you all right?
- They didn't hurt me.

They let a pregnant woman
into a room with a...

It doesn't matter.

They were stupid.
I was stupid.

Dyatlov won't talk to me.

Akimov, yes,
Toptunov, yes, but...

Valery,

Akimov...

his face was gone.

You want to stop?

Is that a choice I even have?

Do you think the fuel will actually
melt through the concrete pad?

I don't know.
A 40% chance maybe.

I said 50.

Either way, the numbers
mean the same thing:

"Maybe."

Maybe the core will melt
through to the groundwater.

Maybe the miners who I've told
to dig under the reactor

will save millions of lives.

Maybe I'm killing them
for nothing.

I don't want to do
this anymore.

I want to stop.

But I can't.

I don't think you have
a choice any more than I do.

I think,
despite the stupidity,

the lies, even this...

you are compelled.

The problem has been assigned,
and you will stop at nothing

until you find an answer.

Because that is
who you are.

A lunatic, then.

A scientist.

Did you know that they were
running a safety test?

- Yeah.
- There's something else.

Akimov says
they shut the reactor down,

and Toptunov confirms it.

- They pressed AZ-5.
- Apparently not soon enough.

No.

They say Akimov pressed AZ-5,

and then
the reactor exploded.

If it had been just one of them,
I would have put it under

faulty memory
or delusion even,

but they both agreed.
They were adamant.

Comrade?

- Do you think it's possible?
- I think it makes no sense.

I think it's what I would say if I
was trying to cover my own mistakes.

But?

I believed them.

Then you should pursue it.

We have to pursue
every possibility,

no matter how unlikely,

no matter what
or who's to blame.

I'll go back to the hospital and
reinterview Akimov and Toptunov.

If they're still awake.

They're not.

Khomyuk.

RESIDENT LIST

UNDER THE BANNER OF MARXISM-LENINISM,
UNDER THE LEADERSHIP

OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY, FORWARD
TO THE VICTORY OF COMMUNISM!

CREDITS

NEXT ON CHERNOBYL

To hell with our lives.

Someone has to start
telling the truth.

You think the right question

will get you the truth?

I know they're listening.

There is no truth.

You're going to Chernobyl.

ELEMENTS OF CHERNOBYL
EPISODE THREE: "OPEN WIDE, O EARTH"

The miners in the Soviet Union
were tough guys.

It was like the rules
didn't apply to them in a sense.

They had a lot
of power in the Soviet Union

because the Soviet Union
needed coal for energy.

You know, you look like
the minister of coal.

The miners who were willing
to dig that coal

had pretty good leverage,

and they were not to be
messed with in any capacity

because you couldn't afford them
not going to work.

We need fans.

For what purpose?

What do you mean
"For what purpose?"

To dig your fucking tunnel,
that's why.

- Who's talking to you?
- Whoa, whoa, comrades.

They were characters
with attitude.

They built it in a hurry,
they worked 24 hours a day.

It was a mess
that's all loose and toothy.

Eight guys at the back
just constantly...

constantly digging out earth
and sending it back out.

All in all, around 400 miners

dug 13 meters a day.

There was this amazing nobility

and self-sacrifice.

We don't know their names,
and they did it without

any expectation of glory
or anything like that.

As it turns out, it was
a big sacrifice for the miners

who were sent down there
and who didn't need to be.

They worked around the clock

in impossible conditions,

not only radiation but heat,

and they dug this tunnel
in record time.

Now, what happens to these men?

When this is over,
will they be looked after?

I don't know.

They did it on the understanding

that they were saving
millions of people.

Extraordinary acts of heroism.

The work they were doing
was incredibly dangerous.

They knew it,
and they did it anyway.

And the reports are that quite
a few of them died very young.