-
1:28 am
- firefighters arrive
- no knowledge of the radiation, no protective clothing
- begin putting fires out and moving debris not knowing they're radioactive
-
1:23 am
- test officially begins -sudden surge of power
- emergency shutoff button is pushed which releases all control rods into the core to slow rate of nuclear reactions
- control rods jam
- exposes design flaw: control rods made of boron which reduces activity but have graphite tips which increases reaction rate
- big surge in reactivity
-
later
- victims are buried in zinc or concreate coffins bc it was believed that their bodies were radioactive (not true)
-
1:24 am
- output of reactor is 10x the power it should be
- explosion at reactor 4
- reactors lid (10,000 tons) is blown off/ goes through the roof
- bits of radioactive material and fuel are sent everywhere
- dozens of fires break out
- air is filled with dust, radioactive material is flung far distances; radiation filling the atmosphere