P1020089

On the bulletin board in the switchyard control room is an article commemorating the heroism of Alexander Lelechenko, an electrical engineer at the station in 1986 who switched off the hydrogen electrolysis system in Unit 4 when the accident happened. All the generators at this power plant use hydrogen for cooling, and as we all know, hydrogen is combustible. Lelechenko almost certainly prevented the accident from getting much worse and involving the third unit, but he paid for his actions with his life. Below the article about him is a small map of radiation levels in the switchyard. A large amount of nuclear fuel got hurled into the switchgear there and has been challenging to clean up.