Virginie Girod SEASON 2022 - 202306h28, February 01, 2023
On April 29, 1986, 80 combat pilots flew over the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
The technicians on board throw into the crater formed by the explosion of the reactor still in fusion, bags of 80 kg of sand and bags of carbonic acid.
The objective: to try to smother the fire and absorb the radioactive particles.
Everyone is unaware of the first symptoms of a fatal irradiation: nausea, sudden headaches, fainting… What media discourse is then propagated by the Soviet and European governments on the tragedy of Chernobyl and its immediate consequences?
In this third episode of the Chernobyl mini-series from the "At the Heart of History" podcast, historian Virginie Girod recounts the fallout from the Chernobyl accident as far as Europe.
Topics covered: Chernobyl cloud - radioactivity monitoring - impacts of the Chernobyl accident in Europe - Glasnost policy - Chernobyl nuclear disaster - Mikhail Gorbachev - history of the USSR - communist party Soviet Union - Cold War superpowers - bloc of ballast
"At the heart of history" is a Europe 1 Studio podcast.
Writing and presentation: Virginie Girod
- Producer: Adele Humbert
- Artistic direction: Adèle Humbert and Julien Tharaud
- Directed by: Clement Ibrahim
- Original music: Julien Tharaud
- Additional music: Julien Tharaud and Sébastien Guidis
- Communication: Kelly Decroix
- Distribution and writing: Eloise Bertil
- Visual: Sidonie Mangin
Listen to the continuation of Virginie Girod's story on the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in April 1986. Throughout Europe, engineers and scientists specializing in nuclear power are bound by professional secrecy regarding the effects of the radioactive cloud.
The most irradiated victims, especially among the firefighters called after the explosion, are taken to hospital No. 6 in Moscow, the only one capable of taking care of people exposed to high doses of radiation.
But the nurses know it: soon, these men will begin to decompose alive.
And this is only the beginning of the carnage... This story is a Europe 1 Studio production.
Bibliography:
https://theconversation.com/chernobyl-35-ans-apres-laccident-nucleaire-discover-how-la-nature-y-a-repris-ses-droits-118082
Markiyan Kamysh, The Zone, Arthaud, 2016
SOURCES
Transcription of the Legasov tapes in English:
https://legasovtapetranslation.blogspot.com/2019/10/tape-3-side-b.html
Igor Kostin, Chernobyl, The Arenas, 2020
DOCUMENTARIES
The Battle of Chernobyl, Thomas Johnson, 2006
The Sacrifice, Wladimir Tcherkoff, 2004.
Archives:
"Chernobyl: we have nothing to fear in France", interview with Professor Jean Chanteur, Benoît Duquesne, May 3, 1986
Testimonies of French students in kyiv, Alexandre Lichan, May 1, 1986
Interview with a member of the European Commission on the radioactive fallout from Chernobyl on French agriculture, Eric de Riedmatten and Benoît Duquesne, 15 May 1986
Radioactive cloud of Chernobyl: the psychosis on the consumption of vegetables in Alsace, Laurence Lacour, May 15, 1986
Want to listen to the other episodes of this podcast?
>> Find them on our Europe1.fr website and on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Deezer, Amazon music, Dailymotion and YouTube, or your usual listening platforms.
>> Find here the instructions for listening to all the podcasts of Europe 1
Bibliography:
https://theconversation.com/chernobyl-35-ans-apres-laccident-nucleaire-discover-how-la-nature-y-a-repris-ses-droits-118082
Markiyan Kamysh, The Zone, Arthaud, 2016
SOURCES
Transcription of the Legasov tapes in English:
https://legasovtapetranslation.blogspot.com/2019/10/tape-3-side-b.html
Igor Kostin, Chernobyl, The Arenas, 2020
DOCUMENTARIES
The Battle of Chernobyl, Thomas Johnson, 2006
The Sacrifice, Wladimir Tcherkoff, 2004.
Archives:
The catastrophe seen from the USA (Washington), Jean-Pierre Joulin, April 30, 1986
The explosion of the reactors at the Chernobyl power plant, interview with Pierre Tanguy, head of nuclear safety at EDF, by Stéphane Paoli and Jean-Pierre Joulin, April 30, 1986
"Let's speak the truth", interview with Pierre Messmer, President of the RPR group at the National Assembly, by Catherine Nay and Gerard Carreyrou April 30, 1986
“Is the incident over?”, Jean-Pierre Joulin, May 2, 1986