Chapter 1146 The Voice of Reason

"In order to offset the poisoning, we successively pulled out some control rods to increase the power of the reactor and stabilize it at 200 megawatts."

"How many?"

"What?"

"How many control rods did you pull out?" Besonova asked.

"I can't remember clearly. The specific operation was done by Toptunov," Akimov swallowed. He looked very nervous and was breathing rapidly, as if he was drowning.

Besonova had to find a pack of cigarettes, took out one and lit it for him. Akimov took a puff and started coughing non-stop, and the hand holding the cigarette kept shaking. But half a minute later, he took two more deep breaths, and his mood became more stable.

"28, there are 28 control rods left in the reactor at the end. This is the bottom line stipulated in the safety manual. During the fuel burning process, the core needs at least 28 to 30 control rods to remain inserted. We follow the safety manual to operate. , so there should still be 28 control rods in the reactor core at that time."

"Okay, then let's talk about the explosion."

"Uh, okay." Akimov nodded. His eyes looked a little dull, but he still forced himself to recall the situation again. "At 1:23, Toptunov noticed it first. As the reactor power increased, he told me that there was an energy surge, which meant that the nuclear fission reaction in the reactor became very intense. So in accordance with safety regulations, I pressed the level 5 emergency power reduction button to let the previously extracted All control rods are reinserted into the core.

"Can you briefly introduce the working principle of the control rod to Dr. Yefrem?"

"Of course, the control rods are used to terminate the fission reaction and are made of boron. Boron can completely absorb fixed neutrons. We can adjust the power of the reactor by adjusting the number of control rods in the reactor. I pressed the level 5 emergency power "Lowering the button will cause all 211 control rods to be reinserted into the core, rapidly reducing the reactor's power."

Akimov's expression was a little uneasy. He paused here and looked up at Besonova. "Why do you ask this? The reactor was not damaged. It was just the water tank that was blown up. We did everything we could." Everything is used to continue supplying water to the reactor. For this reason, my companions and I suffered a lot of radiation. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not taking credit for myself. This is what we should do. I just thought, I just... me……"

"Calm down, Comrade Akimov,"

Seeing that the on-duty foreman's face turned red and started to speak incoherently, Besonova quickly comforted him, "It will be fine. The fire is under control. We are just doing a routine inspection and making a report to the superiors for discussion." With the repair plan, you and your colleagues will be able to go back to work soon, so there is no need to be nervous. Take two puffs of cigarette and exhale slowly. Yes, that’s right... That’s it. Okay, now you can go Yes, our conversation is over, thank you for your cooperation, Comrade Akimov."

"Thank you, thank you." Akimov looked relieved, stood up from the stool, and staggered out of the locker room with his body riddled with holes.

The player then spent about a quarter of an hour chatting with Toptunov, the operator that night. He was very young, only 26 years old. He looked completely frightened and almost finished the conversation crying.

What he described was basically consistent with what Akimov said. Toptunov repeatedly swore that all operations followed the safety manual. When it comes to the part related to Dyatlov, it can be seen that Toptunov is obviously a little afraid of the deputy chief engineer, and he basically talks about it vaguely.

It was already around 10:30 in the morning when Zhang Heng and the other four left the hospital. They drove the Volga 'borrowed' from the DW office to rejoin the other four people and shared the results of their trip to the hospital with them. .

The mouse's eyes widened, "Are they blind? They are talking about the water tank exploding at this time? They are all experts in nuclear power plants. How can they be so shameless?"

"People will deceive themselves when faced with unsolvable difficulties and unbearable responsibilities, just like many people who hit and run. They know clearly that the consequences of doing so will be serious, but they still take a chance and gamble that million There is a 1 in 1 chance that these people in Chernobyl are the same." Zhang Heng said lightly. During the conversation, he could clearly detect the varying degrees of entanglement in the hearts of the three of them.

Especially Toptunov, the youngest among them, this young man is suffering all the time, even though they all keep saying that it was the water tank that exploded and the reactor was safe, because only this answer can make them feel better and don't have to worry about the future. Fear of the price they need to pay, but somewhere deep in their hearts...a weak voice from science and reason has been constantly reminding them of the real truth, the cruel reality that they refuse to believe.

The doctor also added, "Also, don't forget that our current understanding of the dangers of nuclear accidents almost all comes from the Chernobyl incident. Before that, people could not imagine that such a serious accident would occur in a nuclear power plant. "Most of these people don't believe that the reactor core will explode, even though graphite chunks have fallen everywhere."

"This is definitely an out-and-out disaster. We just passed by the school gate and saw a group of children carrying schoolbags to school. They were also buying food on the roadside."

The maintenance man handed Zhang Heng and others a pack of biscuits and a bottle of mineral water for breakfast. Now they no longer dare to eat out, nor eat any fresh ingredients, only puffed food isolated by packaging bags. Food can give them a little sense of security. Although it doesn't taste very good, at this time, people will no longer be picky.

Zhang Heng and the doctor both endured the discomfort in their stomachs and finished eating the biscuits, but the coconut only took a few bites before putting it down. She drank the bottle of water because she had vomited too much before, and now she was completely numb. Some are short of water and urgently need to add some water.

Mr. Kui didn't care about the life or death of the 50,000 residents in the town or whether they would be exposed to radiation. She frowned, "So, you asked the three people at the hospital and there was no prompt to complete the mission. Then we are going to go We’re looking for the person at the end of the list, who is it?”

"Chief Engineer Fomin, and Director Brukhanov." The doctor said, "According to Deputy Chief Engineer Dyatlov, when he left, Fomin and Brukhanov had already arrived at the No. 1 Administration Bureau of the nuclear power plant. Building.”