Six times to hell and back in Chernobyl, says nuclear "jumper"

[FLPanhandle]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_japan_chernobyl_jumper

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Six times, Sergei Belyakov says, he has been through the doorway to hell and back.

The Ukrainian-American was a volunteer "jumper" who helped clean up after the nuclear disaster in the town of Chernobyl in the former Soviet Union in April, 1986.

These are people who jump into a radioactive area to clear debris or mend pipes and run to safety before radiation reaches lethal levels.

Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) is trying to get jumpers -- reportedly for $5,000 a day -- to bring its damaged nuclear power plant in northern Japan under control after it was severely damaged by last month's earthquake and tsunami, the world's worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl.

Six times during his 40-day tenure at Chernobyl, Belyakov was one of the hundreds crouching in the covered stairway leading to the roof of nuclear reactors 3 and 4. Outside, radioactivity was so high that it could kill within minutes.

"It was the doorway to hell," he told Reuters, recalling events of 25 years ago. "Right at the door there was an elaborate and professionally done drawing on the wall, like a fresco, which showed you the roof in 3-D.

"The guy (at the door) tells you, you go here, you do this, you go around this, this ladder is not good so don't go there because you may fall with it. You mentally imprint what you need to do, you follow that. Then you run."



Guys like this are going to be the ones who avert a larger crisis in Japan.

[InvisibleTouch]

1. It's a good sign that he's still alive.

Maybe people can make the repairs safely if they go in for the minimum possible time.

[marions ghost]

2. Roulette

from the article:

"After sustaining 25 Roentgen of radiation, the Chernobyl workers were sent home. Many have since died prematurely. Belyakov says he knows of at least five other men who worked there who died within 10 years."

[TheWraith]

6. There were about 250,000 cleanup workers.

Estimates have suggested that the Chernobyl disaster would result in 4,000 to 8,000 hastened deaths from cancer. Most of those would have been in the cleanup workers. The rate among the most exposed, the "jumpers," would have been considerably higher.

[marions ghost]

7. Estimates

in these cases are usually low. But these numbers are bad enough.

Appalling.

[thereismore]

3. $5000 a day? I wonder if that would void their life insurance of $200,000. nt

[uppityperson]

4. 30 seconds to 2 minutes at a time on the roof. Incredible.

[FLPanhandle]

5. I'm sure it felt a lot longer.

I know if it was me, it'd feel like an hour.