Summary of Serhii Plokhy's Chernobyl

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 On February 25, 1986, 5,000 delegates attended the Communist Party Congress in Moscow. They were to chart a new course for the country for the next five years. The economy had slowed, and the possibility of a complete breakdown was becoming more and more likely.

#2 In the late 1980s, the Soviet Union was in crisis, and their party leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, needed to find a solution. He summoned his two closest advisers, Valerii Boldin and Aleksandr Yakovlev, to the state resort near Sochi on the Black Sea Coast.

#3 The Soviet Union held a congress in Moscow to discuss the country’s future. The delegates were from all over the country, and they spent their time visiting stores and galleries instead of visiting museums. They were preoccupied with their own affairs.

#4 When director Viktor Briukhanov was interviewed about his accomplishments and plans for the future, he opened up to the reporter. He had been appointed director of a power plant that was yet to be built.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Jun 8, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822534193

IRB Media

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Insights on Serhii Plokhy's Chernobyl

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

On February 25, 1986, 5,000 delegates attended the Communist Party Congress in Moscow. They were to chart a new course for the country for the next five years. The economy had slowed, and the possibility of a complete breakdown was becoming more and more likely.

#2

In the late 1980s, the Soviet Union was in crisis, and their party leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, needed to find a solution. He summoned his two closest advisers, Valerii Boldin and Aleksandr Yakovlev, to the state resort near Sochi on the Black Sea Coast.

#3

The Soviet Union held a congress in Moscow to discuss the country’s future. The delegates were from all over the country, and they spent their time visiting stores and galleries instead of visiting museums. They were preoccupied with their own affairs.

#4

When director Viktor Briukhanov was interviewed about his accomplishments and plans for the future, he opened up to the reporter. He had been appointed director of a power plant that was yet to be built.

#5

On February 25, 1986, the 27th Communist Party Congress was held in Moscow. It was attended by 4,993 delegates. Seven people were absent for valid reasons, which gave the congress a basis to commence the work.

#6

The party endorsed the government’s plan for increasing gross domestic product by doubling it by the end of the millennium. They demanded more nuclear energy, and Briukhanov served at the party’s pleasure.

#7

The Soviet leader, Gorbachev, proposed eliminating all nuclear weapons before the end of the century. He knew that his country had neither the resources nor the technology to match SDI, which was still in the design stage but, if realized, would mean another round of the arms race.

#8

Aleksandrov, the head of the Institute of Nuclear Energy, began his speech by praising Lenin and the Soviet scientists who had developed the first atomic bombs. He argued against buying technologies and equipment abroad, because contracts could be canceled at any moment for political reasons. He wanted to invest in scientific development at home.

#9

The Soviet Union had a top-secret ministry called the Ministry of Medium Machine Building. Its minister, Yefim Slavsky, was sitting behind Aleksandrov. He was one of the most powerful ministers the Soviet government had ever had.

#10

The appetite for nuclear energy not only at the top but also at the bottom of the party pyramid was enormous. Briukhanov could not help noticing that the regional leaders were eager to jump on the nuclear bandwagon, asking for investments of nuclear rubles in their regions.

#11

The 27th Congress of the Communist Party was a jubilant affair, as everyone wanted to believe that anything was possible. Gorbachev’s report was well received, and he was now elected general secretary not only by the plenum of the party’s Central Committee but by the congress as well.

#12

The Chernobyl nuclear plant was thriving, and Viktor Briukhanov, the director, was happy about it. He warned, however, that greater attention must