Aleksandr Akimov

**Aleksandr Fyodorovich Akimov** (6 May 1953-10 May 1986) was a Soviet Engineer who was the supervisor of the shift that worked the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant on the night of the Chernobyl Disaster.

## Biography

Akimov was born in 1953 in the Soviet Union. In 1976 he graduated from the Moscow Power Engineering Institute with a degree in the automation of heat and power. In 1979, Akimov began working at the Cherobyl Nuclear Power Plant, located outside the company town of Pripayat, Ukraine. In his first years working at Chernobyl he held the positions of senior turbine management engineer and shift supervisor of the turbine hall. In July of 1984 he was appointed to the job of shift supervisor of Reactor Unit 4.

#### Chernobyl Disaster

On the night of the disaster he was on duty in the control room for reactor 4. The reactor power had been reduced in preparation for a routine safety test, the power reduction had been done too quickly and put the reactor into a dangerous condition where the atoms built up and caused the the reactor to stall unknown to the operators. Without knowing of the dangerous state of the reactor the power was raised again puting the reactor into an even more dangerous state. After a bit the reactor was shut down and the test was completed by pressing the AZ-5 button on the control panel. As the power reduced the graphite components caused a surge of energy as they were being lowered causing the reactor to explode. At first Akimov did not believe that the reactor had actually exploded. Akimov aided by Toptunov went to the feedwater valves on level +24 where they turned the valves for over an hour, soaking themselves in highly radioactive water. Following this they went to the Valve line on level +25, radiation levels now 5,000 roentgen per hour and water waist deep, they spent 10-15 minutes here turning the ECCs valve. The time now 5:00, Akimov and Toptunov stumbled back to the control room vomiting, however they refused to go to hospital and led the third and final attempt to restart feedwater flow with Orlov, Nekhaev, Uskov and Smagin. On level +27 the feedwater room 714/2 radiation levels varied from 1,000 roentgens at the entrance, water being ankle deep; this area was tackled by Smagin and Uskov. Smagin stayed for 20 minutes and received 2.8Sv. Uskov remained for an hour and received 5.2Sv, both would survive. Orlov turned the valves on the middle section of the line and received 6Sv. Nekhaev Toptunov and Akimov turned the valves at the farthest end, radiation levels almost 3,000 roentgen per hour and knee deep in fuel-contaminated water they spent another hour turning valves till 6:45. Nekhaev would receive 7Sv and miraculously survive after having both legs amputated. Akimov however had received more than twice this amount esimtated at over 15Sv. Sections of his skin received up to 500Sv. It was decided a bone marrow transplant would not be viable and was one of 4 cases where the prognosis was considered hopeless. The situation now dire, a foetal liver cell Transplant was given but the radiation damage was too extreme. On his deathbed he protested that he had done everything right and he didn't know why it happened. Akimov died of radiation poisoning on May 10 1986 in Moscow the cause was Skin and Intestinal injuries.

## Awards

* In 2008, Akimov was posthumously awarded the 3rd Degree Order for Courage by the president of Ukraine.