Worse Than Radiation and 7 Odd Chernobyl Stories
Title: Worse Than Radiation and 7 Odd Chernobyl Stories
Author: Sergii Mirnyi. Ed. Frank Williams, trans. Igor Ilyin, Alexander Kalinichenko, Sergii Mirnyi, Frank Williams, and Victor Yevmenov
Reference: Budapest: Bogar Kiado, 2001. 77 pp
Keywords: Chernobyl, stories, novel, liquidators
Abstract: In the days, weeks, and months following the Chernobyl nuclear disaster on April 26, 1986, an untold number of civilians and military personnel suffered radiation poisoning and died trying to seal Chernobyl’s collapsed fourth reactor and decontaminate the surrounding countryside. Among those who witnessed this haphazard and dangerous clean-up effort firsthand was writer, scientist, and former platoon commander Sergii Mirnyi. His short novel, Worse Than Radiation, is a two-part account of one reconnaissance platoon’s efforts to meticulously document the radioactive fallout near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Unlike the narrative of heroic liquidators featured in state propaganda, it is a tale not of sacrifice and selfless deeds but of daily routine that offers glimpses into the life of workers in “the zone“.
URL: https://www.scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/aeer/article/view/2001/1972