Mere days after the explosion at the Chernobyl power station, a grim discovery was made: the molten Uranium fuel was burning through the concrete flooring beneath reactor #4. About 20 million liters of water had pooled in the basement beneath the reactor from when firefighters put out the fire on the roof days before on April 26, 1986.
If that molten fuel reached the water below, the Chernobyl disaster would have gone from bad to worse. A massive radioactive steam explosion between an estimated 3-5 megatons would have destroyed the entire V.I. Lenin power plant, potentially causing a nuclear fallout which could have affected the entire planet. Someone needed to down into the basement beneath the reactor and drain that water using specific valves.
On May 4, 1986, three men: mechanical engineer Oleksiy Ananenko, senior engineer Valeriy Bespalov and shift supervisor Boris Baranov stepped forward to do this task. They were advised that if they did not survive their families would be taken care of. Everyone watched as those men donned wetsuits and made the trek into the dark basement below. Miraculously, the men found the valves, drained the water, and emerged to a hearty “job well done” by fellow comrades. Those 3 men are remembered today as “The Suicide Squad”. Thankfully all 3 men lived long, happy lives after that.
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