The inherent instabilities of the RBMK made it so difficult to manage that the senior reactor control engineers’ work proved not only mentally but also physically demanding. Making dozens of adjustments every minute, they were never off their feet and sweated like laborers digging a ditch. Rumors reached them that up in Leningrad, the Sredmash reactor engineers had doubled up on the control desk, “playing duets” to cope with the complexity of the task. The reactor operators worked the panel so hard that the switches governing the control rods quickly wore out and had to be replaced constantly.
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