The two scientists argued for a few minutes, until Fedulenko eventually admitted the full extent of his fears: that all their efforts to quench the graphite fire were a total waste of time. He said they should just let the radioactive blaze burn itself out. Legasov didn’t want to listen. He insisted that they had to take immediate action—whether it was effective or not. “People won’t understand if we do nothing,” Legasov said. “We have to be seen to be doing something.”
