Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster

by Adam Higginbotham

So far, the plume of vapor from the reactor had been drifting north-northwest—away from Pripyat and Kiev, toward Belarus; by noon on Saturday, chemical troops had registered external dosages of radiation along its path measuring a life-threatening 30 roentgen per hour, as far as fifty kilometers from the plant. But the wind could change at any moment, and there were already thunderstorms to the southeast. If even the smallest amount of rain fell on Pripyat, it would bring down radioactive fallout, with terrible consequences for the population. From Kiev, the Ukrainian prime minister had already unilaterally given orders to arrange transport—more than a thousand buses and trucks—for a possible evacuation of the city. Yet nothing would move without sanction from the top. And Scherbina wanted more information before making a decision. He resolved to wait until morning.