Returning to the control room, Dyatlov took command. He gave orders to Shift Foreman Alexander Akimov to dismiss all nonessential personnel still at their posts, including Senior Reactor Control Engineer Leonid Toptunov, who had pressed the AZ-5 scram button. Then he told Akimov to activate the emergency cooling pumps and smoke exhaust fans, and gave instructions to open the gates of the coolant pipe valves. “Lads,” he said, “we’ve got to get water into the reactor.”
