At 3:00 a.m., Vladimir Marin was still at home when his phone rang a second time. It was Viktor Brukhanov himself, calling from the bunker beneath the plant. The director confessed that there had been a terrible accident at the power station—but assured his boss that the reactor itself remained intact. Marin told his wife the news, then quickly dressed and ordered a car to take him to the Central Committee. Before leaving, Marin called his immediate superior, who then passed the message up through the Party hierarchy.
