At his post in the shadow of the main circulation pumps, Valery Khodemchuk was the first to die, vaporized instantly by the explosion or crushed beneath the mass of collapsing concrete and machinery. Inside Control Room Number Four, tiles and masonry dust fell from the ceiling. Akimov, Toptunov, and Deputy Chief Engineer Dyatlov looked about them in confusion. A gray fog bloomed from the air-conditioning vents, and the lights winked out. When they came back on, Boris Stolyarchuk noticed a sharp, mechanical smell, unlike any he had ever encountered before. On the wall behind them, the indicator
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