Chernobyl

Student Workbook
Name
“What is
The Cost
of Lies?”
 Characters in Chernobyl[
There are many characters in HBO’s Chernobyl. As you watch the series, please refer back to
this list. Take special note of each character’s position and title.
Chernobyl: Key Characters

Valery Legasov Boris Shcherbina Ulana Khomyuk

Kurchatov Institute Council of Ministers Nuclear Research Scientist

Viktor Bryukhanov Nikolai Fomin Anatoly Dyatlov

Manager, Chernobyl Chief Engineer, Chernobyl Deputy Chief Engineer

Aleksandr Akimov Leonid Toptunov Mikhail Gorbachev

Supervisor, Chernobyl Engineer, Chernobyl Leader, Soviet Union

Lyudmilla Ignatenko Vasily Ignatenko Andrei Glukhov

Wife of Vasily Ignatenko Firefighter, Pripyat Mining Crew Chief

7
 Chernobyl: Episode Summaries
1:23:45 Topics Addressed Your Favorite Part

[
Episode One:

Chernobyl: Episode Summaries

Please Remain Calm Topics Addressed Your Favorite Part
Episode Two:

Topics Addressed Your Favorite Part

Episode Three:

Open Wide, O' Earth

Happiness of All Mankind Topics Addressed Your Favorite Part

Episode Four:

Vichnaya Pamyat Topics Addressed Your Favorite Part

Episode Five:

@ 8
@ Pripyat
ZHARKOV:
Executive
Meeting of the Committee
Pripyat Executive Committee
I wonder how many of you know the name of this
place. We all call it “Chernobyl,” of course. What is its
real name?
!"#$%&'()$*"+,-&.$/0.&-1$210/034$0+516$$!"+7$/4$7"1$
8&(/7/9+($8',8&416

BRYUKHANOV:
The Vladimir I. Lenin Nuclear Power Station.
Paraphrase the next four paragraphs. What is Zharkov really saying?
ZHARKOV:
Exactly. Vladimir I. Lenin. And how proud he would
be of you all tonight. Especially you, young man, and
the passion you have for the people. For is that not
the sole purpose of the apparatus of the State?
Episode 1: 1:23:45

Sometimes, we forget. Sometimes, we fall prey to

fear. But our faith in Soviet socialism will always be
rewarded. Now, the State tells us the situation here
is not dangerous. Have faith, comrades.

The state tells us it wants to prevent a panic. Listen

well. It’s true, when the people see the police they
will be afraid. But it is my experience that when the
people ask questions that are not in their own best
interest, they should simply be told to keep their
minds on their labor and leave matters of the State to
the State.

We seal off the city. No one leaves. Cut the phone

lines. Contain the spread of misinformation. That
is how we keep the people from undermining the
fruits of their own labor. Yes, comrades, we will all
be rewarded for what we do here tonight. This is our
moment to shine.

t h a t w a s counter List THREE ways that Zharkov’s speech

thing
“Any y they told their owrld,
n reflects Communism’s political, social, and/or
economic culture.
to the stord the rest of the woed.”
people anould not be pub lici-zCraig Mazin
simply c Chernob
yl Podca
st
Mazin, the writer of Chernobyl.
motivations behind Zharkov’s
Read the quote from Craig

speech? Why or why not?

Does it illuminate the

13
 @
What happens The military After Dyatlov is

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Chernobyl
Chernobyl

8&%1,$+0)$47+7'4$+7$="1,0&>#(?$;,&5$5&47$@AB$
to the high- fire department taken away sick,
level dosimeter, dosimeter has Sitnikov goes to
look at the core. Who has the most power
the one with a a two-hundred What does he tell
1,000-roentgen roentgen Bryukhanov and at the power plant?

Power and Control

capacity, when it maximum. What Fomin when he
is turned on? does it read when returns?
it is turned on? ☐ Aleksandr Akimov
☐ Viktor Bryukhanov
☐ Anatoly Dyatlov
☐ Leonid Toptunov

7&$(1+47$@CBD
☐ Nikolai Fomin

Episode 1: 1:23:45
nion Bravery and heroism
u p i n t h e S o v i e t U
[ w e r e w o rds Bravery and Heroism
h e s e p e o ple grew d communism... stood that Consider the quote by Craig Mazin. Do
“T m u n ity a n w a s u nd e r t h e r e you think that the community values
c o m
where nnected roots. I t t y o u w e r e of communism contributed to individuals
n d t h a stepping up to help out? Why or why
w ith] co part of a collective a... [There] was a not?
w e r e
you t your fellow m a n a
- Craig M st
z in

o r
to supp Sov iet civ ic dut y . ” Ch ob
e rn yl Podca

sense of

“We have to get water into the core,

otherwise there will be a meltdown.
[
We have to open the valves...If it’s
true, then we’re dead, a million people
are dead. We have to open the valves.” In your opinion, what else contributes
to someone’s decision to help in a
Who says the above quote? crisis? Explain.
Can you explain it?

What is the plan? Why?

bravery and heroism

Which two individuals go to complete this task?

Why do we do what we do?

@ 14
 @
What does Legasov see in the initial report COUNCIL OF MINISTERS
that causes him concern?
The Council of Ministers

Valery Legasov
“In terms of radiation, Plant Director,
Bryukhanov, reports no more than 3.6 roentgen.
I’m told it’s the equivalent of a chest X-ray.”

Episode 2: Please Remain Calm

What does this mean?
Who says the above quote?
Is the Plant Director at Chernobyl, Viktor
Bryukanov, telling the truth? Explain your
answer.
What does Legasov find peculiar about
the 3.6 roentgen number? How does he
know that the real number is higher?

“An RBMK reactor uses Uranium-235 as fuel. Every atom of U-235

According to Legasov, a reading of 3.6 is like a bullet traveling at nearly the speed of light, penetrating
roentgen is the equivalent of how many everything in its path: wood, metal, concrete, flesh.
chest X-rays?
Every gram of U-235 holds over a billion trillion of these bullets.
That’s in one gram. Now, Chernobyl holds three million grams, and
analogy, do you think that
After reading Legasov’s

right now it is on fire.

nuclear energy is safe?

Winds will carry radioactive particles across the entire continent,

rain will bring them down on us. That’s three million billion trillion
bullets in the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we

>
eat.

Most of these bullets will not stop firing for 100 years. Some of
them, not for 50,000 years.”
LEGASOV: A nuclear reactor makes electricity with steam. The steam
reactor works.
or other illustration, explaining how a nuclear
After reading Legasov’s analogy, create a diagram,
turns a turbine which generates electricity. Where a typical power plant
makes steam by burning coal, in a nuclear plant we use something called
fission.

We take an unstable element like U-235 which has too many neutrons.
A neutron is...

SHCHERBINA: The bullet.

LEGASOV: Yes, the bullet. So, bullets are flying off of the uranium. If
we put enough uranium atoms close together, the bullets from one atom
will eventually strike another atom. The force of this impact splits that
atom apart, releasing a tremendous amount of energy: fission.

SHCHERBINA: And the graphite?

LEGASOV: The neutrons are actually traveling so fast, we call this flux,
[that] it’s relatively unlikely that the uranium atoms will ever hit one
another. In RBMK reactors, we surround the fuel rods with graphite to
moderate, slow down, the neutron flux.”
18
@
“You are dealing with something
Hasthat
Never Occurred
Shcherbina and Legasov send a truck
with a high-range dosimeter toward
Chernobyl. What reading does the
on this planet before”
driver report? According to Legasov, “The fire we’re
watching with our own eyes is giving
Episode 2: Please Remain Calm
What does Shcherbina do when he discovers off ______________ the radiation released
that Bryukhanov and Fomin are lying?
by the bomb in Hiroshima. And
that’s every single ______________ ... It
At this point in the show, has Pripyat and will burn and spread its poison until
its surrounding areas been evacuated?
the entire continent is dead.”
☐ Yes ☐ No
lead,

putting out the fire?

What is the plan for
c o p te r s e a ts w it h
e heli
“We lineds thsome lead vests, but it turns
made ourselve ct you from one set of rays,
out those proteanother set. We flew from
but not from ight. There was nothing
morning to n it. Just work, hard work."
spectacular in Voices from
Chernobyl
-- by Svetlana
Alexievich
Explain the plan in detail.

Chernobyl?
Minsk arrives at
Which physicist from
opter
at Chernobyl? Explain.
told about the danger

first helic
Were helicopter pilots

s t o t h e
pen re
What hap e 10-met
it fl y s within th
when
zone?
perimetre

m a S w e dish
w orker fro nt sets off an
" A
c l e a r ] p o w er pla has picked
[nu cause his shoe piece of
alarm be e of dirt that has a
@ Shcherbina receives a phone call telling him that the
international community is aware of the incident at
Chernobyl. How did they find out?

up a piec om Chernobyl.” - CraigPoMdaczainst

fallout fr Chernob
yl

On April 29, 1986, instruments recorded

high levels of radiation in Poland,
source revealing the Chernobyl
INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Germany, Austria, and Romania. On

Create a newspaper headline
from an international news

April 30, in Switzerland and northern

Italy. On May 1 and 2, in France,
explosion. Be creative!

Belgium, the Netherlands, Great Britain,

and northern Greece...Gaseous airborne
particles traveled around the globe...it
took less than a week for Chernobyl to
become a problem for the entire world.”

21 -- Consequences of the Chernobyl Accident

Minsk, Sakharov International College of Radiology
 @
A New Problem... Mikhail
MikhailGorbachev
Gorbachev
Although the boron and sand combination will
put out the fire, what problem will it cause? “Our power comes from the perception
(Check all that apply) of our power. Do you understand
the damage this has done? Do you

Episode 2: Please Remain Calm

☐ Fuel temperature will ☐ Lava will hit the full
rise creating lava that tanks of water below,
understand what ’s at stake?”
will melt through the causing a thermal
shield below it. explosion.
Why it is important for leaders to look powerful in order to be
powerful?
If a thermal explosion occurs, which countries
will receive radiation? (Check all that apply)
☐ Ukraine ☐ Lithuania ☐ Hungary
☐ Latvia ☐ Poland ☐ Romania
☐ Belarus ☐ Czechoslovakia ☐ (E. Germany)
In your opinion, what does Gorbachev mean when he asks: “Do
What is the plan to prevent a thermal
you know what’s at stake?” What is at stake? Why?
explosion?
A New Plan

How does hiding what happened at Chernobyl to the

international community make Gorbachev look like a weak leader?

Power
Evacuation
@
[ of Pripyat
is being forced to evacuate. How does it make you feel?

Does Gorbachev’s reaction to the tragedy

write an instagram post of a resident of pripyat who

at Chernobyl match his commitment to

glasnost?
☐ Yes ☐ No ☐ Somewhat
Explanation:

Topics and Themes

Spotlight on:

leadership and governance.

to the disaster to the topic of
Mindmap Gorbachev’s reaction

22
@
The Volunteer Divers Chernobyl
Describe the mission condit ions for the volunteer divers.
Chernobyl
☐ Yes

divers successful in
opening the sluice
Are the volunteer
☐ No

gate valve?
Episode 3: Open Wide, O’ Earth
Zirconium-95 in the air samples
@

Consequences
There is a ___________ pad underneath the core and there is a

indicate about the core?

What does the spike in

Consequences
__________% chance that the fuel will breach the pad and melt
down into the groundwater.

This groundwater feeds into the ________________ River which

feeds into the Dnieper which is the primary water supply for
approximately _________________ people.

Aprevent
New the
Problem What is the plan to

the concrete pad?

keep it from melting through
needed to cool the core to
How much liquid nitrogen is
Who is going to do the job?
fuel from the core from melting
into the groundwater?

Meltdown

The Miners
to dig?
Why can’t the miners use heavy machinery

What are working conditions like for the

The Miners
What are the miners going to do?

miners? What do they do as a result?

Conditions
Chief,
h e M in ing Crew s
t
meeting a advise
Before o v , S h cherbin
lukh

[
Andrei G
work
:
Legasov
e s e m e n What is the meaning and effect of
Spotlight on: Literary Elements

h e t r h
uth. T everything.” Shcherbina’s paradox about the miners?
T e l l t
“
t h e d a r k . T hey see Please be as specific as possible.
in
a rad ox?
Wh at is a p
Paradox

25
 worked

@
in er s w h o The Miners
u n d re d m
“And the foutor bhlast a tunnel under the The Miners
When asked if the miners will be taken care
'round the clock ’t read about them anywhere. of by the government after digging the tunnel,
reactor? I didndown there naked, w ith Shcherbina tells the truth stating, “I don’t know.”
But they were ching fifty degrees, rolling little

Episode 3: Open Wide, O’ Earth

Why do you think Shcherbina is choosing
temperatures rea while crouching down on to tell the truth?
cars before them were hundreds of roentgen.
all fours. Theredying. But what if they
Now they’re ?”

Truth
nobyl
Voices from Cher
hadn’t don e th is - Svet lan a Ale xievich

the
v e e x ce rp t. Why are Heroism
Read the a
bo more
rd in a ry ci tizens not
f o
sacrifices o
-k n o w n?
widely
Does Shcherbina’s response to the miners
show that he has changed as a character?
Why or why not?

Exclusion Zone
Exclusion Zone
Why does Legasov think that the thirty-
kilometre exclusion zone is too small?

Soviet leaders know that the situation is dangerous

why, then, are many decisions still being made by
non-scientists?

V: orks?
LEGASO a y it a l l w
ly the w
Is this real formed, arb itrary ow
An unint w ill cost who knows h
decision tha [being] made by some
many lives some career partyman?
apparatchik,
p o n this
num ber?
Spotlight on Literary Elements: Topics
@
d u
decide
leadership and governance.
zone to only 30-kilometres to the topic of
Mindmap the decision to limit the exclusion

Who

liev ing in
“You can’t keep arbee liv ing
Did you know? a system when you the system
B
According to Craig this nightmare that system keeps
Mazin, Valery Legasov
was a committed
has created and the aking it
Communist supporter perpetuating it and m - Craig Mazin
at the beginning of his

[
career; however, his
worse.” Chernobyl Podc
ast

experience at Chernobyl
begins to change him. 26
@
The Woman Milking the Cow Exclusion Zone
ANNOTATE:
Exclusion Zone
1. Circle ALL
references to
I’m 82. I’ve lived here my whole
life. Right here, that house, this
Episode 4: HAPPINESS OF ALL MANKIND
historical events.
events
Write the years of place. What do I care about safe…
these events and
then comment You’re not the first soldier to stand
on the effect of here with a gun. When I was
referencing them in
the monologue.
twelve, the revolution came. Czar’s
men. Then Bolsheviks. Boys like you
2. Underline marching in lines. They told us to
TWO examples leave. No.
of repetition and
explain their
purposes and effects.
Then there was Stalin and his
famine, the Holodomor. My parents
3. Put squares around died. Two of my sisters died. They
TWO pronouns used told the rest of us to leave. No.
and explain their
purposes and effects. Then the Great War. German boys.
4. Put stars around
Russian boys. More soldiers, more
the part that you famine, more bodies. My brothers
found the most never came home. But I stayed
powerful. Explain
powerful and I’m still here.
your reasoning.
After all that I have seen, I
should leave now because of
something I cannot see at all? No.

story tell you about life in the Soviet Union?

What does the woman’s

Search

Research: The Holodomor

Which region did it affect?
What was the Holodomor?

@
[ If you were the soldier, would you force the woman to
Why?

leave against her will?

leave?
Why won’t the woman

29 Exclusion Zone
 @
Cleaning the Exclusion Zone Liquidation
Liquidation Effort
ed th e fo re st . We sawed the Explain the imagery in the excerpt. How does it make you feel?

Your Thoughts
“W e bu ri
d a ha lf pi ec es an d pa ck ed them in
trees into meter an

Episode 4: HAPPINESS OF ALL MANKIND

ph an e an d th re w th em into graves.
cello
ul dn ’ t sl ee p at n ig ht . I’d close my
I co in g, tu rn ing over -
hi n g bl ac k m ov
eyes and see somet tr ac ts of la nd - w ith bugs,
as if it were al iv e - liv e
I di dn ’ t kn ow an y of them, what
spiders, worms - , sp id er s, and ants.
they were ca lle d, ju st bu gs In your opinion, why is the speaker haunted by not knowing

the names of the creatures that he killed?

s sa ys so m ew he re th at animals
One of the po et
di ffe re n t pe op le . I ki lled them by the tens,
are a ou sa n d, n ot even know ing
by the hundr ed , by th e th
lle d. I de st ro ye d th ei r houses, their
what they were ca them.”
secrets. And buried
obyl
Voices from Chern
a Ale xievich
-- Svetlan

l e d t h e dogs. Bacho and Pavel work in “animal control.”

do? Would they have gone if they knew?
for the clean-up knew what they would be asked to
Do you think that the workers who went to Chernobyl

r s k il
“The soldie them. After What does that entail? Be specific.
Just shot t listen to something
that I can’ nd screaming.”
a
that’s alive m Cherno
byl

Animal Control
Voices fro vich
xie
a Ale
-- Svetlan

The workers in the clean-up effort had to do difficult, and oftentimes, despicable What would you do?
If your country had a similar Chernobyl
disaster, would you volunteer for the

jobs. Does this make them more or less of a hero? Explain your answer.
clean-up? Why or why not?

What makes a hero? @ 30

@
Preparing for the trial Chernobyl
Chernobyl
[

said?
Under what conditions is the quote being
Which three individuals are going to be put on trial
h a t y o u ’re proposing for actions leading to the Chernobyl disaster?
“W v h u m iliate a
e g a s o
Episode 4: HAPPINESS OF ALL MANKIND
is that L obsessed w ith
nation that is iliated.”
not being hum
@
learn about an RBMK reactor from 1975?

What does Khomyuk

?
e a bove q uote
Who s a y s th

Mindmap how the above quote relates to the

topic of leadership and governance.

AZ-5
Mindmap

According to Legasov, what feature on the

What does Khomyuk want Legasov to do when he goes to the control rods is a potential problem?
Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna?
Culture of Secrecy

why doesn’t the public know?

warned about the RBMK reactor,
Although the Kremlin was
What will happen if he does?

How many RBMK reactors are there in the Soviet Union?

@
How does Episode Four demonstrate the lifelong trauma incurred as a consequence of Chernobyl.
Consider the stories of first responders, liquidators, roof-cleaners, and the woman milking the cow.
Understanding Trauma
In your opinion, which is scarier: the trauma experienced from a tragedy or the tragedy itself?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
33 _____________________________________________________________
 @
The KGB c e it’s
Narrative
Narrative
l . o n

Who is speakingi n the quote?

he tr i a

of narrative as a tool to deceive.

Mindmap how the quote relates to the topic
,
“First t ill have our v illains
l
over, we w ve our hero, we w il
we w ill ha uth.”
r
have our t want

Episode 5: Vichnaya Pamyat

eaker
d o e s the sp
What to do?
a s o v
Leg

[
What did Legasov tell the international
community caused the Chernobyl
explosion?

What is the speaker offering Legasov in return? (List two

things)

Was this the truth?

☐ Yes ☐ No ☐ Somewhat
@ Why does Khomyuk believe that the
RBMK Reactor

RBMK reactors will never be fixed in the

Soviet Union?
THE KGB:
in to the demands of the
Would most people give
KGB? Why or why not?

Soviet Union to fix the

What does Khomyuk
think will force the

RBMK reactors?

Do the KGB hold up their end

of the deal? Explain.
What is the “deal” that Legasov

Truth
made with the KGB?

What happened to Volkov, the man who

wrote the report from 1976 about the
RBMK reactors?

What signs of radiation poisoning do we

see on Legasov?
RBMK

34
@
26 April 1986 Timeline
Timelineof events
of Events
12:00 a.m. There is a ____________________ and
33,000 accelerates move 700
the men who were scheduled to run the test are
half-power burned reactivity 211
replaced with a new shift. Akimov and Toptunov
xenon pit boron xenon 205
puzzle over the test as the instructions have been
partially ________________. Neither of the men ignores AZ-5 failsafe 30
know that the 10-hour delay has created unsafe shift change 24-hours delay cold
Episode 5: Vichnaya Pamyat
conditions in the core. Because of the ____________, crossed out shutdown graphite brink
and with the reactor running at _____________, RBMK control rods disconnected
_________ gas has builtup within the reactor, poisoning the core.

12:28 a.m. Toptunov and Akimov work to lower the wattage to _______ megawatts for the test, but
the power drops further than anticipated. Akimov recommends disabling the Local Automatic Control
(LAC). The wattage continues to drop until it stalls at ________ megawatts. Akimov claims they are
in a _______________which means that xenon is being created but it is not being __________ away. The
only way to safely raise power is to do it over a period of _____________. Dyatlov threatens both Akimov
and Toptunov from ever working in a nuclear plant again if they do not raise the power.

With the reactor stalled out at 30 megawatts, Akimov and Toptunov begin pulling ________________
out of the core, dozens at a time. They pull them halfway out and then three-quarters out but, still,
the power does not budge. They begin pulling many all the way out. Of the _____ control rods in Reactor
No. 4, they pull out ________.

With the reactor now only at 200 megawatts, Dyatlov is willing to conduct the test. At the same time,
the fuel has gone _________, so the negative temperature coefficient is no longer weighing down the
reactivity. The control rods are out. The emergency system has been _________________. The only
thing keeping the reactor in check is the water and xenon.

1:22:30 a.m. Toptunov sees a report from the reactor’s SKALA computer system. Based on the
absence of sufficient control rods, the computer is recommending that the reactor be ________________.
The readout is shown to Dyatlov, but he ___________ it.

1:23:04 a.m. With the reactor pushed to the __________, the test begins. The pumps are shut down
and no longer ___________ water through the reactor. Uranium fuel is unchecked by fresh coolant and
unchecked by control rods. Within a second, _______________ increases. Inside the core, the remaining
water is quickly reverting to steam. A void is being created. There is no fresh water to replace it.
Steam increases reactivity, increases heat, increases steam, increases reactivity. The remaining xenon
decays away. Power is rising.

1:23:35 a.m. There is a power surge.

1:23:40 a.m. They press the ____________ button which, in the ___________, is designed to instantly
shutdown the reaction by inserting all the control rods. Dyatlov pushed the reactor to the brink,
believing that AZ-5 was a _____________, but it had a design flaw. The control rods are made of
_______________ which reduce reactivity, but not their tips. The tips are made of ______________
which ________________ reactivity. The reaction in the core now skyrockets. Every last molecule of
liquid water instantly converts to steam, which expands and ruptures a series of fuel rod channels. The
control rods in those channels can move no further. The graphite tips are in a fixed position, endlessly
accelerating the reaction. Chernobyl Reactor 4 is now a nuclear bomb.

1:23:42 a.m. Reactor 4, which is designed to operate at 3,200 megawatts, goes beyond
______________ megawatts.

37 1:23:45 a.m. There is an explosion. No one in the room that night knew that the shutdown button could
act as a detonator. They didn’t know it because it was kept from them.
“If you mean to suggest that the soviet state is somehow
Responsible for What Happened
...you are treading on dangerous ground”
on the RBMK reactor
@ List two reasons why safety was not given top priority at @

the RBMK reactor?

What is another flaw of
Why do the control rods

have graphite tips?

Chernobyl.

Episode 5: Vichnaya Pamyat

Valery Legasov
Valery Legasov
[
We’re on dangerous ground right now because

Put a square around words about truth.

ANNOTATE: Circle words about lies.
of our secrets and our lies. They’re practically
“I lied to the world . I’m not the only one who kept what define us.
this secret. There are many. We were following
orders from the KGB, from the Central Committee . When the truth offends, we lie and lie until we
And right now there are sixteen reactors in the can no longer remember it is even there. But,
Soviet Union with the same fatal flaw.” it is still there.
Legasov lied to the international

Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth.

community in Vienna. Why do
you think he is choosing to tell

Sooner or later, that debt is paid.

Lies

That is how an RBMK reactor explodes. Lies.

Paraphrase Legasov’s testimony

the truth now?

using exactly ten words.

Boris Shcherbina
SHCHERBINA: Do you remember that morning
when I first called you, how unconcerned I was? I
don’t believe much that comes out of the Kremlin
Boris Shcherbina
the doctors told Shcherbina he has to live?
How long have

but when they told me they were putting me

in charge of the cleanup and they said it wasn’t
serious, I believed them. You know why?

LEGASOV: Because they put you in charge.

else?
Chernobyl have been different if they had sent someone
was “the one who mattered most.” Would the cleanup at
Do you agree with Legasov’s conclusion that Shcherbina

SHCHERBINA: Yeah. I’m an inconsequential

One who mattered most?

man, Valery. That’s all I’ve ever been. I hoped

that one day I would matter, but I didn’t. I just
stood next to people who did.

LEGASOV: There are other scientists like me.

Any one of them could have done what I did. But
you, [got us] everything we asked for, everything
we needed. Men, material, lunar rovers. Who
else could have done these things? They heard
me but they listened to you.

Of all the ministers and all the deputies – the

entire congregation of obedient fools – they
mistakenly sent the one good man. For god’s sake,
Boris, you were the one who mattered most.
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