Leonid Toptunov’s Apartment in Pripyat

Leonid Fedorovych Toptunov was a Senior Reactor Control Engineer, working in the control room of Reactor No. 4 on the night of the Chernobyl Disaster.

Toptunov graduated from the Moscow Engineering and Physics Institute – a prestigious institution that accepted only the best students. He was described by his colleagues as well-trained. He had written his graduate thesis on reactor physics and had a strong understanding of the science behind the inner workings of RBMK-1000 reactors.

Leonid lived in a small flat in the center of Pripyat, typical for a young, single man in the Soviet Union. Toptunov’s apartment had only one bedroom and a kitchen, as housing was allocated based on personal needs, social status, and contributions to the party and society. The Pripyat Swimming Pool was just a few steps away, and from his windows, he had a clear view of the Yubilejny shopping centre, the Chernobyl power plant on the horizon, and even the famous Pripyat Ferris wheel, which had been set to open for May Day celebrations but never did. On a clear day he would see trains crossing the bridge on their way to the Yaniv station.

As you know, Leonid Toptunov left his apartment for the last time in the evening of 25th of April 1986 to join the night shift operators crew. Leonid was in charge of controlling the power of Reactor No. 4 during a safety test. When the power of the unstable reactor suddenly dropped to nearly zero, he wanted to follow his training and operating procedures by shutting it down entirely. However, he had been a senior reactor operator for only two months and had never controlled a nuclear reactor during a full shutdown procedure. Under pressure from his supervisor in charge of the test, Anatoly Dyatlov, Toptunov was forced to remove all control rods from Reactor No. 4. This caused a sudden power surge and, consequently, a steam explosion within the reactor core. We all know what happened next.

Leonid Toptunov was exposed to a radiation dose of about 700 rem (7 Sieverts). Exposure to over 500 rem is almost always fatal. Toptunov died from acute radiation poisoning on May 14, 1986, just over two weeks after the accident.

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