Chernobyl & The Demon Core Incidents: Radiation Sickness

Fallout of first responders after Chernobyl disaster and what caused the Demon Core to get its name. 

Give this show a follow for more content like this! Thank you for listening!

IG: @CreepingInPodcast

YT: Creeping In Pod

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

The year is 1986. We're at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant located near Priat, current day Ukraine. At the start of the day, no one could have fathomed how this day would unfold and the toll that it would take on the area and those affected by the impending disaster. Operators at the Chernobyl plant were performing a test that ultimately would become one of the most infamous and intriguing events in recent history. Hey everyone, welcome back to Creeping In, a podcast where we cover true crime, horrors, and the mysterious. I am your host, Marissa Stevens, and I did just want to apologize for kind of falling off the face of the earth and going MIA in these last uh several weeks here. I just kind of got swept up in the holidays and I didn't have my research prepped, so unfortunately the show had to be set on the back burner for a minute. And I also had started a new position at work, so I was just trying to kind of get my ducks in a row there. But we are back in action for 2026, and I'm hoping to get a handle on a more regular so just give me a little grace as I'm still learning how to and thank you for any support you've given the show. If you're still here listening from the beginning, it really means a lot. Okay, so today we're going to cover some of the fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, and we're also going to cover the demon core incidents from 1945 and 1946. I think these types of disasters are always something that sparks interest for many people, partly because there's almost an element of fable and mystery, but also because of the effects and just how shocking and disturbing they are. Let's dive right in. This would, of course, be a very stressful situation if it was encountered. So running the simulation in theory was a great idea because it would give those operators at the plant an idea of what procedures they would need to follow during an event like that. This test was originally supposed to be run by the day shift operators. However, a nearby regional power station had gone offline unexpectedly, and the grid controller put in a request that the continued reduction of Chernobyl's output be postponed until they were back online to handle the peak evening demand in power. This day shift didn't end up getting to the test before the end of their shift, and this was then passed on to the evening shift. But this was done at the near tail end of the evening shift. At 11.04 p.m., this regional power station signaled to the Chernobyl plant that they could continue with their test. This meant that the night shift would have very little time to prepare for what was now their role in this test procedure. Also, there was a drop in reactor power before starting the test, which was described as accidental. The plan was to gradually decrease the reactor power, and the exact reason for this marked drop is unknown. This drop in power, combined with an issue with the design of the PBMK control rods in the reactor, meant that when the operators began their attempt to shut down the reactor during this blackout scenario, a monumental power surge ensued. The components of the reactor ruptured, causing it to lose coolant at a rapid pace. It is believed that the steam from the pumps due to the lost coolant may have also played a role in this explosion. However, I did read some conflicting information on that saying that this may be a myth. I wasn't there, so I can't say for certain, but I just wanted to include what I had found. And if you happen to know more about this and maybe were even there at the time and want to share, please feel free to either leave a comment or send me an email and I will correct that in a future episode. As the reactor core heated up and began to melt down, soon after came the explosions. Two of them, and they were about two to three seconds apart. Fire blazed from the area and firefighters arrived on the scene to do their best to extinguish the flames. Eyewitnesses described those involved reporting the taste of metal in their mouth and that feeling you get when your hand or your foot falls asleep, the pins and needles sensation on their faces. And one fireman was reported saying, We'll be lucky if we're still alive in the morning. Knowing how dangerous radioactive material can be and the gravity of the situation, this wasn't offbeat to say, even in the slightest. Following the incident, in fact, 36 hours after, the exclusion zone was formed. This meant that anyone living within the zone would need to evacuate immediately due to the extreme danger of the spreading contaminants. The following is a translation of the announcement made in the area. For the attention of the residents of Pripyat, the City Council informs you that due to the accident at the Chernobyl power station in the city of Pripyat, the radioactive conditions in the vicinity are deteriorating. The Communist Party, its officials, and the armed forces are taking the necessary steps to combat this. Nevertheless, with the view to keep people as safe and healthy as possible, the children being top priority, we need to temporarily evacuate the citizens in the nearest towns of Kiev region. For these reasons, starting from 27 April 1986, 1400, each apartment block will be able to have a bus at its disposal, supervised by the police and city officials. It is highly advisable to take your documents, some vital personal belongings, and a certain amount of food just in case with you. The senior executives of public and industrial facilities of the city has decided on the list of employees needed to stay in Pripyat to maintain these facilities in good working order. All the houses will be guarded by the police during the evacuation period. Comrades, leave your residences temporarily. Please make sure you have turned off the lights, electrical equipment, and water, and shut the windows. Please keep calm and orderly in the process of this short-term evacuation. These type of announcements are always so ominous to me, especially since they're typically broadcast over some type of loudspeaker or emergency alert service like the one we have in the United States for the weather alerts, you know the one with the beeping. It reminds me a lot of some doomsday movies, and it just gives me end-of-the-world vibes. I can't imagine just having a completely normal day and then suddenly hear that message come through. It's just kind of wild. Now I want to get into some of the cases of radiation sickness and other effects that plagued the region following the disaster. As mentioned before, the exclusion zone was established, but that didn't stop damage. Because an event of this magnitude had never occurred before, there were no rules in place to follow, no handbook to reference. People, even in the medical field, were not really educated on what certain symptoms were going to lead to or what they should do to help. Two operators at the plant had already died on the scene from acute radiation poisoning of the fourth degree, and through the following years, thousands more would be at the mercy of the effects of the radiation. Increased rates of thyroid cancer would become a common marker for those who survived the incident. Ala Shapiro, a 32-year-old pediatrician at the time, had fallen on the front lines as a first responder to treat those in need. Shapiro herself is a cancer survivor, highly likely to have come from the exposure throughout this time. She noted that many children developed a severe cough due to the inhalation of dust and potential radioactive particles in the lungs. The coughing is a symptom of struggling to get enough oxygen. The firemen who responded on scene also experienced a large amount of damage after entering the area with nothing more than their regular fire gear. A fireman by the name of Vasily Ignitenko was the first responding fireman on the scene, and he and three other men, who were led by two lieutenants, were using the fire escape on Unit 3 to access the roof in order to douse water on the reactor that was caught in the blaze. The levels of radiation were extremely high, about 40 to 60 times the lethal amount. With nuclear material and noxious fumes constantly bombarding the men, the effects began to take hold. Uncontrollable vomiting and nausea took over the men, and they had to be helped down the fire escape by other firemen. Ignotenka was then evacuated to Pripyat hospital, but then transferred by air to Moscow. In an attempt to slow the effects of radiation, he was given a bone marrow transplant, which in the end was unsuccessful, and his condition only began to worsen. For those who don't know, radiation poisoning causes extreme damage to the cells in the body. These cells begin to rapidly divide and destroy your DNA. Typically, there is vomiting and nausea as present with Ignotenko, as well as dizziness, headaches, loss of white blood cells, internal bleeding, inflammation, and even seizures. The skin can turn red and become itchy, blistered, and begin to peel away from the muscle tissue. This is extremely painful. And to be frank, if you're experiencing this level of poisoning, you're likely going to wish you weren't here to endure this level of agony. For Ignotenko, his digestive and respiratory systems began to deteriorate rapidly. His hair had fallen out, the skin began to necrotize, and he was no longer able to stand up. Seventeen days after responding to the Chernobyl disaster, Ignotenko was compromised by an infection he was unable to fight due to the radiation poisoning attacking his white blood cells. His organs failed, and his life came to an end. This is just really sad, especially for somebody who was just doing their job and just trying to put out the fire. And a tough and painful ending at that. And I wouldn't wish this type of misery on anyone. It's just really awful. The disaster at Chernobyl is one of two nuclear events to receive a maximum severity rating from the International Nuclear Event Scale. The other incident being the Fukushima accident in 2011, which was caused by an earthquake and subsequent tsunami that caused a major failure in the power grid and damaged almost all of the backup energy sources within the Fukushima plant. The plant in Chernobyl was in use for about 14 years following this incident, utilizing the three reactors still intact, and the plant was finally shut down in 2000. Today, the area around reactor 4 is housed in a concrete and steel sarcophagus to constrain the still eminent radiation, which will likely be present for thousands of years. The wildlife has slowly reclaimed the exclusion zone, and while it is still considered to be a no-go zone, there are still some people present there refusing to have abandoned their homes. I want to know, would you leave your home if the authorities made that type of announcement and said that it would be unsafe for you to stay? Or would you not want to leave your home and say, I'm just gonna see what happens? I don't know what I would do, honestly. I think that's a really hard decision to make. I think it's really tough to think about abandoning your home and not knowing really if you're going to come back. I know that in the announcement they said it would be temporary, but knowing what we know now, we know that for many it was not temporary and they never returned. So I guess I wouldn't really know until I was faced with something like this, but let me know what you think. Next, we're going to talk about the Demon Core incidents. Demon Core refers to the sphere of plutonium, gallium, alloy that ended up being the culprit of these two separate radiation incidents. This sphere was created in 1945 by the Manhattan Project, which is a research and development program that many of you may recognize for their efforts in producing the world's first nuclear weapons during World War II. The infamous Demon Core was akin to the core used in the Nagasaki bombings in Japan, which resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths. The core is 3.5 inches in diameter and 14 pounds, created by two hemispheres that are separated by what is called an anti-jet ring. Physicist Harry Daglion, born Harotun Krikor Daglion, was very bright and excelled greatly in his field. In 1938, at 17 years old, he began his studies at MIT, originally pursuing mathematics, but later finding his true passion with particle physics, which was quite new and up-and-coming at the time. Later, he would pivot and graduate from Purdue University with a Bachelor's of Science. On August 21st, 1945, at the Los Alamos lab, Harry was focused on attempting to build a neutron reflector. A neutron reflector is any material that reflects neutrons. These reflectors include materials like graphite, beryllium, steel, tungsten carbide, and gold. Reflectors can make a subcritical mass become critical. In order to understand the critical versus subcritical, I need to go back a little. To start, fission makes neutrons. Neutrons then go on to make other fissions, therefore releasing more neutrons, which is a fission chain reaction. In a critical environment, a neutron is more likely to cause fission or make more neutrons, versus in a subcritical environment where the neutron is more likely to escape, not causing fission. When Daglion was working with the plutonium core, he had stacked bricks made of tungsten carbide, one of the reflective materials which was inching the environment closer to criticality. While attempting to stack another brick, Daglion ended up making a small mistake that would lead to an irreversible outcome. He dropped the brick onto the core, causing it to start a chain reaction. Although he removed the brick quickly off of the core, the reaction had already occurred. A huge amount of radiation was absorbed by Daglion. In a famous photograph taken nine days following the incident, his hand was so blistered and burnt that almost his entire palm was exposed underneath the flesh. Harry Daglion ultimately fell into a coma and he succumbed to the radiation poisoning 25 days after the incident. When dealing with something so reactive and fickle, coupled with the chance of human error, such as the accidental slip of the tungsten brick, it's almost impossible that something catastrophic would never happen, but it's still very sad to see a young and very brilliant man lose his life to something like this. And worst of all, he wasn't the only one. Lewis Sloughton was actually a colleague of Daglian's at the time of his unfortunate incident, and Sloughton was very well versed in criticality testing and working with nuclear weapons. Sloughton was known for his assembly of the core for what was named Trinity, the first detonated atomic device in July of 1945. Following World War II, Sloughton had planned to go back to teaching and research in biophysics after feeling disheartened about his role in contributing to the war. Due to him being one of the only people who had his level of experience, he had to continue his work at Los Alamos. On May 21, 1946, just nine months after Harry Daglian's mishap, Sloton performed an experiment that was meant to create one of the first steps of a fission reaction by placing two half spheres of beryllium around a plutonium core. The standard protocol was to use shims to keep the halves separated, and a shim is just a small piece of material, usually a thin rectangle used to create space between two objects. Instead of a shim, though, Sloughton was using a screwdriver, and yes, you heard that right, a screwdriver, to keep the two spherical halves separated. Even more nerve-wracking was the fact that Sloton had performed the experiment this way almost a dozen times. At 3.20 p.m. on that May afternoon, the screwdriver slipped and the upper half of the sphere fell onto the lower, causing a prompt critical reaction. Observers noticed a blue glow and a burst of heat, while Sloton noticed the taste in his mouth go sour and it felt an intense burning on his left hand. He lifted the beryllium sphere and dropped it, which ended the reaction, but as we known from Daglion, the damage was already done. Radiation poisoning can cause that sour taste in the mouth and also vomiting, which Sloten did actually vomit as soon as he left the building, and he was then rushed to the hospital. The nine days of life that Sloughton would have left would be spent in misery. He received four blood transfusions, none of which were any help to his condition. Severe diarrhea, very low amounts of urination, his hands were swollen, large blisters covered his hands and forearms, intestinal paralysis, gangrene, and significant damage from internal radiation burns, which was described as a three-dimensional sunburn. Seven colleagues of Sloton were observing him when the two half spheres touched, four were discharged from the hospital after four days, and the other three, Graves, Klein, and Young, remained in the hospital, eventually dying in the years following from conditions that were aided by the significant dose of radiation they had taken. After this second tragic incident, the core was melted down and later reused in a different core. The Los Alamos lab ended up putting the kibosh on all hands-on critical assembly work, which was probably in their best interest. So the Demon Corps became the Demon Core after these two very tragic catastrophes. I've actually heard that nuclear energy is a relatively clean energy source as well as efficient, but it's events like this that make us very fearful and hesitant to trust. I am not a scientist or a physicist, so I'm not 100% certain on whether this is true or not, but it's definitely interesting to think about. I truly would not wish radiation poisoning on anyone, just like one of the most horrific things that you could experience. And it really makes you take a pause when you think of the legacy of something like Chernobyl. So let me know what you guys think. Especially in the Demon Core incident, do you think that Slote's experience was just due to like his carelessness of using something so ridiculous, it seems, as a screwdriver to keep the halves separated? Or do you think it was just the luck of the draw and the fact that he had, you know, experimented like that almost a dozen times that it was only a matter of time before something would happen. If you have anything that you'd like to add about either of these events, either Chernobyl or the Demon Court incident, or just an episode suggestion in general, you can leave a comment on the Instagram post for this episode. Our handle is creeping in podcast, or over on our YouTube channel, which is creeping in pod. You can also reach us by email, which is creepinginpodcast at gmail.com. And if you enjoyed this episode and want more content like this, please give our show a follow and share it with a friend. This really helps us to reach more people, and it's very, very much appreciated. Thank you so much for listening. Please stay away from any nuclear reactors or plutonium cores. And I will chat with you guys next time.