They DID, they took samples from the "Elephant's Foot". The first samples were most likely taken during the 'Complex Expedition" that took place between December 1986 and early 1987, I think they blasted some samples off it with rounds from a Kalashnikov assault rifle, after attempts to chip...
I think the problem with the Graphite tips on the control rods was that the Graphite was less of a moderator than the water it was replacing. As the control rods were activated and returned into their control tubes to moderate a chaotically unstable reactor, the first action, as the leading...
There were 8 main cooling pumps at Chernobyl Unit 4, designed in two cooling circuits, 4 MCP's for each. 3 MCP's were on duty for each circuit with 1 used in reserve. So six working, 2 on standby.
These pumps were massive, powered by 6 kV 5.5 Megawatt electric motors moving 7,000 to 12,000...
I would just add a few comments to the interesting discussion...
Firstly, the ghosting in the photograph is due to a long exposure (long open shutter time) used to get a brighter clearer photograph in low light conditions. The figure moved from upright to bending forward (or vice-versa) but...
Lots of interesting discussion here. My view is that there was no certainty in April 1986, immediately after the accident they had to guess at the cause and guess at the best way to deal with each problem they faced. They must have just been in total shock to be in the center of such a...