"Did you tell him the truth about what happened here? Did you tell him what the explosion of Reactor No. 4 actually meant?" Bessonova asked.
"A reactor explosion? That's impossible. Nothing like that has ever happened before. A reactor isn't an atomic bomb—how could it explode?" Bryukhanov shook his head.
"Then how do you explain the graphite fragments on the ground?"
"I don't know. There's still some graphite in storage over by Reactor No. 5, which is under construction. Maybe it came from there," Bryukhanov argued.
"Then why did you suggest to Shcherbina that the residents of Pripyat be evacuated?" Bessonova said coldly. "Was it because there's always been a voice inside you telling you that it wasn't the water tank that exploded, but the reactor? You don't actually believe your own bullshit either, do you?"
"I asked Dyaltov and Akimov, the Shift Foreman that night. They told me the water tank had exploded and the radiation was 3.6 roentgens. I confirmed it with them again and again. They're all veteran engineers with extensive experience at nuclear power plants. At a time like this, I needed to trust my subordinates. Only then did I call Moscow. The people there told us to keep pumping water into the reactor, and that's what we've been doing."
Bryukhanov looked deeply aggrieved. "Every hour, I called Moscow to report on the reactor's condition. Fomin was also trying to find water to pump into the reactor. Then Vorobyov suddenly came to me and told me the radiation had exceeded 250 roentgens. Who was I supposed to believe? My subordinates, or the cold instrument in Vorobyov's hand? If you had worked in my field long enough, you'd know that machines malfunction from time to time. That's why we hire experienced engineers."
"Damn your experienced engineers!" Bessonova