Leonid Telyatnikov
Male, Person
1951 –
Who is Leonid Telyatnikov?
Leonid Petrovich Telyatnikov was the head of the fire department at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and led the team of firefighters to the fire at reactor number 4 which became the Chernobyl disaster. Despite the radiological dangers, they had no radiation suits, no respirators, and no working dosimeters. From results of a blood test it was estimated he received 4 grays of radiation.
According to one source, Telyatnikov headed the fire fighting effort at Chernobyl Reactor Unit 4 after the explosion on April 26, 1986. At that time Telyatnikov was the chief of military fire prevention at the Chernobyl nuclear-power station. Telyatnikov and his subordinates ascended the badly damaged and heavily radiation contaminated roof of Reactor Unit 4 more than once in order to prevent the fires from spreading and endangering Reactor Unit 3.
Another source gives a slightly different account:
Major Leonid Telyatnikov, the commander of Fire Station No. 2, was on holiday, but he lived in Prypiat and had received the alarm signal by telephone. He arrived at the reactor site about 10 minutes after the firemen had begun their battle and he then took overall command. He climbed onto the roof of Reactor Unit 3. Although there were at least five fires on the roof, the reactor was still operating. The priorities of the firemen were clear — they had to extinguish the fires on the roof of the undamaged reactor and in the machine hall. They used mainly water to do this. Despite their efforts, they could not prevent the fire from spreading before the Kiev fire brigade arrived to replace them.
We need you!
Help us build the largest biographies collection on the web!
- Born
- Jan 25, 1951
- Nationality
- Ukraine
- Employment
- Ministry of Internal Affairs
Submitted
on July 23, 2013
Citation
Use the citation below to add to a bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Leonid Telyatnikov." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 7 May 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/leonid_telyatnikov>.
Discuss this Leonid Telyatnikov biography with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In