All I could gather about Sitnikov
Afterwards, he worked at the Lenin Komsomol shipbuilding plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur as a process engineer. From July of 1964 to June of 1966 he was a senior process engineer. Until February of 1969 Sitnikov was a mechanical engineer at the man power plant, and until September of 1973 he was a senior mechanical engineer. Up until January of 1974 Sitnikov acted as the head of the bureau of mechanics of the power plant console and actually had the job until April of 1975. He was an extremely valued worker and was let go from that job only when his wife complained to the party organiser that her children were getting sick, when they should be raised healthy for the benefit of the state.
In April of 1975, Sitnikov and his family moved to Pripyat with the assistance of Sitnikov's close friend, Dyatlov. Elvira found the town beautiful and even told her husband that people live like humans there. Sitnikov worked as the deputy shift supervisor for the reactor and turbine shop. Until Sitnikov received an apartmemt two years later, he lived in a dormitory while Elvira and his daughters lived in Nikolaev with her brother, and later the family lived together in the same space again.
In later years, Sitnikov had the positions of shift supervisor of the reactor shop and deputy shift supervisor of the power plant. In 1980, he became the deputy head of the reactor shop, and in February of 1982 he was promoted to the head of the reactor shop. Sitnikov was a very qualified and knowledgable engineer and studied for long. Sitnikov was present fot the construction of Unit One and soon became its shift supervisor. He was very passionate about his work and the power plant was his pride and joy. Oftentimes, he'd disappear for days because of it, something that kept him away from his family. Once, the family had planned a trip to see their daughter Ira who was visiting from Moscow. Soon before the trip, Sitnikov told Elvira that he couldn't go, because everyone elsd at the power plant was on vacation, and they wouldn't let him go on leave. When she told hin that it wasn't fair that he never got to have time off work, he was hurt because she didn't understand him. Even when he slept, he was still thinking about work. According to his wife, one night he woke her up, thought he was holding something a device, and pointed at the supposed device, telling his wife to make sure the readings didn't go off the scale. Another time, he woke up suddenly and rushed to an open window, saying that the doors were open and that the reactor would be looted, and Elvira told him that she'd make sure nothing happened. Both times, Sitnikov did not remember a thing in the morning. In 1985, Sitnikov became the deputy chief engineer of Units One and Two. Elvira worked at the metrology laboratory.
On the night of the 26th of April in 1986, Sitnikov was called to go to the power plant, and he went, even though he wasn't responsible for the fourth reactor, and worked in the day shift, however the deputy chief engineer for that unit was his friend, Anatoly Dyatlov and he went. By command of the station director, Sitnikov examined the rooms around the reactor as well as the central hall and the roof, surveying the damage. Sitnikov also assisted with restarting coolant flow to the third reactor in room 714/2, an extremely radioactive valve room with irradiated water, which led to the deaths of five other people, and ultimately Sitnikov himself.
Elvira was used to her husband being summoned from the power plant in the middle of the night but in the morning, there was a lot of traffic and ambulances, and the radio was silent. A neighbor called and explained that something had happened at the power plant, and Elvira was worried enough to keep her daughter home from school.
At 11 AM, Elvira called the power plant and managed to get in contact with Sitnikov. He had inspected the rooms around the reactor, a command of the station director. Sitnikov felt awful and had been vomiting. He refused to seek medical help and there were so many patients that he himself had to go to the hospital, nobody could go get him. Eventually, a doctor called Elvira and told her that the affected men would be taken away to an unknown place. She rushed to the hospital but was dragged outside, where she saw the patients boarding buses through the back exit. She called out to Sitnikov, he assured her that he'd recover and find her, and admitted that he went to help at Unit Four because no one knew the reactor better than him. He was tanned from radiation. Sitnikov was transported to Moscow.
On the 27th of April, Elvira and her daughter hid in order to not be evacuated, as a train ticket to Moscow had already been bought. The girl counted the buses as they passed by and stopped at 812 due to boredom. As they believed that they'd return soon, they only took a single suitcase with them. On the 28th, she was in Moscow and immediately went to her daughter. Other students at the institute who were from Pripyat asked why they couldn't contact their parents and Elvira assured them that everything was fine. The most communication Sitnikov got with his wife was through notes. Elvira cried when she received his responce. She had also gained access to the hospital and helped other patients by buying them things, mailing their letters, making them more comfortable, and passing news from one patient to another, as they could not meet. They liked her a lot as not only was she a plant worker, she was also the wife of a man like Sitnikov.
Sitnikov had been exposed to a dose of up to 5.7 Gy. A bone marrow transplant was attempted on him but it failed, leading to Sitnikov becoming immunocompromised, meaning that his body could not fight off infections. His situation worsened and he developed pulmonary edema. An injection was administered to him and he fell asleep. Sitnikov passed away on the 31st of May, 1986, at 46 years old, from an infection due to his failed immune system.
After his death, Elvira continued helping patients and the other widows and once lied about the death of her own husband to comfort a dying man, who survived. Mentally, she was in a horrible condition, even spending two months at a neurosis clinic, but pulled through for her daughters, and returned to the Chernobyl plant. As per Sitnikov, he was buried in Mitino. In 1982 he was awarded with the Order of the Badge of Honor, in 1989 with the Order of Lenin both times by the USSR, and in 1996 the Cross of Courage by Ukraine. May he rest in peace.
Comments
Post a Comment