The chief engineer who refused to believe the reactor was destroyed and kept pumping water into its ruins
He smashed his glasses and cut his wrists with the shards, forcing the court to postpone his trial.
Nikolai Fomin was a Soviet nuclear engineer who joined the Chernobyl plant in 1972 and rose to chief engineer in 1981. Arriving at the plant shortly after the April 26, 1986 explosion, he refused to accept reports that the reactor was destroyed and ordered water to be pumped into the wreckage of Unit 4 for hours, while sending a subordinate on a reconnaissance mission that delivered a fatal radiation dose. Arrested after the disaster, he was sentenced to 10 years but was released early after a pre-trial suicide attempt and subsequent confinement in a psychiatric hospital; he later worked at the Kalinin Nuclear Power Plant before retiring.
Career Timeline
- 1972Started at Chernobyl NPP
- 1981–1986Chief Engineer, Chernobyl NPP
- 1987Sentenced to 10 years; imprisoned
- 1988Transferred to psychiatric hospital; released early
- 1990s–2000sWorked at Kalinin NPP
- mid-2000sRetired; lived in Udomlya