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Valery Ilyich Khodemchuk ( uk, Валерій Ілліч Ходемчук; russian: Валерий Ильич Ходемчук; 24 March 195126 April 1986) was a Soviet engineer who was the night shift circulating pump operator at the Chernobyl power plant and was the first victim of the Chernobyl disaster.
His body was never found and it is presumed that he is entombed under the remains of the circulation pumps. A monument to Khodemchuk was built into the side of the Sarcophagus' interior dividing wall, to the east of the pump hall where he died.
Biography
Valery Khodemchuk was born on 24 March 1951 in Kropyvnia, Ivankiv Raion,Kyiv Oblast
Kyiv Oblast ( uk, Ки́ївська о́бласть, translit=Kyïvska oblast), also called Kyivshchyna ( uk, Ки́ївщина), is an oblast (province) in central and northern Ukraine. It surrounds, but does not include, the city of Kyiv, w ...
.
He began his career at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in September 1973. During his first years at Chernobyl, he held positions of the engineer of boilers, the senior engineer of boilers of the workshop of thermal and underground communications, the operator of the 6th group, the senior operator of the group 7 of the main circulation pump of the 4th unit of the reactor workshop.
On the night of 26 April 1986, Khodemchuk was in one of the main circulation pump engine rooms in the reactor 4 building. At approximately 1:23 a.m. (Moscow Time), there were two powerful explosions in reactor four. The explosions ripped through the reactor and the surrounding building, including the main circulation pump halls. Valery Khodemchuk was the first person to die in the Chernobyl disaster as it is thought he was killed instantly when the number 4 reactor exploded.
His body was never found and it is presumed that he is entombed under the remains of the circulation pumps. A monument to Khodemchuk was built into the side of the Sarcophagus' interior dividing wall, to the east of the pump hall where he died.
Recognition
In 2008, Khodemchuk was posthumously awarded with the 3rd degree Order For Courage byViktor Yushchenko
Viktor Andriyovych Yushchenko ( uk, Віктор Андрійович Ющенко, ; born 23 February 1954) is a Ukrainian politician who was the third president of Ukraine from 23 January 2005 to 25 February 2010.
As an informal leader of th ...
, the President of Ukraine.
He was portrayed by actor Kieran O'Brien
Kieran O'Brien (born 1973) is an English actor.
Early life and education
Born in Oldham, Lancashire, O'Brien grew up in nearby Royton, and was educated at the Bishop Henshaw Roman Catholic Memorial High School in Rochdale.
Career
O'Brien bega ...
in the 2019 HBO miniseries ''Chernobyl
Chernobyl ( , ; russian: Чернобыль, ) or Chornobyl ( uk, Чорнобиль, ) is a partially abandoned city in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, situated in the Vyshhorod Raion of northern Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine. Chernobyl is about no ...
''.
See also
* Deaths due to the Chernobyl disasterReferences
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khodemchuk, Valery 1951 births 1980s missing person cases 1986 deaths Deaths from explosion Industrial accident deaths Missing people Missing person cases in Europe People associated with the Chernobyl disaster People declared dead in absentia People from Kyiv Oblast Recipients of the Order For Courage, 3rd class Soviet engineers