Chernobyl: Fall of Atomgrad

On April 26, 1986, the No. 4 reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, near the city of Pripyat in the north of the Ukrainian SSR in the Soviet Union, suffered a massive meltdown after a flawed reactor design was identified and the subsequent safety tests went disastrously wrong. The resulting explosions were followed by a fire that lasted until May 4, 1986, during which airborne radioactive contaminants were released and deposited onto other parts of the USSR and Europe. In all, approx. 300,000 people were evacuated from the surrounding area. A massive emergency operation to put out the fire, stabilize the reactor, and clean up the ejected radioactive material began. During the immediate emergency response, 237 workers were hospitalized, of which 134 exhibited symptoms of acute radiation syndrome. Among those hospitalized, 28 died within the following three months. In this harrowing graphic novel, Matyáš Namai, creator of George Orwell’s 1984, tells the story of how this horrific disaster unfolded and the brave men and women who struggled to contain the disaster, many losing their lives, and the terrible cost to those who survived.