The HBO mini-series “Chernobyl,” which has its finale Monday night, mostly focuses on the internal effort by the Soviet Union to first cover up, then work to contain, the fallout from the nuclear disaster. At the time, Ronald Reagan was putting external pressure on the communist government to come clean.
Reagan’s private frustration with the Soviet response was clear in the days following the disaster, which occurred on April 26, 1986.
On April 30, Reagan wrote in his diary, “This was to be a day off … It was interrupted by a briefing on the nuclear plan emergency in Chernobyl Russia. As usual the Russians wont put out any facts but it is evident that a radioactive cloud is spreading beyond the Soviet border.”
On May 4, as the Soviets continued to try to downplay the extent of the catastrophe, Reagan took his criticisms public from Tokyo while attending the G-7 summit.
“Seldom has the interdependence of modern industrial States been more evident than this past week,” he said in his weekly radio address. “All Americans, indeed the entire world, sympathize with those affected by the tragedy at Chernobyl. We stand ready, as do many nations, to assist in any way we can. But the contrast between the leaders of free nations meeting at the summit to deal openly with common concerns and the Soviet Government, with its secrecy and stubborn refusal to inform the international community of the common danger from this disaster, is stark and clear.”
He went on to say, “The Soviets’ handling of this incident manifests a disregard for the legitimate concerns of people everywhere. A nuclear accident that results in contaminating a number of countries with radioactive material is not simply an internal matter. The Soviets owe the world an explanation. A full accounting of what happened at Chernobyl and what is happening now is the least the world community has a right to expect.”
On May 15, Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev was forced to finally respond to the tragedy in a public address. In doing so, he also accused the U.S. of launching an “unrestrained anti-Soviet campaign” based on a “mountain of lies” meant to discredit the Soviets.
Still, that he was forced to come out at all was a recognition both of the extent of the disaster and also a departure from previous eras of even more secretive Soviet policy.
In a diary entry from that October, Reagan wrote, “Had a call that a Soviet Nuc. Sub. is on fire several hundred miles No. of Bermuda. Russian ships are on hand — no danger of nuclear accident. Message was from Gorbachev. Seems Chernobyl had an effect.”
