SHCHERBINA As for the fire, it's largely contained. Pikalov and his men should have it out soon enough.
GORBACHEV Foreign press?
SHCHERBINA (proudly) Totally unaware.
Shcherbina nods across the table to CHARKOV, 63.
Of all the Soviet men... the balding, white-haired men with round faces and black-rimmed glasses... Charkov is perhaps the most exemplary of the type.
As if he were made in a factory.
SHCHERBINA KGB First Deputy Chairman Charkov assures me we've successfully protected our security interests.
GORBACHEV
Good. Very good. Well, it seems like it's well in hand--
Someone say something. Now. Say it.
GORBACHEV --so if there's nothing else?
Legasov's mouth won't open. Tongue won't work.
GORBACHEV Meeting adjourned.
Gorbachev rises. Everyone else gets up, and—
LEGASOV
No!
Everyone turns to him. Shocked.
GORBACHEV
Pardon me?
Legasov realizes he said it. He said no. To Mikhail Gorbachev. And he's terrified. But--
LEGASOV We can't adjourn.
Shcherbina fixes a dark gaze on Legasov. There's a disquieting rage in this man.
SHCHERBINA This is Professor Legasov of the Kurchatov Institute. Professor, if you have a concern, feel free to address it with me. Later.
Legasov gives a small nod. Cowed. Dying inside. But:
LEGASOV
I can't.
All eyes on him again. Everyone standing. And now he rises. Sweaty, flustered, bad suit, crooked glasses.
LEGASOV
I'm sorry. I'm so sorry but—
(the report) Page three-- the section on casualties--
(reading) "A fireman was severely burned on his hand by a chunk of smooth, black mineral on the ground outside the reactor building." Smooth black mineral!
(does no one--?) Graphite. There's graphite on the ground. Outside.
SHCHERBINA There was a tank explosion. There's debris. Of what importance is— ?
LEGASOV
There's only one place in the entire facility where you'll find graphite. (MORE)
LEGASOV (cont'd) Inside the core. If there's graphite on the ground, it means it wasn't a control system tank that exploded. (beat)
It was the reactor core.
(the unthinkable) It's open.
No one is sure how to react. And so they do what they have always done.
They slowly turn toward Gorbachev to see how they should feel about this.
For a moment, he is inscrutable. Then:
GORBACHEV Comrade Shcherbina?
SHCHERBINA General-Secretary, I assure you Professor Legasov is mistaken. Bryukhanov reports the reactor core is intact. And the radiation--
Legasov's panic ferments to frustration. Impatience. The words come flying out of him.
LEGASOV
Yes, "3.6 roentgen", which by the way is not the equivalent of one chest x-ray, but rather four hundred chest x-rays. That number's been bothering me for a different reason, though. It's also the maximum reading on low-limit dosimeters. They gave us the number they had, but I think the true number is much, much higher. If I'm right, this fireman was holding the equivalent of four million x-rays. In his hand.
SHCHERBINA
(icy)
Professor Legasov. There is no place for alarmist hysteria in this room.
LEGASOV
It's not alarmist if it's a fact!
GORBACHEV I don't hear any facts at all.
The room falls silent. A palpable sense of fear.
GORBACHEV All I hear is a man I don't know engaging in conjecture-- in direct contradiction of what has been reported by Party officials.
Shcherbina can barely repress a smile. And Legasov remembers where he is. Who he's yelling in front of.
Oh god.
LEGASOV
I apologize. I didn't mean-- may I express my concern as calmly and respectfully as I can?
Shcherbina is about to cut him off, but Gorbachev raises a hand to silence him. Then gestures to Legasov to continue, and sits.
The rest of the room sits back down with him.
LEGASOV
An RBMK reactor uses uranium-235 as fuel. Every atom of U-235 is like a bullet traveling nearly the speed of light, penetrating everything in its path. Wood, metal, concrete, flesh. In every gram of U-235, there are over a billion trillion of these bullets. (beat)
That's in one gram. Chernobyl holds over three million grams of U-235. And right now, it is on fire. And-- I believe— exposed. Wind will carry radioactive particles across the entire continent, and rain will bring them down on us. Three million billion trillion bullets in the water we drink, the food we eat, in the air we breathe. Each bullet— capable of damaging the genetic code in our bodies. Each bullet capable of bringing sickness, cancer, death. Most of them will not stop firing for a hundred years. Some of them will not stop for fifty thousand years.
The air has gone out of the room. No one says a word. Then:
GORBACHEV And this-- concern-- stems entirely from the description of a rock?
Everyone turns to stare at Legasov. Dead eyes, all of them.
LEGASOV
Yes.
A moment. Then Gorbachev turns to Shcherbina:
GORBACHEV
I want you to go to Chernobyl. Look at the reactor. You personally. Report directly back to me.
SHCHERBINA A wise decision. I'll depart at once.
GORBACHEV And take Legasov with you.
Legasov and Shcherbina both register surprise.
SHCHERBINA Forgive me, Comrade General- Secretary, but--
GORBACHEV Do you know how a nuclear reactor works, Boris Evdokimovich?
SHCHERBINA
No.
GORBACHEV Then how will you know what you're looking at?
Gorbachev strides out, followed by everyone else, until there's no one left in the room but Legasov and Shcherbina.
Staring at each other.
216 EXT. MOSCOW - AIR FORCE BASE - AFTERNOON 216
The NOISE of HELICOPTER ROTORS.
Two SOLDIERS hold on to their hats as they lead the way toward the helicopters. Legasov walks beside Shcherbina, trying to keep up with the older man's athletic pace.
217 I./E. HELICOPTER MID-FLIGHT - MOMENTS LATER 217
IN THE BACK - Legasov is sandwiched between the two soldiers. White knuckles. Across from him, a very calm Shcherbina. Legasov is the only one wearing his seat belt.
SHCHERBINA Did you enjoy the meeting?
Legasov isn't quite sure what to say.
SHCHERBINA You should know, it's not the first time someone's tried to embarrass me like that. I've been part of the apparatus for over forty years now. Men like you come along all the time. So smart. So confident. (beat)
Funny. I can't remember any of their names.
(beat)
How does a nuclear reactor work? LEGASOV
What?
SHCHERBINA It's a simple question.
LEGASOV It's hardly a simple answer.
SHCHERBINA Of course— you presume I'm too stupid
to understand. So I'll restate. Tell
me how a nuclear reactor works, or
I'll have one of these soldiers throw you out of this helicopter.
Legasov slowly looks at the soldiers. Neither one of them seems fazed by that suggestion in the slightest. Okay...
LEGASOV
So-- a nuclear reactor generates electricity with steam.
Shcherbina nods. Good. Continue.
LEGASOV
The steam turns a turbine, which generates electricity.
(MORE)
LEGASOV (cont'd) But where a typical power plant makes steam by burning coal, a nuclear plant--
Legasov pats his jacket pockets. Looking for—
Shcherbina calmly hands Legasov a pen and a copy of the report he just presented.
Legasov nods in nervous thanks. Turns the document over, and begins sketching as he talks.
LEGASOV
-- a nuclear plant uses something called fission. We take an unstable element like uranium-2 35, which has too many neutrons. A neutron is--