ON THE PANEL - hundreds of indicators and meters LIGHT UP at once.
LEGASOV (V.O.) The steam blows more fuel channels apart. We do not know how high the power went. We only know the final reading. Reactor #4, designed to operate at 3200 megawatts--
Akimov and Toptunov look up at THE LED DISPLAY as it jumps... from 1800 to— 4800 ... 9280... 12700... 24720...
552 INT. TRIAL ROOM - NOW 552
LEGASOV —went beyond 3 3,000. (beat)
The pressure inside Reactor #4 can no longer be held back.
(MORE)
LEGASOV (cont'd) At long last— we have arrived. 1:23:45. Explosion.
553
553 INT. REACTOR HALL - 1:23:45
EXPLOSION - a thunderous BLAST of SUPERHEATED VAPOR erupts from the core. The massive STEEL REACTOR LID is BLOWN UP and TO THE SIDE... like the open lid of a tin can.
The shockwave PUNCHES THROUGH THE CEILING, sending concrete and glass into the night...
554 INT. JUST OUTSIDE THE REACTOR HALL - CONTINUOUS 554
Perevozchenko is THROWN to the ground. He turns back, and... horror.
555 INT. CONTROL ROOM - REACTOR #4 - CONTINUOUS 555
A deep THUD echoes through the room. Everyone ducks a bit... looking around... what the fuck was that?
556 INT. TRIAL ROOM - NOW 556
557
558
CLOSE ON LEGASOV - retelling the story as if he lived through it. In his mind... he has.
LEGASOV
In the instant the lid is thrown off the reactor, oxygen rushes in. It combines with hydrogen and superheated graphite.
557 INT. REACTOR HALL - 1:23:47
A rush of air, and a terrible crackling as the gases inside the core ignite, and:
558 INT. TRIAL ROOM - NOW
LEGASOV
559
The chain of disaster— is complete.
559 EXT. REACTOR #4 BUILDING - CONTINUOUS
CATACLYSM
—as the true power of the atom is finally released. In an instant, the building becomes a VOLCANO. Nuclear forces explode up and out, and turn NIGHT INTO DAY.
A PLUME of DEBRIS is sent ROCKETING 1,000 METERS INTO THE AIR, as if shot from the center of the earth itself.
560 EXT. REACTOR BUILDING - C0NTINUOUS 560
A HAILSTORM of BURNING GRAPHITE comes raining down from the plume... and as the last bits of deadly debris clatter back to the surrounding roof and ground...
...a thin BLUE LIGHT materializes in the air, shining straight up and down between the open reactor and the sky, piercing through the choking black smoke.
The BLUE LIGHT widens... a color we were never meant to know... a glowing column connecting the earth and heavens. A trillion atoms set free. Death, the destroyer of worlds.
561 INT. CONTROL ROOM - REACTOR #4 - 1:24 AM 561
No sound except distant hissing noises. All we see is SWIRLING WHITE DUST, illuminated by emergency BACKUP LIGHTS. And now we make out:
The operators. Cowering. All except for Dyatlov.
CLOSE ON DYATLOV - SLOW MOTION - the white dust swirls eerily around his face. He's bewildered. Shell-shocked.
We hear a voice echoing as if from far away:
VOICE (O.S.) Comrade Dyatlov? Comrade Dyatlov?
DISSOLVE TO:
562 INT. TRIAL ROOM - NOW 562
DYATLOV, NOW - thinner and terribly older... but the expression is the same. Shell-shocked.
LEGASOV
No one in the room that night knew the shut-down button could act as a detonator. They didn't know it-- because it was kept from them.
The six scientists listen in shock. A rare thing in the air, the sound of truth...
JUDGE KADNIKOV Comrade Legasov— you are contradicting--
(searches documents) You are contradicting your own testimony in Vienna--
LEGASOV
My testimony in Vienna was a lie. I lied. To the world.
ON KHOMYUK - a mixture of disbelief and gratitude. At last, someone has spoken the truth.
LEGASOV
I am not the only one who kept this secret. There are many. We were following orders. From the KGB, from the Central Committee. And right now, there are 16 reactors in the Soviet Union with this same fatal flaw. Three of them are still running less than 20 kilometers away... at Chernobyl.
Kadnikov is frightened by Legasov's words. But he too has his orders. He too is at risk. And this is not the narrative over which he was meant to preside.
JUDGE KADNIKOV Professor Legasov, if you mean to suggest the Soviet State is somehow responsible for what happened, then I must warn you-- you are treading on dangerous ground.
LEGASOV
I've already trod on dangerous ground. We're on dangerous ground right now. Because of our secrets and our lies. They are practically what defines us. When the truth offends, we lie and lie until we cannot even remember it's there. But it is still there. Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. (beat)
Sooner or later, the debt is paid.
Legasov turns back to the six scientists. His colleagues. His peers. His secret jury. His hope.
LEGASOV
That is how an RBMK reactor core explodes.
(beat)
Lies.
And one by one, the scientists look down or avert their eyes. Ashamed. Or frightened. Or in denial. It doesn't matter which.
Legasov can tell from their faces. So can Khomyuk. It didn't work. It wasn't enough. They've failed.
It's over.
563 INT. HALLWAY - MOMENTS LATER 563
Legasov walks down the hallway that leads away from the trial room. One of the ARMED SOLDIERS— who had been guarding the defendants— now walks behind Legasov. Guarding him.
They arrive at a DOOR. The soldier says nothing. Just gestures to the door.
Legasov opens it, and walks into:
564 INT. FACILITY KITCHEN - CONTINUOUS 564
A large facility kitchen designed to supply catering for the building. Or it once was. Now it's mostly empty, save for a few scattered folding chairs.
Legasov takes a step into the room, then stops. Looks down. There's a small DRAIN set in the floor. So. This is where he dies. In an abandoned kitchen of an abandoned city in an abandoned land. He closes his eyes.
BOOM.
565
The echoey thud of the DOOR behind him. The soldier has left. Legasov is alone. He finds his breath, and we DISSOLVE to:
565 OMITTED566 INT. FACILITY KITCHEN - LATER 566
The door opens. CHARKOV enters. He closes the door behind him, and takes a seat across from Legasov.
He reaches into his coat pocket. Removes a piece of paper. Unfolds it. Puts on his glasses to read.
CHARKOV
Valery Alexeyevich Legasov. Son of Alexei Legasov, Head of Ideological Compliance, Central Committee.
(looks up) You know what your father did there?
LEGASOV
Yes.
CHARKOV (continues reading) As a student, you had a leadership position in Komsomol. Communist Youth. Correct?
LEGASOV You already know--
CHARKOV Answer the question.
LEGASOV
Yes.
CHARKOV
At the Kurchatov Institute, you were the Communist Party secretary. In that position, you limited the promotion of Jewish scientists.
A long pause.
LEGASOV