Time Was Waiting

In the Soviet Ukraine, there was a little known closed city hidden in the forest near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Inside the city was part of the world’s most powerful early-warning radar system, which consumed a sizable portion of the power generated by the plant. Since the powerful radar interfered with short-wave radios by emitting a repetitive tapping sound, it was given the nickname “Russian Woodpecker.” For years, the radar waited ceaselessly for a possible ICBM attack from the enemy. There was even a 3-D model of the earth’s atmosphere through which incoming ICBMs would have to travel on display in the radar control center, while scenes of the aftermath were also dramatically staged inside the fire station. Civil defense posters with theatrical images of nuclear assaults and even real gas masks were similarly visible in the school, hospital, and other indoor public facilities. Yet, in the end, it was the time that was waiting for it. In the spring of 1986, during a test that meant to improve the plant’s safety in the event of an enemy attack, one of the reactors exploded…

Video still from Time was waiting (2018) (4K video 7:21 minutes)