How a second nuclear disaster was avoided at Chernobyl in 2022

IN THE SMALL hours of February 24th 2022, Valentyn Heiko received a phone call at work. Gunfire could be heard at Vilcha, less than 50km away: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was under way. “We’re keeping calm for the time being,” Mr Heiko told his colleague, even though there were no guidelines for what employees at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant should do in the event of war. The invaders were coming—Chernobyl lay on the route from Belarus, a Russian staging-post, to Kyiv—yet there was also no question of Mr Heiko or his team leaving their stations.