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In the turbulent days after the April 26, 1986, Chernobyl nuclear explosion, engineers realized there was a major danger: the basement under Reactor 4 was now flooded with more than 20 million liters of radioactive water. Should the hot radioactive corium (molten fuel) come into contact, a steam explosion would result, potentially destroying the other reactors and spewing radioactive material all over Europe.

On May 4, mechanical engineer Alexei Ananenko, senior engineer Valeri Bespalov, and shift supervisor Boris Baranov formed the "suicide squad" to accomplish the almost impossible task. Wearing dosimeters and wetsuits, they struggled through the flooded corridors of the plant in darkness after their lamp went out. With their intimate understanding of the interior design and layout of the plant, they identified, and manually operated, the key valves to drain the bubbler pools.

The operation was a success. Contrary to legend, they all made it. Ananenko and Bespalov survive to this day, and Baranov died of a heart attack in 2005. Their heroics averted an even bigger disaster.