6 Guilty in Chernobyl Blast, Sentenced to Labor Camps

Six former officials and technicians at the Chernobyl power plant were convicted today of causing history’s worst nuclear accident and sentenced to terms of up to 10 years in labor camp.

Judge Raimond Brize, who issued the verdict, cited “an atmosphere of lack of control and lack of responsibility at the station. . . . People played cards and dominoes and wrote letters while they were on shift.”

He said that in the last several years, there had been 71 violations of safety regulations at the plant, 27 of which went unreported.

Thirty-one people were killed when an explosion and fire tore through Chernobyl’s No. 4 reactor April 26, 1986.

The blast triggered a huge leak of radiation that eventually spread around the world. Soviet officials blamed the accident on human error, saying it was due to an unauthorized experiment performed by workers who flouted safety regulations.

Tens of thousands of people were evacuated from the region around the plant, 80 miles north of Kiev, and more than 200 Soviets suffered acute radiation sickness.

The verdict against the six was believed to mark the first time nuclear power plant officials in any country were held criminally responsible for failing to ensure safety at their installations.

Among those convicted of repeatedly violating rules designed to ensure security at the power station were former plant director Viktor P. Bryukhanov, former chief engineer Nikolai M. Fomin and Fomin’s assistant, Anatoly S. Dyatlov.

All three were fired after the accident and jailed while the charges against them were investigated.

Also convicted were Yuri A. Laushkin, a senior engineer and atomic energy inspector at reactor No. 4, shift director Boris V. Rogozhkin and the chief of reactor No. 4, Alexander P. Kovalenko.

All were found guilty of all the charges against them except Fomin, who was found not guilty of a charge of abusing power.

Bryukhanov, Fomin and Dyatlov were sentenced to the maximum 10-year terms. After the accident, Fomin fell ill with radiation sickness, which delayed the trial.

Rogozhkin was sentenced to five years in labor camp, Kovalenko was given a three-year term and Laushkin a two-year term.