Army Takes Over Decontamination, Soviets Disclose
The Soviet Union said today that the military has taken command of the decontamination operation at the damaged Chernobyl nuclear power plant, calling the move another indication “of the scale of the mishap.”
The Communist Party newspaper Pravda said that an underground control center was built 10 days ago 600 yards from the damaged reactor and that remote-control robots and bulldozers are being used in the cleanup operation.
The report said army Col. U. Keleberda has been placed in charge of coordinating the operation involving the army and civil defense teams and various government departments and ministries.
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