Nuclear Casualty to Be Encased With Reactor

The body of one of the two workers killed during the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear plant will be entombed in the concrete “coffin” being built around the ruined reactor, the Communist Party newspaper Pravda said today.

Pravda said the body of Valery Khodemchuk, an operator at Chernobyl, was never recovered after an explosion ripped through the No. 4 reactor building, igniting a fire that engulfed the structure.

Vladimir Shashenok, the other man killed immediately in the accident, was brought out of the blaze and was able to mutter only, “There, Valery,” before he lost consciousness and died, Pravda said.

Will Remain for Centuries

Thirteen other people have since died as a result of the accident.

Workers are now toiling to encase the reactor in concrete where it will remain for centuries to prevent any radiation leakage. Pravda suggested that the casing bear an inscription to Khodemchuk.

Although Khodemchuk’s mother has been told her son is dead, she is still waiting for him to visit her, Pravda’s correspondent wrote after meeting her. As a villager, the newspaper said, she could not believe her son was dead unless he was buried by all the villagers.

Homeowner Rejects Evacuees

“The fourth (reactor) block will also become his coffin,” Pravda said. “And, perhaps, someone will write on those concrete walls, that it is not the reactor which is buried here, but Valery Khodemchuk. But will that calm his mother down?”

Pravda today also disclosed the first reported instance of residents in nearby villages refusing to take in evacuees from the 18-mile zone that was cleared around the Chernobyl plant.

Most Soviet accounts have emphasized the communal spirit of evacuees and their hosts, but Pravda said a man in the village of Blidzha, Pyotr Artemenko, had refused to take evacuees into his large house because he feared they would ruin the newly polished floors.