Radio controlled vehicles were initially used to clear debris, consisting of highly radioactive fuel from the reactor core, thrown on to the roof of reactor 3. Tasks carried out by the liquidators were wide ranging and included building waste repositories, water filtration systems, and a вЂњ sarcophagusвЂќ to entomb reactor number four. вЂ“ Sergii Mirnyi a 27 year old chemist at the time of the disaster. вЂњHere we were, experts in our fields and in radiation, and we didnвЂ™t know where to begin or even recognise the scale of the disaster.вЂќ

The late phase liquidators worked between the end of the Sarcophagus construction until the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, when central management of clean-up work was split between Russia, Belarus and UkraineДistribution of liquidators by age at time of arrival in the Zone.ДЎ14,504 selected cases, the average age is 34.3 years.

Some of these workers, approximately 7% of all liquidators, received high doses (0.20-0.25 Gy). Within this group are further subgroups including those who participated in clean-up works during 1986.

The early phase ranges from the end of the evacuation of Pripyat to the end of the construction of the sarcophagus (November 1986).

During the initial phase the вЂњearly liquidatorsвЂќ were on site during the explosion or arrived during the initial phase of the accident (0-1 days, before the evacuation of Pripyat), including fire fighters.

Liquidators can be divided into three groups: With 123,536 liquidators from Ukraine and 63,500 liquidators from Belarus, providing a total of around 355,000. The report from the Russian National Medical Dosimetric Registry quotes 168,000 liquidators in Russia.

The International Conference вЂњOne Decade After ChernobylвЂќ refers to вЂњabout 200,000 вЂliquidatorsвЂ™ who worked in Chernobyl during the period 1986-1987 and estimating the total number of people registered as involved in activities relating to alleviating the consequences of the accident at between 600,000 to 800,000.ДЄccording to the main, parental All-Union Distribution Register (USSR, 1986-1989) the number of liquidators is 293,100. A report by the Nuclear Energy Agency quotes a figure вЂњup to 800,000вЂќ. It is likely that at least 300,000 вЂ“ 350,000 people were directly involved. The number of liquidatorsДЇigures for the number of liquidators involved vary greatly from several hundred thousand to nearly a million people. Thousands of liquidators however, mostly military officers and skilled professionals, volunteered to participate or to extend their work beyond the initial compulsory term. Many of liquidators during the Soviet period were coerced to work for a set period of time by means of a direct order. Other names used to describe workers involved in the clean-up include, emergency workers, accident recovery workers, salvage personnel or decontamination participants. Soon after the explosion it became clear that the consequences of the accident could not be вЂњeliminatedвЂќ but only вЂњreducedвЂќ however the title was already in common use by this point. The word вЂњliquidatorвЂќ is derived from the Russian verb вЂњlikvidatorвЂќ (Р»РёРєРІРёРґР°МЃС‚РѕСЂС‹, which means вЂњto eliminateвЂќ or вЂњto eliminate the consequences of an accidentвЂќ.

The white streaks at the bottom of the photo were due to the high levels of radiation emanating from below. A photograph of вЂњliquidatorsвЂќ on the roof of Reactor three taken by Igor Kostin.

Call of chernobyl cars