I agree with your sentiments. Though the system had major flaws that allowed the disaster to occur, the unchainable heroism of the men and women on the ground is absolutely astonishing. If anything, this event showcases that the people of the former USSR exemplify qualities that all humans hold dear: self-sacrifice, courage, intelligence, alactrity. Despite the Soviet system of that era, these people fought for all citizens of the Earth, and especially for the lives of their 'enemies'. If there are silver linings in the diaster (and there a quite a few), one of them is that even the most average person of a repressive regime has incredible heroism baked into their bones. Those people are the same heroes of myths and all humans are now comming to recognize their sacrifice for us all.
EDIT: The medal awarded for participation in the clean-up can be seen in the below link. The page has more information on it that details the many pecularities of this medal and it's true uniqueness in world history (hopefully forever). Wikipedia has a good overview of the liquidators and their efforts and their subsequent lives. I've also included the wiki article on the Fukushima 50.
Aside: Though nuclear power is, to me, a God-send for human energy woes, I cannot look away from the horrible cost that these heroes paid for our energy future. Nuclear power plants must be considered after a careful reading of the liquidator's sacfifices to determine the depths of risk to our neighbors and ourselves. Though deaths per thousand may be less overall, we should soberly study those deaths and decide if we want to risk that sort of trade-off.
EDIT: The medal awarded for participation in the clean-up can be seen in the below link. The page has more information on it that details the many pecularities of this medal and it's true uniqueness in world history (hopefully forever). Wikipedia has a good overview of the liquidators and their efforts and their subsequent lives. I've also included the wiki article on the Fukushima 50.
Aside: Though nuclear power is, to me, a God-send for human energy woes, I cannot look away from the horrible cost that these heroes paid for our energy future. Nuclear power plants must be considered after a careful reading of the liquidator's sacfifices to determine the depths of risk to our neighbors and ourselves. Though deaths per thousand may be less overall, we should soberly study those deaths and decide if we want to risk that sort of trade-off.
http://collectinghistory.net/chernobyl/index.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_liquidators
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_50