Former State Secretary Recalls Initial Response to Chernobyl Disaster
Forty years ago, in April 1986, former U.S. State Department Under Secretary Tim Eggar recounted the immediate events following the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Eggar described the initial shock as he was at home when a fixed telephone rang, alerting him to a developing situation.
According to Eggar, he was awakened by a member of the State Department’s Foreign Office. The message was that a nuclear event had occurred. At the time, Eggar was serving as a parliamentary undersecretary.
His immediate reaction, he stated, was to believe that “Armageddon” had arrived. “For a moment, I thought: ‘Oh, things have gone terribly wrong,’” Eggar explained. The incident marked the first time Eggar, during his four years in government service, had been directly informed of a significant international event.
The news of the Chernobyl disaster quickly spread, prompting a global response and highlighting the potential consequences of nuclear incidents. The event remains a critical moment in international relations and nuclear safety protocols.
Topics: #chernobyl #thought #armageddon
