Alexander Yuvchenko studied engineering, specialising in nuclear power stations, before getting a job at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine. At the time of the accident, he was 24 years old and a senior engineer-mechanic. The accident happened during a safety test when too many control rods were raised from the reactor and then reinserted in an emergency shutdown. The graphite tips of the control rods increased the reactivity of the core and caused a massive, unforeseen surge in power. Alexander lives in Moscow with his wife Natasha and son Kirill.

How did you end up working at Chernobyl?…