Ukraine has declassified a collection of Soviet documents concerning the 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear plant, The Brussels Times reported Monday.
The documents, which were made public Monday, were published in a book edited by the Ukrainian secret service and contain details of the construction errors and accidents at the plant for the 15 years before the explosion, which is considered the worst nuclear disaster in history.
The 1986 disaster caused the death of thousands of people and the displacement of tens of thousands more, as large areas of northern Ukraine and southern Belarus were made uninhabitable for decades.
Sputnik reported the declassified papers include transcripts of telephone calls at the nuclear plant on the night of the explosion, a copy of the first incident report, and information about the beginning of a thorough investigation into the accident by the KGB.
One incident among many revealed was a KGB regional chief reported "deliberate gross violations of technological standards on construction" of the facility.
Perhaps the most serious revelation presented in the newly released documents concerns allegations that Soviet authorities deliberately worked to keep quiet information about accidents at the plant in the years leading up to the disaster.
The papers also showed Soviet authorities were not prepared to deal with the scale of the disaster at Chernobyl.
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