[dmit]

> While there was hope that incident could be contained and radiation levels were low no evacuation were needed

Excuse me, hope? Evacuation was not necessary because there was hope that things weren't as bad as they have turned out to be?

And honestly, as someone who has heard a billion Russian jokes about "volunteers" in the USSR, every time you use that word is jarring to me. I'd share the anecdotes with you, but I suspect you already know most of them.

[egao1980]

Reasons for hope - no elevated radiation levels, still unknown scale of destruction to the core. As soon as things were getting known next stages of protocol were brought in action.

In this case we know for sure it was volonteers. First of all most of them are alive and USSR is long gone, so they'd already came up with their stories of forced participation. You just trying to diminish geunine heroism of people just because they lived in USSR.