";s:4:"text";s:3153:" Valery Alekseyevich Legasov (Russian: Валерий Алексеевич Легасов; 1 September 1936 – 27 April 1988) was a Soviet inorganic chemist and a member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR.He is now mainly remembered for his work as the chief of the commission investigating the Chernobyl disaster. The Chernobyl disaster and its aftermath had taken a long term toll on the scientist. That's what they were trying to do as a threat," he added.In the weeks that followed, hundreds of people were struck down with acute radiation syndrome, while thousands of men began the mammoth effort of cleaning up the toxic mess the deadly explosion left behind.Just moments later, Valery Legasov ended his own life.Ahead of his death, Legasov reportedly left behind a number of journals, sharing unknown facts about the problems associated with the nuclear reactors' design.In August 1986, Legasov gave a five-hour hearing on the Soviet Union’s report on the cause of the accident to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna.One day before he was due to announce his results of the investigation into the causes of the disaster, Legasov ended his own life.When Legasov was found dead, the Soviet media did not initially report the 51-year-old's cause of death.Soon enough, however, his cause of death was reported by the media. In the early morning hours of April 26, 1986, a safety test at the Chernobyl Nuclear power plant in the Ukraine went awry when a sudden power surge occurred, causing a series of explosions to the equivalent of 500 nuclear bombs to be set off."They were trying to stop him from trying to get the story out."In fact, the Soviet Union nuclear physicist was tasked with leading the commission investigating the disaster.In the two years following the disaster, which would have a lasting impact for decades to come, Legasov attempted to keep open and honest about the cause of the incident, while others in power tried to cover up what really occurred.During the hearing, Legasov noted the nuclear disaster had been caused by human error, but the scientist was met with a lot of push back and many tried to silence him."They erased him from history. Waleri Alexejewitsch Legassow (russisch Валерий Алексеевич Легасов, wiss.Transliteration Valerij Alekseevič Legasov; * 1.September 1936 in Tula, Sowjetunion; † 27.