Welcome to Legacy and our third episode on Mikhail Gorbachev.

When we left you at the end of episode two, Gorbachev had forged his reputation on the international stage.

A series of summits with President Reagan have been key in suggesting there might be an end to the Cold War,

and the threat of nuclear Armageddon might be receding.

But at home, Gorbachev's popularity is slumping.

His perestroika reforms, intended to revive the ailing Soviet economy,

have brought about economic chaos and a decline in the standard of living.

Even the two relative success stories of the Soviet economy have been badly hit.

A worldwide slump in the price of oil affects exports,

and Gorbachev's curb on the sale of alcohol, no matter how well-intentioned,

has cost much-needed revenues as well as damaging national morale.

The last thing Gorbachev needs is a crisis out of his control.

But the unthinkable happens.

At 1.23 a.m. one spring weekend.

26th of April, 1986, Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Plippiat.

In front of a wide bank of glowing buttons,

Sasha Akimov rotates a large silver dial.

Here's the whir of the control panel,

the distant vibration of the reactor responding.

Beside him, Toptoonov's eyes dart between rows of gauges.

Nervously, he flips pages of the procedure manual.

I don't understand why the power has slipped.

...