The Suicidal Dive: How Three Men Saved Europe from Chernobyl The 1986 Chernobyl disaster faced a catastrophic secondary threat when molten radioactive fuel began burning through the reactor's concrete floor. Below lay a massive reservoir of water used for fire suppression and cooling. Experts feared that if the fuel reached this "bubbler pool," it would trigger a colossal steam explosion, potentially destroying the remaining three reactors and rendering much of Europe uninhabitable. Three men—Al