There are few labels more apt at describing the dehumanizing conditions of the Chernobyl relief effort and the Soviet Union in general than “bio-robots.” This is the term General Tarakanov uses to describe the 3,828 men who work for 12 straight days in three-minute shifts shoveling some of the most radioactive material on the planet off of the roof of Unit Three.

All technical and automated means to clear the debris field had failed. Radiation levels were enormous. But the roofs had to be cleared before the Sarcophagus was sealed and the sole repository chosen for the most contaminated pieces of reactor debris was thus closed forever. Every other option had been exhausted. It was time, he said, to send in men to do the job by hand. There was a heavy silence. The campaign of the bio-roboty–the bio-robots—had begun (288).

Despite the label, the work done by the bio-robots is not only some of bravest and most heroic of any of the Chernobyl relief workers—it’s also some of the most effective. Moreover, there is simply no other way to accomplish this task except through sheer human exertion and bravery. “Even the machines intended for use on the surface of the moon were no match for the inhospitable new landscape they encountered on the roof of the ruined plant” (288).