Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011 08 29 Central Intelligence Agency Of ce of the Deputy Director for Intelligence 31 JUL 1995 NOTE TO Director of Central Intelligence This is an assessment I requested shortly after the crisis at Chernobyl I believe our sensor performed pretty well considering the national priority afforded targets of this type For your information has expressed an interest in any collection critique done on Chernobyl 25X1 Richard J Kerr Deputy Director for Intelligence Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011 08 29 CIA-RDPQOGO1359R000300050004-8 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011 08 29 CIA-RDP90G01359R000300050004-8 OFFICE OF SCIENTIFIC AND WEAPONS RESEARCH Directorate of Intelligence Central Intelligence Agency 29 July 1986 NOTE TO DDI This is the evaluation of Chernobyl collection you requested I prepared this memo with many crucial inputs from CRES Although the memo has taken longer than anticipated I literally let the smoke clear a little before drafting it From my standpoint this was the right decision I think all of us now feel better about the adequacy of our collection than we did immediately after the crises Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011 08 29 CIA-RDPQOGO1359R000300050004-8 25x1 25x1 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011 08 29 CIA-RDP90GO1359R000300050004-8 0 0 Next 1 Page s In Document Denied 2 of Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011 08 29 CIA-RDP90G01359R000300050004-8 Sanitizeq Copy Approved for Release 2011 08 29 CIA-RDP90G01359R000300050004-8 25X1 25X1 Cy of 1H 31 July 1986 MEMORANDUM FOR Director of Central Intelligence VIA Deputy Director for Intelligence FROM 25 Deputy Director of Scientific and Weapons Research 25x1 SUBJECT Collection on Chernobyl Disaster 1 Action Requested For your information only We are taking action to implement the recommendations to improve 25x1 Intelligence Community responsiveness in future crises like the Chernobyl event which we believe by and large was effective 25X1 Nevertheless we need to pursue the possibility of enhanced IR tipoff manage our collection requirements better and improve our communications with US Government agencies outside the Community on this type of 2 Background The characteristics of the Chernobyl reactor were well known before the incident The Soviets have published extensively on the RBMK and we have followed the construction of all such reactors in the Soviet Union Ironically in February the Soviets published a slick public relations article on the Chernobyl reactor ofmplex in SOVIET LIFE touting the reactors' design safety features 25X l 25x1 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011 08 29 CIA-RDP90G01359R000300050004-8 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011 08 29 CIA-RDP90G01359R000300050004-8 25x1 25X1 25X1 SUBJECT Collection on Chernobyl Disaster 25X1 u Event Reporting Our first indication-of the disaster came on Monday 28 April which indicated a possible leak of radioactive material at a Swedish facility Later Swedish authorities determined that the radioactivity was coming from the east Based on these reports the Air Force was asked to use weather data to attempt to determine the source of the radioactivity Spurred by the Swedish announcement and international concern the Soviets announced there had been an accident at the Chernobyl reactor This announcement was monitored by FBIS at about 1200 EDT on 28 April and reported This was the first report giving the location of the event 25X1 25X1 25X1 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011 08 29 25x1 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011 08 29 0 0 Next 7 Page s In Document Denied 2 90 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011 08 29 CIA-RDP90G01359R000300050004-8 Sanitizecl Copy Approved for Release 2011 08 29 Central Intelligence Agency Of ce of the Deputy Director for Intelligence 30 July 1986 NOTE TO Bob This is a good job I hate to make you redo the piece but I don't think it is necessary for the Director to approve the 25x1 actions you have recommended I would rather say that this memo is for his information and we will implement the actions outlined I would also 25x1 lead off by saying that we will take the necessary actions to implement the following and then list the three tics 25X1 o Richard J Kerr Deputy Director for Intelligence Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011 08 29 Sarltlitiz ed Copy Approved for Release 2011 08 29 2 mall In- rat- u _n - rm gum n Directorate of Intelligence Central Intelligence Agency 29 July 1986 NOTE TO DDI This is the evaluation of Chernobyl collection you requested I prepared this memo with many crucial inputs from CRES Although the memo has taken longer than anticipated I literally let the smoke clear a little before drafting it From my standpoint this was the right decision I think all of us now feel better about the adequacy of our collection than we did immediately after the crises 25X1 25X1 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011 08 29 25x1 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011 08 29 0 0 2 9e Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011 08 29 This document is from the holdings of The National Security Archive Suite 701 Gelman Library The George Washington University 2130 H Street NW Washington D C 20037 Phone 202 994-7000 Fax 202 994-7005 nsarchiv@gwu edu