IMR

The main purpose of the IMR is to create column tracks in difficult places, as well as passages in minefields for troop advancement. These powerful machines are equipped with electromagnetic attachments and mine-clearing systems; bulldozer and crane equipment; a dozer blade, mine trawl with fuses, etc. The armored body of the IMR is fully sealed and protects the crew from radiation with a reduction coefficient of 10 (modern equipment gives a factor of 1,000, and this difference was catastrophic for those who worked at Chernobyl). The vehicle also has a system for operating underwater, automatic fire extinguishing, anti-nuclear protection, and air filtration. It is equipped with a radiometer and a device for chemical reconnaissance. The typical army IMR was equipped with a Kalashnikov tank machine gun on the turret. Of course, they were removed from the machines that worked on the liquidation of the accident.

The IMRs performed the most difficult and dangerous work: they razed villages contaminated with radiation and the Red Forest, buried and leveled radioactive waste and materials, and worked at the graves. The crews of these machines received one of the highest doses of radiation, and the machines themselves were so polluted that they literally “glowed” from radiation. It all remained in the Exclusion Zone, the majority at Buryakivka. Over the years, many have been cut into scrap and sent to recycling.

This article was published in the book Interesting Chernobyl.
You could download this book in PDF file for free here.

© Sky Horse Publishing House (Kyiv) / Nahs Haus, 2019
Copying and publication of this article is possible only with the written permission of the publishing house.
Official website of the Awesome Heritage series: awesomeheritage.com

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