Highway P56

Chernobyl Reactor 4
Pripyat, Ukraine

October 7th, 2007

Mr. Jason West

President, Game Director, co-CCO, CTO, Infinity Ward
15821 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 220
Encino, California 91436

Dear Mr. West,

I’m very happy to hear about your upcoming title, Call of Duty 4, and I’m excited that you
requested my input on your in-game representation of the lovely city which I inhabit, Pripyat, Ukraine. I
haven’t been getting very much contact with others since all of my neighbours disappeared one day around
1986, so every letter I receive is greatly treasured.

902. Peer review is vitally important to the scientific process, and helps assure the accurate use of data.
The products of science are useless they are based on sound science/good science. Sound science has been
determined to be science that is peer reviewed. The Chernobyl disaster, for example, could have been
avoided with greater uses of peer review. If other professionals in the same field had checked out the safety
procedures, they could have pointed out that they were flawed. If the scientists had pooled their knowledge,
the safety procedures would have been more refined. The use of peer review did end up increasing as a
result of the accident, with nuclear scientists more often checking one anothers’ work.

906. The Chernobyl power plant was built through the power of, and to create various resources. The
acquisition of these resources grew proportionally with technological developments. Both of these,
however, came at the cost of the health of the ecosystem. By normal operation of nuclear power plants,
there is less pollution that standard power plants, creating no smoke, greenhouse gasses, or soot. However,
small mistakes can cause bigger damage in the end.
The urban areas around Chernobyl, such as Pripyat, became highly contaminated and were
evacuated immediately after the accident. Wind, rain, and traffic have mostly decreased the radiation, but
secondary contamination of the sewage then occurred. Direct deposition of radioactive iodine led to
contamination of agricultural areas around the city. Food products in nearby cities still contain high levels
of caesium- 137. Plants and animals within 30 km started mutating, anomalies in which are still observed
today. Paradoxically, however, the Zone of Alienation has become sort of a sanctuary for biodiversity,
allowing certain species to live by keeping away human interference. Additionally, surrounding of bodies
of water were initially contaminated, but are mostly safe today.

901. The scientists and workers of Chernobyl were able to learn from their mistakes with the disaster.
The importance of strict compliance with basic technical safety principles for nuclear power plants, as well
as the quality of the principles themselves was stressed after the accident. The cost of ensuring the safety of
nuclear facilities is significantly lower than that of dealing with the consequences of the accident. The scale
of the material losses and the financial cost of dealing with the disaster provides compelling evidence of the
extremely high price of errors and shortcomings when ensuring the safety of nuclear power plants. The
design of power plants in the future, in addition to the quality of the safety procedures will be higher as a
result of lessons learned from the Chernobyl disaster.

While your game does represent my city rather beautifully, I noticed some inconsistencies. There
was no representation of the red forests dyed by radiation. The town pool, Ferris wheel, and bumper cars
are far too close to one another, when in reality, they are a few kilometers apart. Your render of the
Chernobyl reactor itself was a little bare. I do like what you managed to do with the main town square of
Pripyat.

Overall, I think a few more edits should get your final product ready for sale. I wish you a
successful title launch.

Sincerely,

John
Chaves
John Chaves
Genius, Chernobyl Power Plant

Enclosure: Photographs of Pripyat