Nikolai Melnik is a former Soviet pilot

Aviator

An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...

 known for placing radiation

Radiation

In physics, radiation is a process in which energetic particles or energetic waves travel through a medium or space. There are two distinct types of radiation; ionizing and non-ionizing...

 sensor

Sensor

A sensor is a device that measures a physical quantity and converts it into a signal which can be read by an observer or by an instrument. For example, a mercury-in-glass thermometer converts the measured temperature into expansion and contraction of a liquid which can be read on a calibrated...

s at the Chernobyl

Chernobyl

Chernobyl or Chornobyl is an abandoned city in northern Ukraine, in Kiev Oblast, near the border with Belarus. The city had been the administrative centre of the Chernobyl Raion since 1932....

's Nuclear Power Plant, Reactor

Nuclear reactor

A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...

 4, after the 1986 explosion. For his work, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union

Hero of the Soviet Union

The title Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society.-Overview:...

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In 1990, the Helicopter Association International

Helicopter Association International

The Helicopter Association International is a not-for-profit professional trade association of 2,500-plus member organizations in more than 68 nations....

 awarded him with the "Salute to Excellence

Salute to Excellence

Salute to Excellence is a category of awards issued by the Helicopter Association International since 1960, "for outstanding achievements in the international helicopter community"..Salute of Excellence includes the following individual awards:...

" Igor I. Sikorsky Award for Humanitarian Service for his Chernobyl liquidator efforts..

In 1995 he moved to Alicante

Alicante

Alicante or Alacant is a city in Spain, the capital of the province of Alicante and of the comarca of Alacantí, in the south of the Valencian Community. It is also a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city of Alicante proper was 334,418, estimated , ranking as the second-largest...

, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, to be employed as a pilot and instructor for Helicopteros del Sureste

Helicópteros del Sureste

Helicópteros del Sureste is dedicated to air transport in helicopter based in Muchamiel, Alicante, Spain.Helicópteros del Sureste is currently the primary responsibility of the division "On-Shore", within the group INAER, from which serve as Emergency Medical and Civil Defense, Prevention and...

. In Spain he received a royal award for aerial firefighting

Aerial firefighting

Aerial firefighting is the use of aircraft and other aerial resources to combat wildfires. The types of aircraft used include fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. Smokejumpers and rappellers are also classified as aerial firefighters, delivered to the fire by parachute from a variety of fixed-wing...

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