CHERNOBYL REACTION | EPISODE 2

Maple's first time watching Chernobyl in a reaction.
Episode 2 Please Remain Calm
Full Reaction Here:
/ diegesischad
Maple's Instagram:
/ mapledivine
#Reaction #Chernobyl #Episode2

[@Krustenkaese92]

This show isn't about how nuclear reactors are bad. It's a show about the reaction of a corrupt government to a disaster trying to preserve an illusion of supremacy. All things considered nuclear power is one of the safest and most reliable sources of energy we have. Even the RBMK reactors that blew up in Chernobyl worked for years despite their huge design flaws and they had to be pushed to the absolute edge by human malpractice in order to malfunction like this.

[@mattd4636]

This. On the contrary, if reactors are managed CORRECTLY, they're actually a pretty green source of energy.

[@philshorten3221]

The show is about Lies. Although set in the former 1980's USSR it is perhaps just as applicable here today in the West. USA Lies about Covid19, lies about Vaccine and even Lies about the recent Presidential Election all cost real peoples lives.

[@shag139]

This!

[@randomdude8202]

People run reactors. People decide how to run them, people maintain them. So no matter how advanced your reactor is, if people decide those measures are too expensive to run, they wont have any advantage over "unprotected" reactors. And you would be greatly mistaken if you think this wouldnt happen in US. Especially after we saw how US handled covid. So your first and last line of defence against an accident is people.

[@paulhewes7333]

the problem is that there will ALWAYS be human malpractice. Maybe for greed, or for spite. Maybe for sheer ignorance. It doesnt matter WHY people screw things up, only that we do. We always do. While its okay for us to break things, its how we learn, Nuclear reactors cannot be something we mess around with, because we break things. Nuclear reactors have small margins for errors and the effects of problems could potentially render huge chunks of the world uninhabitable for 100s of years and spread dangerous poison across the globe. So it better to avoid hugely complex devices that require constant upkeep to maintain safety. Sooner or later human nature will kick in, and training will be lax, or parts back ordered, or minor details in designs will be wrong or some operator at a plant will have a bad day or some supervisor will skim off the budget, and on and on and on...

[@deathninja16]

ive worked in nuclear plants for the past 7 years they're some of the safest, most reliable and cleanest sources of energy we have access to. The russian rbmk reactor had a massive flaw in its design. which no nuclear plant would ever allow to occur to this day. the walls around the containment buildings are literally over 40ft thick in some places. its insanity.

[@sliceofheaven3026]

While western nuclear plants are safer than the Soviet union era nuclear plants it doesnt mean that some accidents didnt also happen in the west. For example three mile island is a perfect example of a cover up from the company that was in charge of that particular nuclear power plant. There was also a few years back the japanese Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. There is always room for human error or cost saving measures from companies that are in charge of those power plants or just the nature itself in regards to earthquakes, tsunamis and so on.

[@gajustempus]

taking in regard all it takes is a chain of bad events to cause a catastrophe that leaves severel dozen square kilometers around uninhabitable for several CENTURIES is not what I'd call "safe". And if you take in regard how DAMN MUCH work you need to put into said thing to keep it as safe a possible to prevent this catastrophe from happening makes it anything but not affordable. Those are the two main reasons why, worldwide, the number of nuclear plants is DECEASING since the 1980s. They're nothing but overly-expensive death traps, no matter how much you try to glorify them.

[@nt78stonewobble]

@@sliceofheaven3026 "While western nuclear plants are safer than the Soviet union era nuclear plants it doesnt mean that some accidents didnt also happen in the west. For example three mile island is a perfect example of a cover up from the company that was in charge of that particular nuclear power plant. There was also a few years back the japanese Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. There is always room for human error or cost saving measures from companies that are in charge of those power plants or just the nature itself in regards to earthquakes, tsunamis and so on." Just for the record: It's estimated that statistically speaking 1 extra person might have gotten cancer from 3 mile island. Out of hundreds of thousands of naturally occurring cancers, 1 extra might have happened. Regarding Fukushima... 1 person died and a few more might, at some point get cancer. The earth quake and tsunami killed 19,747 people and injured another 6,242 and left 2,556 people missing and yet... all people talk about is the nuclear power plant. The one that blew up a little, but not the other nuclear power plant that was closer to the earthquake and successfully withstood an even higher tsunami. People don't know about the last one. ... The UN estimated at some point that Global warming was gonna cost 5,000,000 lives a year from the year 2025-2050. That's the equivalent of 15,625 Chernobyl accidents or around 125,000,000 three mile island or fukushima daiichi nuclear disasters. I know what I'd rather have. But of course... that's too late now... If the UN report is correct, we have already killed 125 million people, by not going nuclear sooner. Btw. that's around 21 times worse than the holocaust... nobody noticed and nobody cared, but thank god we stopped that nuclear power, right?

[@nt78stonewobble]

@@gajustempus "taking in regard all it takes is a chain of bad events to cause a catastrophe that leaves severel dozen square kilometers around uninhabitable for several CENTURIES is not what I'd call "safe". And if you take in regard how DAMN MUCH work you need to put into said thing to keep it as safe a possible to prevent this catastrophe from happening makes it anything but not affordable. Those are the two main reasons why, worldwide, the number of nuclear plants is DECEASING since the 1980s. They're nothing but overly-expensive death traps, no matter how much you try to glorify them." Just for the record: It's estimated that statistically speaking 1 extra person might have gotten cancer from 3 mile island. Out of hundreds of thousands of naturally occurring cancers, 1 extra might have happened. Regarding Fukushima... 1 person died and a few more might, at some point get cancer. The earth quake and tsunami killed 19,747 people and injured another 6,242 and left 2,556 people missing and yet... all people talk about is the nuclear power plant. The one that blew up a little, but not the other nuclear power plant that was closer to the earthquake and successfully withstood an even higher tsunami. People don't know about the last one. ... The UN estimated at some point that Global warming was gonna cost 5,000,000 lives a year from the year 2025-2050. That's the equivalent of 15,625 Chernobyl accidents or around 125,000,000 three mile island or fukushima daiichi nuclear disasters. I know what I'd rather have. But of course... that's too late now... If the UN report is correct, we have already killed 125 million people, by not going nuclear sooner. Btw. that's around 21 times worse than the holocaust... nobody noticed and nobody cared, but thank god we stopped that nuclear power, right?

[@shag139]

@@sliceofheaven3026 what cover up at TMI? Human error interpreting bad sensor date led to a partial meltdown and a release of very short half life radiation that had no impact on the region by any reputable study from the govt or many universities over decades. TMI was used by the anti-nuclear greens to try and destroy nuclear power.

[@fallofcamelot]

This show is less about the accident and more about the struggles of those responding to the accident. It's about how corrupt and totalitarian regimes get in the way of what must be done. The problem here wasn't nuclear power, the problem was the USSR.

[@chillichokerpepperbelly900]

🎯💯

[@wackyvorlon]

Absolutely. Chernobyl was the product of negligence at all levels, including operation and the initial reactor design.

[@Basih]

@@wackyvorlon To be fair, if the KGB wouldn't have tried to conceal reports that explained the risk of RBMK 10 years prior the accident never would've happened. But maybe it was a blessing in disguise, many say that this accident was the true reason for the collapse of the USSR.

[@douglascampbell9809]

Maple Western reactors are constructed vastly different from the reactors the Soviets built. They have far more safeguards and safety measures. Also you nuclear power plant number is incorrect. In the US Navy all submarines and aircraft carriers are nuclear-powered. Current the US Navy has about 90 nuclear-powered vessels. Since they started using them they have accumulated over 5,400 reactor years of operation and 128,000,000 miles safely steamed.

[@WolfPlaysGames2]

Even old western reactor designs are far safer than anything the Soviets built. When Fukushima melted down in 2011 due to a natural disaster, it was a worst-case scenario. Fukushima was 40 years old and got hit by a massive tsunami, wiping out the power to the cooling systems. 3 nuclear reactors melted down.... but the containment systems limited the radiation release. No one died from the immediate aftermath and only 1 cancer death has been attributed to the meltdown. About 22,000 died from the tsunami itself. The newest reactor designs are even safer. They won't melt down, even if there is no cooling.

[@malcomflibbleghast8140]

erm japan.?.......every reactor is vulnerable to extreme conditions

[@davebcf1231]

@@malcomflibbleghast8140 erm..Fukushima was built on the shore in an area known to be one of the most seismically active on Earth. Poor planning by humans in one case doesn't have anything to do with any other reactor.

[@malcomflibbleghast8140]

@@davebcf1231 BOLLOX you muppet. ALL reactors are vulnerable to accidents or attacks. asteroids, nuke strikes, tsunamis etc. nothing is 100% safe.

[@carkawalakhatulistiwa]

That's why no one wants to make watching okay again because it's very expensive because there's a lot of security that has to be fulfilled

[@escarfangorn]

As I watched this series I was telling everyone around, that this will be misunderstood by all people who don't know anything about nuclear energy and types of nuclear reactors. I was also worried that the impact of this series will be detrimental to restoring nuclear programs around the world at the moment when they are BADLY needed to save us from global climate catastrophe. Reactions of this woman here prove my worst fears. Even as I'm writing these words in Germany reactors are being closed down due to political decisions which have nothing to do with facts. We're screwed as a species. :/ Planet will be fine. It will recover. Our civilization however... is going down the drain. Don't get me wrong. The series was EXCELLENT. I loved it. It is just that people don't have the slightest clue about nuclear energy and most couldn't explain the difference between a typical PWR vs RBMK reactor or what a positive void coefficient means. :/ Decisions are made by politicians, who often know even less and are dictated by the vote of the uninformed population. ... We're screwed. :/

[@nt78stonewobble]

I remember a UN report estimating that climate change effects could potentially start killing up to 5,000,000 people every year from the year 2025 to 2050. That's worse than 15,625 chernobyl sized nuclear accidents. Great show, but it did misrepresent.

[@escarfangorn]

@@nt78stonewobble Even more now will start suffer from hunger, especially with Putin's war in Ukraine + climate change. There will be food shortages sooner then expected.

[@bradleyd6000]

Well if they allowed the use of nuclear power how would they be able to sell the lie of 'global climate catastrophe', as you put it, to people such as yourself? They have been pushing this agenda for over half a century and saying if we don't do this or that in 10 to 20 years it will be the end of the world, and yet here we are. Funny how the climate models are always wrong. Haven't you ever wondered why politicians always seem to undermine everything they say we need to do to fix 'climate change'? Why would they do that if it was as bad as they say? Ever stop to consider it's a tactic they use to gain even more power, control and money. Just give us more control over your life and do what we tell you without question and everything will be alright. Your just an uneducated peasant and we know best. This isn't to say we shouldn't be good stewards to the planet and care about the environment, but politicians are masters at creating fear. It's the most effective weapon, and honestly the only weapon they have and will use it for their own selfish benefit.

[@nemanjap8768]

​@@escarfangorn I mean I had your back until you said putins war in Ukraine. I guess you aren't as informed as I thought

[@escarfangorn]

@@nemanjap8768 Who's war is it? :D

[@plastic_vicar]

The fact that Maple didn't know if there were nuclear reactors in the USA should speak to their relative safety. You only hear about the accidents like Chernobyl and Fukushima. The fact that the worst the States had was Three Mile Island should say a lot.

[@Balnazzardi]

@Gerald H And the matter of fact that more people in our history have died directly/indirectly because of fossil fuels and all the problems they have caused, are causing and will cause is all I need to for my argument that we need to replace fossil fuels as quickly as possible with nuclear energy.

[@Balnazzardi]

@Gerald H the problem is that if you think we can possibly solve this issue with green energy alone, I think you are being naive. Yes it would be preferable ofc but im being realistic about this matter. We don't have the luxury of time to wait something thats better opinion than nuclear fission atm. I wish we had but time is not on our side and im not suggesting that we should rely on nuclear power alone but we need it if we want to get rid of fossil fuels in energy and electricity production quicker

[@albertocruzado2899]

​@@Nulli_DiLets ignore ans substitute a type of energy extraordinary efficient that we know it works with a pipe dream one. The batteries of those windmills are alone more contaminant than a nuclear plant, producing little more than a fraction of the energy and moral self-satisfaction.

[@Tinman452]

Important point to make about nuclear energy. So far to date, the chernobyl disaster and all other disasters have caused fewer deaths than fosil fuel reactors. Air polution currently is attributed to over 4 million deaths per year (yes you read that right). Nuclear is safer, more reliable, more long lasting and more scaleable. Viva the nuclear revolution.

[@neko77025]

AMEN

[@imLdub]

preach. nuclear is the way

[@dgrmn12345]

One inch of a uranium pellet used in a nuclear power plant is equal to around 17,000cubic feet of natural gas, 1,000 tons of coal, and 120 gallons of oil. The rewards outweigh the risk and we have learned much after chernobyl. Nuclear power is the future. Moreso than solar and wind power.

[@dsembr]

While your deaths per year is higher than numbers I've seen, the point is a good one. More people die in one year as a result of the use of fossil fuels than have ever died as a result of nuclear energy. This show isn't a condemnation of nuclear energy any more than "Titanic" was a condemnation of sea travel. It was a horrible scenario caused and exacerbated by men with dubious politics, but the worst case scenario was avoided by those who did what they could in a bad situation.

[@bidonbidon7463]

Do you agree to distribute nuclear reactors to whoever asks for them? Why is there a problem with Iran?

[@dukerollo1116]

Nuclear reactors actually are pretty safe. All the incidents thatve happened chernobyl, 3 mile island were because of human error not the nuclear energy and Fukushima wad because of of an earthquake and tsunami hit the plant very close together. Theve been made even safer since

[@phil_5430]

Not to forget: there was so much corruption involved at building Chernobyl where so many safety standards have been ignored

[@dukerollo1116]

@@phil_5430 interesting i did know that

[@ciberzombiegaming8207]

and how powerful was that earthquake? the 4th most powerful in world since 1900s. now add very a powerful tsunami right after it.

[@dukerollo1116]

@@ciberzombiegaming8207 exactly

[@juggis]

Fukushima incident involved also gross negligence of safety practices.

[@Raphael11001]

Just to ease Maple's anxiety a bit, a lot needs to go wrong for a nuclear reactor to explode. And by a lot I mean A LOT. Many compound mistakes at different levels. I won't say more because they will touch on it later. But you can tell from these 2 episodes that they thought it was impossible for a RBMK reactor to explode. Another aspect that we've already seen this far is that they put politics above truth and science. Their main concern was containing the spread of ("dis")information, and projecting the image of control. Historically speaking, Chernobyl was the biggest nuclear disaster we ever had. There were 2 more worth mentioning, Three Mile Island in the US (just a jump scare, no radioactivity was released), and more recently Fukushima in Japan (1 death attributed to radioactivity) where an outdated power plant was hit by an earthquake followed by a tsunami.

[@hoshinoutaite]

And it was one mother of an Earthquake. The Tsunami was no joke, either. Fukushima was also a perfect storm, of the outdated emergency facilities, the earthquake damaging them severely enough, that when the tsunami hit, there was no real way to do much about things.

[@skipperg4436]

@@hoshinoutaite there was a lot what could be done, but plant management hesitated for some reason... They had several days to ask for help but they didn't... Sounds awfully like how Chernobyl was handled by the Soviets at first, doesn't it? Anyway, after Fukushima new procedures were set in place to ensure that Fukushima-like scenario can not happen again.

[@skipperg4436]

All 3 men who went into flooded zone survived. Baranov died in 2005 from heart failure (unrelated to radiation), other 2 are still alive. Turned out the danger was overestimated (or rather water protected them better than it was assumed). They were hospitalized of course, but they recovered. Water is very good at protecting from radiation.

[@terrylindholm3669]

Still, the balls on those men!

[@pardox28]

Make sure to provide Maple an entire box of tissues for episode 4.

[@MuchKoku]

It only gets worse from here.

[@UraStr]

yeah, when she said" oh no not the dog," I already started feeling sorry for her...

[@steveswafen2528]

@@UraStr I said out loud "oh noooooo" when Maple mentioned the dog 😰

[@phil_5430]

Lmao dude I think it will be better for her mental health to just not watch it at all 😄

[@steveswafen2528]

@@phil_5430 True for sure though will make one helluva reaction 🍿🤭

[@travisbounds4746]

I live in the state with the most reactors. modern reactors are super safe, and the new gen IV reactors are basically melt down proof

[@TheMuffin18]

As long as common maintenance is performed. Davis-Besse here in Ohio has had numerous issues with a few that may have potentially caused a meltdown. On top of that it was supposed to be decommissioned in 2019 but it didn't happen because of a Bill that was passed... That was part of a corruption scheme involving First Energy who runs the facility. What I'm saying is that despite the technology being sound, you cannot depend on the people that actually run it to do what is necessary.

[@travisbounds4746]

@@TheMuffin18 Sure, we have a small issue with a leak several decades ago at one of our plants in Lesalle Illinois. but the New Sodium/Thorium reactors dont have as much waste and are generally way safer

[@wackyvorlon]

I also want to point out that the energy density of uranium is enormous, so nuclear reactors produce a microscopic amount of waste compared to other technologies.

[@justinmcgough3958]

Oh my goodness. There's nothing to be worried about with modern reactors. The technology and procedures have changes so much since Chernobyl. Though reactors are still worked on by people, the amount of automation put into them basically ensure situations like these don't happen. You basically need worst case scenarios like with Japan where they got pounded by a natural disaster. Compare this to how much damage has been done to the world from mining and oil spills and the amount of people who've gotten cancer from breathing in coal stack fumes or shipping liner exhaust. Nuclear power is quite safe, it produces a load of power, and it's so much cleaner.

[@Reblwitoutacause]

Copmare

[@justinmcgough3958]

@Gerald H That could be said about everything. The importance is to always innovate more safety measures so that the effect of human error can be minimized. Nuclear power, whether it be fission or fusion, is the future. It can't be ignored with the ever increasing demand for energy. Possibly solar could be an alternative as that evolves but battery tech REALLY needs to be improved. Can't depend on rare earth metals for that forever.

[@TTM9691]

I actually got chills all over again when he makes that "it must be done" speech. Maple is a great reactor for this, I'm feeling her stress. Unfortunately this series is pretty relentless.

[@patrickholt2270]

I've been in a situation where I had to do something awful a couple of times, and that was exactly my thought process. It has to be done and no-one else is going to do it. I'm here in the shirt and it has to be me. It doesn't matter if it's cleaning up shit or telling people bad news or throwing your life away.

[@TTM9691]

@@patrickholt2270 I'm happy you're ok, Patrick.

[@nemanjap8768]

Great reaction but completely wrong ones , her natural instinct is why humans are as easily scared and manipulated.

[@tokyosmash]

You missed one of the single best moments in this show, when he is reading the report and you can see when Jared Harris figures out what is actually going on and looks TERRIFIED

[@Sinewmire]

Jared Harris is everywhere just lately, and I love it. He's great in everything.

[@electronash]

2:27 The fireman's clothes and boots are STILL in the hospital basement, and still quite radioactive to this very day. The radiation at the time would have been much much higher, though. Some of the isotopes from the reactor had a relatively short half-life, so the radiation from those elements died out within weeks, months, or years. You still wouldn't want to get contaminated by those clothes, though. The problem is, even if you were to breathe in one microscopic speck of fuel, it can massively increase your risk of cancer later in life.

[@shag139]

Oh boy….”Do we have a nuclear plant in America?” Bless her heart meant in the nicest way. Can’t really say much else without spoiling so will wait.

[@itzibitzi7611]

How is this not common knowledge? Again, bless her heart....

[@shag139]

@@itzibitzi7611 in fairness they grew up with way more distractions than I did. I remember when cable TV first came out and HBO had one movie at 8pm on Monday nite. No cell phones, no internet, no social media, and 4 channels on TV if you count PBS and it can be hard to miss stuff in news. Also read more books because fewer distractions.

[@s1lm4r1l6]

There's a statue to the people who helped clean up the accident, including the men who pumped out the tanks. The inscription reads: "To those who saved the world."

[@abohawk1]

She doesn’t know about US nuclear power, but she knows what a spirit box sounds like…I find that amusing.

[@robertjames8220]

Maple, watching your reactions to this has been... well, somewhat difficult. You didn't know that we've had nuclear plants in the US for decades. You didn't know that there are have been other nuclear disasters -- including one in our country, at Three Mile Island. There's so much you didn't know, because we didn't teach you. I'm a historian as a hobby, and what I've learned in the nearly 40 years since I left school has dwarfed what they taught me formally. And I am so sorry that we didn't do a better job in demanding that you be taught these things, important things from history. But I am glad that you're seeing some of these things now, and I hope it will light a curiosity in you, to see out more history. There's a lot out there, a lot of it isn't so anxiety-inducing, I promise.

[@mattybob12310]

Contrary to popular belief and hysteria, Nuclear Reactors are actually one of the safest forms of Energy. It takes an awful lot of incompetence for something like Chernobyl to happen. Think how many people breath air contaminated from fossil fuel smog every day, and the health problems that come with it.

[@UNSCSpartan043]

On a side note if I remember right the 3 volunteers that went in to open the valve actually all survived and went on to live a full life. It's about contamination from radioactive materials and not just radiation itself. You can be exposed to various levels of radiation for various amounts of time and more or less be fine but if you come in contact with and absorb or ingest/breath those radioactive materials then you are now carryng those radioactive materials with you for potentially a very long time and you are getting a constant dose of radiation even after you have left the area. This is why you wear protective suits and masks when going into radioactive areas. Because you can take those suits and stuff off with the intent of leaving any material you may have gotten on you behind with the suit instead of taking it with you.

[@mpfiveO]

But none of our U.S. reactors are the ancient RBMK type that failed at Chernobyl. For one, they all have Containment Buildings over the core, unlike Chernobyl

[@wackyvorlon]

They also don’t use graphite as the moderator. They’re infinitely safer.

[@carkawalakhatulistiwa]

America once had a reaction like Chernobyl and even an accident occurred in 1946. But because the reactor was small, it exploded, it didn't destroy the building. unlike the rbmk reactor which can produce 1500 mw of electricity which is bigger than the average nuclear reactor

[@Jck06]

18:49 fun fact 2 of them life to this day

[@DavidMacDowellBlue]

10:15 If he had told the truth, he would be arrested within an hour or two, and vanish. 14:09 Brace yourself for Episode Four. Maybe, with a stiff drink? 19:19 They did and did not. The many thousands who worked on cleaning up after the disaster received a lot of praise, even memorial statues and benefits as well as medical care. Over time, that petered off.

[@BlueSunHiredGun]

Yeah... episode four... oof

[@rask004]

8:45 Unlike Soviet reactors, those 80-something reactors have containment buildings. One could explode and everything will be contained inside the building. No significant release of radiation, significant enough to affect life expectancy or raise risk of cancer. You could even fly several jetliners into one and it would stay standing, pardon the example. Another, very important matter: those reactors generate a lot of power, without impacting the environment. If they are shutdown, what power generators will replace them? Solar, wind and water would need huge amounts of land space for enough plants to generate the same amount of power. The closest thing is oil and coal, and both is very polluting, and kills far more people in its cycle of mining, generation, and any waste products produced, than nuclear does. This may sound wrong ("surely stopping nuclear power is good?") but when you look at the full details of the big picture, this is the truth. One can understand fear around nuclear power from events like Chernobyl, or other events like Fukushima and Three Mile Island. But Chernobyl was foremost a problem of incompetence, complete recklessness and iregard for safety by the personnel, and dangerous design flaws covered up by a totalitarian bureaucracy. Other disasters like Three Mile Island and Fukushima, may have had poor handling or poor design but in each case the respective peoples have learned from the mistakes. Again, go to Kyle Hill's channel for more, accurate, information about nuclear power today.

[@JarlStaubhold]

I live in germany (Berlin) and was 11 years old when the Chernobyl disaster happend. It was a scary time back then. They warnend us in the weather report of wind blowing from Chernobyl or rain... The new on TV, newspaper, radio... everything was talking about radioactivity and nuclear fallout. I still can remember that time.

[@kayliibensen387]

Nuclear power is one of the safest forms of power generation available to us as a species. We really should be investing in many more modern reactors so we can get the majority of our base load usage out of the realm of fossil fuels. Climate change based disasters are surpassing the damages that were caused by Chernobyl. We are doing to little to mitigate anything.

[@SMenkveld]

General Pikaylov, "Then I'll do it myself" guy, was a survivor of the Battle of Stalingrad in WWII, and was awarded Hero of the Soviet Union. (The equivalent of the Medal of Honor.) A stupendous, brass-balled badass.

[@whereisCarmenSandiego]

The dog running after the bus got me, After my son died 7 years ago I found myself in a deep depression and very s*icidal. Few months later, after trying everything she could think of to help me feel better, my mother showed up one day with a miniature pinscher puppy for me. I named him Hans. At first I was just sort of numb and indifferent towards him. Within a few weeks, he stole my entire heart. He is a little over 6 years old now and we both get separation anxiety if we are apart for more than a couple hours. I work from home and he sits on my desk beside my computer and naps while I work. He’s just a little squirt, only 8 pounds fully grown. But his heart is MIGHTY. I honestly don’t think I would still be alive if it weren’t for him. Moral of my story is, I would make them kill me before I left him behind. My only regret when it comes to my dog, is that he never got to meet my son. I still cry every single morning when I wake up without my son in this world, but my little Hans is always there to give me love ❤

[@MiketheratguyMultimedia]

Hey Maple, you need to check out "The Terror", at least the first season. It's a standalone 10 episodes telling a semi-fictionalized story of a doomed ship that got stuck in the arctic and lost its crew to....something. I mention it because it's how I first discovered Jared Harris, excellent here as Professor Legasov, and who was equally excellent in a leading role in The Terror.

[@rafaelrosario5331]

One difference the US reactors have are the containment buildings which Chernobyl did not have.

[@ScarriorIII]

The giant stacks you see in US reactors, yes. Funny how the Communist ones don't.

[@Jargolf86]

The Clothes of the Firefighters still lay in that Basement, to this Day... still heavy radioactive.

[@UraStr]

13:50 "no not the dog" oh man I feel sorry for her, she has another thing coming (she won't be able to watch ep.4)...and yes it happened like this. Some stuff got changed a little bit, like the helicopter crash happened later in the timeline, but you can find actual footage of it on youtube and it's almost identical. The call to the fireman in the first episode, is the actual call that have been made...also in soviet union they build many cities with one blueprint, so they got the footage of the city in sister city, which is obviously not contaminated, same goes for the plant, there are many of these plants and they got the footage in an identical not contaminated plant...also funny fact 3 guys who went into the water all survived to live a long life, that just shows you how radiation works, it's the ultimate game of chance, they had really bad odds but they all made it...(also the duration of contact is very relevant, as you will see in the 4th episode, when they go even to the most contaminated place as long as they stay there for few second it's not instant death sentences)

[@shag139]

The helicopter hit a crane cable didn’t it?

[@UraStr]

@@shag139 it did

[@jeremybr2020]

9:42 "It's my decision to make." "Then make it." "I've been told not to." lol That cracks me up every time I hear it.

[@feartheolivebread]

The reason he lied to those people at the bar is probably because he was worried they may have been KGB (which is a pretty good chance) Had he told the truth, he would have been arrested for treason

[@jayman58016]

Still don't know how that general sat in the truck with his enormous brass balls

[@TheMidwesternViking]

My GF parents are coming from Dytyatky just a bit south of the zone...she lost her due to cancers, she really didn't know him for she was just a baby, but she thinks her dad may have been one of the hundreds of "liquidators" that where called or drafted into service during the disaster. Cool if he was he's a hero if not still a good man that did his best to the very end.

[@captainz9]

The 3 men who went in to swim in and open the valve to pump out the water actually all survived - water is actually a quite good radiation shield. One died in the 2000s from heart issues but the other two I believe are still alive... Although I'm sure everyone involved probably has an increased risk of cancer.

[@jcr9520]

The fire fighters’ clothes are all still in a pile on the floor of the hospital, right where they were dropped and they are still dangerously radioactive; especially their boots.

[@Not-Impressed..1821]

It appears that the real Anatoly Dyatlov, the chief engineer of Chernobyl, was actually a nice guy. He was firm but always respectful to his co-workers. Unlike the series, the control room of the powerplant was pretty quiet and calm. And ultimately, the explosion was not his fault.

[@BaCKouR]

you´re right but someone has to take the blame and it´s easier to blame a single person than a government itself. He had the misfortune to be in charge of that nuclear plant.

[@gunwolfalpha]

nuclear power is actually quiet safe. unlike the ones in Russia (at the time), US nuclear power plants have a bunch of fail safes. Chernobyl was caused by human error and a design flaw. also soviet politics did help the situation ether.

[@jasontodd8296]

Three Mile Island accident in the US. But the issue is always the same: human corruption. In the USSR it was the corruption of not acknowledging that the original design was flawed and needed correction, in Fukushima it was the corruption to allow a power plant to be build in a tsunami zone.

[@PUARockstar]

USSR isn't russia.

[@TheTaintedWisdom]

Computer report: "Subject 'Diegesis' had a vocal response to stimuli applied at 13:54 - 14:08. A significant emotional weakness has been uncovered and will likely be pushed to the breaking point in Ep. 4. We recommend that commenters be deployed to warn the subject to stock up on tissues but not directly spoil it for maximum dread and the best reaction content possible when she suffers." The KZbin Overmind Algorithm: "Proceed..."

[@kyleromus6845]

US nuclear power is very safe, stable, and clean. Quite a few environmental problems could be solved if people weren't so afraid of the word "nuclear"

[@IMFLordVader]

I remember this even I was just 2 years old. I remember my grandmother called my mother not to let me play outside. Greetings from Germany

[@TheLuc224]

Btw I am a german. I am 25 years old and my dad still told me about certain areas where they couldn't pick mushrooms because of this accident. It actually was a big thing here. I am bot sure how the situation is right now. I think its still contaminated but I dont think it would be more dangerous than being a smoker. For refference. Being a smoker is much more dangerious than being in chernobyl right now. As long as you breathe no particles in

[@electronash]

10:52 A helicopter really did crash at the site like that. I think it did hit the wire on the crane as well. There is footage of the real accident.

[@maryohara6192]

This nearly happened here in the late 70s read about 3 mile island in PA.

[@MaskHysteria]

Maple: "Not the dog!" Me: "Oh shit, Episode 4"

[@NialasDubh]

2:28 That pile of irradiated clothes is still there, 36 years later. You still can't touch them.

[@markkettlewell7441]

Don’t worry the RBMK reactors are not used in the U.S. The U.S. uses high pressure water reactors. The water is the moderator. Without water the reactor shuts down. By shutting down it is no longer reactive and is relatively safe. But unlike the RBMK reactor the high pressure water reactor is encased in 15 ft thick concrete casing to protect the outside world. The RBMK has no such shielding and is a disaster waiting to happen. Secondly the RBMK reactor uses graphite as a secondary moderator ( a moderator is used to slow down neutrons to increase fission, along with water). This is the flaw. The control rods made of boron used to slow a reactor are tipped with graphite. So an insertion of the rods partially can cause a meltdown in the core. The steam pressure builds up and eventually blows off the top of the reactor. They allowed the reactor to become unstable at lower temperatures and then they inserted the graphite tipped rods. The result was to throw the reactor into a supercritical state, it burned off the xenon which was poisoning the reactor and the steam was placed under even more pressure as the reactor got hotter. By this time there was nothing that could be done. The core melted and the control rods could not be inserted any further. The heat built up and as the pressure overcame the containment, it exploded. It was not a fission explosion which we see in a nuclear bomb but a steam reaction. Blowing off the biological shield exposed the core to the atmosphere and radioactive nuclides were expelled into the atmosphere. This is the smoke.

[@jeremybr2020]

14:04 "The dog is where it gets me." Uh oh.......

[@Jon-yn4pq]

8:42 nuclear power has the lowest deaths per kilowatt hour out of any other energy source, including solar, wind, and hydroelectric.

[@benwhite8863]

8:57 And that is about how far down the research path the public goes.

[@icarus_falling]

theres massive differences between modern plants and the old soviet ones. especially western ones. chernobyl stirred up alot of anti nuclear feeling but it shouldnt because nuclear is he only way to stop burning coal and stopping global warming. renewables will never produce enough

[@justinmcgough3958]

They potentially can, at least with curent demands, but the problem is the majority of renewable energy comes from solar and that only works half the day. We really need to inovate better batteries.

[@douglascampbell9809]

Poor Maple.. This will be so entertaining. (sorry Maple)

[@chrophechrophe9071]

IN the end. The radiation was so strong, that it knocked out the flashlights. During the first days in Pripyat, the town nearby, some people filmed home movies and when the rescue workers arrived without people knowing what was going on, people started noticiing. Some people took out their Super 8 mm cameras. Digital camcorders like they were available in the west, weren´t available in the Soviet union. So when people started shooting with the Super 8 mm all the unusual things that went on the films inside the cameras started reacting to the heavy radiation. So the home movies from that time were full of strange changes to the emulsion causing the images to flash and flicker. The radiation was so intense that it offset effects on people´s home movies. This whole story and the fact that the world was hanging by a thread. If that explosion in the water tank would have happened the whole continent of Europe and and then Eurasia, America, South America and Austraila eventually would have become totally contaminated in time. Because the first reactor block,that blew, block 4 gave off two Hiroshima bombs worth of radiation per per hour. Chernobyl had a total of four reactors of the same design as the first, so had the water in the water tanks vaporised, and that larger explosion would have happened clearing 30 kilometres in the blast, the amount of radiation spread from the Chernobyl site would have never been stopped. Ever. The amount of men and personell to organize all that would have made it impossible to deal with. In the episode when they found it was 15 000 roentgen giving off two HIroshima bombs worth of radiation evey hour, with four reactors instead of just one, there would have, been 8 Hiroshima bombs worth of radiation per hour. Hour after hour. 192 bombs after 24 hours, or 70 080 bombs in one year. 700 800 bombs in ten years. etc etc. It would have been the end of the world. It would have been the end of all life on this planet. Everything would have died.

[@BrahmaDBA]

The Chernobyl disaster is like the Jaws for Shark.

[@lcbonastre2418]

Trilogy The Hobbit Extended Edition Of The Adventures Of Bilbo Baggin: (1) An Unexpected Journey Extended Edition (2) The Desolation Of Smaug Extended Edition (3) The Battle Five Armie Extended Edition

[@markkettlewell7441]

Strangely enough the folk that volunteered to go and turn on the sluice gates survived.

[@Yevgeniy-UA]

There is a memorial/monument in Chernobyl called "Monument to Those Who Saved the World"

[@matthewgreen6652]

If she got sad from just a dog chasing a bus then… Yikes

[@kentbarnes1955]

US Reactors are an entirely different design and not subject to the mistakes that were made at Chernobyl. I've been to many of our plants. My specialty at the time was Control Room design...specifically something called Human Factors Engineering...to as much as possible design the control systems to minimize human error. We have the best operators in the world...I have seen this first hand. Something this series really captures is how much the Soviet government tried to cover up the disaster.

[@hoshinoutaite]

The TV broadcast in Russian was the actual recording of what was broadcast. And that is the ONLY thing they had broadcast. It was the first time they acknowledged the incident had even occured.

[@mutanix]

I have seen Chernobyl 3 times. I know what to expect. My stomach still gets tight and my pulse quickens. Nothing I have ever seen is as riveting and stressful as this docu-drama.

[@FlynnMcTaggart]

>"Are there nuclear power plants in the US?" Oh my good God, this is the equivalent of that one girl on TikTok going "I don't understand, if your homeless, why can't you just buy a house?"

[@DakkTribal]

Wanna know some good news? Those three men who went in? They all survived, and last I checked two are still alive

[@Diegesis]

Yeah they bring it up at the end of ep 5

[@killerkram1337]

"not the dog!" *takes shot of vodka*

[@gaborkiss650]

"Our power comes from the perception of our power." True to this day.

[@bruce_on_the_loose]

the hospital where all the clothes were dumped, the clothes are stil there today

[@Pork-Chop-Express]

US reactors (PWRs) have about as much in common with Soviet era RBMKs as a Prius has with a Ford F450. Many similarities but MANY fundamental differences. Episode 5 SHOULD answer a lot of your questions. US reactors (as per the NRC) have Containment Domes (Chernobyl didn't). We have highly enriched Uranium (Chernobyl didn't). We generate steam in steam generators (Chernobyl didn't). We use hafnium control rods (Chernobyl didn't).

[@YolandaAnneBrown95726]

I enjoyed Pop Rocks when I was a kid. So awesome. Glad to see you getting deeper into Chernobyl. Just pure horror.

[@normanroscher7545]

04:55 - "Do we have a nuclear plant in America? ... Oh my god, there are so many!" Wait until she finds out about Three Mile Island! 😝

[@JohnnyC01]

Yes, it actually did happen like this. Also the helicopter crash but on a later stage.

[@oldgreggsmadmemes4431]

Nuclear reactors are actually extremely safe especially thorium reactors, there much safer cleaner and stronger then most power supplys

[@scalefree]

radioactivity plays hell with electronics, especially close up.

[@mikeymike42]

Oof. "Not the dog" in episode 2, sis is in for a rough ride

[@thecanadianchurchill4080]

In Toronto last year an amber alert cam on at 9:00 in the morning of the Pickering nukealr power plant was about to explode it was just a fulsealrm I live in Toronto and near the power plant

[@Diegesis]

hmm amber alerts in america are missing children

[@steveswafen2528]

Maple was all of us watching this for the first time with the constant wtf range of emotions. Politicians gonna politician 💯

[@JuanJohnSmith]

To help make you feel better and calm about nuclear power. What happened at Chernobyl, only happened because of all that could go wrong, did go wrong and of poor high management. It will all be explained in detail in the last episode. As for high management, the old Russian USSR had a mentality that everyone is the same and no one is smarter than the other. So anyone could have a top important jobs as you see in this episode and the last the managers of the power plant had no idea, education or qualifications what they were doing witch lead to this disaster.

[@darrenobayashi6528]

The US had its own nuclear accident, Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania. Check out “The China Syndrome” -1979. When I watched it as a kid, it freaked me out, and it wasn’t even a full blown meltdown!

[@michaelshort2388]

the clothes they took from the people and dumped are all still in the same spot they were dumped and they are still reactive to this day.

[@dumahim]

Pop Rocks? Nice. Couple years ago I ordered a box from Amazon. I think it had like 4-5 packs from 8 different flavors. Good times.

[@sammich7141]

You will be happy to know that the 3 divers actually survived for many years, 1 died in 2005 and 2 are still alive to this day I think

[@andrewbower2533]

That part about the huge thermal explosion if the radioactive lava reached those water tanks. Now, I don’t know if that is what they thought would happen at the time, or if it was played up for dramatic effect on the show, but it’s impossible. There’s no way a steam explosion will be bigger than most nuclear bombs. And you’ve probably already seen what happens when lava reaches water. It happens with volcanoes by the ocean all the time. Divers with cameras can record it from just feet away.

[@ciberzombiegaming8207]

they said that in meeting of top heads of soviet union (there was nobody above CK chairman, since *oficialy* USSR was atheistic) so that if atleast ck chairman realizes that things gona be SO FAR WORSE very fast if imediate actions not gona be taken, even if experts bit exagerated what will happen to kick top of decision making piramide from "beuracrat snail" mode into "actualy doing things" mode

[@darthrevan4933]

Surprisingly of the 3 men who went to empty the tanks at the end two are still alive and the other died of lung cancer caused by smoking.

[@schnubbel76]

"Do we have a nuclear plant in america?" Please tell me that was a joke.

[@mikedignum1868]

Check out the Three Mile Island incident in the USA. Netflix commissioned a documentary called "Meltdown" about it. Or watch The China Syndrome with Jane Fonda, which came out months before this incident. FYI - you know there is a war going on in the area of Chornobyl and Russian troops were there digging trenches and tanks were churning up the ground.

[@Sam-pv7bd]

The helicopter crash happened months after the disaster happened. It happened 6 months after the Chernobyl exploded.

[@TomasMisura]

4:50 if the reactor explodes no suit will help you. of course it depends on range how close you're and how long you're exposed to radiation and so on but in general it won't. Soviet union was not prepared for accident like that as they assumed RBMK reactors are safe (they can melt but not explode) and they were unaware about design flaws of this reactor. According book in Chernobyl they were facing small accidents that according their opinion haven't exceeded any threshold valid for the industry

[@richlisola1]

Watch the Three Mile Island documentary on Netflix. We almost had a Chernobyl in Pennsylvania. Within radioactive fallout range of Philadelphia. It would’ve engulfed half of Pennsylvania, possibly reaching Baltimore, DC, and New York. Thankfully it didn’t get that bad, but there were spikes in cancer rates all throughout the near vicinity of the plant.

[@lMarcusl]

Trust me, you'd rather have the US running on nuclear power than any of the alternatives. Nuclear power has a bad reputation because of the incidents that have happened due to gross human negligence or error, but for every bad thing that has happened due to nuclear accidents, fossil alternatives make incomparably more bad things happen constantly by just existing (namely the ridiculous levels of pollution that kill countless thousands all over the planet every year). Nuclear power is (mostly) clean and safe but has really bad incidents if it goes wrong. Fossil power is dirty and harmful to all life at all times, before shit even goes wrong.

[@Spikeelsucko]

The closest thing to a Chernobyl style nuclear disaster in the US was Three-Mile Island, which did have a partial meltdown but didn't explode and didn't spew radioactive shit all over the place. Overall, nuclear power in a modern context is extremely safe and should definitely be looked at for future use, incidents like Fukushima and Chernobyl are preventable and shouldn't push people away from Nuclear power entirely, incidents like these can be used to learn how to prevent them happening ever again without sacrificing an escape from things like fossil fuel electricity.

[@gregpeacock5497]

To add what was written by a previous commentor, you have to remember. This took place in the Soviet Union. You followed orders or you were shot or jailed. Anything that did not promote a perfect society or showed how much better Soviet socialism was compared to the West was suppressed and kept from the people.

[@gta2281]

When they volunteer, I don't think sad is the right description. I can see why it appears sad but to me it's inspiring. To knowingly and willingly sacrifice yourself to save or hopefully save anyone but especially numbers like those, that's whatvit means to be a man. That's being a leader, like the general who drives the truck. It's courage and conviction and knowing that you went out doing what was right and what was necessary.

[@kevinhammond2361]

There’s an important reason why they couldn’t use water to extinguish the burning uranium and reactor debris. The uranium becomes extremely hot after being used as fuel- the heat is from radioactive decay. It’s so hot that if water was used, the heat would chemically break water down from H2O into Hydrogen and Oxygen. Hydrogen is highly flammable and would cause a major explosion, worsening the situation by further spreading radiation and blasting radioactive debris out of the reactor

[@utalomAlibbantakat]

for the bus part, it was rather chaos and not an "ordered" evacuation, in reality, based on the stories, not everyone got a "bus" to get on, and no one received iodine

[@michaelriddick7116]

When I first watched this, and the lights cut out and all you hear is their breathing and the dosimeter static .... I almost had a panic attack! 😂🤣😂🤣😭😭😭

[@Diegesis]

Yeah one of the best endings of any episode of tv

[@michaelriddick7116]

@@Diegesis I'd LOVE too see your crew react to DeepWater Horizon :) 😊 That's another "This isn't going to go well. I can see it all coming together why can't they? OH GOD WHAT! NO DONT DO TH....." 😂🤣😂🤣😂

[@mrchainsaw4139]

Maples emotions pull at my heart strings

[@MrJonnydanger]

Nuclear power also powers most of American Aircraft Carriers and Submarines. It's very safe when handled properly.