History Buffs: Chernobyl

[@HistoryBuffs]

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[@RIUWithDrAndy106]

Can you do review on #NarcosMexico ? 😎 I love your content man keep up the good work. 😎

[@EdgyNumber1]

Nick, how about a History Buffs episode on Dambusters?

[@vonstreckerz]

What about a partnership with Stalker 2 ?

[@esperandodiabela1766]

that russian lady you use to fact check makes me fume. she is clearly been told what to say. and YOU should know that.

[@exposett246]

why do you use that nurse to fact check ?? she is obviously coached to not tell the truth.

[@Icemann383]

The single take shot of the workers cleaning the rubble off of the roof is one of the best and most tension filled scenes that’s ever been filmed.

[@stevecooper7883]

Rising to the occasion under immense pressure!

[@johnbull1568]

And it's identical to the actual footage of them clearing the roof. The only thing the show did was add the geiger counter sound.

[@theenglishbornable]

Honestly I have never been so horrified of someone falling in a puddle

[@ballyhigh11]

Honestly, that sequence was truly superb.

[@Samsonfs]

The foot getting stuck is wild

[@flakcannonhans]

You can’t run from Napoleon forever, Nick

[@terrified057t4]

nah, as easy as running from Glad II

[@TheWhiteArrow1]

He really can't, it is inevitable

[@yatsumleung8618]

He can just do a "watch so-and-so's review. And now, I'm gonna show you the good Napoleon movie..."

[@johnochiltree1170]

@@terrified057t4let’s pretend gladiator 2 isn’t real.

[@oby100]

Does he do movies that don’t even attempt to be accurate?

[@DerpsWithWolves]

Engineering and nuclear nerd here: When the control rods are described as 'graphite tipped' that's not really accurate. For a layman's understanding it doesn't really matter, so I don't blame them for glossing over it, but it also side steps THE issue with the reactor in the series. The *actual* design of the control rods was a dual-function. Each control rod was twice the height of the reactor, with the upper half of the rod being composed of boron for neutron absorption, and the bottom half partially coated in graphite for neutron moderation. In that configuration, it meant that every control rod was like a combination gas pedal and break pedal. Pull them up, and it increases the reaction, push them down and it reduces it. That meant the reactor could have more control authority with less total moving parts, and thus have easier maintenance and be more compact. On the surface, it doesn't sound like a bad idea. The problem comes from two things. First, is that the RBMK had a natural hot spot near the base of the reactor, that usually was just a minor annoyance, and not seen as a threat. The other issue is with the graphite side of the rods: Since the edges of the reactor were also made of graphite, the design called for the graphite portion of the control rods to not extend to the very top or bottom of the reactor. So in terms of length the top 50% of each rod is boron, then there was a ~5% gap of neither material, then 40% graphite, then another 5% with neither. This kept the graphite in the rods away from the edges of the reactor, and was important because fuel that was near the edge was already subject to huge amounts of graphite that made up the reactor walls. Too much in one place would lead to a criticality event... As you may have guessed, when you've pulled almost ALL the rods up, and then press the AZ5 scram button to drop them, that brings a huge amount of graphite near the bottom edge of the reactor all at once - which was *already* a hot spot, so that's a *really big problem*. The kind of problem that gets a Netflix miniseries made about it and helps topple a world superpower. The only thing is, the graphite tips did not 'enter' the reactor, they were ALREADY inside it. The problem was when they approached the bottom edge of the reactor, which was also made of graphite, and a hotspot, and sent the fuel in that lower portion of the reactor into a much, much higher energy state than it ever should have been, got stuck there from thermal expansion, and then blew the whole damn thing open. Getting this wrong is admittedly very common though. I've even heard professors at MIT mess this up, because it's so commonly stated.

[@GWNorth-db8vn]

Until about five years ago, they were "six inch tips" in a talk at MIT. Someone must have finally released some original drawings.

[@DerpsWithWolves]

@@GWNorth-db8vn Might have been the same recorded lecture I watched a few years ago. As for the diagrams, you got me curious where the ones I saw actually came from, and it's the IAEA report INSAG-7 (1992), if you wanna go give it a look. The PDF is public.

[@John.0z]

Thank you for the explanation. None of that was clear from this review, and the "graphite tip" sounded wrong, but I am no nuclear engineer. What I guessed, and was not clear in this review, but may be in the series, were the graphite rods binding in the tubes due to heat.

[@tomaszskowronski1406]

question. do western/more modern reactors have separate rods for "gas and break pedals"? As in, twice the amount that this one did?

[@davidfuller581]

No - western reactors use water as the moderator. This is only necessary on water cooled graphite moderated reactors, as water acts both as an absorber and as a moderator (albeit a weaker one than nuclear graphite), which is why light water moderated reactors need higher enrichment than graphite or heavy water moderated reactors.

[@andreasviken2949]

“There’s no evidence Legasov was stalked by the KGB” Sounds like they did their job well then.

[@GleppaPigg]

No

[@baburik]

kgb did (and still does) very little actual stalking. the bulk of internal surveillance was done through informants. every apartment block had at least a couple stukachs (stool pigeons) and every administrative position at every workplace was simultaneously a control and informant one. the chekists spent 99% of their time in the office structuring donoses (denunciations) creating a paper version of person of interest, not shadowing the actual person from an unmarked cars parked conveniently in front of the person's window. so naturally there was little to none evidence anybody being "stalked". yet everybody in ussr knew what was allowed to talk about and to whom. and what would land you at a cosy job in siberian lumber yard.

[@shoora813]

Your Brainwashing is very well done. Legasov job was more public than any western governments ever was or will be

[@raka4249]

"No Evidence" Of course

[@Nikarus2370]

@@baburik >every apartment block had at least a couple stukachs (stool pigeons) and every administrative position at every workplace was simultaneously a control and informant one. That sounds like an awful lot of stalking.

[@pigpig252]

My dad has told me the story a few times of his experience of Chernobyl, albeit a distant one. He was working at a nuclear reactor in the UK and was removing some filters for routine testing. High enough radiation levels were detected on the filters that they assumed their own reactor was leaking. That is, until they were told of the similar reports from all across Europe. It's a very small part of the story but I've always thought it amazing

[@thatfuzzypotato1877]

I find these smaller stories super interesting too!

[@YouTubecanfuckagoat]

Russian failure to immediately disclose what had happened had far reaching consequences. There are areas of Wales that absorbed massive amounts of radiation released in rain water that led to the deaths of thousands of sheep that had been inadvertently exposed. Imagine if that rain had fallen on a major inhabited city instead of where it did.

[@Warszawski_Modernizm]

" the whole world knows..."

[@thedragondemands]

@@pigpig252 Emily Watson: “it couldn’t be a leak from Chernobyl: they’re so far away the only way we’d be getting readings this high is if their core was cracked open….wait…no one at Chernobyl is answering the phone…”

[@sohaila496]

I heard the alarms went off at Sellafield when this happened.

[@LuxiBelle]

Chenobyl was released at the same time as the finale for Game of Thrones and it saved everyone from the despair of the ending.

[@MrHeavy466]

"Finally, something to perk me up after that miserable ending" -Me

[@thedragondemands]

Channels such as my own used it as a painful example of blind faith in “the perfect system” that was too big to fail and based on lies. Season 8 was HBO’s Chernobyl - not a comparison in the sense of just “a disaster” - I mean when we saw the behind the scenes third party documentary and saw the sheer absurdity of the logistical planning on season 8 (accepting the basic story as a given) …Dunning Kruger effect; the guys in charge didn’t know they were stupid then just forced everyone else to believe they were perfect.

[@ilikemitchhedberg]

​@@MrHeavy466i dun wan eet

[@FischerFilmStudio]

Idk man. I felt miserable after watching Chernobyl, but for different reasons.

[@emceehamma3693]

imagine they did that on purpose bc they knew GoT shit the bed? that would be perfect

[@weakestlink41]

Skarsgård absolutely crushed this role, and the entire series did such a great job of conveying the existential horror of the situation. Gripping stuff throughout.

[@Juventinos]

it's all bullshit tho, or not all but 95%

[@vpreggie]

Both Skarsgard and Jared Harris…powerful but sympathetic voices in the midst of chaos trying to make sense of what happened.

[@thedragondemands]

The horror was human denial and stupidity. As they point out in the behind the scenes videos, the Soviet Union was “the perfect system” and thus everyone had to believe or pretend to believe it was truly infallible; and this applies to any religion, government, business, bank system, etc across the spectrum.

[@phyrr2]

They certainly emulated the Communistic thought-process within Soviet bureaucratic institutions. There's a recent (audio)book about Chernobyl that gets into all of those specifics. After listening to that entire thing you realize EXACTLY how this was all allowed to happen. And was quite rampant in the times of the USSR. But I've also read autobiographies of people living during the Stalin era as well which gives more insight to the entire picture. Truthfully, unless you can get into the mind of people who are raised (several generations) in such a system, it's hard to understand such mindsets and you'll just keep asking "Why?!". Much in turn why many other people of the world I'm sure ask plenty of "why?!" about those of us in Western countries.

[@Duckly97]

Just "Skarsgård" doesn't really work when every single one of that family is a world-class actor.

[@R4Y2k]

"At least evacuate Prypjat. It's 30 kilometers away" "That is my decision to make" "Then make it" "I've been told not to" My favorite exchange in Chernobyl.

[@reboundrides8132]

Soviet Union in a nutshell

[@perciusmandate]

This was a horror series as much as a historical drama. Absolutely palpable terror.

[@johnychrist2559]

They do an amazing job of portraying the radiation as the unseeable, nearly unconcievable monster it was. I love those foreboding shots of wind blowing through the chernobyl trees, like an invisible boogeyman is moving through them

[@alaric_]

It's very rare form of horror where it's based on very much reality. Almost every single other horro movie or series deals with unnatural reasons and this is what makes this so impactful: people who never watch horror, are faced with horror in our actual life.

[@NorthForkFisherman]

Try being in Europe when that goddamn thing popped.

[@juliofranciscogomezstoppel1860]

@@johnychrist2559 if thats your take away from the movie, then you missed the point. The true boogeyman in the series is corruption and mediocrity. Most characters are vastly more affraid of the party than radiation itself. They were willing to go to extreme measures (like ignoring obvious signs of a reactor explosion) rather than admit fault to their political leaders. Thats the whole point, not even a freaking nuclear reactor is sacred enough to not mess it with greedyness.

[@RD-zx6py]

I found myself cheering on the divers from behind my laptop screen. What absolute courage. I was delighted to hear they actually lead relatively long lives afterwards.

[@kuchom]

Honestly the most chilling part of the whole incident is said by Legasov: "we are dealing with something that has never occurred on this planet before". What is worse than dealing with something that is not only new but also practically invisible.

[@109Eken]

So a Lovecraft story?

[@b0xman935]

Imagine saying and hearing that Insane to think about how serious this threat must be

[@ArtoriusBravo]

​@@109EkenYou can definitely draw some parallels between "The color out of space" and what happened in the exclusion zone. Something unseen, barely understood, that slowly poisons water, fauna and the protagonists until eventually they change and perish. Say what you will about Lovecraft, but he was scared ahead of its time.

[@heatherwoods5703]

I appreciated that line because Scherbina was asking what to do as if there were some protocol for this accident. Legasov's response was that there was NO PROTOCOL because something like this had never happened before! 💣💥

[@LordDreggar]

your "favorite" inlaw.

[@stream_gene]

The ending of the episode with the three men in the pitch black and the rad counters clicking incessantly absolutely wrecked my nerves more than any cliffhanger for any TV or film I've ever seen. Such a well made programme.

[@da3daluz]

I got that cold feeling all down my back when it faded to black and you could hear the Geiger counter absolutely shriek.

[@LanceSummer]

It was kinda funny how when the next episode starts, they just turn their lights back on and it’s all good

[@luishenriqueamaro4218]

That moment was terrifying to me, it scared me more than any horror movie I ever watched, because those men were on real danger and the geiger counter showed us that it was there and wasn't scape for it

[@som7905]

100% with you on that one bud, it actually shook me to the core. finished that episode at 3am when i was working at 8am ended up watching the next one because i HAD to know what happened next, amazing they all survived

[@brupster]

@@som7905 they are actually okay, I think all of them are alive today.

[@simonconran241]

Whilst I believe fictional, the line, "Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth, and sooner or later, that debt is paid." haunts me. Brilliant script writing. If it was true, can someone let me know. Great video.

[@pulkmees]

Yeah that line is good. Anytime I see someone lying I think about it.

[@Achillez098]

2 reasons why I think Chernobyl was successful: 1) It ackowledges that most ppl watching are not nuclear scientists, but teaches us enough for us to understand what happened, without talking down to us 2) It pays sufficient respect to history, despite being an artistic piece of media. They actually admitted one of the main characters was fictional, you never see that in other films based on history.

[@realtsavo]

Your second point is wrong, several times over. Especially the last bit. Composite characters are absolutely nothing new, and plenty of other films have openly admitted to them. "The Hunting Party" as one specific example.

[@qutuveo6332]

Idk they completely character assassinated Dyatlov so that kinda sucks..

[@WLDB]

Titanic centred around fictional main characters and didn't deny it at all. It's not that uncommon. In fact I can't think of any that lied about fictional characters.

[@nicodominguez5898]

On reason #1 I'd recommend the That Chernobyl Guy channel. His videos were great in explaining what really happened, explains myths surrounding the incident and cites his sources. After watching a fair amount of his videos I have the opinion that the series is pure historical fiction and it serves for entertainment, anything more is well... As Legasov said in the series Lies on top of lies

[@gshadow00]

@@nicodominguez5898lmao no way I say the same thing within minutes lmao! I see someone else is on the path of dispelling the lie.

[@thefanwithoutaface8105]

Another chilling moment is when the Firefighter is holding the piece of the Reactor Core. To him it looks like a weird piece of rubble, but we know he's holding something that is literally shaving off decades of his life every second it's in his hand and he hasn't got a single clue about it.

[@danielallen3454]

It's what made the first episode hard for me. Watching these people and knowing that most of them are already dead.

[@MASTEROFEVIL]

It's basically a mini cancer generator

[@pun5925]

science is incredible at how unseemingly dangerous it is.

[@Theerawee_Thongkham]

And maybe Even it’s black and looks cold It’s still hot enough to burn the hold hand in matter of seconds

[@panzerwolf494]

I've wondered if that was a nod to another firefighter that was there that lamented about his fire truck having just been overhauled and like new had run over a chunk of steel that stuck out of the tire. He became mad and yanked the steel out of the tire only to get radiation burns on his hands from it.

[@janthingsaker2536]

I study medicine in Latvia and when we had the subject of occupational medicine we got to meet a man who was part of the teams that cleared debries we were told. It was facinating he had never had cancer, but he had surferred many different complications from the effort such as decades musculoskeletal pain in the entirety of his body, several sites of nerve damage as well having a profound effect on his sight. Facinating and very sad, but still he was lucky in a way

[@GleppaPigg]

No

[@janthingsaker2536]

@GleppaPigg okei?

[@MetalFreak187]

That line "we are dealing with something that has never happened on the planet before" is chilling, I mean put yourself in those shoes, what would you do, and the people who managed to actually contain this truly did something remarkable

[@joshuawilson8804]

I always liked the analysis of someone who said Chernobyl is a Lovecraftian Horror story. And it really is, the closest we have to that uncomprehensive horror that we can not even comprehend.

[@ZK_Nark]

It's funny cause Lovecraft has a story where a rock falls down on earth which really reminds one of radiation (the color from outer space)

[@daniel_of_jersey4775]

But we do understand it, every part of it too.

[@geronimo5537]

Its more of a blessing if you cannot comprehend the damage and risk. Than see what it can do to people and planet.

[@awesomeferret]

What's the purpose of self owning yourself online by pretending it's something that's not easy to comprehend? 343 upvotes... Amazing.

[@skinnex3236]

Iam a little bit thankfull we had russia handling it, the "i dont realy care for human life" attitude got it "kind of" right now.

[@oldschoolman9878]

One stand out scene for me was when Boris was yelling and cussing about the people back at Moscow after the robot from West Germany failed. He was so angry that he destroyed the phone. It showed a party man losing all hope and faith in those he dedicated most of his life too.

[@r.d.hargrave8159]

“Need a new phone.”

[@BlackPill-pu4vi]

We're practically there with the accelerating decay of the U.S. Certain actors are being caught by Karma but, a comprehensive failure of the system, like Chernobyl was for the USSR, is nigh at hand for America.

[@M0rshu64]

I'm not gonna lie, the first time I saw that scene, I laughed.

[@davidlloyd7597]

​@BlackPill-pu4vi let's hope not.

[@thefanwithoutaface8105]

One of the most haunting moments for me was when Legasov explained what 15,000 Rontgen means in simple terms. Namely that every hour or so the Reactor Core was spewing as much radiation as the Bombs dropped on Hiroshima and that it was going to keep spewing that level of radiation none stop even as weeks, months or even years pass. It's simple and yet says so much.

[@persianking44]

I remember reading a comment that puts it so beautifully terrifying: that Reactor 4 will continue to emit radiation for longer than human civilization (meaning as far back as the founding of the Upper and Lower Kingdoms of Egypt and the Babylonian and Mesopotamian Empires) has even existed.

[@mrchambers31]

And 15 000 wasnt even the highest number they recorded

[@Nimifosa]

That doesn't mean much. Roentgen measures only the exposure of x-rays and gamma in air (Humans aren't made out of air). Sievert being used would've made more sense since it measures the impact on health but still, using Gray unit would make even more sense since Gray is a measure of how much energy is absorbed by a thing, and is useful in measuring doses of radiation, different things absorb radiation in different amounts, so they will receive different doses of radiation even when the amount of radiation you fire at the thing is the same for each. Keep in mind that there's different units for radiation that measure different things at different situations. So it's not as simple as just saying a number using some Unit that 99.99% of people won't even bother to look up and understand what it means.

[@thefanwithoutaface8105]

@@Nimifosa Dude your average viewer isn't going to know or care what term is used, the point is to put a number to the danger and that's it. Even if it's not that accurate, it still gets the job done.

[@andydudley1775]

@@thefanwithoutaface8105 your average viewer learnt a lot from this.

[@CiaranODonoghue-c3j]

Can we take a minute to appreciate just how good Paul Ritter was as Dyatlov. Such a shame he was taken so young. RIP

[@Snubben123143]

He knocked it out of the park in this one, unreal performance. Perfect casting and delivery. Gone way too soon.

[@stephenwest6738]

The miners absolutely did not die for nothing, nor was it a waste of time. In some situations a potential outcome is so devastating that any man giving his life to even slightly lessen the odds of it happening is heroic to the point of being exactly equal to if it had been the only thing stopping it.

[@royaltyblessed2454]

True they didn't die for "nothing". Its just that they did something that wasn't necessary. But as mentioned in the video the risk was too high to not act.

[@Jimoshi1]

they were making a meetings and gatherings in ukraine up until the war started. probably Soviet necromancy.

[@sugabopp]

yeah he states this in the video

[@Volunteer-per-order_OSullivan]

There was no devastating potential outcome. Tape 1 Side B "These problems were what we were worried about. That’s why with Ivan Stepanovich Silaev, who by this time had replaced Scherbina, we decided to: first, get some information about the levels of water in the lower barboteur. This was a difficult task which was fulfilled heroically by the station personnel. And it was found that the water was indeed there. So the necessary measures were taken to remove that water from there. I want to stress that out once more: we removed the water just to avoid massive evaporation. It was absolutely clear to us that no explosion was possible, only evaporation that would carry out radioactive particles - that’s all." It may be here remarked that the divers, who were more than three weren't divers, also discovered that corium had already reached the steam separators, where it had cooled into a pumice like floating material. The Corium had already cooled and stopped moving. There was no risk of explosion, there was no risk of contamination to the ground water. This was known, the minders died for nothing.

[@Snagprophet]

It is ridiculous hindsight though, there was no way of knowing if it would reach the water table and it's laughable to suggest that they should've done nothing when it was potentially going to hit the water table. It's just an unfortunate chance that they technically could've done nothing and let it cool itself. That said, that's not how anyone deals with disasters nor the operation of nuclear reactors. You can apply the same technicalities to all the other instances of RBMK reactor tests that didn't push graphite on the rods in first.

[@aatragon]

I am retired now, but I was working for ABC-TV network news on the day that Sweden reported to the world that they had detected radiation from Chernobyl 1,100 km away. I'll never forget it. We knew it had to be horrific considering the distance.

[@freyaodinsdottir2207]

Skarsgard actually talked about this in one interview.

[@silvy3047]

Did this start the rise of cancer?

[@xlgapelsin6173]

@@silvy3047 There are some studies that say yes but honestly it's very tricky to measure this. It most likley has but we will never know

[@zergeistrush460]

The radiation felt like a living creature in this show. A great invisible mass of evil that slowly drained the life of those in its vicinity and dragged out their pain. Brave men and women sacrificing their health and lives just to contain it.

[@brotherdandy]

The creators of the show made the decision to shoot the series like a horror movie.

[@THEANViL0FWAR76]

I thought of the radiation as more of a living breathing animal that has been unleashed by human ignorance, the fire takes in oxygen and breathes out carbon dioxide like almost every living creature

[@AverageAlien]

Only 20 or so died, and most of that was just from the fire. So highly exaggerated and not at all a real threat

[@gavinneedham2013]

The threat the radiation posed is one of the biggest pieces of artistic license taken by production. One that always sticks with me, after you’ve been washed and all the radioactive clothing has been removed, you are not a danger to other people.

[@selinesbeau]

It was a horror.

[@NourArt02]

I probably watched the final episode 5 or 6 times, i never get bored of Legasov explaining how it all went down

[@stephenconroy5908]

"You are dealing with something that has never occurred on this planet before" is just about the most terrifying line possible...

[@hasanmanzak]

I was so horrifed when I heard these lines: "So it means the core is open. Means the fire we were watching with our own eyes is giving off nearly twice the radiation released by the bomb in Hiroshima. That's every single hour! Hour after hour... 20 hours since the explosion, so 40 bombs worth by now. 48 more tomorrow. And it will not stop; not in a week, not in a month. Will burn and spread its poison until the entire continent is dead!"

[@blue2sco]

Thing is it happened at least three times before at other Russian/Soviet sites but was covered up a lot better.

[@gailengigabyte6221]

​@@blue2sco but not to the levels Chernobyl reached.

[@sagitarius8184]

My dad’s family is Russian and my great uncle was an electrical worker for the city of Saint Petersburg in the 70’s and 80’s. He watched Chernobyl and said that while some things are inaccurate, the biggest things they got right were the amounts of drinking, depression, and the corruption of the Soviet bureaucracy.

[@Some_Guy6]

In the USSR everyone could get a depression equally.

[@philipplyanguzov9090]

I watched it with my family who all noted that the set design was perfect. I recognised some of the furniture that my grandparents still had but a lot of it was just everyday household items that stopped being produced and didn't really survive to my childhood. One notable thing pointed out were the standardised thermos flasks that were in the background of a lot of shots.

[@hansbass8119]

​@@chrisgreene2623believe what? That russia was, is, and always will be a depressing hellhole where hope, truth, and competence go to die there?

[@Munkenba]

@@chrisgreene2623 Is it hard to believe that a superstate on the verge of total collapse wasn't an especially pleasant or functional system to live under?

[@fistinyourface7053]

@@Munkenba It was never especially pleasant or functional to begin with.

[@danielallen3454]

The moment sticks with me, in terms of horror, is the explosion finally being seen. We've seen the aftermath the entire series and seen that results. But to see the actual explosion, knowing what happens . . . It's like witnessing the birth of some terrible god.

[@lovecchio420]

Part of the plot of Twin Peaks season 3.

[@cammychoate]

@@lovecchio420 gotta light?

[@evankimori]

It - IS- a terrible angry god. It is the birth of our sun and the light that gave us birth. It will destroy without prejudice and malice. It is an equalizer. Nothing will resist it outright forever and it will endure for times past our lifetimes many times over. That scene was terrifying and it made me so uneasy. Magnificent sound design and visual.

[@mercuryredstone2235]

Like witnessing the birth of Cthulhu.

[@Snagprophet]

It is Lovecraftian. From the bridge of death to the instant bleeding hand of the firefighter and the slow rotting degradation of living humans makes the radiation into a cosmic horror. The mangled rods from the reactor looks like a twisted evil monster.

[@id4k12y]

My grandfather was an engineer at the Chernobyl power plant and lived in Pripyat with his family at the time. Although he died before the show came out, he lived a long life and was (relatively) healthy. My mom lived in Kyiv at the time too. I've been hearing a lot about the accident growing up. One thing I think is important to note is that the "graphite tips" are an oversimplification of the RBMK design. There were no tips. You can find good KZbin videos describing what had actually happened. The main conclusions are still sort of true (RBMK was a cheaper reactor even though there was a safer but more expensive version), but if we're being nitpicky, I think it's important to note. Great video, thank you for your work! I'm always looking for more Chernobyl-related content.

[@NatsumiMichi]

The irony of a GOT game being the sponsor for this video, when Chernobyl was the unexpected palate-cleanser we all went to from the disaster that was season 8.

[@codranine6054]

You caught that too? Haha

[@DeandreSteven]

Season 4 through 8​@@codranine6054

[@HisameArtwork]

@@codranine6054 it's very on the nose. and it's such a crap game, dunno how Nick could accept that, I guess he likes food, though he's still very skinny. if CDPR or Larian announced a collab with HBO for a GOT game, fans would cream their pants. Instead Zazlov announced the creators of Hogwarts Legacy would make a GOT game, so I expect it to look good and be unplayable. We're never getting a decent GOT game. Closest was Tell Tale...which is barely a video game.

[@codranine6054]

@@HisameArtwork uhhh what? I think you missed what OPwas saying. Immediately after the heartbreak of GoT final season we had Chernobyl to get us through. So it was ironic that they advertised a GoT game before this video. I am a gamer nerd but I havnt played any of those games. Cdpr only Makes one player offline games and yea. Good games havnt been made in like 10-15 years. The industry is a crap chute. Cdpr grinding gear games. And Indy devs are about our only hope anymore. It’s crazy that if a game says “AAA” it’s pretty much guaranteed to be trash.

[@sunspot478]

Yeah, not sure ANY season of GoT was actually good... Certainly not worth the hype it got.

[@legoeasycompany]

One bit I loved in this series was when the introduced General Vladimir Pikalov, while other Soviet officials were shown trying to underscore the issues or shift blame, he went in himself with the instruments to figure out how much radiation was really there. It's exactly how it was in real life and he did it both to not risk his men but also because he was politically savvy enough to know that those same officials would say any regular soldier was "reading it wrong" or something along those lines. He has his rank, his achievements, and the fact he was well versed in his field "Chemical Troops" would make it almost impossible for his words to be brushed aside. Plus the music and overall ambiance of the series was top notch

[@Canofasahi]

As head of the Chemical Troops he did make his round around the reactor to measure radiation, but not in a truck with covered with lead but in a NBC-protected BRDM 2, he got a 137 rem dose (1.3 - 1.4 Sievert), not enough for a 50/50 dose, but certainly radiation sickness, and enough to introduce serious health problems later on. He would pass away in 2003. As for being politically savvy enough, he had already quite career behind him in 1986.

[@RaptorJesus]

In fairness, Pikalov was likely protected from much of the radiation by his enormous, solid-lead balls.

[@legoeasycompany]

@@Canofasahi As a regard of creative liberty/filming bit I did figure he'd have used an AFV with NBC systems rather than some haphazard lead foil on a truck to do the scans, but I didn't know which one. Also I never did say he wasn't that, no one gets general rank in any nation's military without being best buds with the top to get there. But the point still stands that he knew enough of the system that anything reported by short of someone of his stature/rank/experience could be brushed over easily.

[@Calvin_Coolage]

Pikalov sounds like a real leader.

[@Canofasahi]

@@Calvin_Coolage He had a long career in the military, fought in the major battles of WW2 and picked up his studies after the war and ended up serving as head of that NBC unit as a general. He and Tarakanov!

[@chrislyne377]

Can we just take a moment to appreciate the performance of Paul Ritter as Dyatlov. Absolutely fantastic, regardless of accuracy for the actual man. RIP. Also, I miss the old epic intro still

[@EscapeFromCustody]

Even in Russia they could enjoy a lovely bit of squirrel! An incredible performance that showed his acting range. RIP

[@AuntieTrichome]

Wow, didn’t know he passed away. I just looked it up. He was pretty young though.

[@walrusArmageddon]

Shoot, that's sad to hear

[@andydudley1775]

@@walrusArmageddon just the feed water i seen it before .

[@okobongdinko]

I was looking around the show for accuracy and found out he was not nearly as much of a bully as depicted in the show, he was sometimes tough but in a fair manner. He did follow through the tests etc but he of course had no idea about the graphite tips.

[@retrobat153]

I think the miners being naked had more to do with HBO needing at least 1 nudity scene in literally every show they produce than trying to be historically accurate lmao

[@Arcanelake98]

I have absolutely zero issues with any liberties taken by this show. I have read plenty of books on Chernobyl, so I had a sense of some of the inaccuracies, but this series felt so real it made me feel physically nauseous. The horror, the dread, the helplessness…I felt like I was watching the events unfold in real time. Absolutely 10/10 they nailed it.

[@johngaltline9933]

It's a good show, but it's as historically accurate as Titanic. It's a fictional story that used historical events as a backdrop. Hell On Wheels did the concept way better.

[@hansmahr8627]

The show is incredibly well-made but for me, the historical inaccuracies do kind of ruin it. Especially since the writers seem to be proud of their research. The amount of false information, distortions and plain old bullshit that this show contains is mind-boggling. It's one thing to do something like that with ancient history but when you're dealing with an event of the recent past that still has massive implications today, you need to be a bit more careful. It's pretty obvious that history was secondary for the showrunners, if a fact came in the way of a good story or a cool effect, they just got rid of it. So of course the show tells its viewers that radiation sickness sets in immediately after being exposed, it heavily implies that people with radiation sickness are dangerous to others and pretends that the bridge of death isn't a complete myth. Never mind the larger issues with the simplification of the overall narrative and the character motivations, making characters do things they never did because it's 'epic', like Legasov's stupid speech about the cost of lies. It's cheap and cheesy. It takes a lot of arrogance to decide as a writer that the real history isn't interesting enough for you and your audience so you need to dumb it down and distill it into something that conforms to Hollywood clichés and storytelling conventions. It's a shame because the cinematography, the acting and the incredibly tense atmosphere of the show are amazing. Maybe one day TV writers will realize what an amazing gift real history is for storytellers. If you take an interesting event or an interesting era and don't suck all of the nuance and complexity out of it, you get a gold mine of stories. Maybe I'm too harsh but I'm just sick of this type of TV/movie writing when it comes to history. The potential is endless but it's only rarely realized.

[@thomaskositzki9424]

Same. I knew a bit about the incident before and never had an issue with the liberties taken.

[@VladimirPutin-p3t]

​@@hansmahr8627they never advertised it as a documentary, so no need for the high horse.

[@lordmuhehe4605]

​@@johngaltline9933 Yes, that's generally how historical dramas work.

[@augustus4832]

One thing was also wrong was the minister of coal: he wasn't a suit bureoucrat, but an actual mining engineer who had been working on mines since he was 15. He was also quite a big fella.

[@Theeight8b]

Also miners did not humiliate him, and he did not need to have soldiers backing him up, as he had a lot of respect around working class. Damn, times where minister of something was part of that something and, usually, worked alongside workers.

[@mikagrof9243]

@@Theeight8b That was not usual in those times either lol

[@Theeight8b]

​@@mikagrof9243 Actually - it was. Lot's of ministers, back in USSR, worked in their respected fields, before they went to work in ministry, and it was not uncommon for them to not forget, from where they did come. There was bad apples, yes. There always some bad apples.

[@neverstopschweiking]

He had no respect among the workers, when they went on strike in 89, he negotiated a deal with the unions and the workers ignored both the unions and him as well. He was at that stage a bureaucrat fully loyal to his government position, not the workers.

[@TyrePurple472]

​@@neverstopschweiking you're really searching the comments for any mention of the minister, aren't you? Guys like you are the reason I don't listen to either side when it comes to superpowers. Both nations can't help but lie and bloviate about themselves or each other. Utter polarization

[@azzyx8870]

5:47 Lets not be naive. He was the most prominent scientist working on the disaster and in the public eye. He absolutely was being watched by the KGB.

[@TeylaDex]

yeah, it would've been absolutely impossible that he didn't have a shadow. ESPECIALLY since he was a higher up in the party AND an important scientist.

[@MyagkihD]

EXACTLY!!!

[@canadiankazz]

"There was no evidence he was being watched by the KGB." And there was no evidence he wasn't! Best to err on the side of caution there, I think, and assume he was.

[@alaric_]

@@canadiankazz "no evidence" yeah like KGB is gonna leave a paper trail they followed him. KGB, notorious of being paranoid and suspecting of everyone, literally everyone!

[@Rorymchair]

I like the scene in the show where one of the heads of the kgb says even he is watched by the kgb

[@Zer0Blizzard]

5:46 Incredible that you would DEFEND the KGB into saying "there's no public evidence that he would be followed". Absolutely incredible statement.

[@JustKenny1]

We have Legasovs diaries. If you would actually read them....his last pages were about him not been able to choose were to go that day. Institution, or "dacha" to chill. Of course the evil KGB had the gun to his head the whole time...the guy saved the world..who, in a normal mind would prosecute him for that? All the "evil" KGB shit came from western view on USSR of this time. And Ukrainian 304, who lives in US for the last 30+ years. Of course she knows everything. Morons

[@ezpz3784]

I agree, this whole episode felt rushed and far removed from his usual high standard of work.

[@JustKenny1]

Wow..youtube deleted my comment..for what? I just mentioned that we have his dairies. And you can check yourself, every single one of them... deleted for this? I guess truth is banned on this platform

[@KaterynaM_UA]

only starting the vid but I have to say I've never seen a western production THIS good at catching the details of that era: the clothes, furniture, vibe, everything is SPOT ON. I know they had advisors and it shows. This alone makes it ten heads taller than any other western movie or series set in USSR.

[@MostlyPennyCat]

I love all the different accents representing the different nations.

[@MostlyPennyCat]

Some of the characters remind me of my grandparents

[@MsJayteeListens]

My favourite detail was that originally no-one called each other ‘comrade’, they thought that was just a stereotype of communist party officials, but someone Mazin consulted corrected him.

[@MsJayteeListens]

@@MostlyPennyCatI’ve always wondered how deliberate it was to put certain accents in certain roles. The lower class workers have accents from Scotland, Ireland, Liverpool, Manchester. Whereas those in charge have English or Nordic accents.

[@MostlyPennyCat]

@@MsJayteeListens I'd like to think so, accents seemed to donate regions as well, like the Geordie miners (the head miner reminds me of my grandfather)

[@adina1555]

I really appreciated how honest Mazin has been about what is accurate and what is a storytelling device. He changed things to tell the audience a story and didn't make false claims of accuracy afterward. Personally I'm a lot more forgiving of historical inaccuracies when the creator treats it with the frankness that Mazin does.

[@XenoJehuty84]

I'm half and half.I appreciate his transparency, but there's also things he altered or embellished that didn't need to be.

[@edumazieri]

I would be more forgiving if the show wasn't trying so hard to make a point. Those arguments become much shakier with each falsehood and risk losing their merits.

[@colatf2]

@@XenoJehuty84it’s not a college lecture, it’s television for laypeople who don’t know much about Chernobyl and likely don’t care to learn about every banal detail.

[@ejbell]

​@edumazieri Perhaps that's an added feature though? Too many people watch 'historical' films and TV and accept it as truth from an assumed authority. Just like many soviets accepted the lies, the manipulations of truth, the false narratives, heroes/villains, without question. By digging deeper though, you can consider the source and question the motive. Which is ultimately what the show promotes. 'What is the cost of lies?'

[@RobertQuinlan]

@@colatf2 Laypeople who come away from it 'knowing' even less than they did going in.

[@elsienova4269]

The radiation burns critique is a bit half and half. The problem is that to my knowledge, we have 0 information on how the radiation damage looked on the people that were affected the most by the immediate explosion, the firemen and some of the chenobyl staff. The doctor you feature in this video is giving her opinion based on how the average radiation victim looked in the aftermath of the disaster, however its very reasonable to assume that the worst victims looked much worse. Also, she is wrong on the visual depiction being artistic only. The make up effect in the show is a perfect recreation of how some of the worst radiation sickness cases throughout history have looked, with medical descriptions (and images dear god) of the victims of workers who had accidents with strong reactive material matching the effects in the show perfectly. It's not at all an embelishment to make Vasily look like that.

[@Elcore]

Yes, the burns in the show are more reminiscent of the appropriately named Hisashi Ouchi's. To my knowledge he was exposed to more radiation than the firemen and in very different conditions, but such burns from radiation are 100% within the realm of possibility. I also don't like how this video relies on one "resident expert" for all of the info about the hospital when she's not even a first-hand source for half of it.

[@Thetarget1]

@@Elcore According to wikipedia, Ignatenko was exposed to about 12-14 Sv and Ouchi to 17 Sv, so the doses are really not that different.

[@tealversace]

I scrolled way too far to find someone mentioning this. As someone who's seen enough images of the Hisashi Ouchi case... the portrayal in the show really wasn't far from what CAN happen. Made me unreasonably mad to hear the 'expert' entirely write it off.

[@aldowilliams4765]

Yes I enjoy Nick’s videos but he jumps to conclusions and accuses inaccuracy pretty loosely

[@MedicAthlete24W]

She wasn’t saying the depiction was inaccurate. She said that radiation burns of that magnitude don’t happen within hours, they take days to reach that severity. The artists did a fantastic job at portraying radiation burns, however they very much did take liberties on how fast those burns occurred.

[@Mazeboxx]

I accept historical inaccuracies. But god you did feel the constant tension, the tremendous weight of the event. Brilliant.

[@DianaDxD]

This series has brought a lot of closure to my family as my mom and dad were barely teenagers when this incident happened living in Ukraine just south of the impact site. It caused my grandparents on my mom side to develop cancer and pass away before I was born. My dad even talked about how they were without any clean water to drink or bathe in. My parents brought me to the states so that we shouldn't have to deal with how the government has handled this incident. The series despite a bit of historical inaccuracies did help me understand an incident that severely impacted my family and will continue to impact my family for generations to come

[@oklahomacityenthusiast77]

The fact that the guy that recorded Valery's tapes was an editor of Pravda shows how connected he was. For anyone unfamiliar, Pravda was THE Soviet newspaper, as in, literally the paper of the Communist Party.

[@GleppaPigg]

Radiation is a myth dude. A couple rocks go beep and suddenly I'm sick even though I can't see it?😂 I have a clay brick in my kitchen and it has never hurt me😂 grow up

[@Nokard]

I have a fact you missed: Minister of Coal Industry Mikhail Shchadov. They showed Mr. Schadov as an incompetent official who is not respected by the miners. Mikhail Schadov did not need to use an armed convoy to talk to the miners and try to ask them about anything. Mikhail was an absolute authority among the miners. Alma Mater. Mikhail was born in a small village in the family of a poor peasant in faraway Siberia. Mr. Schadov worked in the coal mine for 15 years. He knew all about the life of a miner and saw some of the most severe working conditions. Schadov has a degree in technical sciences. Under his leadership, developed an open method of coal mining in the USSR on the basis of advanced mining technologies using new, more productive mining and transport equipment. Schadov Mikhail Ivanovich was absolute authority, man-rock. As severe as the nature of its activities. It was enough for him to simply appear in front of the miners so that people would do everything that he would say. the miners trusted and respected this man. As always, every time I comment in a video about Chernobyl, long live the heroes that sacrificed so much.

[@akkihole_]

Did you write this? Or did you take it from an article somewhere? I would like to read more, thanks

[@MasterManGod]

I had heard commented numerous times before that if the real Shchadov had shown up and told the miners to go to Chernobyl, they would have been there as soon as it was possible for them to get there. They wouldn't have needed to talk to anyone because Shchadov would have already done that and told them exactly what and where they needed to dig.

[@neverstopschweiking]

Oh, yes, the glamorous bolshevik propaganda. Everybody loved him, workers sang songs about his glory and his poop smelled of freshly baked bread.

[@neverstopschweiking]

@@akkihole_ He copied it from quora, it it was written by a Russian political propagandist 5 years ago. That propagandist also denies the existence of Kievan Rus and claims other nonsense, he says Russians civilized Poland and that Germans were impressed by literally everything in Russia in the 1940s. I recommend you check his nonsense out, His name is Dima Chebotarev. When it comes to the minister, he was a standard bolshevik politician. Was he incompetent? Judge for yourself, you can find articles about the 1989 coal miners strike (just few years after Chernobyl), he negotiated with them, the unions made a deal with him and the actual miners went on strike anyway. He had little respect among the miners.

[@Nylon_riot]

Thank you for this information. I am really glad they showed the miners. I didn't know that story. Respect and love to all miners out there.

[@rustyirish7904]

From what I've read before a majority of the firefighters knew they were probably being exposed to radiation but kept working anyway to limit the devastation. One thing I read even mentioned one of the hose operators seeing the graphite on the ground and said "well friends thats it for us"

[@throwback19841]

That Chernobyl Guy also reported an interesting fact: no RBMK ever successfully completed the "safety" test. that's why the procedure was such a mess and why no one really knew how to do it and why reactors got put into prod without completing it.

[@Ryukachoo]

49:20 You missed a really important thing in this picture. Those weird lines at the bottom is from the roof itself. It was so viciously, hideously radioactive, that it over exposed the image, but only from below

[@HECKproductions]

the most unrealistic thing about this show is that it was made by the dude who wrote scary movie 3 and 4 and also the hangover movies

[@Elcore]

Chernobyl continues to demand heroes from unlikely places.

[@aldowilliams4765]

The hangover is goated I’m not surprised

[@diaryofagoat-lass1023]

As far as the inaccuracies of radiation sickness, it's possible they were pulling inspiration from Hisashi Ouchi, a Japanese neuclear scientist, who suffered from radiation so bad after tryong to mix radioactive materials in a galvanized steel pail, his skin did indeed melt off and he was kept alive for 83 days in a Tokyo(?) hospital. Truly terrifying story and the photos (yes, they exist but strong stomachs only) are the stuff of nightmares. Also, Hiroshima survivors documented radiation burns that graphic of people just falling apart. Their skin hanging off them like rags.

[@MichaelShelleysmi]

Had to scroll too far to find this

[@diaryofagoat-lass1023]

@ sorry. I only just stumbled across this video myself. 😅 glad I could help.

[@kopite833]

Favourite line, "Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth, and sooner or later, that debt is paid." So wise, potent, and instructive to our conduct in life. Who ever came up with that is a talented philosopher and linguist.

[@Ryzard]

I wish that debt would be paid by the debtors more often. The horrible reality is that the men that died and were sick as a result of the shitty practices and negligence often end up unharmed, and victims blamed or directly hurt by it.

[@BlackPill-pu4vi]

America, as if seeming to defy physics itself, is able to carry infinite lies. How? By paying interest on the truth to keep it quiet.

[@sulphurous2656]

It's also pretty ironic considering how many lies about real people and historical events the show tells in order to tell its story.

[@BlackPill-pu4vi]

Yärmülkətübe protects lies and zippers inconvenient truth. In ziojusa, lies can go on indefinitely.

[@chandru4584]

The haunting sound of the Geiger meters going off while darkness creeps during the episode 2 ending is literal nightmare material!

[@brickking6068]

This show is a Van Gogh painting. It gives you the spirit and the truth, without showing an ultra realistic picture. Yet these episodes show perfectly ''what'' happened. Art

[@johngaltline9933]

It shows "The Truth"™. Otherwise known as the propaganda that the USSR put out and the blame put on those the state chose to blame when they didn't actually do anything wrong.

[@lordmuhehe4605]

Yeah, it's a good historical drama, not a documentary.

[@skypilot432]

Exactly right. 'Art is a lie that illuminates the truth'.

[@johngaltline9933]

@@skypilot432 But it doesn't. The show tells the same old propaganda story the Soviets put out right after the accident.

[@grsafran]

By its very definition "ART" is at best an interpretation of truths but it can never be truth it self. Otherwise it would fact and thus NOT art.

[@dannonyogurt98]

Napoleon stares at Nick angrily from the shadows.

[@Sajasta]

Angrily? I think his expression throughout Spielberg's movie was a "disinterested in life and not awed at anything at all" kind of face (bored). I cannot imagine Phoenix's Napoleon looking angry xD

[@Cristiano95ify]

Spielberg?

[@Sajasta]

@@Cristiano95ify Dang it, I got the wrong guy, I meant Ridley Scott. Sorry for the confusion.

[@vodkavecz]

@@Sajasta I'd rather he reviewed the 4 part french miniseries about Napoleon

[@iankopeski2831]

He can dread it, he can run from it, but Destiny still arrives

[@Alexander-Kaiser]

To sum up the impact the series had in Russia, I'll quote an account I've seen back in the day, after the series premiered: 'For several years now I've been passing by the monument to the liquidators of Chernobyl disaster, while heading for work. Today, for the first time I've seen flowers lying upon it'

[@CybrosisEvolved]

Wow

[@SomeoneFromBeijing]

I was at the Chornobyl Museum in Kyiv in October 2024. And I had to wait outside for a bit because there was a Russian air raid. After I returned to the museum, a group of Ukrainian pupils went inside with their teacher. It was obviously a big deal to them to learn about the history.

[@A3Timo]

@@SomeoneFromBeijing I have been there in May this year, Great place to learn about which was packed with school classes.

[@cruisinguy6024]

Nice story…….but the reactor isn’t in Russia so the entire premise of your story is questionable

[@FloofyMinari]

Chernobyl is in Ukraine 😂 Russian troops dug up radioactive dirt to make trenches in Chernobyl during their 2022 invasion. They dont care about Chernobyl. What a fake story.

[@HotRodRoesel2010]

I’ve been waiting 5 years for this. I went through a pandemic, a heartbreak, and two elections for this

[@CompellingHistory]

I can't BELIEVE its been 5 years - pandemic really messed up my sense of time lol

[@extragoogleaccount6061]

2020 lasted three years. After that it’s up to you

[@snakesonaframe2668]

Oh wow same 😂

[@XxMidnightToker420xX]

My grandmothers uncle was one of several men who filmed the disaster site from one of the mutliple helicopters that did fly bys to film photograph and document the event's of that horrendous disaster. Majority of the film they shot and pictures they took have never been seen by the public eye and he died several years later from complications due to exposure to radiation. As for the story about the naked miners the story i was always told was they were pretty much in fact naked except they still had their boots/shoes on and wore large heavy duty aprons that covered the front of the body. Thats atleast what my parents and others have told me.

[@jansenart0]

44:25 It's possible that what she described as seeing were lesions that became infected and grew into massive open wounds because his immune system was destroyed. That's not a primary but a secondary consequence of radiation damage. I side with the relative on this one.

[@DZatheus]

Necrotizing tissue?

[@StinkoMan22]

It's worth noting also that there are reports that Akimov's flesh was deteriorating so severely by the end, that when he tried to stand the nurses said the skin on his calves rolled off like socks falling down, and parts of his belly separated from his body under their weight. Also that the description from the show that "his face was gone" is accurate.... I think it could be said the show was conservative in their depiction of the horror of this kind of death.

[@Some_Guy6]

@@StinkoMan22 Same when they touched their arms and legs (to move them from bed to bed, etc...) It just peeled off. Like a plastic wrapper around a sausage or something similar.

[@Some_Guy6]

@@StinkoMan22 Also, the show was at first much more realistic in such human damage from the reactor, but was deemed too horrifying to show.

[@AverageAlien]

@@StinkoMan22 this is just fantasy lmfao, zero evidence of this exists

[@willarrington3410]

I lived in the former USSR at the time Chernobyl was airing in an apartment built in 1989. The level of small detail they got right is astonishing; the paint on the walls was the right shade. Crazy.

[@micahqgecko]

Luckily the town they filmed in Lithuania were from the same blueprint. They said it made it easy to find the correct miner hat because there was only one lol.

[@chrissiek8706]

​@@micahqgecko if I am correct, the Pripyat was filmed in Lithuania, Vilnius, specifically Zirmunai district... Though there could have been in few other districts in Vilnius, or smaller towns, or still, a lot of places in Ukraine, Bellorus etc.... 🫠 yeah, we need to get going with these renovations projects and new buildings, if I see "Chernobyl" and my subconscious screaming, hey, that totally looks like where my aunt lives!

[@chrissiek8706]

There weren't many shades of paint at that time, just the lvl of pigmentation, if you wanted it to keep bright overtime, you better know someone from manufacturing site, thus you'd get not so diluted canisters, for an extra price or a favour, of course 😅...😢

[@BenoitPoirot]

9:19 - It wasn’t Toptunov’s fault that the reactor stalled. Because the test had originally been planned for the afternoon shift, they’d been running the reactor in a reduced power state all day. The test was designed to simulate a “sudden” power drop, going from normal power to low power quickly. Because they’d kept the power low all day, the reactor had built up xenon-135, a byproduct that stalled the reactor when Toptunov reduced the power further. In the scene, Akhimov even makes reference to this, saying they’re likely in a “xenon pit.”

[@MinSredMash]

No, that is one of the most common misconceptions about the accident. Xenon poisoning builds up when you reduce the power. Precisely because they waited around at half power all day, the xenon had time to dissipate. If not for the unplanned delay, there would have been even more xenon poisoning.

[@MostlyPennyCat]

Today's Xenon comes from Yesterdays Reactor, so yesterday we were at full power, today we are at half power, so the Xenon fraction increases and the neutron flux to burn it up isn't there. This throws you into a xenon pit. They pulled all the rods and halved the water flow. The void coefficient started increasing the neutron flux, which burnt away the remaining Xenon. Power spike. Hit SCRAM. This tries to replace the graphite in the control rod channels (the "tips") with boron. But at the bottom of the tractor the tip is missing (by design) to keep the neutron flux at the edge of the reactor low, because that's where all the welds are, welds are weaker. The graphite goes down, displaces the edge-water (water is a neutron absorber) with graphite (neutron moderator) So, now you have, at the weakest part of the core: Graphite Fuel No Xenon No Water All accelerators, no brakes. The pressure cracks and jams the control rod channels, jamming the foot on the accelerator. Steam boil, Xenon burn, positive void coefficient. Big Bang.

[@MinSredMash]

@@MostlyPennyCat I repeat. By midnight on April 26th, the reactor had already exited the xenon pit because it had operated at half-power for so long. The peak of xenon poisoning happened around noon on April 25th. Most of the rest of what you said was wrong. I am very familiar with the version of events that you saw on a TV show, and do not need it repeated for me.

[@MostlyPennyCat]

9 hours. It was held at half power for 9 hours. So at 1pm you had yesterday's xenon-135 and iodine-135. 9 hours later they had half of that xenon-135. But they also had iodine-135, neutron, a weak neutron absorber with a half life of 6 hours that decays into new xenon-135. And iodine-135 represents a significant 6% fraction of the fission products. So one and a half half lives, that is that, 6/8 of the iodine is xenon after 9 hours? The reactor stalled into a xenon pit. If the xenon wasn't present, the reactor would not have stalled.

[@MinSredMash]

@@MostlyPennyCat Your numbers are wrong. The reactor was held at half power for TWENTY-THREE hours. Start of power reduction at 1:06am on April 25th. Held at 50% (or thereabouts) until 11:45pm. The maximum xenon poisoning occurred at 8am on April 25th. By 8pm that evening, there was less xenon poisoning than there had been before the power reduction. Naturally, once they began reducing power from 50% to 20%, a new xenon poisoning process began. But this was 100% expected and inevitable, a normal part of any power transient. If not for the unplanned delay caused by the Kyiv dispatcher, xenon poisoning would have been WORSE.

[@Kryzzpu]

The power plant continued to operate . In fact the last reactor was shut in 2001

[@ford1chevy2dodge3]

I do have to laugh at the 7 minute mark. “There’s no evidence that he was followed by the KGB.” The next sentence. “The tapes were for his friend. BUT the government took them, eventually gave them back, and then SOME of it was released but it was heavily filtered before that too.” Ya maybe he wasn’t followed. But certainly sounds like there was some boiling going on

[@hopgoblen]

in soviet union if u had any power you were followed. there will be no evadence that is was simply the fact of life.

[@kroanius8808]

​@@hopgoblenyeah exactly that.

[@CZProtton]

Yeah, Nick is simply suffering from "westerner syndrome" in here, thinking he knows while he does not know. Ofcourse there are no KGB files saying they followed Legasov, its the KGB. Ofcourse they followed Legasov after he became known to the entire world, after he learned about the main issue of what caused Chernobyl. We, people born and raised east of the Iron Curtain, just know these things. We dont need documents proving it, its how the system worked. Legasov was watched by the KGB, as was everyone else. We know that every restaurant was likely to have an informant, every block of flats, every neighborhood had several most likely. Maybe there were not KGB agents watching him around the corner, but there certainly were neighbors and colleagues and ladies at the grocery store who might just get a nice favor from the system if they tell the KGB what Legasov was up to that month.

[@Lo6a4evskiy]

You don't know what you're talking about. Everything published in Soviet Union went through the censors. This didn't mean you were follwed by secret police. It was more or less standard procedure.

[@SerxhioGjata]

My guy, Pravda is the state newspaper. The tapes were confiscated because he wanted to publish them, not because they followed the tapes since their making

[@Dragosteaa]

The only disservice HBO did for viewers was echo Soviet propaganda by entrenching a narrative that Dyatlov was a jerk and Legasov was a saint. In actual reality, it wasn’t so black and white: Legasov ran interference for the Soviet govt/bureaucrats on numerous occasions before and after Chernobyl. He covered for his ivory tower colleagues who designed a flawed reactor and kept declaring it perfectly safe despite there being multiple prior incidents at other nuclear plants. After the big accident inevitably happened, he fell back on pointing the finger at the operators rather than tell the whole truth about the quiet negligence of the institution of atomic physicists & engineers who like him had concerns but basically looked the other way for years. Dyatlov on the other hand, is remembered as a highly intelligent and calm, mild-mannered man who never ever raised his voice except reportedly for one moment during the crisis where he shouted at his staff to evacuate in fear for their safety. The whole ramrod hothead persona, the yelling and slapping the clipboard out of the guys hands in the HBO show never happened according to plant workers who were there and survived. Dyatlov literally helped with first aid for some workers initially injured in the explosion. He suffered many serious health issues & lost the ability to walk for staying as long as he did in the contaminated areas trying to get everyone out. Even after he was sentenced to the gulag after being scapegoated, he wrote letters to the families & government of his deceased coworkers Akimov & Toptunov trying to exonerate them - they followed every instruction set in place by the bureaucrats yet the reactor still exploded. My point is that HBO unfairly romanticizes Legasov and unfairly demonizes Dyatlov. It’s a bit ironic that the last quote in the show is “What is the cost of lies?”

[@armyoftinymoas]

I wish show writers could believe that viewers have the ability to realize that real-life human characters are complex and not easily fit into boxes of heroes and villains

[@sulphurous2656]

The way that they depicted Dyatlov in this show as memeable as it was, had absolutely nothing in common with the real Dyatlov's character, who was always described as being a reasonable man even if he tended to be harsh (though that in its self was traceable to his involvement in a prior accident on a nuclear submarine where his child died, and he himself was irradiated, a personal motive that is completely ignored) as with any boss figure from the east around this time. Also the ridiculousness of him saying "eff Khodemchuk" cannot be ignored considering he literally got a lethal dose from looking for him and lingering to help try and contain what damage they could. And then the show goes along saying "he deserves death"... but what can we expect from western comedy writers I suppose.

[@ch3f8]

Yeah maybe Dyatlov was harsh with people and hotheaded with some decisions, but point most blame on him is just repeating all ussr prop. Which contradicts with show agenda - lies always make bad things worse. Playing holy on Legasov is also weird

[@Agentcoolguy1]

What's the source for all this? I'm interested in learning more about Dyatlov.

[@ch3f8]

@@Agentcoolguy1 There is interview with Dyatlov on ytube, subbed at least, just for knowing his pov. Also Stolyarchuk i-view - survivor of disaster, u see him in show, young guy with mustache, who refuse going to reactor. Popular video with Stolyarchuk is from some blogger girl, pretty annoying, to bad i cant find another with engineer guy. Alexander Kupnyi did good research, with some people who work on Chernobyl on reactor 1-2-3, engineers and instructors, but most of them unsubbed, so u need to know russian lang

[@MrShovelBottom]

My mom lived in Czechoslovakia at the time, her parents were Scientist and noticed the higher dose of radiation in the air when it happened and closed the windows & doors shut when they noticed it. She had to have Thyroid surgery at one point in her life possibly because of this. When she watched the show, I could tell how nervous she was when watching it, reminiscing the events.

[@neverstopschweiking]

My parents also lived in Czechoslovakia (I'm Moravian myself) and worked in a hospital. They first feared a nuclear bomb the moment radiation-sensitive equipment went crazy. They blocked the doors and windows at home to protect me and tuned the TV to Austrian news for actual info on the disaster. By the way, we had the exact same clock as in the beginning of the movie, just in red dye.

[@radhagopinathmandirprague3918]

Yep, I am Czech and my grandfather was a scientist. As soon as he heard the first rumours, he strictly prohibited me from picking anything from the ground, or be outside more than necessary and he did not allow us to pick any mushrooms that summer.

[@CZProtton]

Yep, my grandfather was the head of radiology in Pardubice hospital at that time. They knew. It was clear there was a lot of radiation in the air, they just did not know why. He took a lot of anti radiation meds from work and gave them to my mom and uncle, got all the windows closed and they were forbidden from washing the windows for a week, after which they cleaned them very carefully.

[@lucasoheyze4597]

If you think closing the window is going to stop radiation coming in suggests they weren't exactly good scientists.

[@tinymarsracing]

That's called hysteria. There was no dangerous levels of radiation anywhere except in walking distance from the power plant. The radiation on an airplane is much higher and pilots do miraculously exist.

[@nf1]

Just for the record, the radiation burns are actually accurate. The expert is wrong in this case. just look into the pictures of Hisashi Ouchi if you're curious. He absorbed a similar dose of radiation as some of the firefighters and plant staff, and he literally melted just like as was portrayed in the show, it just took longer.

[@Entrophius]

As ukrainian, this show doesn't mention that May 1st demonstrations occurred a week after the explosion, the general population had zero to no awareness, which lead to multiple people getting more exposed to the fallout in Ukraine and Belarus. The evacuation efforts were also quite strange, since a lot of nearby villages were arbitratily not evacuated leaving a lot of rural population. In later part of the 90s and early 00s, it was almost a common passtime between physics students to discuss RBMK flaws, so narrowing it down to "graphite tips" is a little bit reductive, T Folse Nuclear has a pretty good video on it, too. Out of all the "technogenic catastrophes" of the communist regime, Chernobyl is most definitely the best known and I'm glad to see it's getting more awareness in the world. I certainly hope nobody has to go through it again.

[@MostlyPennyCat]

True, it was reductive, but the complete explanation would have doubled the run time of this video and that wasn't what this was about. It wasn't even what the show was about, it's almost irrelevant _why_ it exploded. The political and social system caused it, because once they actually started talking about it and investigated the problem, the other RBMKs ran safely for decades. I think there's even some still going. The RBMK is a fascinating design, especially designed to be mass produced in a soviet country where specialist construction skills can be found wanting. They designed something that could generate vast amounts of power and specialist medical and military isotopes from the cheapest fuel built by regular construction workers, builders, welders, and plumbers. I actually admire it for that. All destroyed and lives ended by hubris.

[@MostlyPennyCat]

Did you know that here in the UK we also ran all Graphite Moderated Natural Uranium reactors? Ours were gas cooled though, CO². They were called Magnox and after that we built the AGRs which ran hotter so needed LEU instead. Our nuclear program was for making fissile Plutonium with power as a secondary use, although less so with the AGR design. Which means we have _enormous_ stockpiles of Plutonium and ¹⁴C (we have several tens of thousands of tons of ¹⁴C) We recently cracked the problem of turning that Carbon-14 into Diamond Nuclear Batteries which run for, well, about 12,000 years.

[@MsJayteeListens]

Wasn’t there a bit in the second episode where they discuss cancelling May Day demonstrations?

[@simonnachreiner8380]

It's ironic that Chernobyl is so famous considering lysenkoism objectively killed more people.

[@micahqgecko]

They had a may day parade scene but it was cut to save time

[@Unpainted_Huffhines]

The rooftop scene where the engineer has to look at the crater was haunting, with the sound design. It's stuck with me. The way it writhed and pulsated and undulated, it was like a living thing, a tentacle attached to some Lovecraftian monster, here to destroy the world.

[@JohnDoeWasntTaken]

The most terrifying thing about it is that it's pure nuclear fire putting out enough invisible radiation to guarantee death for anyone who looks at it for even a second. Did you notice in that scene how after he looks at the core and turns toward the camera his face is suddenly red from the radiation? That scene to me is one of the scariest of the entire show, it's the only time in human history that we had open-air nuclear fission occurring.

[@skypilot432]

The monster slowly ate his face, and then burned him to death from the inside. This monster is here with us now, invisible, nearly immortal.

[@Unpainted_Huffhines]

@@JohnDoeWasntTaken Yes, I noticed. Even that is Lovecraftian, where even looking at the horror is fatal.

[@Thetarget1]

In my opinion the court scene is a masterclass in science communication. It manages to quickly and simply explain the main points behind the mechanism of the explosion, in a way that laymen can understand. I teach physics and have sometimes taught about Chernobyl in lower level physics classes (as it is interesting and important sociologically as well), so I know the struggle of trying to explain it both quickly and in a was non-technical people can understand.

[@GleppaPigg]

Wrong

[@Klovaneer]

Laymen are told that nuclear reactors are world-ending weapons created by human hubris the same way one monkey would tell the others about starting a forest fire and getting burned.

[@desroin]

Thing with radiation sickness corpses is they don't discolour like that. They get pale because they're dying yeah but they don't turn all shades of blue and grey.

[@louiewood7689]

Regarding the way radiation is shown to affect people, at the extreme levels right after the explosion the firefighters touching core graphite might have experienced upwards of 100 severts wich absolutely would cause almost immidiate damage. Also the face reddining and bleeding would absolutely occur quite quickly and is known as ionising radiation induced erythema

[@Echo06]

Someone needs to do a "What history buffs got wrong on what HBO chernobyl got wrong" because sadly theres still lots of inaccuracies you allowed as truth or missed entierly

[@thatchernobylguy2915]

:)

[@Echo06]

@thatchernobylguy2915 Just the man

[@thispersonwriting1889]

History Buffs: History Buffs: HBO’s Chernobyl.

[@Tom-f8r8o]

Absolutely agree

[@djole93podbara]

There's an idea. A History buff reacts to History buffs

[@Katanasquirrel87]

History Buffs finally covering Chernobyl. We are SO back!

[@hansolowe19]

Not great, not terrible.

[@nyykSIUUU]

I AM SO HYPED

[@Askerith]

​@chocolatetie2 man i thought I was crazy, glad I'm not the only one

[@freedumb6156]

@@chocolatetie2same

[@jruth77]

@@hansolowe19it’s the equivalent of a chest x-ray, so if you’re overdue nows a good time

[@truthsayers8725]

i was in the US military at the time. i heard about this before it was in all the news. that said, i couldnt care less if something is portrayed to have happened on a certain day when in reality it was a week later (or earlier). i had already been trained on what radiation poisoning would look like so the fact they exaggrated the physical appearance and effects i dismissed as overly dramatic but it in no way detracted from the story being told. i watched this special probably 4 times. it is that good

[@blackfox4138]

I believe that the opening scene is more to represent how a man like that would personally feel at a time like that. Showcasing Lagasov in a relatively nice house with a family and still a respected member of society wouldn't really look right in terms of a man confessing the sins of the state while on the verge of comitting suicide. Not really historically accurate, but they paint a better picture of how Lagasov may have felt in his final days.

[@JohnDoe-xt3kf]

And it's really just an exaggeration and not entirely wrong After he came out with the truth he was shunned, not as severely as the intro might imply, but shunned nonetheless And it probably played into his suicide, so it must have been quite impactful for him

[@excaliburknives3572]

@@JohnDoe-xt3kfhis suicide was a political move. They were forced to listen to him.

[@dominusmaximus6925]

so, bunch of lies started it all

[@dan_38]

One thing that effectively saved thousands in Pripyat those first 24hrs was the fact the wind was blowing *against* the city. So while the majority of radioactive material was indeed heading for Pripyat, the winds dropped ~80-90% into the nearby watermains and forests around the city, staving a genuine crisis for most

[@DeHerg]

12:44 actually it is possible to get rather severe radiation burns very quickly if you touch a beta-emitter. That type of radiation has only the reach of a few centimeters(just skin deep), but that means it's going to dump als its ionising energy within those few centimetres.

[@mrthatdude9275]

Also AFAIK one of the reports from the accident at Chernobyl literally states this happening, like maybe the report was a lie but the firsthand report did state this

[@playerwii64]

Exactly its al about Deterministic Dose exposure level

[@SophSax]

Agreed. Immediately thought of the Lia radiation incident

[@mangos2888]

Same

[@Thetarget1]

@@mrthatdude9275 Yes, it is one of the lesser known symptoms of extreme radiation exposure. Although it develops over the course of an hour or so, same time frame as a UV solar burn.

[@joshcantrell8397]

Can’t wait for a Covid version of this 20 years from now

[@logicplague]

No, Toptenov did NOT make a mistake and insert the rods too far, the reactor had been poisoned by one of the fission products called Iodine-131, which over ~6hrs decays into Xenon-131(this is the actual reactor poison). Xenon-131 is a neutron absorber, which is normally "burned off" via neutron absorption while at power, but because of the reduction in power, it had built up in the reactor, and that coupled with the water(also an absorber, to a lesser degree) is what resulted in the reactor stalling. There are plenty of videos that explain in-depth the physics going on here on KZbin, but it was NOT his mistake!

[@Klovaneer]

He was not aware of it. It was a mistake, either his or the previous shift's that didn't mention it or the management running the whole thing. This slump was actually theorized before in the scientific centers but no action was taken as it was considered unlikely and the premise itself scandalous - "the reactor is fine". What matters is that it was a string of mistakes born out of communication inefficiency prevalent in soviet union with all the red (heheh) tape.

[@logicplague]

@@Klovaneer I get that, but the reactor stalling had nothing to do with how far in the control rods were. The only thing you can do when it's in a xenon pit is power down slowly, wait(iirc) about 3 days for it all to decay, and THEN power it back up.

[@patrickmeyer2802]

​@@logicplaguethe reactor was not poisoned at the time of the accident, that is a very common misconception that comes from a wildly inaccurate report written by the Soviets very shortly after the disaster.

[@daniduc]

Exactly!

[@PrincessAshley972]

@@Klovaneer it was the mistake of those in charge, who didnt want the test affecting the regular work day. operating at low power all day poisoned the reactor. then doing the test stalled it, which is what triggered this tragic series of events. hell, even putting it off for as long as they did was a factor

[@marcoosi2117]

When the series came out, I remember being like 'holy crap this is horrifying but amazing' and just continued to sing its praises, but I never was too critical. Now that years have gone by, I can truly appreciate Chernobyl for what it is. A cinematic and storytelling powerhouse, but flawed in many areas. But none of inaccuracies or embellishments really took away from the series, and it will continue to haunt my mind for years. I'm glad you took up the challenge Nick. I've thoroughly enjoyed your work, and will continue to do so for as long as you are willing/able to. Thank you.

[@DartNoobo]

The show still showed that reactor blew up due to negligence, liquidators were real life heroes and Chernobyl was a disaster of legendary proportions. I don't think that creative freedoms realy hurt the truth here.

[@Habu12]

Also, can I take this opportunity to once again pontificate about how fantastic Stellan Skårsgard was in this?!? Just exquisite.

[@ianbd77]

What a great exploration of the documentary and really interesting to unpack the creative choices and the factual basis for this story. You've added to this docudrama in a meaningful way that informatively expanded my understanding. Thank you.

[@katharinehorowitz1709]

Re: Lyudmila. I also thought the whole "the baby absorbed the radiation" thing was a bit ridiculous and I couldn't figure out why the writers would include something so obviously outlandish. However, I watched a documentary wherein it was told to Lyudmila, by doctors at the time, that the baby absorbed it. So... it's scientifically inaccurate but it was *what she was told.* (Which you acknowledge in this video.) I feel like the show could have represented that a bit better with a slight change of line. "The doctors said..." or something. Also: It's ironic that you pause for an ad for a Game of Thrones game when there are three GoT actors in Chernobyl. Also also, thank you for the sound design mentions!!! We sound designers so rarely get noticed. :)

[@cabe3231]

Ludmila pissed me off in this series. I understand you love your husband, but your dismissal of protocol cost you, not only your husband, but the unborn child you two shared. Fking Darwin Award for that Ludmila bint.

[@thedragondemands]

You didn’t see any graphite shards on the ground Nick - *BECAUSE IT ISNT THERE!!*

[@DanielaVilu]

this man is in shock, take him to the infirmary.

[@stefanfilipovits21]

“Not great, not terrible”

[@Til_thesmokeclrz]

he's delusional, get him out of here.

[@kroanius8808]

3.6 röntgen

[@cheesyfromindonesia9969]

50,000 people used to live here, now it's a ghost town -Captain McMillan

[@JackFrawley101]

Mmmm, sudsy -Soap

[@formalbusinessonion7265]

“Our so-called leaders, prostituted us to the west . . . destroyed our culture, our economies . . . our honor.” -Imrhan Zakahaev

[@Donovanmcdab41]

“…I’ve never seen anything like it.” - Captain Macmillan

[@drewschumann1]

In 1990, our Army unit was on maneuvers in W. Germany when we broke down near a Catholic charity home for children. It was packed with displaced children from Chernobyl. The kids had evidently been confined indoors since the disaster and were extremely underweight and pale. We gave them food, and the kids did not understand what an orange was. I have no idea how kids got there from the USSR

[@thevibedoctorphd]

"How does a RBMK reactor explode? Lies," Is my favorite line in the entire show.

[@superpilotdude]

Every lie incurs a debt to the truth

[@michaellynes3540]

What really annoying is everyone says that the explosion at the Chernobyl Power Plant was a nuclear explosion. It wasn’t, it was a gas and steam explosion.

[@kaerakh4267]

That and the later potential steam explosion was also exaggerated significantly.

[@atomtheconqueror7628]

☝️🤓🤓🤓

[@gingernutpreacher]

​@@kaerakh4267i think it's the Chernobyl guy has said there is some speculation that there was a small nuclear explosion

[@JayMaverick]

People who don't understand are easy to scare with words like nuclear and quantum.

[@derekp2674]

I'd say that as the explosions were both caused by uncontrolled releases of nuclear energy, they can be counted as nuclear explosions even though their detailed reaction kinetics were very different from that of conventional nuclear bombs.

[@faeembrugh]

As someone who briefly worked in an atomic power station, I was aghast at how poorly designed Soviet plants were. Failing to build a containment structure over the reactor was one thing that would have absolutely prevented Chernobyl being such a disaster.

[@Edax_Royeaux]

The USSR was poor. Even after the disaster, they had to keep the other Chernobyl plants running to provide power.

[@bimsbarkas]

That is for reasons of ease of maintenance and refueling. Not good reasons though.

[@danlorett2184]

@@Edax_Royeaux They kept operating them into the 2000s. The reason they didn't build containment structures? They cost as much as the reactor. Bad reasoning, though.

[@oohhboy-funhouse]

@@Edax_Royeaux There were projects like the space program that didn't have resource constraints, but political demands meant corners cut, safety ignored, untested and incomplete designs. RBMK was promoted not out of costs, it being cheap was bonus. It was politically a 'Superior Soviet' design with duel use ability to generate plutonium, big with massive output, lower enrichment, ease of construction due to lack of containment, expandability and reach construction targets. It's a terrible design they knew before construction, but Soviets gotta Soviet.

[@Edax_Royeaux]

@@oohhboy-funhouse Of course their space program had resource constraints. Korolev had to compete for funding from rival rocket programs, even the fuel the space program used was a problem because it lack military utility. The rival programs that used the devil's venom (hypergolic liquid rocket fuel), got bigger shares of funding leaving Korelev with little to work with. And his space program was just a side project when his main project was the development of ICBMs originally. They didn't even have the funding to test fire the N-1's 30 engines and several of the N-1's failures can be attributed to it's lousy untested computer system not being able to handle dealing with 30 engines.

[@RaderizDorret]

One further detail about the RMBK type reactors: they are the only reactors ever built that use water cooling and graphite moderation to adjust the reactor's power levels. The reason for this is water itself is also a very good neutron moderator which means that even in the event of a loss of water pressure inside the reactor itself, the graphite remains and continues increasing the power levels but now without any cooling. It is a critical design flaw that no other nuclear reactor ever built has.

[@Calbeck]

Turns out Dyatlov was in fact railroaded, and the reason was simple: it allowed the USSR to claim "human error" and shovel most of the problems of the RBMK reactor's design under the rug. As presented by the "final facts", the only reason there was an issue was because of a VERY unusual set of circumstances which only happened because of the "test" and - allegedly - Dyatlov's arrogance. Full examination of the available data shows that the room was crowded with people who don't appear in the show, including higher-ranked observers. That the reactor would have blown even if the button had never been pressed. And that Dyatlov actually had been following the full instructions presented by both doctrine and the manuals, WITHOUT any shortcuts. Why did the USSR lie? Because blaming Dyatlov meant they could put a "don't do this again" note in a manual somewhere and never bother refitting any of the reactors, which actually need to be torn down to their very cores to correct control-rod array issues. The problem with this show is that the author relied on a book, and other records, which all fell in line with the Soviet narrative. He simply didn't know any better. The show gets this much right at the very end: NONE of the reactors have ever been fixed. For an exhaustive set of videos outlining all the facts in all of their eye-bleeding complexity, check out That Chernobyl Guy's channel. Good stuff.

[@NECO2926]

it's kinda vile to base the series on a provably fake info and go on and on about cost of lies and stuff. it's not like INSAG-7 report is top secret or something. If they would have did their due dilligence they would have known what's actually happened but they decided to keep spreading lies and defame the innoscent man because it's easier to base the show on fiction because you don't need to fact check stuff.

[@One.Zero.One101]

@@NECO2926 LOL Dyatlov is not innocent. Even with the flaws of the RBMK reactor, it still wouldn't have exploded if they didn't abuse it so badly. They were incompetent, unsafe, and careless. Yes it could be very well true that the Soviets made him the fall guy, but that doesn't mean he's innocent. Those two things are not mutually exclusive.

[@Lekvar01]

They didn't abuse the reactor. You need to accept that the scenes of the control room in the show are entirely made up.

[@One.Zero.One101]

​@@Lekvar01 I didn't know you were there in the control room that day. Sorry.

[@Lekvar01]

@@One.Zero.One101 What makes you think that the show is accurate? Why does the sequence of events presented there line up almost perfectly with the original Soviet narrative? If you think just for a minute about things like "graphite tips entering the core first" and look at a basic schematic of the reactor, you will see how nonsensical the show is.

[@mairtinmacdonnchadha2163]

Hisashi Ouchi was a Japanese nuclear plant worker who was exposed to slightly higher roentgen than the firefighters at Chernobyl and looking at his pictures, the show wasn't that much more extreme when it came to the gory effects of radiation. Than again Ouchi was kept alive for 83 days after exposure, but the show does depict what a huge amount of radiation can do to the human body.

[@jen_is_not_ok]

The show does a great job of making you feel the horror and panic from radiation. Though they are facing an invisible foe in the roof clearing scene, you feel immense panic and fear on what looks like just a roof with debris. Even if you watch the clip with no context, the camera work and sound design fills you with dread ⭐️

[@elenathepatriot]

My grandmas, who lived in Vinnitsa (that's about 300 km from Chernobyl), said that after the catastrophy, all the leaves from the trees fell as though it was winter. My great-uncle's teeth all fell out when he came back from Chernobyl (he was a liquidator). One year later, my mom came to Vinnitsa from Norilsk to visit her family. Her thyroid gland immediately grew in size so much you could feel it just by touching the neck. I was born 13 years after the disaster, the radiation was (and still is) so high I also have the too-big thyroid gland.

[@Lonaticus]

A lot of inaccuracies of your own in this one, especially the scientific parts e.g. 31:55 a steam explosion does not separate the hydrogen and oxygen atoms, that happens via radiolysis (i.e. gamma rays split the water molecules apart) and it takes time. There's also other ways to generate hydrogen (fast oxidation) and oxygen (hot zirconium-water reaction in which the zirconium absorbs the hydrogen), but neither is a steam explosion. A steam explosion is a sudden change of a massive volume of water from liquid to gas, which expands the volume of the mixture, and it is caused by heat, not radiation.

[@mitchl6896]

Yep, these were my exact thoughts too. This guy needs to do this research more thoroughly

[@AnarexicSumo]

You didn't link the right part and he never said the split was from a steam explosion. He said the water would be separated "ñesding to a massive steam explosion". Pay attention ffs.

[@AnarexicSumo]

​​@@mitchl6896 He didn't say that at all and they linked the wrong part. You need to watch more thoroughly...

[@Lonaticus]

@@AnarexicSumo And how do you "separate" water, genius...

[@hatman4818]

Well, tbf, History Buffs is a history guy, not a science guy. I'm a physics major, I cut him some slack here. In fact, history buffs is more the target demographic of the show, the show is built from the ground up as a sort of crash course introduction to the nuclear physics required to understand the Chernobyl disaster, and I think the show writers did a good job of trying to explain it in a way laymen can understand. But I still don't expect people to fully grasp each part of it. I really enjoyed watching this show with my parents, but we kept pausing it so I could explain the science involved in more detail.

[@Ploxtifs_OldAndDeadAccountXD]

Chernobyl is the perfect example of a Soviet story: terrible and extremely preventable disasters caused by the leadership that are only stopped from being exponentially worse through the heroic sacrifices of the good selfless rank-and-file

[@Frommerman]

Absolutely. But it does miss one thing: The Soviet Union also created the heroes who sacrificed themselves. There were hundreds of thousands of liquidators who were told by a government they knew they couldn't trust that their safety was being seen to. And they volunteered anyway.

[@Ploxtifs_OldAndDeadAccountXD]

@ I disagree that the Soviet Union “created” those heroes through propaganda or through their own deliberate actions. The USSR certainly created the dire SCENARIOS where we see good people save the lives of other via their heroic and selfless acts, but I believe good people exist everywhere in every corner of the earth under every type of government system, and when push comes to shove, I believe in the good of the people to fight for what’s right, no matter their upbringing or current circumstances.

[@placeholderdoe]

⁠@@Ploxtifs_OldAndDeadAccountXDI agree, people show their best in horrible situations like these. We should celebrate these people, but not the situations that gave them the need to be that honorable. If that makes sense

[@Ploxtifs_OldAndDeadAccountXD]

@ I do, because that’s literally what I’ve been trying to say.

[@placeholderdoe]

@@Ploxtifs_OldAndDeadAccountXD fair tbh I just wanted to sound smart. Have an amazing day!

[@snafuthegreat]

As with 'The Death of Stalin,' no one didnt bother with putting on fake Russian accents, as the Soviet Union was a melting pot of different nationalities.

[@Thetarget1]

I really liked how people spoke with all kinds of different English dialects, and some even with foreign accents, showing people speaking Russian from all over the country, some even as a second language.

[@Snagprophet]

It also makes it seem like "when if the UK was soviet" etc.

[@ieatzebraarah]

As a person that raves about the sound design in this series I’m glad you pointed it out as well. It’s truly one of the best I’ve ever heard

[@jacksonhamilton6302]

9:36 No, what dropped the power too low was mostly the Xenon poisoning, not the control rods. As stated in the show.

[@michaelkierum42]

ill be honest, his explination is a bit different from what I have learned from other explanations of the physics of the incident.

[@jacksonhamilton6302]

@@michaelkierum42 If the problem was that the control rods were too far in, to bring the power up moderately, then one would just pull the control rods part-way up and not all the way.

[@michaelkierum42]

@@jacksonhamilton6302 from my memory the poisoning was due to the speed of which they changed the thermal output of the core. I may be off base but as I understand it, as a reactor reacts fission materials like xenon are byproducts. but they burn off and decay into other elements in the chain. when a core is at a stable power level the burn off and production roughly equalize. When the power output was quickly reduced it didn't have time to burn off the xenon built up in the core which inhibited reactions causing the output to plummet. they pulled the rods out trying to stop the reactor from going sub critical. the pile should have been allowed to go subcritical and restarted after stabilized. but when the rods reentered the coolant, the graphite cladding displaced coolant creating a void allowing the reactor to go prompt critical positive void coeffect allowed it to flash the coolant to steam, steam hammer blew reactor apart. Im not a nuclear engineer I just enjoy learning about it so I may be remembering parts wrong.

[@markhamstra1083]

No, the show gets many details of the accident wrong, including the timing of the xenon poisoning effects. Xenon poisoning would have been an issue hours earlier when the power output of the reactor was significantly decreased, but xenon poisoning is a temporary effect, and could no longer be an issue at the time of the accident - especially because the Kyiv request that power production be maintained at a higher level than originally intended meant that the xenon poisoning would have been even more quickly eliminated.

[@jacksonhamilton6302]

@@markhamstra1083 Indeed, the power needed to decreased slowly, not quickly to avoid the xenon poisoning. Still, it was xenon poisoning and not the control rods. So, my point stands.

[@SpaceCase132]

Another thing to remember with _Chernobyl_ is the access to information that the showrunners had at the time. Shortly before the Russian invasion of Ukraine (a few years after the miniseries was released), numerous quantities of information that were collected from the KGB were declassified and allowed for outside eyes to see how Chernobyl affected the populations of Ukraine and the larger Soviet Union. HBO actually has a documentary or two that directly uses the information that was declassified.

[@MinSredMash]

The HBO show does not use any of the declassified information you are talking about. They didn't even read any of it. The writers just lazily chose a few fictionalized books and repeated a bunch of Soviet propaganda by accident.

[@SpaceCase132]

@ Like I said, there is a good deal of information that was still classified when the miniseries was released, so the showrunners were just working off the information that was available to them, making alterations to either compress events or to make a more entertaining series.

[@thatchernobylguy2915]

@@SpaceCase132 Everything they ever needed was never classified. The witness testimony and scientific reports were always out there. HBO used neither and screwed it all up.

[@thatchernobylguy2915]

BTW, the documentaries claiming to use declassified footage are not declassified, it is simply upscaled footage from 1980s documentaries with sound effects.

[@MinSredMash]

@@SpaceCase132 The showrunners did very shoddy research and do not have the first idea about how much they got wrong.

[@marvinthemartian9584]

Saying that a project was completed before it was actually finished was and is a common practice in the Soviet Union / Russia. For example, the Soviet / Russian Navy would say that ships and subs had been delivered before they were actually completed. As soon as ships were launched they would be commissioned into the Soviet Navy. Even though there may be another year or two of work before the ship was ready to go to sea.

[@Gsxr1k666]

So basically like people who say they’ll be ready in 5 minutes but take a hour to get ready

[@marvinthemartian9584]

@@Gsxr1k666 like every girl that we've ever dated, my friend.

[@monkee5th]

Back in the mid 1990's I dated a woman from the Ukraine, Dasha. She moved to Connecticut from Kiev. She was in Kiev as a young girl during the event. She told me how they evacuated the entire city of Kiev (population about the size of Boston) to the countryside. She told me it was kinda like going to camp.