The Big Problem With the HBO Chernobyl Miniseries: Vichnaya Pamyat - Xenon & 700MW Departure

The HBO mini-series on Chernobyl stands out as one of the biggest successes in recent TV show-making. Surely that cannot possibly have anything to do with Soviet propaganda crafted by people the show’s creator Craig Mazin refers to as “masters of weaponized narration”. Episode Five of the mini-series is its gripping and chilling climax. Its title is Eternal Memory. Memory is a funny thing, particularly when it’s eternal. In the coming videos we will explore some of the key things episode five misremembers twisting the memory of Chernobyl and of the people involved.
Join the Discord here: / discord
This script was written by Bobby, who has also crafted an incredible history paper exploring how misinformation and disinformation continues to impact the story of Chernobyl. You can read it here: docs.google.co...

[@d.oroboros4905]

I live in East Germany, a few kilometers away from my hometown there was one of the largest uranium mines in Europe, the so-called “Wismut”, thousands of men were forced into the mines as forced laborers by the Soviets after the Second World War. They extracted over 230,000 tons of uranium ore for the Soviet nuclear weapons industry. The working conditions were catastrophic, in the mines it was forbidden to measure radiation exposure, the labor slaves were told they could counteract the radioactivity by drinking strange grain liquor. In the end, the socialist GDR regime merely admitted that around 6000 workers had fallen ill with radiation sickness during the entire mine operation and had largely died. The number of unreported cases of those who actually died is exorbitantly higher, not including the many miscarriages and abortions. After the fall of the socialist regime, thousands of former Wismut workers contracted radiation-induced cancer and died in agony.

[@markusw7833]

Wow.

[@chukkie0001]

From pubmed 1995 piece over the east German/Czech uranium mine: "However, long-lived alpha-radiating substances such as uranium-238 contributed considerably to the radiation dose. There was also exposure to toxic chemicals, such as arsenic (in some mines) or crystalline silica, and a variety of other health hazards."

[@MrGrace]

Wow! Never heard about this.

[@konstancemakjaveli]

No difference between international socialism and national socialism.

[@will_hargreaves]

@@konstancemakjaveli Spot on. They're both totalitarian collectivist ideologies. That's why they both resovle to the same fate of mass genocide. What I find interesting is that if you were to ask people to put Stalin, Hitler, & Mao in order of "evilness", the most common response you would likely get is "1st Hitler, 2nd Stalin, 3rd Mao. However, when you look at their respective body counts, the answer is 1st Mao, 2nd Stalin, 3rd Hitler.

[@JackRussell021]

It is funny - I used to think I had a pretty good understanding of what went on, and this series of videos has upended a lot of that. I look forward to a sort of 'conclusion' video that sums things up into a new and better understanding. What is interesting is looking at what the sources are for various bits of information. And as we all know, you can't trust just one source - people cover their asses. But we get those multiple sources here, and the pieces start to fit together.

[@Bozothcow]

Yeah I feel the same way.

[@Alex.2014.]

So there's a physicist making claims and then refuses to put up any sources? Sounds real trustworthy 🤷

[@SamwiseOutdoors]

Source: trust me, bro.

[@martigrey5872]

Might not be an actual physicist then.

[@SamwiseOutdoors]

@@martigrey5872 But that changes everything. If we critique people for pretending to be something else on the Internet, then I won't be a falconer with a gold commode anymore.

[@Del_S]

He has a theoretical degree in physics.

[@SamwiseOutdoors]

@@Del_S Schroedinger's Diploma.

[@alexandernorton693]

Nice I get to finish rewatching HBO Chernobyl yesterday and now I get to watch Chernobyl guy

[@csszabo1]

Congratulations for this great analysis. Thank you. Please let me make some remarks: 1) There is a slight mistranslation of the VNIIAES paper. It states: "Желание понизить паросодержание на выходе из А. З. (активной зоны) и заброс давления в БС (барабан-сепараторе) постредством уменьсения мощности." In this context, AZ (А. З.) means rather 'активная зона' (reactor core) instead of 'аварийная защита' (emergency protection) Therefore, the translation would be rather: "The desire to reduce the vapour content at the core (A. Z.) exit and the pressure drop in the steam separator drum (BS) by means of power reduction." 2) The power drop at 00:28 remained a místery, to be explore further. According to The VNIIES paper, its cause was unknown. But at 29:39, there is an interesting remark: "1АР отключились по ВК (верхнему концевому выключателю), 2АР не включился по недопустимому разбалансу АЗСР (аварийной защити по скорости в рабочем диапазоне мощности реактора)." that means "1AR was switched off by the upper limit switch(es), 2AR was not switched on due to unacceptable unbalance of the emergency protection of speed (of change) in the operating range of reactor power AZSR. This might be worth for further analysis.

[@markusw7833]

We appreciate the correction on the translation. That has been confusing. Someone had pointed a mistranslation out before but it didn't register well. Yes, what happened with the power drop is generally unclear.

[@MinSredMash]

I don't think I've seen anyone attempt to analyze the causes of the power drop, and it has never made sense that AR-2 freezing in place with AR-1 at the upper limits would cause power to suddenly fall. Some have speculated about a 'perturbation' in the feedwater causing the drop.

[@markusw7833]

@MinSredMash Some sort of perturbation is mentioned in INSAG-7 and Tregub seems to allude to it.

[@scarx4181]

Don't worry about the idiots, loving the content man! Please keep it up, it's a very welcome distraction from the ongoings in the world right now!

[@MrGrace]

Agreed. Be well, wherever you are.

[@lolalalia4119]

Loooooooving this series!! Thank you for your hard work. You are correcting an injustice to people's character and ensuring these dramatizations do not become canonical ❤

[@iflipburger5218]

Seriously youre a fucking weapon making these videos they put me to sleep like a cobalt 60 pellet (in a good way) love u

[@markusw7833]

Just as intended. :) Dude was even battling asthma and Joe Biden energy syndrome to put you to sleep.

[@Blazs120gl]

Some time ago I have also made comment about Dyatlov's interview (on one of Starodumov's uploads), with similar thoughs like Raiden, underlining that they may not have been aware about the dire consequences they will face, but certainly knowing that the turbine test is not the way to go (and most probably, everyone just wanted to tick this square in the list and move on). So they can be held accountable for criminal negligance. But I had to admit to myself, that *just like Radien, I've been playing in the Captain Hindsight team.* We only knew it was a bad idea until it turned out it was a bad idea, so we must have been smarter than those people whose job was to work the damn thing. Also we've been running around with KGB lies, one just needs to gather some strength to face the truth. So I swallowed all my words with my dignity (I might also have delete my post with the whole thread, or just leave it for the whole world to see how ignorant I was). It's better to realize the things you don't know than being lost wandering on Mount Stupid. Since then I always send all the people interested in the subject mater, to this channel warning them: They need to binge watch a week worth of videos to get out of HBO's la la land.

[@FISSIONINITIATEDSUNRISE]

Nuclear weapons videos? Particularly known design b61 , W80 , W88 etc...

[@foobarf8766]

Appreciate the work you put into these, I learn a lot. Kia ora from New Zealand!

[@thedramaman1]

That Chernobyl Guy did a line at 15:26 and fumbled his cut LOL.

[@thatchernobylguy2915]

@thedramaman1 Sorry, I have a cold right now. D:

[@ImranIsak]

​@@thatchernobylguy2915 Get well soon!

[@thedramaman1]

@@thatchernobylguy2915 Also, it may be from the cold but at 18:15 you sound much more matter-of-fact in your tone.

[@Manbunmen65]

I'm not here for the Xenon...I'm here for the strife.

[@anthonyfarrar8385]

I love your content. It has helped me to explain to my children. the problem with our current propaganda problems in the news media.

[@martigrey5872]

Been watching for a while and knew the show was bunk but it is a great fictional show. Many others cant write fiction like it or make tv nearly as good as this show.

[@markusw7833]

The key is to use Soviet propaganda as inspiration.

[@supabass4003]

6:06 Dyatlov lost both arms? brutal.

[@skylineXpert]

How comment sections can become toxic as the contents of reactor 4...

[@robertliskey420]

Thank you again!

[@EduardoSchifler]

Hey man can you make a vídeo about the timeline of the firemans cuz i alredy see something like this but is in russian so i though it could be a good idea to make a video about it

[@cam2groovi117]

@BadassRaiden been real quiet since then huh 🤣

[@user-bx7ow7wy8o]

I'm late to this but a search for 'RBMK azimuthal harmonic' led me to the document 'STABILITY ANALYSIS OF SPATIAL POWER DISTRIBUTION IN RBMK-1000 REACTOR' (sorry about caps) which explains well the various sources of instability. Long story short, most of them have a long time constant, except void coefficient at low power and flow rates which is particularly fast and not known by the operators at the time. And of course the faulty control rod design meant the AZ5 switch effectively became a detonation button.

[@swokatsamsiyu3590]

Yep, here's another banger of a video. "When the core is running at full power, it burns the xenon away before it can cause a problem." Despite the fact that it is not fully correct, it's not totally wrong either. When the reactor is going full tilt, there are enough "spare" neutrons flying around in there to deal with the xenon without it interfering with reactor power. Upon reactor start-up, you will reach an equilibrium after some 40 - 50 hours (depending on the reactor type) between the xenon being produced, and how much is being burned off by the neutron flux present. This is the short and sweet version of it. We can freely fling this kind of stuff about on channels like yours without people batting an eye over it. However, the ordinary viewer will bow out the moment you make it more complicated than what they use in the show. So, that's why I can understand they phrased it the way they did, even though if it is not fully correct.

[@chehn]

How does xenon accumulate at low power, shouldn't it be produced at a similar rate as fission events in the core, and be removed proportionally due to catching neutrons? So at half power half as much is neutroned away but also half as much is produced? Or is it produced from something else, or doesn't split into something else as it catches neutrons?

[@thatchernobylguy2915]

@user-xx1qq9ov6p It is produced proportional to the reactor power several hours earlier, and burned away proportional to the current reactor power.

[@timothymcavoy7634]

Hey chernobyl guy... I have another question/opinion which I don't think I've seen when looking. Why did they even do the test? Here's why I ask... they already signed off on it, the majority of soviet reports/production was overstated in fear, I know they were going to shut down for maintenance that following day... they state that formin will probably take over burkanof (excuse my spelling) wen he gets a Moscow position when completed. But they already signed off on it when it came online.

[@MinSredMash]

Fomin said at the trial that some auditors pointed to the lack of the test in their records. Or maybe it was Bryukhanov; I don't remember.

[@timothymcavoy7634]

@MinSredMash ah ok I think you are right about formin. I forgot about the auditors portion of trial. I do know that most soviet union production mgrs were known for fudging and producing inflated reports in fear of retaliation. Thank you for the reminder and info

[@foxygamer0052]

Hey there, as you showed that "button"...i suppose thats AZ-5...and i thought it would be a press button, not a flip/turn switch? Which one is it know?

[@Zonkotron]

That is the rod disconnect. They used that when AZ 5 seemed to only go boom. Its the "even AZ 5 is not working switch"

[@gth042]

I'm just impressed someone has the switch and knows somebody that knows our gracious host. Whether that's friends in high places or low, it's pretty cool.

[@klardfarkus3891]

The original az5 switch was a push button that had to be held depressed during the entire process.after chernobyl it was replaced with a rotary switch with a paddle handle that just had to be switched clockwise.

[@Zonkotron]

As you show yourself at 2:40 the depoisoning takes days to reach steady state. It may take only 10 hours to get rid of the severe xenon pit effect, but it takes approx 30-40 hours to get rid of relevant influence. The Kiev delay was what, about 9h, according to 4:00. Which means, HBO is still wrong, the Kiev delay DID make it better. But let us not forget that Xenon, by these numbers, was still a contributor to the wacky reactor dynamics that caused the accident.

[@markusw7833]

19 hours total led to a substantial decline of xenon and improved conditions. Indeed, we wonder how the test was supposed to be done in the afternoon.

[@Zonkotron]

@@markusw7833Yeah. To be fair, i just checked the half life of Xe 135, its 9.2 hours. A lot of it would have gone away either way. You dont have to burn it, waiting works just fine. A slow steady power reduction to target value probably would not have changed much vs. the 2 step with waits. Would be interesting to simulate the xenon curves for various non trivial operating regimes and see how they compare. The dynamics are higher order (iodine decay also takes some time) but since decay is an exponential like any other PT1, we have essentially a chain of PT1 behaving similar to electrical filters. Now those i understand in my sleep. If the changes to reactor power are within total filter bandwidth, the exact trajectory shouldnt matter too much. Its a couple minutes in spice or simulink. I will give it a try in the next days.

[@NotSexualAtAll]

Only slightly if the recorded ORM is any guideline.

[@traumgeist]

Cross country pogo sticking representative here. I follow a discussion amongst two dozen or so prominent cross country pogo stickers about this video. I speak for the cross country pogo sticking community when I say that there are countless glaring inaccuracies in this video.

[@Cleric4521]

Anybody who chooses to go by a name with "Badass" in it, inherently loses their credibility.

[@jochenheiden]

I think it’s poor form and petty for you to be calling out people posting comments on your videos.

[@Takyodor2]

Don't you think being extremely rude (and arrogant while wrong) in the comments should have consequences? People get way too comfortable spewing vitriol on the internet without consequences...

[@rileyh4169]

Nukelear reaktoer exlosoin?

[@mattatobin]

Tell us, how does the viewer of an RMBK Video explode? With truth.

[@TrojanHell]

...maybe a strange question, but are you sick, or do you have allergies? It sounds a bit like you have asthma, your gasping for air is very obvious in the entire video, and its making me feel short of air myself :'D I hope you are okay, maybe its just from talking a lot, but please dont strain yourself too badly. Hypoxia is very bad for the brain!

[@fnherzog]

The sounds of breathing is just what happens when you speak. Sometimes you even hear it on musical recordings of, for example, woodwind instruments. There are certain recording tricks that minimize it, like a pop screen, changing the distance and angle of the mic, or simply using filters in post production

[@invertedpolarity6890]

Did HBO kill your dog or steal your girlfriend or something?

[@gth042]

Far, far, worse. They were wrong.

[@markusw7833]

​@@gth042✅️

[@ChrisMatthewson]

@@gth042 Yes but I want to live in a world of make-believe as I can't handle the truth. let's all lie so that we can feel better and ignore all reality. We should just accept and never question what TV and politicians tell us. (Sarcasm).

[@wademeitner6605]

Try ending with a good bye or like and subscribe.

[@1marcelfilms]

nah

[@kshegunov]

While your argument about the xenon pit is interesting, it's not cut completely dry. The diagram shown at 2:40 is for illustration purposes, it, by far, isn't the same for all reactors and all conditions. A percent change in power translate to a different power change in MW depending on the nominal for the reactor. Furthermore even power rating isn't a direct measure for production of I-135 or the neutron capture of Xe-135, since the former is dependent on induced fission, and both are driven by neutron flux, not by the thermal state of a reactor. The flux may and will be different for the same power rating depending on the composition of the fuel at a given time - you'd expect a higher flux to be needed to achieve the same power rating at the end of a fuel cycle (i.e. when the fuel's not fresh), and you already hinted about this in your previous video (where you discuss how the RBMK was designed so the additional absorbers are removed to increase the fuel burn-up). Additional important consideration is the geometry, as iodine (and thus xenon) concentrations generally aren't spatially uniform.

[@markusw7833]

If you're going to try to split some very fine hairs you probably shouldn't be mentioning "the xenon pit" in your first sentence. There is no xenon pit here, that's later. There actually is no argument either - merely an explanation. The recovery of the Operating Reactivity Margin proves the reactor core was being depoisoned over the Kiev delay. As you're a fan of illustrative graphs you'll find one in Annex II of INSAG-7 that is the inverse of xenon changes. See if you can spot the actually significant things that make it illustrative rather than whatever it is you're "interestingly" trying to argue here.

[@kshegunov]

@@markusw7833 I don't see anything wrong with my first sentence, although I also don't know where is "here" and when is "later". An explanation is a form of an argument, such that for an explanation to be correct it has to be plausible and appropriate evidence allowed for, in other words, explaining lightning with Thor is a bad argument. Just so we are clear, I'm not saying the explanation provided in the video is wrong, I haven't decided for myself yet, I'm rather sharing some potential pitfalls. Being depoisoned is not the same as reached equilibrium concentrations, mind you. For the 24 hours between the initial decrease in power to the second power decrease (after the delay), about 6% of the initial concentration of I-135 (which is 6% of the equilibrium concentration for the reactor running at full power) still has not decayed to xenon to begin with. The last part of your comment I'm simply going to ignore (including the snarky tone) as I have no interest in playing guessing games. If you want to point me to a specific figure for a mistake I'd made or something I'd missed, then do so, if not - don't waste your breath.