Well, guess I look like a fool now. Shouldn't have taken that Forbes article at face value. Checked what y'all wrote and I was wrong about the radioactive firefighters. I guess they just inhaled a huge amount of radioactive particles? It's hard to imagine that it could have been so much that they would need to be buried in lead caskets, how much radiation were they emitting? How much did it contribute to their death, aside from the radiation they absorbed on site?
It's annoying that they're not clear about it in the show -- the difference between radioactive particles being spread, and just plain radioactivity is rarely made. I do really think this show will contribute to fear mongering because it's just not on the ball regarding ELI5 science. The atomic bullets explanation was just... not good.
As for the documentary part, I just got out from watching When they see us and it's on a whole nother level "docudrama" wise. the faithfulness to the actual events makes it that much more impactful. All these changes to Chernobyl to dramatize it, they feel so unnecessary. There's enough actual stories with plenty of drama to tell, why shove in a bunch of fiction in there? Disappointed by that.