Well, your post proves why they should've cleared that up, because that's not how radioactivity works. Radioactive particles emit radiation. Things that have received radiation don't just become radioactive. It's purely the radioactive particles that will keep emitting radiation. So say if the firefighters were fully clothed and had a breathing apparatus so that they didn't inhale any particles from the air, they would still have been dying from overexposure to radiation, but they wouldn't have been radioactive themselves (and therefore wouldn't have needed to be buried in concrete).Reactor contains radioactive materials.
Anything near it (or even within hundreds of kilometres in this case) becomes radioactive to an extent - whether delivered by sheer proximity or contamination by drifting radioactive material. (I'm not sure about your confusion between radiation and radioactive particles - it's one and the same.)
In a person who has received a high enough dose it is damaging to those around them. And for a long time after they're gone, hence the burial.
It's hard to comprehend at first but it is true and not a dramatisation. It actually happened.
Well, your post proves why they should've cleared that up, because that's not how radioactivity works. Radioactive particles emit radiation. Things that have received radiation don't just become radioactive. It's purely the radioactive particles that will keep emitting radiation. So say if the firefighters were fully clothed and had a breathing apparatus so that they didn't inhale any particles from the air, they would still have been dying from overexposure to radiation, but they wouldn't have been radioactive themselves (and therefore wouldn't have needed to be buried in concrete).
The only change that was bad in my opinion was the helicopter crash one. Otherwise, most of them were necessary for narrative purposes, which they explain in their podcasts. For example, convey how the Soviet bureaucracy worked, create full character arcs, or compress characters and events that couldn't be covered in 5 episodes. There are a lot of contradictory accounts, and events were shrouded in secrecy, so guesses have to be made. Hundreds of thousands of people over multiple years were involved, focusing how the disaster affected different sectors of the USSR, so compression was necessary. As for Legasov and Schervina, we can't get direct accounts from them, and not much is known about them. What is there, like Legasov's tapes, are recorded in Russian. Furthermore, they are the main characters of the show, but in reality, there is no clear main characters. But that doesn't work for a fictional story, so they were placed in events they weren't involved in. That it has been over 30 years since the event also doesn't help. So yeah, the best any docudrama producer can do is give out the emotional and abstract truth of the case, while making people aware as such, which they did with the podcast.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.
Cool, didn't know about this. Apparently this wasn't the case with the Chernobyl firefighters because they didn't find much Sodium-22. The process is called neutron activation.For the radioactivity conversation taking place, I would like to note, it's not just about breathing in. For example, neutron radiation means neutron absorption can take place, turning regular atoms into radioactive ones.
Ah okay, so neutron absorption was not involved.Cool, didn't know about this. Apparently this wasn't the case with the Chernobyl firefighters because they didn't find much Sodium-22. The process is called neutron activation.
but their clothes were radioactive right?Well, your post proves why they should've cleared that up, because that's not how radioactivity works. Radioactive particles emit radiation. Things that have received radiation don't just become radioactive. It's purely the radioactive particles that will keep emitting radiation. So say if the firefighters were fully clothed and had a breathing apparatus so that they didn't inhale any particles from the air, they would still have been dying from overexposure to radiation, but they wouldn't have been radioactive themselves (and therefore wouldn't have needed to be buried in concrete).
Yeah, well, not the clothes themselves, but the particles that got on them. It is actually possible for normal matter to turn radioactive through neutron activation, as ibyea said, but apparently this wasn't the case for the firefighters.
This seemed pretty clear in the show.not the clothes themselves, but the particles that got on them
Yeah, I really don't see it either. It sounds like someone got some wrong info from Forbes and then is trying to save face by admitting some info was room but, you know, that there's still room to critique the show for other reasons.I just don't see how any of it was poorly explained or done incorrectly.
lol chill...
Eh I have more issues with the show than just that one point, I mean, duh? There's nothing wrong with being wrong, and I shouldn't have to defend admitting that I'm wrong, holy fuck. It's a show, opinions are going to differ. People are talking candidly to the positive as well as to the negative, learn how to read impressions on entertainment.Yeah, I really don't see it either. It sounds like someone got some wrong info from Forbes and then is trying to save face by admitting some info was room but, you know, that there's still room to critique the show for other reasons.
Eh I have more issues with the show than just that one point, I mean, duh? There's nothing wrong with being wrong, and I shouldn't have to defend admitting that I'm wrong, holy fuck. It's a show, opinions are going to differ. People are talking candidly to the positive as well as to the negative, learn how to read impressions on entertainment.
Either way, I don't see how you can say the explanations were done well . ELI5'ing takes a certain finesse, this show doesn't have it IMO. To me it comes across as if they're scared of explaining too much, too often. I'm not saying they're absolute shite, they suffice for the show itself. But current day context requires that we tackle the idea of nuclear power with care, there's too much fear mongering going on that is holding us back from using nuclear to combat climate change.
There's more that irked me though. For example, the incessant horror-like background noise, even during scenes without tension. The dilapidated look of everything -- the inside of the hospitals is what struck me, they look like they're falling apart. But "drama" right? The harsh color grading is too much for me as well. The show looks feels and sounds like a slasher horror almost, it's too much.
The dilapidated look of everything -- the inside of the hospitals is what struck me, they look like they're falling apart.
God damn, posts like these are so annoying. Some people don't like a thing as much as you do. Talk about it, or just fuck off, but don't come with these 0 effort nonsense drive by posts.
There's more that irked me though. For example, the incessant horror-like background noise, even during scenes without tension. The dilapidated look of everything -- the inside of the hospitals is what struck me, they look like they're falling apart. But "drama" right? The harsh color grading is too much for me as well. The show looks feels and sounds like a slasher horror almost, it's too much.
The outside is fine, check these pictures out https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/chernobyl-pripyat-before-disaster.That was the state of the Soviet Unions infrastructure in the 1980's I mean for god sake supermarkets in Russia never had anything on their shelves and had queues miles long just for the few scraps that were available. I mean you complain that the show wasn't authentic and too dramatic in some places then when they do show authentic stuff you complain it isn't authentic.
I remember watching a documentary about an American bone marrow specialist that was over there at the time of the accident and he was helping out in Hospital number 6 and he was shocked at just how basic everything was and how lacking in equipment the hospital was. Hell they didn't even have a damn blood centrifuge. The hospitals and infrastructure look like that in the show because that is how they looked in 1986 when the disaster happened.
The Pripyat stuff can't be helped because they used on location filming in similar apartment blocks in Lithuania. By this point, the infrastructure is decades old.The outside is fine, check these pictures out https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/chernobyl-pripyat-before-disaster.
Totally agreed.The color grading was fucking amazing.
Got instant S.T.A.L.K.E.R chills in many places due to the look of the show.
Super interesting take from a Soviet ex-pat on Russian media's reaction to the show
Quick question, after this happened, was there serious discussions about banning nuclear reactors?
This might be my favorite TV series ever, i'm so hooked and i'm going down a rabbit hole on google trying to scrape every little crumb of information i can get about the reactor.
I thought it was very clear to anyone who didn't go in trying to find reasons to think it wasn't being accurate.
The equipment was covered with dirt and dust and water all contaminated with radioactive material. There's a hospital basement still full of clothes untouched because the pile is still too dangerous.
There's multiple times that people, equipment and even whole areas are scrubbed to remove radioactive material. One scene literally shows dust and ash falling on people. Dust is the entire reason the miners end up naked!
I just don't see how any of it was poorly explained or done incorrectly.
So it didn't happen in real life ? The hospital section, what happened to the baby ? I didn't check the real wife testimony on those events.I think he's referring to how the wife wasn't allowed to be in the room with Vasily and couldn't touch him or spend more than 30 minutes with him etc. He was obviously not in his firefighting clothes at that point. He had been undressed, scrubbed, etc before being put in that hospital room. They were implying that he, himself, was radioactive and would somehow contaminate her by his mere presence.
I think he's referring to how the wife wasn't allowed to be in the room with Vasily and couldn't touch him or spend more than 30 minutes with him etc. He was obviously not in his firefighting clothes at that point. He had been undressed, scrubbed, etc before being put in that hospital room. They were implying that he, himself, was radioactive and would somehow contaminate her by his mere presence.
Rewatching first episode. My god.
Even better on the second watch. Interesting the way the control room scene circles back from the finale
The color grading was fucking amazing.
Got instant S.T.A.L.K.E.R chills in many places due to the look of the show.
Were the firemen going into the actual area with the core, or just going into the facility?
In the podcast, Mazin said Fomin got his degree via a diploma mill.
Because they don't know what to say so they'd rather end the discussion by ghosting than losing it.How come the people that come into this thread to post their hot takes never reply to others that quoted them and try to explain themselves lol
Russian media is so butthurt about the show it's friggin laughable, it's literally "Dumbass westerners don't understand why we are always ready to die!!! WE ARE HEROES!!! IT"S IN OUR BLOOD!!! ARGHHHHHH!!!".
Meanwhile, one of the channels prepares a Russian answer to this travesty, behold the might of glorious Russian TV:
The story of the heroic KGB officer stopping machinations of insidious CIA agent who could've made Chernobyl disaster even worse!
The promo maybe from the 2014, can't say for sure, but the show is in post-production now. I think they changed the gender of Petrenko's kid and the actress who plays his wife. The concept itself remains the same.That's not their "answer", it's from 2014. Gonna take them some time still to put out whatever they're making.