HBO's Chernobyl |OT| Do you taste something metallic?

[Deleted member 19498]

Emesve I think the main problem here is you are seeing "invented drama" where there isn't any

This show is so unrealistic with it's depiction of radiation sickness treating the victims as infecte-

oh

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Pfft bet it wasn't anything higher than 3.6 roentgen's. Not great but not Terrible

 

[AmFreak]

Top UCLA Doctor Denounces HBO's "Chernobyl" As Wrong And "Dangerous"
The Reason They Fictionalize Nuclear Disasters Like Chernobyl Is Because They Kill So Few People

 

[Ginta]

here'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.

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I was born and got sick right after because many hospitals in the soviet union were bad and unhygienic. You complain about stuff you know shit about.

 

[SirShizznit]

All these "influencers" exploring Chernobyl how fucked are they medically speaking

 

[ArkhamFantasy]

All these "influencers" exploring Chernobyl how fucked are they medically speaking

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Cherobyl has been a tourist attraction for years. They built another dome on top of it recently and further reduced its radiation output. The guides keep them safe.

 

[NateDrake]

All these "influencers" exploring Chernobyl how fucked are they medically speaking

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Not at all. They offer tours.

 

[SirShizznit]

Not at all. They offer tours.

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I gathered that but how dangerous is the control room these days for example.

 

[Peter Ian Staker]

All these "influencers" exploring Chernobyl how fucked are they medically speaking

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They get protective clothing, dosimeters and tour guides that know the place. Also a new containment structure was built over the reactor recently which has lowered the radiation levels.
Unless they do something really stupid they will be fine.

 

[Ebullientprism]

They get protective clothing, dosimeters and tour guides that know the place. Also a new containment structure was built over the reactor recently which has lowered the radiation levels.
Unless they do something really stupid they will be fine.

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I dunno man. Doesnt look like its gonna protect much lol.

NSFW.

Spoiler

]

 

[NateDrake]

I gathered that but how dangerous is the control room these days for example.

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You can stay in some areas for several hrs. If the tour room is part of the tour, then it is safe enough to explore for whatever length of time the guides find appropriate.

 

[SirShizznit]

I dunno man. Doesnt look like its gonna protect much lol.

NSFW.

Spoiler

]

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Christ how disrespectful

 

[ArkhamFantasy]

One of the things that i had trouble wrapping my head around was the way the radiation would focus in a single direction. Flying the helicopters to the side of the exposed core and they were ok, but flying directly over it and they're dead in a week, that's just crazy to me that a few feet makes that big of a difference.

 

[Dubbedinenglish]

I dunno man. Doesnt look like its gonna protect much lol.

NSFW.

Spoiler

]

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Dem radiological booty gains

 

[SimonChris]

I dunno man. Doesnt look like its gonna protect much lol.

NSFW.

Spoiler

]

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https://inews.co.uk/opinion/chernob...fluencers-news-sites-inappropriate-criticism/

The picture of the woman undressing was taken near her home in Novosibirsk and not at Chernobyl at all.

 

[FliX]

Late to the party, we watched the first two episodes yesterday. Truly harrowing and with a dark sense of humor... I did have to laugh at the 3.6 measurement readings. "Not good, but not awful".
Really looking forward to the rest of the show.

 

[selfnoise]

One of the things that i had trouble wrapping my head around was the way the radiation would focus in a single direction. Flying the helicopters to the side of the exposed core and they were ok, but flying directly over it and they're dead in a week, that's just crazy to me that a few feet makes that big of a difference.

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It's not really focusing, it's that there's nothing in between the core and the helicopter to absorb the particles, like a wall or debris etc. If you use the gun analogy it makes sense, basically there's a gun firing in every direction constantly and the bullets are going to keep going until they hit something.

You just can't see the bullets.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

One of the things that i had trouble wrapping my head around was the way the radiation would focus in a single direction. Flying the helicopters to the side of the exposed core and they were ok, but flying directly over it and they're dead in a week, that's just crazy to me that a few feet makes that big of a difference.

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It's not so much that the radiation focused in a single direction, it's that it fires out in all directions but if there's something obstructing line of sight (like, say, a concrete building), that's going to end up absorbing the radiation. So flying off to the side is fine because you're protected by what remains of the building. Think of it like moving something in front of a lightbulb to create a shadow. The lightbulb is still sending light off in all directions, you've just obstructed its path in certain places.

 

[8byte]

One of the things that i had trouble wrapping my head around was the way the radiation would focus in a single direction. Flying the helicopters to the side of the exposed core and they were ok, but flying directly over it and they're dead in a week, that's just crazy to me that a few feet makes that big of a difference.

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If I remember right, the exposed reactor core was more or less in a "bowl". So it's surrounded on all sides except the top. This meant most of the extremely harmful and dangerous output was straight up. The clouds from the fire were also "carrying" the radiation, which further contributed to the danger of flying directly over the exposed core.

It wasn't so much that they were "ok" to the sides of the core, as much as it was the radiation was considerably diminished because it was running into to other things, lowering the levels of radiation they were exposed to. They were still getting radiation, just not an immediately lethal dose like they would directly over it.

 

[Green Yoshi]

Really impressive series. Watched in one session yesterday. I was 6 months old when it happened, so I can't recall it. But I can understand why people here in Western Germany were so terrified when they heard the news.

The series tells you a lot about the Soviet Union and why it was doomed to fail. Nobody dared to say the truth because of the repercussions this implied. It reminds me a lot of China.

 

[Prolepro]

Water doesn't transmit radioactivity the same way as, say, a piece of graphite from the core.



They probably would have had to have consumed it or had their protective suits compromised in some way.

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So Fallout is a big lie.

Thanks, Todd.

 

[Delphine]

Finally watched the last episode yesterday, and listened to the last podcast earlier today. I'll miss this show, it was absolutely riveting from start to finish, I loved it and will tell everybody around me to watch it ASAP!

 

[Carolina Reaper]

Man, HBO really delivered again. I found the show to be both hard to watch and hard to stop watching.

 

[djplaeskool]

Best tv/miniseries I've seen in many years. Near perfect mix of genres. Astounding audio and music production. Motifs of clocks ticking and Geiger counters screaming are just bone-chilling throughout. Superb acting all around. Holy hell, it's just so good.

So, how many awards will Jared Harris win for this?

 

[Dekuman]

Good watch

 

[Joeku]

So Fallout is a big lie.

Thanks, Todd.

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Joking aside, this is kinda one of my bigger issues with the Bethesda Fallout games. They're set 200 years after the bombs dropped and they dress the world like it's only been a week. The development of culture and farming and whatnot is so stunted for how long it's been.

 

[BlastProcessing]

I was born and got sick right after because many hospitals in the soviet union were bad and unhygienic. You complain about stuff you know shit about.

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Hell, the hospitals I was around in small town Texas in the 80's weren't that much different.

 

[Soupman Prime]

Finally finished the series the other day just to discuss it with a coworker. Then I'm surprised a cousin of mine liked my post about it so we started talking.

Could not have been more happy when Dyatlov got smacked around when he said he was in the bathroom. Was afraid him and the 2 other idiots weren't gonna get their comeuppance, they were such villains in the 1st episode.

 

[Tainted]

If I remember right, the exposed reactor core was more or less in a "bowl". So it's surrounded on all sides except the top. This meant most of the extremely harmful and dangerous output was straight up. The clouds from the fire were also "carrying" the radiation, which further contributed to the danger of flying directly over the exposed core.

It wasn't so much that they were "ok" to the sides of the core, as much as it was the radiation was considerably diminished because it was running into to other things, lowering the levels of radiation they were exposed to. They were still getting radiation, just not an immediately lethal dose like they would directly over it.

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Which explains why Legasov & Shcherbina's life expectancy was 5 years rather than weeks/months like the first responders. That helicopter ride early on sealed their fate, it's just lucky the pilot turned away when Legasov warned him to

 

[RedSwirl]

Joking aside, this is kinda one of my bigger issues with the Bethesda Fallout games. They're set 200 years after the bombs dropped and they dress the world like it's only been a week. The development of culture and farming and whatnot is so stunted for how long it's been.

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Word is (this may have even been confirmed I'm not sure) that Fallout 3 was originally supposed to take place only 20 years after the bombs dropped, and maybe much of the game was developed under this assumption, but then they wanted to keep lore stuff like the Brotherhood of Steel and Super Mutants, which wouldn't have existed yet at that point in the timeline, so Bethesda just moved the timescale forward.

 

[Joeku]

Word is (this may have even been confirmed I'm not sure) that Fallout 3 was originally supposed to take place only 20 years after the bombs dropped, and maybe much of the game was developed under this assumption, but then they wanted to keep lore stuff like the Brotherhood of Steel and Super Mutants, which wouldn't have existed yet at that point in the timeline, so Bethesda just moved the timescale forward.

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That would make a lot of sense if true.

 

[MetalMagus]

Which explains why Legasov & Shcherbina's life expectancy was 5 years rather than weeks/months like the first responders. That helicopter ride early on sealed their fate, it's just lucky the pilot turned away when Legasov warned him to

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In the podcast, Matzin says a couple times that lethal doses of radiation are determined by how high the dose is, how close you are to it, and how long you are exposed.

The initial helicopter flyover was dramatized and likely no closer than the many sand and boron drops performed later.

Legasov's "we'll be dead in five years" is because he knows they're there for the long haul of the cleanup and will be spending months near the plant. It's lower doses but over such an extended time that health complications are inevitable.

 

[Tainted]

In the podcast, Matzin says a couple times that lethal doses of radiation are determined by how high the dose is, how close you are to it, and how long you are exposed.

The initial helicopter flyover was dramatized and likely no closer than the many sand and boron drops performed later.

Legasov's "we'll be dead in five years" is because he knows they're there for the long haul of the cleanup and will be spending months near the plant. It's lower doses but over such an extended time that health complications are inevitable.

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Good point, that would be the most likely explanation.

 

[Chiaroscuro]

This series is a masterpiece. All I have to say after finishing it.

 

[Dekuman]

It's weird reading this thread to see people convinced the portrayal of the state of the USSR is.somehow embellished outside what is common in period pieces. When we have people who actually lived through that period affirm how close they got it.

Years of pro Soviet nostalgia coming out of Putin's Russia has really done a number on some people.

 

[someday]

It's weird reading this thread to see people convinced the portrayal of the state of the USSR is.somehow embellished outside what is common in period pieces. When we have people who actually lived through that period affirm how close they got it.

Years of pro Soviet nostalgia coming out of Putin's Russia has really done a number on some people.

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That's a good point. I grew up during the Cold War (was an Army brat who lived in Germany during the Reagan years) and the USSR stuff seemed spot on to me. I was worried that US propaganda had colored my view.

 

[Umbrella Carp]

According to official Soviet accounts only 31 people died.

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I am an absolute believer that the deaths that have even a semi relevant connection to Chernobyl and it's consequences are easily into the tens of thousands as of today. Everything from the ARS on the night of the incident to the stillbirths immediately afterwards to the cancers and genetic illnesses in the years following. Not to mention displacement and the mental agonies that would have caused.

 

[blonded]

Why were the plant workers and first responders taken to Moscow? Surely there were closer hospitals within a safe distance and that they would also want to limit exposure to the most affected people rather than bring them to the capital.

 

[TheRulingRing]

All these "influencers" exploring Chernobyl how fucked are they medically speaking

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Less radiation than the flight they took to get there lol.

Why were the plant workers and first responders taken to Moscow? Surely there were closer hospitals within a safe distance and that they would also want to limit exposure to the most affected people rather than bring them to the capital.

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Maybe they wanted to take them to a place with more medical expertise. You're more likely to find expertise near tertiary hospital centres rather than district hospitals.

I'd guess a bigger reason, though, is that they wanted to keep the workers close by to be able to keep a tight control on what information was spread and to limit access to them. Maybe they also wanted to study the effects of radiation on these people too.

 

[Knurek]

Why were the plant workers and first responders taken to Moscow? Surely there were closer hospitals within a safe distance and that they would also want to limit exposure to the most affected people rather than bring them to the capital.

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Not many hospitals in the country specialized in treating ARS, since that's a thing that doesn't really happen all that often.

 

[BrassDragon]

Why were the plant workers and first responders taken to Moscow? Surely there were closer hospitals within a safe distance and that they would also want to limit exposure to the most affected people rather than bring them to the capital.

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Moscow's Hospital Number Six was the State Institute of Biophysics' clinic dedicated to treating radiological injuries.

The series doesn't show an intermediate step in the treatment of the victims; nine hours after the explosion, a quartet of specialists came down from Moscow (part of Shcherbina's response crew) to perform triage but they quickly decided to move the patients to their facility in the capital.

 

[lake]

I just finished ep 3. Very, very compelling.

What blows me away (and I feel this about many well-produced films, but especially this one) is how authentic all the scenery looks. The backdrops of the town and such look exactly how I've seen those locations in photographs (or at least it feels so). This caused me to look up filming location and apparently it was in Lithuania.

Jonas Špokas is the CEO of Baltic Locations, the company that managed Chernobyl's filming locations, and he told Skycop that his team "went to the Chernobyl zone to see how some of the old villages look like. However, it's not a good place to film, it's very remote and offers nothing you can't find in Lithuania. It's all abandoned, while we needed Pripyat to be alive."

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So I suppose some of the visual similarities are due to just being relatively close by in a place with similar cultural history. However, do the shooting locations in Lithuania still look so much like they did 30+ years ago, as if frozen in time?

Surely some of the backdrops are heavily augmented with CGI. But how many?

CGI is the only way I can imagine they generated the very realistic-looking images of the post-incident Chernobyl plant as a smoking ruin.

The production design is incredible.

Edit: This article has some great details that start to answer my questions.

 

[chandoog]

Watched this earlier. Probably one of the best acted TV shows I've seen in a long while.

The real-life footage and facts at the end of the 5th episode about what happened afterward was incredibly powerful stuff.

 

[Dubbedinenglish]

So I suppose some of the visual similarities are due to just being relatively close by in a place with similar cultural history. However, do the shooting locations in Lithuania still look so much like they did 30+ years ago, as if frozen in time?

Surely some of the backdrops are heavily augmented with CGI. But how many?

CGI is the only way I can imagine they generated the very realistic-looking images of the post-incident Chernobyl plant as a smoking ruin.

The production design is incredible.

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It was called Soviet brutalism for a reason. There is a large amount of uniform concrete buildings present across the former USSR

 

[ArkhamFantasy]

Does anyone know how they were operating reactors 1-3 when there's a huge exclusion zone around chernobyl? Were all the workers just wearing hardcore radiation suits all day for years and years? How does that work?

 

[Tainted]

Does anyone know how they were operating reactors 1-3 when there's a huge exclusion zone around chernobyl? Were all the workers just wearing hardcore radiation suits all day for years and years? How does that work?

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The workers were ferried to and from the plant in military vehicles and their daily radiation levels closely monitored. Once that group of workers hit their limit there were others to take their spot.

 

[Woke Bespoke]

Finally saw episode five. The red/blue balance chart image has some serious meme potential.

 

[Jombie]

Voices from Chernobyl is a brutal read.

 

[ArkhamFantasy]

The workers were ferried to and from the plant in military vehicles and their daily radiation levels closely monitored. Once that group of workers hit their limit there were others to take their spot.

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Thanks, when you say limit, do you mean daily limit or lifetime limit? (meaning, they're never allowed to come back?)

 

[Michael F. Assbender]

I just saw the Season Pass for Chernobyl up on iTunes for $18.99. I bought it right away and now I'm seeing I can only view the trailer.

Did I just pay $18.99 for a trailer or are the episodes coming soon? I'm guessing (hoping?) it's the latter, but I want to make sure.

 

[Buzzman]

I recently watched the documentary Command and Control, that deals with a nuclear weapons accident in the U.S that could have led to an event far worse than Chernobyl.
It's chilling to see what could've happened if we hadn't been lucky, and how the exact same problems of secrecy exist in the current system.

It's free to watch on PBS for anyone interested. (US Only )