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Chernobyl: You didn’t see this thread, because it’s not here (Potential Spoilers) (1 Viewer)

I don't think they even knew what they were dealing with originally.  Then, you've got the fact that the victims' veins and arteries collapse due to cellular damage, so they can't even administer a painkiller since there was no way for it to traverse the circulatory system.  I imagine a cyanide capsule would have been equally ineffective.  A bullet to the head may have been the only way.
I believe you're right with the not knowing.  While the nuclear physicists had an idea, before Chernobyl, most of the world's population just knew that if something happened at a nuclear power plant, it would be "bad."  We just didn't have a lot of examples of what happens if people are subjected to radiation that high.  Still don't.  Not saying anyone in here is doing this, but this is incident is a great example of how you can watch it and say, "Why did they do this?", or "Why didn't they do this?"  The truth is that no one had ever had this experience before.  This was the first (and thankfully only) time (so far) that we've had an accident like this.  

 
I don't think they even knew what they were dealing with originally.  Then, you've got the fact that the victims' veins and arteries collapse due to cellular damage, so they can't even administer a painkiller since there was no way for it to traverse the circulatory system.  I imagine a cyanide capsule would have been equally ineffective.  A bullet to the head may have been the only way.
The scientists knew.  No reason to keep some of them alive as long as they showed.

 
I would assume a mercy killing is just as difficult as a normal killing.  
Sure.  I was just pointing out that Boris asked the physicist what would happen when they "went for a walk" and he knew exactly.  They knew.

ETA:  They knew and they had to keep sending people to that death.

 
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Sure.  I was just pointing out that Boris asked the physicist what would happen when they "went for a walk" and he knew exactly.  They knew.

ETA:  They knew and they had to keep sending people to that death.
Oh yeah. Completely agree.  But I think that was more about "Do we sacrifice 1000 to save millions?"  Not saying that's any easier.  Just a tough situation all around.

 
Oh yeah. Completely agree.  But I think that was more about "Do we sacrifice 1000 to save millions?"  Not saying that's any easier.  Just a tough situation all around.
Exactly.  In hindsight, it's easy to go all Spock and say the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, but in the moment, does that make it any easier to send people to an almost-certain death?  Especially when there's a "50/50" chance that the fire would melt through the concrete pad?  Probably not.  Is it easy to order someone who risked (and ultimately lost) his life to save others to be shot in the head to spare him suffering?  Probably not.  That's what makes it all so GD awful.

 
Exactly.  In hindsight, it's easy to go all Spock and say the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, but in the moment, does that make it any easier to send people to an almost-certain death?  Especially when there's a "50/50" chance that the fire would melt through the concrete pad?  Probably not.  Is it easy to order someone who risked (and ultimately lost) his life to save others to be shot in the head to spare him suffering?  Probably not.  That's what makes it all so GD awful.
I've got to assume there were a lot asking for and some receiving of assisted suicides going on.   Whether it was ever reported or not and/or made it on the for tv version.

 
I believe you're right with the not knowing.  While the nuclear physicists had an idea, before Chernobyl, most of the world's population just knew that if something happened at a nuclear power plant, it would be "bad."  We just didn't have a lot of examples of what happens if people are subjected to radiation that high.  Still don't.  Not saying anyone in here is doing this, but this is incident is a great example of how you can watch it and say, "Why did they do this?", or "Why didn't they do this?"  The truth is that no one had ever had this experience before.  This was the first (and thankfully only) time (so far) that we've had an accident like this.  
Fukushima is the the only incident before or since even close (well, other than Japan's experiences in WWII of course). And Fukushima released only about 10-20% of the radiation as Chernobyl and supposedly only lead to one direct death (although I think Japan has covered up and liked about the true extent).

 
German robots: (wiki)

According to a French documentary television film Tank on the Moon by Jean Afanassieff, the Lunokhod design returned to the limelight 15 years later due to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster on April 26, 1986.[19] The East German-built remote controlled bulldozersavailable to Soviet civil defense troops weighed dozens of tons – too heavy to operate on the remaining parts of the partially collapsed reactor building roof. Human labourers could not be employed to shovel debris since work shifts were limited to 90-second intervals due to intense ionizing radiation.[20]

Lunokhod designers were called back from retirement, and in two weeks rovers were made which used nuclear decay heat sources for internal rack climate control, their electronic systems were already hardened to partly resist radiation.[19] This benefit allowed the 1986 designers to quickly devise a derived vehicle type for nuclear disaster recovery work. On July 15, two rovers, called STR-1,[9] were delivered to the Chernobyl accident zone and proved useful for clearing debris, earning awards for the designers. Due to extremely high radiation levels, both STR-1 rovers eventually failed, and human workers (later named liquidators) were called in once again.[19][21]

 
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Just watched the four episodes that have been released.  EG your boy is definitely going to win some awards as is the cast.  Phenomenal show.

all the talk about accents is ridiculous.  The only thing that “bothers” me on the show is hearing professor lambeau from good will hunting.

 
This paper discusses the historical lead-up to the disaster at Chernobyl, including the incident at the Leningrad plant. (And imagine what happened at Chernobyl happening near St. Petersburg). - There were actually 11 such incidents. Pages 24-25:

Unfortunately, the information about these and other accidents was accessible only for high authorities. The Soviet government forced the construction of nuclear power plants because this energy source was considered in the USSR as a sign of the technological development. This practice did not allow the Soviet specialists to improve the safety of nuclear powers. Such situation inspired them with an idea that nuclear power plants do not differ significantly from the conventional power plants. Detailed study of the accidents at nuclear power reactors in the USSR could have significantly increased the safety culture and prevent the Chernobyl accident. Already at the end of 1975 specialists could understand that the partial destruction of the core at the Unit 1 of the Leningrad NPP in October 1975 was caused by the positive reactivity surge [23]. The Chief Scientific Supervisor suggested a solution of this problem: operation of RBMKs with permanent presence of a quite high number of additional neutron absorbers in the lower part of the core and use of fuel with higher enrichment. This recommendation was implemented only after the Chernobyl accident. The reasons of the accident that happened in October 1975 at the Leningrad NPP or at other Soviet NPPs was never discussed at scientific workshops and meetings. The similar power excursion because of positive steam-void coefficient occurred also at the Unit 1 of the Chernobyl NPP in September 1982 [23]. There were still similar situations at other RBMKs when the central fuel channel was destroyed [23]. However, practically nothing was made in order to eliminate even known shortages of the RBMK reactor.

 
The animal scenes were the toughest thing I've watched in a long time.  It's going to be hard to watch that again with my wife when she gets around to watching this.  The puppies made me cry and sob like a baby.  Not sure why the killing of pets seems to tear at my heart more than people.

The roof scene was amazing.  Love that they did it in real time.  Again, no complaints at all.  So glad that was in there as it was my favorite part to learn about.  One thing to keep in mind about those scenes, almost 99% of that gear they are wearing as they run on the roof for 90 seconds is useless.  It was like rain gear.  And while I have no way of knowing how many of the 3000+ men were "coerced" into helping clear the roof, I do know that a bunch did it because they wanted to keep others safe.  Those guys were some of the biggest heroes this planet has ever seen.

And in an episode with such sadness, a couple funny things happen.  Probably my favorite line of the whole series is when they are clearing the roof with the lunar rovers and Boris says, "I can't believe we sent that thing to the moon."  And Legasov pauses and then looks at Boris and says, "Not that one."  To which Boris shoots him daggers and says, "I know not that one."  :lol:

 
The animal scenes were the toughest thing I've watched in a long time.  It's going to be hard to watch that again with my wife when she gets around to watching this.  The puppies made me cry and sob like a baby.  Not sure why the killing of pets seems to tear at my heart more than people.

The roof scene was amazing.  Love that they did it in real time.  Again, no complaints at all.  So glad that was in there as it was my favorite part to learn about.  One thing to keep in mind about those scenes, almost 99% of that gear they are wearing as they run on the roof for 90 seconds is useless.  It was like rain gear.  And while I have no way of knowing how many of the 3000+ men were "coerced" into helping clear the roof, I do know that a bunch did it because they wanted to keep others safe.  Those guys were some of the biggest heroes this planet has ever seen.

And in an episode with such sadness, a couple funny things happen.  Probably my favorite line of the whole series is when they are clearing the roof with the lunar rovers and Boris says, "I can't believe we sent that thing to the moon."  And Legasov pauses and then looks at Boris and says, "Not that one."  To which Boris shoots him daggers and says, "I know not that one."  :lol:
Came here to ask if I had heard that correctly: they went through over 3000 people to clear the roofs.  Holy Jesus.  

 
Came here to ask if I had heard that correctly: they went through over 3000 people to clear the roofs.  Holy Jesus.  
Yeah, but keep in mind, going on that roof wasn't necessarily a death sentence.  It definitely could have been.  Or it could have given you cancer later in life.  But there were plenty of men who survived and lived good lives.  It was more like Russian Roulette than a death sentence.  Only you didn't know if you got the bullet, sometimes, until 20 years later.

 
In the video upthread, it show the workers running full speed, on the roof. Utterly chilling. 
And the longer they stayed out there closer to 90 seconds, the weaker their muscles got.  So they might run out and pick up a big chunk to start, but by the last 45 seconds, they might not be able to lift their shovel, let alone anything on it.

 
I'm up through ep 3... absolutely fantastic stuff on all levels, from art-direction, acting, editing, lighting, sound, direction, writing... just stunning. EG's friend and all those involved should feel pretty damned good about themselves for creating this.

33K reviews on IMDB has it at a 9.5/10 user rating.  If it finishes strongly and gets to 100K reviews with the same rating, it will top their list of the highest-rated TV shows in history.  This from a guy whose highest rated film as a feature screenwriter on RT was Scary Movie 4 at 36%.  :lol:

Just goes to show you what's possible when you're permitted to do something for which you have a genuine passion instead of just collecting a paycheck.
guy I grew up with was a hired hollywood gun... made a living as a writer, sold a bunch of scripts or participated in the writing of others, none of which got made except for a couple absolute stinkers. made a living, but never got to see his vision made. decided to self produce/direct one of his scripts- picked what he thought would be the most idiotic, so would likely be successful. did ok, but not enough to push him into more, and generated a small cult following... but looks like he's done nothing really since.  tough business.

 
Yeah, but keep in mind, going on that roof wasn't necessarily a death sentence.  It definitely could have been.  Or it could have given you cancer later in life.  But there were plenty of men who survived and lived good lives.  It was more like Russian Roulette than a death sentence.  Only you didn't know if you got the bullet, sometimes, until 20 years later.
Chernobyl 3828

 
The Chernobyl podcast is fantastic 
It's weird for me to listen to even though I enjoy it.  I'm used to podcasters being these disembodied voices that I was completely unfamiliar with when I started listening.  Some of them, I have no idea what the speaker even looks like so to me, their whole existence is the voice coming through my car speakers.  This one, I'm listening to Craig talk and I hear the same inflection points that I heard when he was 16 and I was 15 and we were laying out the school newspaper in his dining room.  We wrote the most ridiculous #### you could imagine and I was always the guy saying : "They'll never let us print this" while Craig was always the one saying : "Just let me talk to Ms. Pettengill.  We'll get it printed."  The dude had Jedi mind-trick powers, it was mesmerizing to watch.  I don't think we ever got anything rejected.

That's why I wasn't surprised to hear he'd gotten HBO to sign on after 1 meeting.  Craig is an absolute genius, but more than that, he has more courage in his convictions than anyone I've ever known.  That's why he writes for HBO now and I write vomiting stories on FBG.  :lol:

 
I'm up through ep 3... absolutely fantastic stuff on all levels, from art-direction, acting, editing, lighting, sound, direction, writing... just stunning. EG's friend and all those involved should feel pretty damned good about themselves for creating this.

guy I grew up with was a hired hollywood gun... made a living as a writer, sold a bunch of scripts or participated in the writing of others, none of which got made except for a couple absolute stinkers. made a living, but never got to see his vision made. decided to self produce/direct one of his scripts- picked what he thought would be the most idiotic, so would likely be successful. did ok, but not enough to push him into more, and generated a small cult following... but looks like he's done nothing really since.  tough business.
It really is.  I'd tell people my friend was a screenwriter and they'd ask me what he wrote.  I'd rattle off : Hangover 2, Hangover 3, two of the Scary Movies, Snow White & The Huntsman.... and they'd invariably say : "All those movies suck !"  I couldn't/can't even disagree, but just through him, I had some insight into how tough it can be to succeed in that business and how incredibly hard it is to get the funding to create and auteur your own vision without interference.  I'm hoping the success of this show will buy him some more opportunities to do similar projects (in fact, I know it already has, but I don't know to what extent...)

 
Yeah, but keep in mind, going on that roof wasn't necessarily a death sentence.  It definitely could have been.  Or it could have given you cancer later in life.  But there were plenty of men who survived and lived good lives.  It was more like Russian Roulette than a death sentence.  Only you didn't know if you got the bullet, sometimes, until 20 years later.
Dude, really?

 
Freaky episode.  My wife couldn’t watch any of the animal elimination scenes.  This is one intense miniseries.

 
And the longer they stayed out there closer to 90 seconds, the weaker their muscles got.  So they might run out and pick up a big chunk to start, but by the last 45 seconds, they might not be able to lift their shovel, let alone anything on it.
Ah so that explains why the guy they were following started having a tough time lifting anything let alone trying to get off the roof after 90 seconds. 

 
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Hey so I watched the first 3 episodes... Has anyone mentioned how the actors are all speaking English?  I thought this happened over in Russia right?

I gotta be honest it's completely distracting.  I can't be the only one right??

:lmao:   J/K Bros!  Fantastic, fantastic series so far.  Just completely gripping.  @Evilgrin 72 your buddy did AMAZING work with this.

 
Hey so I watched the first 3 episodes... Has anyone mentioned how the actors are all speaking English?  I thought this happened over in Russia right?

I gotta be honest it's completely distracting.  I can't be the only one right??
I know you're joking and I only edited out the bottom of your post for space issues.  And I'll say again it's not bothering me, but at times I do have to laugh.  And Ep. 4 had another great accent part at the very beginning.  The Red Army pulls up to the old babushka who looked so perfect as an elderly Russian serf.  And then she spoke and it was like Monty Python.  I was waiting for her to go "Man.  I'm a man, not a woman.  And I'm 37.  I'm not old."  :lol:

Again, I can't stress enough the accents don't bother me, but as an American, every so often an English accent pops up that makes me smile a bit.

 

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