# Chernobyl on HBO **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 7, 2019, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606 "2019-05-07T12:35:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Pedro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/919ad9/32.png) [@Pedro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pedro)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2019, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606/81 "2019-05-18T11:33:40Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > While watching that confused me too so I rewound it several times and finally ran it in slow motion. It looked to me like the pilot was incapacitated in some way (blinded?) when flying over the tower so the helicopter started listing, and then you could just barely see that the rotor hit a wire that snapped the rotor, at which point it dropped to the ground like a rock. Hitting a wire would do it. The inference I took was pilot incapacitation from very fast onset of severe acute radiation poisoning. The radio was also crackling. Could be interference from electromagnetic energy but all put together that scene didn’t make a lot of sense. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2019, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606/82 "2019-05-18T12:06:15Z")
> [@Pedro](#): > > Hitting a wire would do it. The inference I took was pilot incapacitation from very fast onset of severe acute radiation poisoning. The radio was also crackling. Could be interference from electromagnetic energy but all put together that scene didn’t make a lot of sense. [A better video?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuNtgYtF4FI) Looks like they got too close to that crane. ---
**Author:** ![Pedro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/919ad9/32.png) [@Pedro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pedro)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2019, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606/83 "2019-05-18T13:37:10Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > [A better video?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuNtgYtF4FI) Looks like they got too close to that crane. Oh, it’s pretty much an exact retelling of a true accident then. I had no idea. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2019, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606/84 "2019-05-18T19:49:23Z")
Yeah, that linked video shows pretty clearing the rotor hit the cable on the crane. Yep, that will ruin your whole day. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2019, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606/85 "2019-05-18T20:46:47Z")
> [@Pedro](#): > > That’s historically accurate, the numbers are just exaggerated. And the claimed 30km radius was for the blast. The fallout would cover a much wider area (also said in the episode). Yes, they mentioned all of Belarus, Ukraine, and I think Lithuania. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2019, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606/86 "2019-05-18T21:30:47Z")
Really like the show. I had no idea that it could have been much worse. Jared Harris graduated from Duke which is just down the road from me. They don’t have much of a drama program , a lot of tech majors there. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2019, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606/87 "2019-05-18T23:36:57Z")
Huh, I grew up just down “Tobacco Road” in Chapel Hill, less than ten miles away, and always assumed Duke was very liberal arts oriented. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2019, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606/88 "2019-05-19T01:13:58Z")
yes they have liberal arts too along with law and medical schools both are very highly ranked. Lots of medical research done at Duke. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2019, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606/89 "2019-05-21T06:59:43Z")
FWIW, a direct quote from Craig Mazin, the creator/writer/showrunner, on the latest podcast episode: “The last thing I wanted to do is scare people about nuclear power. This is not a polemic about nuclear power.” And they are now starting to dig into what caused the accident. But my HBO GO subscription just expired at midnight, so I won’t see the fourth and fifth episodes until I next get a month of HBO, probably this fall sometime. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2019, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606/90 "2019-05-21T11:33:59Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > FWIW, a direct quote from Craig Mazin, the creator/writer/showrunner, on the latest podcast episode: “The last thing I wanted to do is scare people about nuclear power. This is not a polemic about nuclear power.” And they are now starting to dig into what caused the accident. > > But my HBO GO subscription just expired at midnight, so I won’t see the fourth and fifth episodes until I next get a month of HBO, probably this fall sometime. Spoiler alert, then: [https://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/Pub913e\_web.pdf](https://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/Pub913e_web.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2019, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606/91 "2019-05-22T20:46:04Z")
Episode 3: Don’t Fuck With Soviet Miners ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2019, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606/92 "2019-05-22T22:48:02Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > Episode 3: Don’t Fuck With Soviet Miners I’d add an adjective to that: Don’t Fuck With Naked Soviet Miners :eek: ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2019, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606/93 "2019-05-22T23:18:59Z")
Yeah, I wasn’t expecting to see so many dudes hanging brain. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606/94 "2019-05-23T00:20:23Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Really like the show. I had no idea that it could have been much worse. Jared Harris graduated from Duke which is just down the road from me. They don’t have much of a drama program , a lot of tech majors there. I imagine Jared got his introduction to acting through being the son of Richard Harris. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606/95 "2019-05-23T00:33:06Z")
I’m keeping my HBO subscription a while longer (after GOT) just for this. To be honest, I didn’t know a whole lot about it. It’s fascinating to see how huge and horrific it was. I just can’t imagine having to dig up the surface dirt for however many square kilometers and killing every living thing there. And they needed 750,000 men to do it. Jesus. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606/96 "2019-05-23T00:33:19Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > I imagine Jared got his introduction to acting through being the son of Richard Harris. I kept thinking he looked familiar and wondered where I knew him from, but good lord, looking at [his IMDb page](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0364813/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1) now, where DON’T I know him from? Thinking back to the movies and tv shows he’s been in that I’ve seen, I remember his character from at least several dozen of them. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606/97 "2019-05-23T00:35:05Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > I imagine Jared got his introduction to acting through being the son of Richard Harris. Ha, wow. Jared’s been in a lot of stuff I’ve watched in the past few years, and it never occurred to me that he was Richard’s son! He’s knocking this role out the park, and to be fair so are all of the main cast. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606/98 "2019-05-23T00:59:01Z")
Jesus, this episode was grisly! Those scenes in the hospital with the burn victims were pretty hard to watch. So correct me if I’m wrong but those two guys were a firefighter and a control room technician, right - and the firefighter was burned by the irradiated graphite (?) in the immediate aftermath of the explosion, and the control room guy was burned…when he went to inspect the reactor? Am I getting that right? ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606/99 "2019-05-23T03:06:18Z")
> [@Lamoral](#): > > Jesus, this episode was grisly! Those scenes in the hospital with the burn victims were pretty hard to watch. So correct me if I’m wrong but those two guys were a firefighter and a control room technician, right - and the firefighter was burned by the irradiated graphite (?) in the immediate aftermath of the explosion, and the control room guy was burned…when he went to inspect the reactor? Am I getting that right? The firefighter was burned by the graphite and all the other bits of the reactor that he and the other firefighters were standing amongst while they were battling the raging inferno. Also by the radioactive ash spewing out of the reactor as well as by the exposed reactor itself. Note that his body was placed in a lead-lined casket, which was then entombed in concrete, alongside his fellow firefighters. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606/100 "2019-05-23T06:48:57Z")
Wasn’t everyone in the control room massively irradiated, even if they didn’t go check on anything? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606.md?page=6)