# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2019, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606/121 "2019-05-27T02:15:24Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > They had Geiger counters, but the only high-limit ones were locked in a safe for some reason. Then they just reported the max reading of the lower limit counters all the way up the chain of command. Very entertaining show. I’m sure there are some experts YT videos out there to parse the horseshit from realism. But it doesn’t mean it isn’t extremely well done and filmed and the tension is almost unbearable. Edit: Oh i didn’t mean to imply the geiger thing was horseshit. ---
**Author:** ![sps49sd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@sps49sd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sps49sd)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2019, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606/122 "2019-05-27T03:20:50Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > They had Geiger counters, but the only high-limit ones were locked in a safe for some reason. Then they just reported the max reading of the lower limit counters all the way up the chain of command. One lesson taught (at least to USN nucs when I was in) from the SL-1 accident was use the highest range setting on the least sensitive unit available. First responders at SL-1 apparently had radiacs set at low range and quickly approached the area, had the alarm sound, and wasted seconds clicking through the ranges to the highest range, alarm sounding the whole time. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2019, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606/123 "2019-05-27T03:35:00Z")
I don’t know about this “Geiger counter in a safe” business - any independent references to that? - but there was evidently a lack of safety culture both locally at the plant and nationally when it came to nuclear safety. Supposedly there were two high (as in really high) range dosimeters available in the building, but one was buried in the rubble and the other one was not in working order. The regular low-range dosimeters all read off-scale, of course. Lack of access to appropriate dosimeters, at least ones that work, and/or not remembering to use them when accessing dangerous areas has been seen in other places and times, for instance IIRC the industrial irradiator accidents in Israel and El Salvador. Let your guard down and start ignoring nuclear safety rules at your peril; next thing you know you’re walking into an industrial radiation source without checking your meter or mixing up critical masses of plutonium by hand in a bucket, or blowing up nuclear reactors (and designing reactors made of explodium in the first place). ---
**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 27, 2019, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606/124 "2019-05-27T06:35:11Z")
Or, like Louis Slotin, messing around with an experiment that killed him and harmed others in the room because his screwdriver slipped. (This may be my last post ITT until a few months from now.) ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606/125 "2019-05-28T06:10:36Z")
I was disappointed they did not depict some of the infamous radioactive pigs: > [@](#): > > Two large emaciated pigs were running in our direction on the narrow little lane from the school along the wall of a long five-story building. They came running up to the car, squealing, crazily touching the wheels and the radiator with their snouts. They were looking at us with poisoned red eyes, they raised their snouts toward us, just as though begging something. Their movements were somehow out of synch, uncoordinated. They were swaying. I poked the counter toward the flank of the hog—50 roentgens per hour. The hog tried to seize the counter in his teeth, but I managed to pull it away. Then the hungry radioactive pigs started to devour the mastiff. It was rather easy for them to tear large hunks from the flank of the corpse, which was already decomposing, pulling the corpse apart and dragging it here and there over the concrete. A swarm of agitated blue flies rose up from where the eyes had been and the parted jaws. ---
**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 28, 2019, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606/126 "2019-05-28T13:49:18Z")
I had to skip the parts where they killed pets. It would be nice to have more than 5 episodes since the show is so good but I guess they felt 5 is enough. ---
**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 28, 2019, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606/127 "2019-05-28T14:41:48Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > I had to skip the parts where they killed pets. It would be nice to have more than 5 episodes since the show is so good but I guess they felt 5 is enough. Yeah, I couldn’t watch any of that, either. I get that it was mercy killing, but just nope. It did seem to go on for a long time. Can anyone tell us if we missed any important information in those scenes? ---
**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 28, 2019, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606/128 "2019-05-28T17:18:17Z")
It was interesting the soldier said to the non soldier that if he shot an animal he needed to make sure it was dead so it would not suffer. And if he did let it suffer then the solider would kill the other guy , he added he killed a lot of people , I assume in combat. (That’s as much of that scene that I watched. ) ---
**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 28, 2019, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606/129 "2019-05-28T18:15:09Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > It was interesting the soldier said to the non soldier that if he shot an animal he needed to make sure it was dead so it would not suffer. And if he did let it suffer then the solider would kill the other guy , he added he killed a lot of people , I assume in combat. (That’s as much of that scene that I watched. ) I stopped after he said that killing them was easy, they were so excited to see someone, they would come right to you. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606/130 "2019-05-28T19:01:47Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > Can anyone tell us if we missed any important information in those scenes? I just re-watched the entire episode. There was nothing of import to the overall plot in those scenes, in my opinion. Except the soldiers saw a banner that read ‘Our goal is the happiness of all mankind.’ That’s where the title of the episode came from. I guess that those scenes showed one of the shit ancillary jobs associated with the disaster. But it certainly was a large part of this episode. ---
**Author:** ![Buttercup\_Smith](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buttercup_smith/32/473_2.png) [@Buttercup\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buttercup_Smith)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2019, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606/131 "2019-05-29T19:08:29Z")
I stopped watching when those scenes came on with the killing of the pets. I will fast forward through them in order to watch the rest. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2019, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606/132 "2019-05-29T19:49:33Z")
IIRC there is no actual graphic violence, just some bangs and two or three brief shots of corpses, like of the cow at the beginning. ---
**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 29, 2019, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606/133 "2019-05-29T20:45:33Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > IIRC there is no actual graphic violence, just some bangs and two or three brief shots of corpses, like of the cow at the beginning. For me, it’s not the scenes themselves, it’s the feelings. I have way more problems with animal deaths (especially when the animals are trusting the humans not to hurt them) than I do with human deaths in movies and shows. Weird, yes, but it looks like I’m not the only one affected this way. Actually, I’m sure I would react the same way to the killing of a small child, but you very rarely see that. ---
**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 29, 2019, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606/134 "2019-05-29T21:42:19Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > IIRC there is no actual graphic violence, just some bangs and two or three brief shots of corpses, like of the cow at the beginning. There are multiple shots of truckloads full of dead dogs, and they’re not exactly brief. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2019, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606/135 "2019-05-29T23:03:34Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > For me, it’s not the scenes themselves, it’s the feelings. I have way more problems with animal deaths (especially when the animals are trusting the humans not to hurt them) than I do with human deaths in movies and shows. Weird, yes, but it looks like I’m not the only one affected this way. Actually, I’m sure I would react the same way to the killing of a small child, but you very rarely see that. Yup. That was why I was gutshot in GoT when certain animal/WMD got kily. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606/136 "2019-05-31T17:03:57Z")
I think there’s a misunderstanding about the danger of the corium reaching the underground water tanks. It wasn’t simply a steam explosion they were worried about. It was that a steam explosion around the corium, in that confined underground space, would compress the fissile material to such an extent that it would become supercritical, resulting in a massive _nuclear_ explosion. This is how nuclear fission bombs work. The fissile material is compressed by explosives to reach supercritical mass. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606/137 "2019-05-31T17:28:31Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > I think there’s a misunderstanding about the danger of the corium reaching the underground water tanks. It wasn’t simply a steam explosion they were worried about. > > It was that a steam explosion around the corium, in that confined underground space, would compress the fissile material to such an extent that it would become supercritical, resulting in a massive _nuclear_ explosion. > > This is how nuclear fission bombs work. The fissile material is compressed by explosives to reach supercritical mass. IANANP but I don’t believe that’s true. For one, weapons grade uranium is at least 85% U235, whereas reactor fuel is about 3% U235. The fissile uranium wasn’t pure enough for a nuclear exposion. For two, bombs have to be very carefully designed to compress the fissile material, it’s not going to accidentally happen from a steam explosion. Even with bomb grade nuclear material, there’s generally no risk from accidental explosions making them go critical. They must be triggered. It’s hard enough to make them go boom if you really want them to. The concern was simply that a steam explosion would be very large, and spew radioactive material all over Europe and Russia. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606/138 "2019-05-31T17:49:52Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > IANANP but I don’t believe that’s true. For one, weapons grade uranium is at least 85% U235, whereas reactor fuel is about 3% U235. The fissile uranium wasn’t pure enough for a nuclear exposion. For two, bombs have to be very carefully designed to compress the fissile material, it’s not going to accidentally happen from a steam explosion. Even with bomb grade nuclear material, there’s generally no risk from accidental explosions making them go critical. They must be triggered. It’s hard enough to make them go boom if you really want them to. Keep in mind that the quantity of fissile material in a bomb is about 50-100kg, In a reactor it’s of the order of 30 tons. Even though the corium is very impure, the large mass would make an out-of-control fission reaction possible. Even if not compressed, this mass can result in a meltdown. But compressed by a conventional explosion, it could result in nuclear explosion. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606/139 "2019-05-31T18:02:46Z")
Update: It seems Chernobyl reactor 4 contained 200 tons of nuclear fuel. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606/140 "2019-05-31T18:07:49Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > Keep in mind that the quantity of fissile material in a bomb is about 50-100kg, In a reactor it’s of the order of 30 tons. Even though the corium is very impure, the large mass would make an out-of-control fission reaction possible. Even if not compressed, this mass can result in a meltdown. But compressed by a conventional explosion, it could result in nuclear explosion. Mmmm…yeahhhh…nooo. I’m gonna need a cite on that beyond the show writers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chernobyl-on-hbo/833606.md?page=8)