Chernobyl Doctor Fact Checks the HBO Series | Vanity Fair

[theemii]

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Ukrainian medical responder and radiation expert Alla Shaprio reviews the validity of the HBO series "Chernobyl." Alla shares some real-life on-site experiences to explain whether clips from the series are true to what actually happened on April 26th, 1986 and the days that followed

Comments

[crayzee_mouse]

This was really interesting. I was surprised by how much was exaggerated or just wrong (with regard to the effect of radiation, poising, burning, bleeding, contamination etc.). I could have sworn the story of the firefighter and his pregnant wife was taken from a real account from Voices from Chernobyl? So it seems strange that elements of the story would be incorrect or untruthful.

The podcast accompanying the show was very good, and it seemed from that they did a lot of research, but I guess they stuck to the facts as much as possible (the fact that the explosion happened at 1:23:45am is amazing if true) but exaggerated for dramatic effect where they felt it was needed for the drama - which was very effective.

[irajaxon]

that part stood out, as well. to be fair, she said she wasn't part of the burn unit so she didn't directly see the patients. beta radiation burns can cause necrosis, so the creators probably went a bit hyperbolic in their visuals.

[mhfromnh]

the funny thing is that the writers always chose the least extreme accounts (when there were multiple) to depict.

[savannah_rose24]

I read Midnight in Chernobyl and one of the workers, Aleksandr Yuvchenko, from inside the reactor actually lived to a very old age. He was the one who held the door while 3 other workers went to check the reactor, even though he told them it didn’t exist anymore. They all ended up dying and he describes the tan they developed right after running out of the room, because of the high dosage they received. He had burns, but was lucky enough to be one of the few to survive. They have photos of him in his hospital bed recovering in the book. He actually was in a couple of documentaries about the disaster. And one of the most compelling stories, at least to me anyway.

[mspopstar]

When I was a child radiation was always one of my worst nightmares. Caught a scene on TV one day and was screaming at night about it.

All this to say I was shook at some of the scenes in this

[glitterslugs]

This serious was so good, that big where they were talking about how they were dealing with something that has never before happened in mankind’s existance was so chilling

[beijing_saigon]

I just heard this year that my cousin was exposed to radioactive rain after Chernobyl, he got really aggressive leukemia most likely due to it. It's so crazy to think about. He died eight years ago because of the cancer

[talklikelions]

The first responders to Chernobyl make me want to cry. They went in knowing they were going to die for it, but they did it anyways.

That’s a kind of bravery and selflessness (also, patriotism) I don’t think I have in me tbh :(

[lurkurheartout]

they talked about that in the podcast for the show that they truly believe that if something like Chernobyl happened not in a Soviet country the world would have been much more fucked than it already was from it. The Soviet mentality of having to just do what you had to do saved thousands of people.

[babbss]

reminds me of the first responders at fukushima too

[pink_dog]

yes, me too