I'm not so sure Fukushima can be mentioned in the same breath as Chernobyl. Fukushima was brought about by a natural disaster whereas Chernobyl was caused by the political system of the time.
Television Chernobyl (HBO/Sky drama series)
- Thread starter dr.twinny
- Start date
I think you need to work on context.
The discussion was about governments going into self-preservation mode, and misleading everybody in relation to nuclear disasters, not the cause of them.
Not to mention actual real-life long-term effects versus what people get told.
I accept your point but I believe Russia/USSR has more defending to do than Japan. The USSR system shut down proper investment in nuclear power stations by reducing costs at the expense of safety and were therefore instrumental in the cause of the explosion. The Japanese government weren't to blame for the earthquake that caused Fukushima. Both governments have since gone into self preservation mode although I'm not convinced the Japanese have told so many lies as the Russians. The USSR only started admitting there was a serious problem after reports from Sweden indicated extremely high levels of radiation in the air and the USA identified carbon on the roof of Chernobyl.
Damn that's insane. Doesn't really look like it hit the crane there either, just completely crumbles.
It hit the crane rope.
It didn’t hit the crane, it hit the ropes that were hanging from the crane. It’s incredible how easy a machine of that size crumbles though.
Ah ok, makes more sense.
So was it already out of control because it was over the reactor or was it just bad piloting that didn't spot the rope?
Just read an interview with another pilot that flew that day, he says that there was usually a piece of metal on the rope to make it more visible, but for whatever ever reason they took it off. And the pilot simply didn’t notice the ropes as he was flying towards the sun.
He also said they got lucky that it didn’t fell into the other reactor (number 3), although I’m not sure what would’ve happen as the roof on it was still intact.
Thanks for the info! Still a massive risk for them to do that regardless.
In general to the thread the 3rd episode is up there for me as one of the best episode of tv I’ve seen in ages.
Jesus. 
Get a load of this sh*t:
Get a load of this sh*t:https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/07/chernobyl-hbo-russian-tv-remake
Hang on.. they survived?
No, sorry if my post was misleading. It was a testimony of another helicopter's pilot who also flew that day. The others got lucky that the helicopter with fully-filled tank didn't crash onto another reactor, which would've possibly led to another explosion (although, as I said, I'm not sure if that explosion would've got to the core, despite the other pilot's concern).
The alternative view being the CIA did it I suppose.Jesus.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/07/chernobyl-hbo-russian-tv-remake
I saw a report this morning from the military chief in charge of the Liquidators that he thought it was an accurate telling of the story apart from the end. Yes, I now the end is important but he thought most of the show to be a fair representation.
Vladimir Putin as head of the KGB (topless of course).Jesus.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/07/chernobyl-hbo-russian-tv-remake
Fukushima Daiichi was designed with barriers to cope with tsunami. It was a recognised hazard. Japan's embarrassment comes from a number of factors.
The inherent risk of building on the coast, in the path of potential tsunamis.
The underestimation of the scale and impact of tsunami it may face.
The back-up generators being below the level of the defenses, so if breached, they'd be useless.
Finally, the consistent understatement of leakage, and premature reporting of it being under control.
Essentially all down to pride.
This from one month ago..
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Tepco could have pumped in seawater, but then they would have needed to scrap/rebuild the reactors. So basically they tried to save money after they had seriously f***ed up in the planning, risk assessment and building phase. So many bad decisions.
Yep. They agreed with GE that it would be wrong to put the backup generators in the basement, but put them there anyway, to save money. A ridiculous decision, particularly considering the long life-span of a nuclear power plant.
I apologise for constantly linking Guardian articles but it's the only newspaper I read.
https://www.theguardian.com/comment...ear-power-climate-change-health-radioactivity
Chernobyl’s disastrous cover-up is a warning for the next nuclear age:
https://www.theguardian.com/comment...ear-power-climate-change-health-radioactivity
Haven't seen the show, but I've read books about the disaster.
Bit of a shame that they haven't just stuck with the actual events, should be more than dramatic enough for TV.
It could, and should, have been avoided. They were well aware of the risks involved, earlier malfunctions and not to mention the daft graphite-tip control rods used for the emergency shutdown procedure. If the tests they were supposed to conduct had been done according to it's specs, it's unlikely that the accident would've happened.
Bit of a shame that they haven't just stuck with the actual events, should be more than dramatic enough for TV.
It could, and should, have been avoided. They were well aware of the risks involved, earlier malfunctions and not to mention the daft graphite-tip control rods used for the emergency shutdown procedure. If the tests they were supposed to conduct had been done according to it's specs, it's unlikely that the accident would've happened.
Eh? That's pretty much exactly what they did.
Like inventing a superhero female character ?
They added her because they couldn't add all the scientists who came forward to help, she was a vision of them and their bravery, so why not make her like that?
She's the shittest superhero ever then in fairness. Barely does anything.
You should probably watch the show, will give you a much better idea of what a nightmare it would have been to instead include a huge group of scientists from all over Russia in her place.
They didn't need to add all of them, could've stuck to a select few. I mean, a large part of the issues prior to, and after, the accident was related to the Soviet hierarchies
I'm really struggling to see why you think she's a problem. It makes no sense.
It's nicely summed up here: https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-...obyl-got-right-and-what-it-got-terribly-wrong
It's 5 hours of television, you can't include everybody. And how would they choose between those hundreds of scientists? They'll be forced to give the words and ideas of omitted ones to the scientists that made it into the TV-show, which is even less fair.
Any takers for the Russian version of the show where it was an American conspiracy all along?
At the end of the day, its' also meant to entertain with a bit of drama and they probably felt Khomyuk's dynamic with Boris and Legasov was better TV than a bunch of extras as scientists.
Didn't have to be 5 hours of television.
Not sure what you are criticising now? The compound character choice or the fact that this is not a 30 hour documentary?
Yeah, she had missed the point of the show by quite a bit. Which is not surprising, she's really not a great journalist. Probably the worst left-wing Russian journalist there is, she's basically a Russia Today equivalent.
Not strictly the Japanese government, but what I was saying was nuclear plant companies in Japan have a history of covering up the magnitude of incidents in their facilities, not just Fukushima. There's a pattern of trying to minimize the seriousness to the public which always inevitably ends up with the full story coming out later. That's why I'm personally cynical about Fukishima and how serious it actually is.
Why are you bothering responding to @UncleBob when he admits he hasn't even seen it. To criticise something for what it shows without seeing why or how they've done that certain thing is barmy to me.
Fair point.
The dvd/Blu-ray's out on July 8th (UK).
just started this, the opening is very intense.
Exactly. "This nicely summed up my issues with something I haven't watched". I think the accompanying podcast really helps, the writer is very clear about the bits that aren't quite accurate and why they did that for obvious TV reasons. Having finished the last episode today I can only agree with the majority of comments in here, this is one of the best TV miniseries (maybe TV shows in general) ever made.