HBO: Chernobyl

I've seen every episode so far, very well done, indeed.

As someone who was a cold warrior we were 'indoctrinated' as to the Soviet mind of Warsaw Pact Nations how they would not think twice of throwing 10,000 bodies against a problem in the name of Mother Russia, I can appreciate the attitudes portrayed here by the Party chairmen of "nothing to see here, and you SAW nothing" while literally dozens are dying all around, along with later on how the miners just shrug their shoulders and walk into certain death after they appreciated the Mining Secretary being 100% honest with them.

One particular scene had me cracking up where Boris Scherbina says to Valery Legasov after he spouted off out of his place in the food chain to the head of the KGB asking for another scientist to be released from prison, "He thought you were a moron, so you're safe" was particularly hilarious.

Another time Valery asks Boris "Maybe I've been in my lab too long, but is this REALLY how things work?" and Boris is like, "Duh??"

And since this is HBO, they spared no expense to make the dying look as horrible as possible.



This is quite possibly this generation's "The Day After" www.imdb.com/title/tt0085404/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

My views on nuclear power are mixed. There is a reason why so many people that are for it as long as the plant isn't built near them. Then there is the safe permanent disposal of waste. Just about no one wants storage even remotely close, (I use close in the loosest of the sense of the word.)

Then there is the issue of theoretically solving the problem of safety associated with use and storage only to find out years down the road, oops, we've got a problem. If that happens, especially with storage, try permanently fixing that or turning back the clock.

If one believes in harmful man-made global warming or climate change, (I hate the latter term), at least we can take action to correct it or turn back the clock even if it is very slowly over time. Turn back the clock if nuclear "gets out of the box?" There is little reason to be optimistic. With nuclear we have the contradictory potential scenario of killing ourselves in the long run by saving ourselves in the short term. (We are talking multiple decades.)

I don't see you being mixed above, I see you being totally against it. LOL. I mean that's fine, of course.

I just disagree that we can't do responsible nuclear waster disposal.

www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/nuclear-wastes/radioactive-waste-management.aspx

I don't disagree. I also think we need to find a better disposal strategy than burying rods in the desert.

I watched episodes one through four yesterday. It is incredibly well made. Authentic and accurate that that also scores 100 percent in presenting the Soviet/Russian culture, its peoples, and its bureaucratic government. The best such combination I've ever seen. (We will overlook the British accents.)

The USSR collapsed five years later. In the big picture, the collapse was because of a total economic and political meltdown. And speaking of meltdowns, I could not help but wonder about what effect Chernobyl played in that economic and political collapse. That thought kept popping up in my head as I watched it and grasped the national impact of the disaster. I cannot help but conclude based upon what I learned from Chernobyl the mini-series that the nuclear disaster absolutely hastened the fall of the USSR.

ADDENDUM:  One other thing that stood out to me was how the people, the civilian or regular people, reacted to the the whole event.  Growing up and living under the Soviet Communist System deprived them of the ability to think for themselves in how to assess the situation they were cast into and an inability to make good decisions through independent thought. All they knew was the state did all the thinking and deciding. The people behaved accordingly when things went bad. 

Here's a few things I wish HBO covered and they didn't:

Did you know that all Soviet apartments had a special outlet for radio. Like regular electric outlet and then a “state” mandated one? Basically a WIRED radio outlet (vs a much more efficient wireless).

Soviets wanted to have you within reach with propaganda. This was used for big news. Like when Brezhnev or some other big Party member died.

Did you know that there was a special pattern when some big news was about to come? Like the Soviets wouldn’t just blab out big news they needed days to assemble and asses.

So when a big news was about to break they would cease regular broadcasts and start playing classical music. That’s how you were warned that something massive is coming.

In case of Chernobyl many thought Gorbachev kicked the bucket.

Of course another facet of soviet life was that many tried catching western short waves (when not jammed by Soviets) like Voice of America and BBC. Many knew the truth before official Soviet broadcasts. Which made things very difficult for citizens to know the real truth.

Another facet that was scary and HBO didn't really address was Iodine pills.

Before addressing that, let me give you a back drop of Soviet Culture and medicine. In USSR, for antiseptic, first aid, I mean everything, there were two things in our homes.

There was "Zelenka" a word stemming from the word green (Zelen) because the liquid was green and anywhere you would apply it, there would be green. Chickenpox? You'd be covered in Zelenka spots all over your body. A cut? Zelenka! A bruise? Zelenka! It was liked by kids because..brings me to the other anti-septic, it's nasty and burning "holy shit it hurts" cousin, Iodine. See Zelenka was a a dilute alcohol.Iodine? Literally contained 9-12% Iodine, which burns like a bitch. But MUCH more effective.

These 2 bottles were omnipresent in Soviet households. Open any medicine cabinet and you'd have multiple bottles of each.

Still with me? Keep that in mind now. Iodine was like Windex for the dad from My Big Fat Greek Wedding (except it actually worked on wounds).

Back to Chernobyl. Just like in the US, you can not go to your local "Apteka" and buy Iodine PILLS (Potassium Iodide or KI).

This is a very different chemical composition and the way Iodine pills work is that your Thyroid ABSORBS Iodine from air, foods, etc... to function properly.

During a Nuclear disaster like Chernobyl, radioiodine was everywhere and if coming to contact, your Thyroid would Absorb this and you will - good chance - develop thyroid cancer and die. Milder? Your Thyroid would be fucked in many other ways. Thyroid gland is responsible for MANY functions of your body functions.

By swallowing a KI pill, your Thyroid would absorb the Iodine and be "full" as in eating a full meal and your thyroid would NOT absorb radioiodine.

Ok, so Soviets found out that they have a nuclear disaster (via Western radio waves mentioned previously), they found out that one needs KI pills but you can't get them, can't buy them.

Guess what happened? Yep, many starting drinking the IODINE anti-septic formula with 9-12% of actual Iodine. Thousands were poisoned. Of course numbers of dead, injured, etc... is predictions. My feeling is that it was thousands of people who poisoned themselves because the government didn't supply anyone with KI pills, not in Pripyat, not in Kiev.

If there were a thousand of books to read about that brainwashing, the culture, the way the people pretended to be good commies while the government pretended to "pay". It still wouldn't be enough.