Examining the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, this docudrama is hard to watch. Told from the perspective of investigating scientist Valeri Legasov, the story makes no bones about being a subjective attempt to tie together the social, political and human fallout from the worlds worst nuclear accident. And seeing the graphically recreated effects of grotesque levels of radiation, it quickly becomes clear that here were both human bravery and stupidity beyond measure. Workers at the power station had not been informed of the potentially dangerous design flaw in their reactor that information was classified and so staff didnt know that hitting the button to shut the plant down could, in fact, cause it to go into meltdown. Scared for their jobs when they should have been scared for their lives, management then claimed the problems could be sorted when in fact there was no reactor left; the minister, meanwhile, initially felt that panic is worse than radiation. Later, divers knowingly swam to their deaths in a successful attempt to avoid a thermal explosion that would have leveled 200 square kilometers and irradiated 200 million peoples water supply. "
Tags: Chernobyl, Nuclear Disaster, Surviving Disaster, Nuclear Fallout, Radiation, Pripyat, Belarus
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