Chernobyl myths
Already acclaimed as the highest-rated series in TV history,
Chernobyl has gained higher rates than The Sopranos and Breaking
Bad as all of its five episodes rose to the top of IMDb's top 10
for the database’s “Top Rated TV Shows” list. And so, here I present
a few common and popular myths about Chernobyl.
1. There was a nuclear explosion in Chernobyl
In Chernobyl there were two explosions - caused by steam which exposed
the core and damaged it, and hydrogen,
which destroyed the building of the reactor hall and
caused further damage to the core. And the biggest
contamination was caused by the fire of graphite moderator
blocks lasting several days.
2. Strongly irradiated people were "shining", firefighters were
"fried alive by radiation", etc.
They died of radiation sickness after a few weeks.
Only doses above 2500-5000 REM can cause death in a few hours-days.
Such incidents happened in the history of nuclear research,
but nobody was "fried"
3. Mutants, two-headed calves, three-meter hens
No one will grow a second head after exposure to radiation.
You can get ill with radiation sickness, maybe you can get cancer
because of mutations in different genes, have crippled
children or not have them at all ... but you will not change into a
dripping mutant
4. Deportation of people
It is a myth that the people of Pripyat and the entire Zona were simply
packed into buses with basic personal items and NEVER returned to Pripyat
or to Zona. Yes, they came back. At the turn of 1986 and 1987,
three actions were organized, in which the residents returned to
their apartments for the rest of the things. Most of the furniture
was left, there was no way to transport them, some were also
contaminated. Residents took with them mainly valuable things
and those with sentimental value.
5. Hundreds of thousands of victims
This, of course, is hard to define. It is certain that 30 people died
directly or soon after the disaster - workers of the power plant, turbine
factories and firemen. In addition, during the liquidation action,
a crew of one of the helicopters was killed and disaster struck.
299 people found
themselves in hospitals with radiation sickness in varying degrees.
It is certain that many people have been exposed to high doses of
radiation, but there is no evidence of their deaths a few weeks later,
as was the case with 30 certain victims. The USSR did not publish too
much data
Questions:
Did you heard about those myths?
Does any point changed your point of view?
Have you seen any Chernobyl episode? If not would you like to?
Does anybody who is releated to you, told you about this
catastrophe? or mayby was a eyewitness?
Comments
I didn’t see any Chernobyl episode yet, because I don’t have enough time, but I surely will do this someday.
None of my relatives or friends have anything in common with Chernobyl.
Yes I heard about some of them. I didn't know that people went back for their belongings.
Does any point changed your point of view?
I saw a few videos about chernobyl nowadays and it's really interesting to see how it is like out there right now. Your presentation didnt change my point of view unfortunetly.
Does anybody who is releated to you, told you about this
catastrophe? or mayby was a eyewitness?
No one told me anything about this catastrophe. I haven't spoken to my friends about this too. The only place where I hear about it is youtube.
Yes, of course I have heard about these myths. I have been interested in this subject for many years. What's more - I have been gathering for a few years to go to Chernobyl on a trip around Zona's coach.
2. Does any point changed your point of view?
Unfortunately, no, everything you mentioned in the article was already known to me.
3. Have you seen any Chernobyl episode? If not would you like to?
Yes, I watched the entire Chernobyl miniseries. There is a bit of a distortion in relation to reality, but nevertheless, I find this series really good and worth seeing.
4. Does anybody who is releated to you, told you about this catastrophe? or mayby was a eyewitness?
Nobody told me about it - I was interested in it myself when I found a mention about it on the internet. I also met several people who were witnesses, detected increased radiation in Poland (in Suwałki) or took part in explaining what happened in Chernobyl.
Have you seen any Chernobyl episode? If not would you like to?
No I haven’t, but I've heard about it and I'm definitely going to watch the series, especially if it has such good rates.
Does anybody who is releated to you, told you about this catastrophe? or maybe was a eyewitness?
My mom told me that she remembers the day when they announced the catastrophe. She also mentioned that they were given a Lugol's Iodine to drink at that time.
Yes I watched entire Chernobyl series and I found it very interesting. This episodes were fantastically done. The mood is right. I believe the show is accurate enough to give people a general idea about the Chernobyl disaster.
No, nobody told me about this. I researched this topic by myself.
Not yet, I have not watched. But it would be really interesting to look at this interpretation. There are plans to introduce this screen adaptation.
In addition, it would be very interesting to get acquainted with the impressions of this series with people who took part in the aftermath of the disaster.
Ive seen the first episode of Chernobyl before i ve ended my HBO sub, it was good. The directors tried their best to build up tension through out the episode, ending in climax that would be entering the core... While the effects staff have experienced might not be most accurate i think they did an excellent job tring to show terror of diving into post-breach nuclear plant.
I dont have any friends/family that i know could have told me any stories related to Chernobyl.
Did you heard about those myths?
Yes, of course, I heard. Also, I do not agree that all of the above is a myth.
Does any point changed your point of view?
My point of view on Chernobyl has been formed for a long time. Since I was born in Ukraine, I am familiar with eyewitnesses of this event.
Have you seen any Chernobyl episode? If not would you like to?
I plan to watch the entire series at once. It’s good that the session is now over and I have time for it.
Does anybody who is releated to you, told you about this
catastrophe? or mayby was a eyewitness?
The day of the disaster in Chernobyl was annually covered in our country. We went on excursions, watched documentaries and met with witnesses of these events.
As for the questions you asked. I have not heard about these myths, I have heard other interesting ones as well.
Does anybody who is releated to you, told you about this
catastrophe? or mayby was a eyewitness?
My parents told me how they took iodine and they told the results.
Unfortunately, in modern times people are very focused on nuclear power plants by Chernobyl.
According to me, a nuclear power plant is a need because there is an energy deficit in our country.
I liked the series myself. You can see that the producers have tried very much for the quantity and quality of details in the series, which goes back well to the 80's
I've heard about them, the internet every now and then is flooded with stories about Chernobyl. It depends on whether a new movie, book or series has actually been released
2. Does any point changed your point of view?
In this matter, it's hard to surprise me, in middle school in physics class I watched Chernobyl 3 times.
3. Have you seen any Chernobyl episode? If not would you like to?
Yes, I watched the entire Chernobyl miniseries, I read a book about it, sometimes I read articles on the web about it
4. Does anybody who is releated to you, told you about this catastrophe? or mayby was a eyewitness?
I don't remember anyone telling me that.
I've heard about those myths, but some of them are soooo unbelievable, especially this point about "mutants". I think people believe in them because of the lack of knowledge. I think it's also due to lack of informations which were concealed by ZSRR.
Have you seen any Chernobyl episode? If not would you like to?
I want to watch it in July, because then I'll have some free time to spare.
Does anybody who is releated to you, told you about this catastrophe? or mayby was a eyewitness?
My parents told me that when it happened polish government commanded children to drink iodine solution to protect them from the radiation. They told me also that nobody knew what exactly happened which inscreased unease among people.
Yes, the series told a lot of things and certainly betrayed the colors of drama (after all, this is still a series).
I know a lot about this disaster since I am from Ukraine and they tell us a lot about it, but I myself studied the details and subtleties.
This is really terrible disaster not only for Ukraine, but for the whole world.
But I am sincerely glad that they were able to remove such a high-quality picture, that further my people, who already knew, began to understand more the greatness of the disaster and the significance of the heroes. We began to appear flowers on the monuments - this is a saying much. The people should know not only about the victories of their homeland, but also about the tragedies in all details.
Can you give any example?
Yes I have heard about them.
Does any point changed your point of view?
Yes, I didn’t know that people could go back to Pripyat to take their valuable items.
Have you seen any Chernobyl episode? If not would you like to?
Yes, I have seen all of them. I do agree with the opinion that it’s one of the best TV series. Even though I knew exactly what is going to happen, the tension was huge.
Does anybody who is releated to you, told you about this
catastrophe? or mayby was a eyewitness?
My parents told me about it. They had to take Iodine pills or Lugol’s idinde to saturate their thyroid with iodine so they won’t get the radioactive one from the air.
Does any point changed your point of view?
I heard lots of myths about this place, i mean mutation of Multiplied arms or legs or fingers or humans linked like Syan Twins . No they did't change my point of view becouse i dont believe in myths, i only believe facts.
Have you seen any Chernobyl episode? If not would you like to?
No i haven't seen it yet, but i want to do it at holiday, i am really interested in that stories which had a place in reality.
Does anybody who is releated to you, told you about this
catastrophe? or mayby was a eyewitness?
My grand grandfather was a eyewitness in Tv of this catastrophe and He was really scared of his plants (he was an farmer) and animals and their health. In general that catasrophe had big radius of stress on neighbour countries.
Yes, but not all of them are myths. For example, my uncle was in the first group of liquidators, and he died 3 days after. His organs just became black and rot inside of him.
Does any point changed your point of view?
No, I have seen tons of documentaries on the topic before.
Have you seen any Chernobyl episode? If not would you like to?
I am going to, because I have heard only good about it.
Does anybody who is related to you, told you about this
catastrophe? or maybe was an eyewitness?
Unfortunately , this catastrophe is too connected to my family.