"Surviving Disaster: Chernobyl (BBC)" Topic

Just saw this episode, of what seems to be a series of docu-drama's regarding…disasters.

Even though it's seven years old…WOW, it was pretty brutal and graphic…and in all truth, a lot of the physical destruction of the humans involved was often just referred too…just the description and allusions to all the damage done to the humans, creatures and surrounding region was enough to convey the horror of this incident.

A very well produced drama. I look forward to my local PBS affiliate to show more in the future.

What TV is supposed to be…as opposed to what it is today.

Many more Russians died and suffered catastrophic health problems than we will ever know. Without their sacrifice, the effects on the rest of Russia and the World would have been much worse.

Yeah, they made that point near the end, when the denials were over, everyone pitched in, even though in many cases it meant almost certain, if not immediated death. They likened it to the crisis when Hitler invaded Russia.

I seem to remember a documentary that showed Russian soldiers being told they can go out with a shovel and do a single shovel full of material before coming back in. Basically they had 20 seconds of exposure before needing to away from the radiation. Even then it was pretty well accepted they would die from what little time they were exposed.

Does that sound accurate from what they showed or has my memory got it wrong?

I think it was that they had a 20-30 seconds (can't remember now) exposure for a lifetime SAFE maximum limit.

Cincy…

I do remember that, but from where…I can't recall.

From this documentary though, I do know that the initial helicopter drop flights of sand had a 100% mortality rate, as they had to get low enough and whenever they opened the door to drop sand bags, they were blasted by heat, smoke and dust from the immediate area.

While they didn't belabor the point, it looked like they continued to fly in shifts until the crews died.

It's a shame that such men die.