I agree! My jaw dropped. This show doesn't show a single enemy yet the intensity, fear, anxiety and everthing else included is so overwhelming! This invisible enemy that is radiation has been such a fearsome monster compared to some of those I can actually see!
Consider that at the 80's, the world had never experienced a nuclear accident of this level, so, despite Dyatlov's negligence, non of them was prepared to face such contingency (specially at the URSS). That's the most serious face of science; to learn and progress through first hand experiencing the facts, through learning from mistakes (sometimes, like in Chernobyl, in a horrific way). Great reaction bro. This is a wonderful show.
The USSR before the collapse in '91. Show no weakness. Ever. Deny, deny, deny! Spent two months in Austria that summer and have no recollection of Chernobyl. None--news like this did not spread like it does today. This mini series just breaks your heart from one minute to the next. I think I've seen it three times and it just hits! Thanks for this reaction!
I was 3, I believe, when this happened, and I honestly don't recall it being discussed in schools beyond the fact that it was a nuclear disaster. Literally, that's it. Nothing in depth about it, or what that even meant. I was a snotty, sobbing, sweaty mess throughout this entire series!
I've seen documentaries. And apparently the pile of the firefighters clothing is still in the basement. And the radiation is so strong you can't be in the room with them for more than a few minutes.
Did on one take precautions? What precautions, this is the Soviet Union we're talking about. To run the test, they had to turn off one of the safety systems, and when the test was postponed, they just left the safety system off for 10 hours. Ultimately, that safety system wasn't relevant, but it shows how much attention was paid to it. To be fair to the designers of the Chernobyl reactor, even with all the flaws it had, it was practically impossible to have that kind of catastrophic faliure by accident, unless you created the right conditions essentially on purpose. Ep 5 does a pretty good job of explaining how it all went down.
The safety system you're referring to is called the ECCS (Emergency Core Cooling System). The official INSAG-7 report (among others) mentions that it would have made little difference, but the very fact alone that they thought it perfectly acceptable to run the reactor without this very important safety system for as long as they did. It really shows a complete lack of respect for the reactor or any safety culture for that matter. If you really want a terrifying read; Here is a list of all the safety systems the operators at Chernobyl Unit 4 either physically disabled/ cancelled or ignored in order to force Reactor No 4 to keep going. It tried to shut itself down for almost an hour before finally catastrophically failing, because they had firmly backed it into a corner for their ill-fated test. It literally had nowhere to go but up: - The Emergency Core Cooling System. They ran the reactor for almost 11 hours with the system physically disconnected(!) from the core. - Automatic Control Rod System disabled. (This would have scrammed the reactor) - Manual extraction of almost ALL control rods, even the special group that was supposed to be in the core at all times. - Steam/ water separator alarms were repeatedly cancelled. (This would have scrammed the reactor) - Feed Water Flow Rate alarms repeatedly cancelled. (This would have scrammed the reactor) - Excess Steam alarms repeatedly cancelled. (This would have scrammed the reactor) - Neutron Power alarm repeatedly cancelled. - Emergency Thermal-Hydraulics parameters repeatedly cancelled. - Two feed water circulation pumps switched off. - Turbine emergency regulating valves disabled. (This would have scrammed the reactor) And yes, Episode 5 is one of the best layman term explanations I have seen in a long time. My apologies for some possible spoilers.
Really like the honest way you react to this excellent, but very brutal series. At some point when watching your video I sat here saying to the screen; "You need to keep breathing, son. Breathe in, breathe out..." If you thought this is a tough Episode, you may want to strap in for Nos 3 and 4. I was 15 when the accident happened. It created a big panic here in Europe when it was finally revealed what happened. We couldn't eat any of the leafy greens from our gardens, the cows had to be brought indoors because they couldn't eat the grass, and children weren't allowed to play in outdoor sandboxes. These were either covered or emptied so you couldn't use them. The Soviet Union was very tight-lipped about the whole thing, but unfortunately for them radiation doesn't give 2 hoots about their ideology, or borders for that matter. When Sweden discovered the radioactive plume, they had no other choice than to come clean about the accident. Btw, all the news footage, "911" recordings etc you hear/ see in the series are real. How I know? because I saw them on TV back then. That news anchor in the red sweater with the blue background is one of the things seared into my memory. The first grainy images of the badly mangled Unit 4 building is another. Can't wait for your reactions on the remainder of the series. You got a subscribe from me🙂
Thank you so much and I'm glad you are enjoying my reactions. Also Thank you for your informative comment! The cool thing about reacting to this series is also hearing your stories and learning from all of your experiences, they really enhance this journey for me and its just really cool to hear and learn! Thank you again 😁
@@boltzzs You're welcome^^! This series does an excellent job of showing and teaching history. Yes, there are some liberties taken, some things have been changed or moved around, but I would dare say that this series is at least 90% historically accurate. May I suggest the official companion podcasts? There is one for each of the five episodes, they're available on YT. Yes, they're long-winded, but Mazin goes into great detail about what he changed and why. They're well worth the listen and will further enhance your journey. However, do not start listening to them until you have seen the entire series because of some obvious spoilers. And trust me when I say you weren't the only one screaming at the TV/ computer screen at certain points. Some things are just infuriating to watch. Because of this accident I took up studying nuclear reactors as a hobby, I wanted to find out (to the best of my abilities) what went so horribly wrong and why. Let's just say there's a lot more frustration and "wtf?!?" involved when going on that journey. Some things really do defy belief when you find them out. But that will have to wait, spoilers and all that. You'll get to it. Just be prepared to get frustrated some more😅
funnily enough the 3 workers sent into the plant to open the tanks actually didn't die any time soon after this, a lot of what happened at chernobyl was first time experiences and they had no idea what would happen. Just assumptions. There was a risk and they thought it was greater than it actually was.
Great reaction, great episode. I was on the edge of my seat, wow man, what a haunting series indeed! I feel for all those people and oh my daze the poor doggos too!! Left it on a proper cliff hanger, looking forward to the next one! 😁🤙
They couldn't just send in the suits. They needed people with intimate knowledge of the layout of the basement levels: there were HUNDREDS of miles of ductwork and piping in the plant, and much of it was damaged in the the explosion. People who didn't work there would have had NO IDEA where they were going, flashlights or not.
They can't send Boris in there to do it, he's the only one making stuff happen. Can the three guys that volunteered to go open those valves, can they call Gorbachev and get 5000 tons of sand and boron sent to the sight? No, they can't. They need Boris to drive the bus. He's the party official on the scene that can get what Legasov needs.
I dont actually want Boris sent it in, It was more of a joke brother. I know the importance of his role. I was just talking about how the higher ups and powers that be always send us to our deaths whether its war, Chernobyl or whatever. Its always easy to be the one in the room ordering normal people to pack and go to the trenchs or suit up your being sent to whatever hospitable location.
@@boltzzs ... Well, I agree with that sentiment, 'higher ups' always seem to get away with shit, and the little guy pays for it. I'm with ya there for sure.
10:52 You must understand that he got direct order by the secretary general of USSR. While Gorbachev was not Stalin, it was still a hard end to not follow orders to the letter.
Nuclear power is safe and powerful way to produce energy. What happened in Chernobyl and the other small meltdowns like in the USA and Japan, only occurred because everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Including human error or as in Chernobyl, complete the fault of upper management.
In this episode, there were a few things the makers of the show got wrong. For one thing, the character who said that they should close off the city in the first episode and is evacuated in this one, did not exist...he was added for dramatic purposes. Also, the helicopter crash did not happen so soon after the explosion...it really happened months later in October, 1986, and had nothing to do with radiation. As I mentioned in my comment to episode 1, once you are done with the series, the History vs Hollywood article on the show is a must read.
Another thing he should watch/listen is the official podcast made for each episode in which Mazin explains exactly what he changed, and why he changed the things he did. As to the helicopter accident, you can see how the main rotor is hitting the crane cable and then fractures. You can even see the hoist block falling. Mazin moved this accident because he wanted to honour the pilot's sacrifice, but he didn't have enough time in the episode to do the proper time line.
@@iKvetch558 You're welcome^^. They're really good and very much worth your time. Mazin did everything in his power to make the series as historically accurate as he could within the limits set out for him.
@@swokatsamsiyu3590 As I said elsewhere...they do explain quite a bit in the podcasts...but they do not admit to everything they changed. Also, the podcasts do take some time to listen to, whereas the History vs Hollywood article is pretty quick and easy to read.✌
@@iKvetch558 Yes, the podcasts are rather long-winded. But then again, I'm a huge nerd that reads 500 page, boring-you-to-tears reactor manuals and (accident) reports as a hobby. And I'm familiar with the article you mention. I still prefer the podcasts though. To each his own, I guess😇
There's a statue to commemorate the divers, I believe - the end of this episode made me SO anxious lol, I don't think I moved for a good few minutes afterwards.
the end scene is one of the most brutal cliffhangers off all time. i remember staring for minutes at the screen with a blank mind.
I agree!
My jaw dropped.
This show doesn't show a single enemy yet the intensity, fear, anxiety and everthing else included is so overwhelming! This invisible enemy that is radiation has been such a fearsome monster compared to some of those I can actually see!
Consider that at the 80's, the world had never experienced a nuclear accident of this level, so, despite Dyatlov's negligence, non of them was prepared to face such contingency (specially at the URSS). That's the most serious face of science; to learn and progress through first hand experiencing the facts, through learning from mistakes (sometimes, like in Chernobyl, in a horrific way). Great reaction bro. This is a wonderful show.
The USSR before the collapse in '91. Show no weakness. Ever. Deny, deny, deny! Spent two months in Austria that summer and have no recollection of Chernobyl. None--news like this did not spread like it does today. This mini series just breaks your heart from one minute to the next. I think I've seen it three times and it just hits! Thanks for this reaction!
I was 3, I believe, when this happened, and I honestly don't recall it being discussed in schools beyond the fact that it was a nuclear disaster. Literally, that's it. Nothing in depth about it, or what that even meant.
I was a snotty, sobbing, sweaty mess throughout this entire series!
Love your reaction! Boy but you so not ready for ep 4!
Looking forward to more!
I've seen documentaries. And apparently the pile of the firefighters clothing is still in the basement. And the radiation is so strong you can't be in the room with them for more than a few minutes.
5:57 That pile of clothes are still heavily contaminated to this day.
13:45 In reality, the helicopters came 6 months after the explosion.
Did on one take precautions?
What precautions, this is the Soviet Union we're talking about. To run the test, they had to turn off one of the safety systems, and when the test was postponed, they just left the safety system off for 10 hours. Ultimately, that safety system wasn't relevant, but it shows how much attention was paid to it.
To be fair to the designers of the Chernobyl reactor, even with all the flaws it had, it was practically impossible to have that kind of catastrophic faliure by accident, unless you created the right conditions essentially on purpose.
Ep 5 does a pretty good job of explaining how it all went down.
The safety system you're referring to is called the ECCS (Emergency Core Cooling System). The official INSAG-7 report (among others) mentions that it would have made little difference, but the very fact alone that they thought it perfectly acceptable to run the reactor without this very important safety system for as long as they did. It really shows a complete lack of respect for the reactor or any safety culture for that matter.
If you really want a terrifying read; Here is a list of all the safety systems the operators at Chernobyl Unit 4 either physically disabled/ cancelled or ignored in order to force Reactor No 4 to keep going. It tried to shut itself down for almost an hour before finally catastrophically failing, because they had firmly backed it into a corner for their ill-fated test. It literally had nowhere to go but up:
- The Emergency Core Cooling System. They ran the reactor for almost 11 hours with the system physically disconnected(!) from the core.
- Automatic Control Rod System disabled. (This would have scrammed the reactor)
- Manual extraction of almost ALL control rods, even the special group that was supposed to be in the core at all times.
- Steam/ water separator alarms were repeatedly cancelled. (This would have scrammed the reactor)
- Feed Water Flow Rate alarms repeatedly cancelled. (This would have scrammed the reactor)
- Excess Steam alarms repeatedly cancelled. (This would have scrammed the reactor)
- Neutron Power alarm repeatedly cancelled.
- Emergency Thermal-Hydraulics parameters repeatedly cancelled.
- Two feed water circulation pumps switched off.
- Turbine emergency regulating valves disabled. (This would have scrammed the reactor)
And yes, Episode 5 is one of the best layman term explanations I have seen in a long time. My apologies for some possible spoilers.
Really like the honest way you react to this excellent, but very brutal series. At some point when watching your video I sat here saying to the screen; "You need to keep breathing, son. Breathe in, breathe out..." If you thought this is a tough Episode, you may want to strap in for Nos 3 and 4.
I was 15 when the accident happened. It created a big panic here in Europe when it was finally revealed what happened. We couldn't eat any of the leafy greens from our gardens, the cows had to be brought indoors because they couldn't eat the grass, and children weren't allowed to play in outdoor sandboxes. These were either covered or emptied so you couldn't use them. The Soviet Union was very tight-lipped about the whole thing, but unfortunately for them radiation doesn't give 2 hoots about their ideology, or borders for that matter. When Sweden discovered the radioactive plume, they had no other choice than to come clean about the accident. Btw, all the news footage, "911" recordings etc you hear/ see in the series are real. How I know? because I saw them on TV back then. That news anchor in the red sweater with the blue background is one of the things seared into my memory. The first grainy images of the badly mangled Unit 4 building is another. Can't wait for your reactions on the remainder of the series. You got a subscribe from me🙂
Thank you so much and I'm glad you are enjoying my reactions.
Also Thank you for your informative comment!
The cool thing about reacting to this series is also hearing your stories and learning from all of your experiences, they really enhance this journey for me and its just really cool to hear and learn! Thank you again 😁
@@boltzzs
You're welcome^^! This series does an excellent job of showing and teaching history. Yes, there are some liberties taken, some things have been changed or moved around, but I would dare say that this series is at least 90% historically accurate.
May I suggest the official companion podcasts? There is one for each of the five episodes, they're available on YT. Yes, they're long-winded, but Mazin goes into great detail about what he changed and why. They're well worth the listen and will further enhance your journey. However, do not start listening to them until you have seen the entire series because of some obvious spoilers. And trust me when I say you weren't the only one screaming at the TV/ computer screen at certain points. Some things are just infuriating to watch. Because of this accident I took up studying nuclear reactors as a hobby, I wanted to find out (to the best of my abilities) what went so horribly wrong and why. Let's just say there's a lot more frustration and "wtf?!?" involved when going on that journey. Some things really do defy belief when you find them out. But that will have to wait, spoilers and all that. You'll get to it. Just be prepared to get frustrated some more😅
funnily enough the 3 workers sent into the plant to open the tanks actually didn't die any time soon after this, a lot of what happened at chernobyl was first time experiences and they had no idea what would happen. Just assumptions. There was a risk and they thought it was greater than it actually was.
Great reaction, great episode. I was on the edge of my seat, wow man, what a haunting series indeed! I feel for all those people and oh my daze the poor doggos too!! Left it on a proper cliff hanger, looking forward to the next one! 😁🤙
They couldn't just send in the suits. They needed people with intimate knowledge of the layout of the basement levels: there were HUNDREDS of miles of ductwork and piping in the plant, and much of it was damaged in the the explosion. People who didn't work there would have had NO IDEA where they were going, flashlights or not.
They can't send Boris in there to do it, he's the only one making stuff happen. Can the three guys that volunteered to go open those valves, can they call Gorbachev and get 5000 tons of sand and boron sent to the sight? No, they can't. They need Boris to drive the bus. He's the party official on the scene that can get what Legasov needs.
I dont actually want Boris sent it in, It was more of a joke brother. I know the importance of his role.
I was just talking about how the higher ups and powers that be always send us to our deaths whether its war, Chernobyl or whatever. Its always easy to be the one in the room ordering normal people to pack and go to the trenchs or suit up your being sent to whatever hospitable location.
@@boltzzs ... Well, I agree with that sentiment, 'higher ups' always seem to get away with shit, and the little guy pays for it. I'm with ya there for sure.
10:52 You must understand that he got direct order by the secretary general of USSR. While Gorbachev was not Stalin, it was still a hard end to not follow orders to the letter.
Nuclear power is safe and powerful way to produce energy. What happened in Chernobyl and the other small meltdowns like in the USA and Japan, only occurred because everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Including human error or as in Chernobyl, complete the fault of upper management.
Great to see your enthusiasm for the series. Looking forward to the next episode.
Thank you so much Tracy!
I'm glad your enjoying this reaction with all of us 😁
Don’t worry about the dogs. They will be treated well. Even better than the people there.
And you’re going to hate it.
In this episode, there were a few things the makers of the show got wrong. For one thing, the character who said that they should close off the city in the first episode and is evacuated in this one, did not exist...he was added for dramatic purposes. Also, the helicopter crash did not happen so soon after the explosion...it really happened months later in October, 1986, and had nothing to do with radiation. As I mentioned in my comment to episode 1, once you are done with the series, the History vs Hollywood article on the show is a must read.
Another thing he should watch/listen is the official podcast made for each episode in which Mazin explains exactly what he changed, and why he changed the things he did. As to the helicopter accident, you can see how the main rotor is hitting the crane cable and then fractures. You can even see the hoist block falling. Mazin moved this accident because he wanted to honour the pilot's sacrifice, but he didn't have enough time in the episode to do the proper time line.
@@swokatsamsiyu3590 Also a good suggestion...thank you.👍
@@iKvetch558
You're welcome^^. They're really good and very much worth your time. Mazin did everything in his power to make the series as historically accurate as he could within the limits set out for him.
@@swokatsamsiyu3590 As I said elsewhere...they do explain quite a bit in the podcasts...but they do not admit to everything they changed. Also, the podcasts do take some time to listen to, whereas the History vs Hollywood article is pretty quick and easy to read.✌
@@iKvetch558
Yes, the podcasts are rather long-winded. But then again, I'm a huge nerd that reads 500 page, boring-you-to-tears reactor manuals and (accident) reports as a hobby. And I'm familiar with the article you mention. I still prefer the podcasts though. To each his own, I guess😇
Hi. We waiting for next episodes. You an emotional man....
There's a statue to commemorate the divers, I believe - the end of this episode made me SO anxious lol, I don't think I moved for a good few minutes afterwards.
you thought that was a hard watch, episode 3 will really get you wincing.
And just you wait until he gets to episode 4.