Chernobyl: HBO Miniseries

[blues]

My wife and I have been intrigued by the ads, after reading the responses here, will definitely watch it soon...

Ironic. You intend to watch it soon, and yet nothing happened.

[blues]

I watched the first episode and enjoyed it; however, based on the previews I suspect I'll feel the same way about this show as some of you did about the Jack Ryan series on Amazon. I'll do my best to enjoy the show nonetheless and endeavor not post anything that might ruin it for anyone else.

Tom, honestly, not being an expert on nuclear power plants or nuclear energy, (though I did have the iodine pills and fly security over the plant near Homestead, FL), I would greatly appreciate your input on things nuclear.

Knowledge is always valued.

[GardoneVT]

I watched the first episode and enjoyed it; however, based on the previews I suspect I'll feel the same way about this show as some of you did about the Jack Ryan series on Amazon. I'll do my best to enjoy the show nonetheless and endeavor not post anything that might ruin it for anyone else.

Without directly spoiling it, the production focuses on the people and institutions rather then the Tom Clancy-esqe tech details.

[TAZ]

I watched the first episode and enjoyed it; however, based on the previews I suspect I'll feel the same way about this show as some of you did about the Jack Ryan series on Amazon. I'll do my best to enjoy the show nonetheless and endeavor not post anything that might ruin it for anyone else.

Oh hell no!! Feel free to post technical corrections and such. The show is entertainment. If it triggers a teachable moment I’m all in. Plus my son is super fascinated with nuclear power generation, so we are watching the show together. Any factual corrections and such I have access to are a super bonus.

[Baldanders]

Ironic. You intend to watch it soon, and yet nothing happened.

I have to find a window where my wife is up for "bummer television."

There are a lot of horror fillms and similar things that I haven't watched yet for similar reasons.

"Rick and Morty" has been taking up my late night viewing lately, this might be next...

[Palmguy]

Signed up for a trial of HBO/Hulu to watch the show. I thought the first episode was pretty damn good.

Nuclear power is a complicated social dilemma.

On one hand it is better form of energy production then the alternatives- on paper. The problem is human nature. Nuclear reactors are a screwup intolerant system, and realistically profit minded companies (or status seeking government managers) will breed errors. The one thing Fukushima and Chernobyl share is the human element. Risks are minimized, safety standards are ignored or cut, so on and so forth. Do that with a diesel generator and only the owner pays the cost. The consequences of mismanaging a nuclear reactor are much higher, and it is sensible to question if the benefit of the technology is worth that risk.

I don't believe that nuclear power is without risk, obviously, but things can go wrong with other technology, and other technology has other impacts as well. We also have decades of operation of nuclear reactors at a not-negligible proportion of the energy pie and they have a pretty good track record.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/michael.../#1d14d2481688

[Hieronymous]

I found this 2018 helicopter flyover video pretty fascinating. It is a good illustration to me of how civilizations (Maya, Inca, etc.) get covered up and forgotten.

http://youtu.be/Wppvh70iK3A

[Chance]

I'm sure physicists the world over are going to be writing irate blog posts about the accuracy of that, but it was still a gripping episode. I loved Shcherbina's reaction when he realized he was expendable.

[Aray]

I watched the first episode and enjoyed it; however, based on the previews I suspect I'll feel the same way about this show as some of you did about the Jack Ryan series on Amazon. I'll do my best to enjoy the show nonetheless and endeavor not post anything that might ruin it for anyone else.

I'm trying to decide whether to watch or not. They seldom get even the broad strokes right.

[jlw]

A research lab on the UGA campus had a fire a decade or so ago. The responders found massive rats floating in the water used to suppress the fire.

Massive rats.

They were from Chernobyl.