On April 26th. 1986, exactly 1 hour, 23 minutes, and 45 seconds after midnight, reactor 4 at Chernobyl Nuclear Powerplant exploded. That is why the episode is called "1:23:45 "
People really didn't know the dangers of nuclear radiation. It was a wonderful new technology that people outside the industry didn't know much about. and the dangers were only really known by the experts. This accident is HOW the world learned about its danger.
yeah those curved piece of black stuff are graphite used to moderate the nuclear reaction inside the core. inside the curved bits go the radioactive material in long rods. just the graphite pieces are incredibly radioactive because of all the time spent right next to the control rods.
The Soviet System was based on lies, denial, and passing blame. This miniseries was *mostly* truth but the motif and plot is "What do lies repeated until they are believed as truth do to truth?" It's a metaphor for current politics in may countries.
This was the first nuclear accident. Up until this point, a nuclear accident on this scale was regarded as theoretical. There had been close shaves of course, Three Mile Island in the USA. One of the reasons Dyatlov was so convinced that the core hadn't exploded was because, as far as the operators were concerned, the Core couldn't explode. It was just impossible as far as they were concerned. The science and timeline do get explained. Episodes 3 and 4 are the tear-jerkers. There's a monument at Chernobyl memorializing those who lost their lives trying to prevent a total disaster. It simply reads "To those who saved the world."
The thing is that up until that point nobody knew how a core would explode. You said best nobody knew until they knew. First time something like that happened
2:52 The reason why they wear that clothing is to be able to more easily see contaminants such as graphite, a component of the core, which would leave an obvious black smudge on their clothing.
Thank you for your reaction, there's a companion podcast for each episode + a bonus one that discusses the reaction to the mini-series. They give a variable "behind the scenes" view of the approach taken to get the story to the screen. It's probably best to watch the entire mini-series first before listening to the podcasts. I do remember when the accident occurred, it was a stressful time, the internet/world wide web didn't exist so the only sources of information were the terrestrial TV channels and newspapers. I was at a university and some people asked the physicists about the accident and based on what they were told, then wished they hadn't asked them in the 1st place!
The reason that nobody seems to think there is much danger is because they have all been assured by the leaders of the Soviet nuclear energy industry, who operate under the authority of the leaders of the USSR itself, that it is 100 percent NOT possible for an RBMK reactor to explode. Not only have they been told that, but all their preparations for any kind of accident do not include any real provisions for a catastrophic event...so no protective gear, radiation detectors that only read up to 3.6, and no stable iodine stockpiled at the hospitals.
From all I have read, though they took some dramatic license with the affects of radiation poisoning and burns, the show is extremely accurate. They did combine several people involved into one character as well...but as far as what happened and what the response of the political apparatus of the Russian government it is very accurate indeed.
One of my most favorite shows ever. A fantastic series with great performances and it ends up as it should without stretching the script beyond necessary. GGs Liv fantsic job as always. Approved and thumbed up
Liiv! We, your subscribers, are thrilled you are taking on this incredible mini-series. You wil need boxes and boxes and boxes of tissues for this show! Cheers.
Another thing too, if you defy your superiors, you’re basically defying the state and will be blacklisted as a result if not outright taken and put somewhere. Not following orders is more or less an equivalent to social and economic suicide at the time.
just came across this reaction after watching a different react channel for the same thing, it's really interesting watching someone who has no idea about these events watching this and asking things like 'why are they not wearing protective gear?' etc, it's as a direct result of this tragic event that 'we' have all the equipment and procedures in place to prevent such a thing from happening ever again, prior to this event there was seen as no real need for any specialist and expensive equipment and there was certainly no training or procedures in place like there is today, you need to keep in mind that this happened at a time when the soviet union was dramatically cutting all government spending on anything that wasn't the military, so if it wasn't for the severity of this event that forced their hand to spend on the cleanup with the world watching, you can bet your ass they wouldn't have spent much on the cleanup if it had been a lesser impact event.
A very hard watch. Most young people do not understand the context of the times living during the cold war, and don't understand how strict communist life was in the USSR. When he asked if they were bombing, he was refering to America bombing the USSR because of the tensions between East and West.
As an answer to your question, all the emergency calls, the TV news footage etc you see/hear in this sublimely made series are real. How I know? I was 15 at the time and remember seeing that very footage on the news. The makers went above and beyond to make this series as close to the real event as they could. This really is one of the best series to ever grace the TV screen. But you might want to strap in for episodes 3 and 4, because it's going to be a bumpy ride.
These guys live in a country where if you in charge of a project and something goes wrong, you get shot, regardless of whose fault it is. So the denial and resistance of the people in charge is sort of wishful thinking, but only in the sense that the alternative to what they hope is true, is their deaths. Sentencing everyone in the area to death by trapping them in the town and sealing off communications is also a thing they will get approval for, and get shot for failing to do. And getting shot for something like this also means that your family is on the government's shit list and most of them go to prison camps (like the Holocaust, but not as well constructed, and with a lot more manual labor). A little thing like the hospital requesting iodine supplies, because there is a nuclear power plant nearby could get a commendation for thinking ahead, but more likely will get a reprimand for having the audacity to think their marvelous engineering could possibly fail. If you think the government's power plant is going to let radiation out into the surrounding countryside so people will need iodine, then you must be harboring treasonous doubts about your country. Maybe five years in an arctic mining camp will help you appreciate the motherland?
@@crispy_338 i know, but seeing her not feeling when someone was vomiting, i don't know how she'll react in that episode or episode 3, i don't remember which one it is that i can't watch
I have watched this series and it is one of the best mini series type documentaries I have ever seen. I have seen other documentaries on this subject and listened to the directors podcast on this mini series. They put in a ton of research to try and get as close to the truth as possible. They talked to many citizens who were in the area when that happened. It is certainly a tough watch.
I can say with almost certainty, that after you've seen this series it will remain in your consciousness for a long time, if not forever. It is incredibly well done, and all humans should fear the consequences of a nuclear disaster or the potentiel use of nuclear weapons, which effect will be seen for generations to come. I can still remember the fear even here in Scandinavia during this time in 1986. I was 12 years old, I didn't understand very much of it, but I still remember how scared people were.
Hey Liiv! I am so here for this. As with BoB, this series does justice to the event and, tragically, to all those who suffered. It will explain everything to you in the end and, I suspect, you too will be horrified at the incompetence of the state yet encouraged by the heroes that did the right things when it mattered. Another must see series from HBO.
For dramatic purposes, they did change the speed and effect of acute radiation exposure, but broadly not by that much. The blatant denial seen throughout this episode is genuine and indicative of a regime where cover-up and disinformation were habitual. It is worthwhile noting that this is not an evil unique to the former Soviet regime; you can currently see examples of such denial, disinformation and its adoption throughout the world; example one, climate change denial.
The actual reaction to radiation poisoning took longer to manifest these symptoms--hours, instead of minutes. But very few of these men survived. To be fair, they genuinely believed the reactor core could not explode. Dyatlov was not this much of a total ass. The whole series is full of dramatic license like that, but it doesn't change the basics or heart of the story.
I was eight years old when the chernobyl disaster happened and just when the radiation plume was floating across the sky over my home country of Austria it started to rain for days. The fallout was quite enormous. Many - me included - got sick and for every Austrian eating domestic mushrooms and a lot of other stuff was a big no-no for about ten years afterwards. But of course these are just trifles compared to what the people of the Ukraine must have had to suffer.
Brutal does sum it up perfectly it truly is . I've seen this a few times and I still find myself shouting at the screen in frustration that guy in charge my god I wanted to throttle him . Looking forward to continuing this with you Liv it's such a good series but wow emotional wise it's super harsh
No offense to you Liv ... I enjoy your reactions ... but I am appalled at how little today's younger generations seem to know about the nature of communism as in the Soviet Union. Makes me fear for our future in the West.
I'm sorry to say, but a lot of what you see in this series in an invention, and has been rehashing the old Soviet lies. For example, the plant director Bryukhanov was a decent, dutiful man. His responsibility was not just the plant but the whole of Pripyat city, which he built from nothing into a lively city brimming with life. Chernobyl disaster happened solely due to the lazy, inneficient Soviet system.
Excellent but horrifying miniseries. I think you'll find that the most terrible aspect of the show is the constant suspension of reality of the Soviet officials.
![Chernobyl 1X1 REACTION! '1:23:45' [FIRST TIME WATCHING]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/MaNaMHPwhaM/mqdefault.jpg)
On April 26th. 1986, exactly 1 hour, 23 minutes, and 45 seconds after midnight, reactor 4 at Chernobyl Nuclear Powerplant exploded. That is why the episode is called "1:23:45 "
This show and the real events behind it are utterly heartbreaking but it’s so well made.
People really didn't know the dangers of nuclear radiation. It was a wonderful new technology that people outside the industry didn't know much about. and the dangers were only really known by the experts. This accident is HOW the world learned about its danger.
yeah those curved piece of black stuff are graphite used to moderate the nuclear reaction inside the core. inside the curved bits go the radioactive material in long rods. just the graphite pieces are incredibly radioactive because of all the time spent right next to the control rods.
The Soviet System was based on lies, denial, and passing blame. This miniseries was *mostly* truth but the motif and plot is "What do lies repeated until they are believed as truth do to truth?" It's a metaphor for current politics in may countries.
This was the first nuclear accident. Up until this point, a nuclear accident on this scale was regarded as theoretical. There had been close shaves of course, Three Mile Island in the USA.
One of the reasons Dyatlov was so convinced that the core hadn't exploded was because, as far as the operators were concerned, the Core couldn't explode. It was just impossible as far as they were concerned. The science and timeline do get explained.
Episodes 3 and 4 are the tear-jerkers.
There's a monument at Chernobyl memorializing those who lost their lives trying to prevent a total disaster. It simply reads "To those who saved the world."
The thing is that up until that point nobody knew how a core would explode. You said best nobody knew until they knew. First time something like that happened
2:52 The reason why they wear that clothing is to be able to more easily see contaminants such as graphite, a component of the core, which would leave an obvious black smudge on their clothing.
The caps are to protect their hair from any contamination, as radiation in hair is very dangeours.
@@maksphoto78 Yes, that too.
Thank you for your reaction, there's a companion podcast for each episode + a bonus one that discusses the reaction to the mini-series. They give a variable "behind the scenes" view of the approach taken to get the story to the screen. It's probably best to watch the entire mini-series first before listening to the podcasts. I do remember when the accident occurred, it was a stressful time, the internet/world wide web didn't exist so the only sources of information were the terrestrial TV channels and newspapers. I was at a university and some people asked the physicists about the accident and based on what they were told, then wished they hadn't asked them in the 1st place!
The reason that nobody seems to think there is much danger is because they have all been assured by the leaders of the Soviet nuclear energy industry, who operate under the authority of the leaders of the USSR itself, that it is 100 percent NOT possible for an RBMK reactor to explode. Not only have they been told that, but all their preparations for any kind of accident do not include any real provisions for a catastrophic event...so no protective gear, radiation detectors that only read up to 3.6, and no stable iodine stockpiled at the hospitals.
2:37 That was probably the scariest phone call of the 20th century!
From all I have read, though they took some dramatic license with the affects of radiation poisoning and burns, the show is extremely accurate. They did combine several people involved into one character as well...but as far as what happened and what the response of the political apparatus of the Russian government it is very accurate indeed.
really sad to think if they made different decisions in those early hours things would of been very different.
One of my most favorite shows ever. A fantastic series with great performances and it ends up as it should without stretching the script beyond necessary. GGs Liv fantsic job as always. Approved and thumbed up
Id say one of the top 10 HBO shows ever made. Looking forward to the next ep's reaction
Liiv! We, your subscribers, are thrilled you are taking on this incredible mini-series. You wil need boxes and boxes and boxes of tissues for this show! Cheers.
I think I'm going to need a sick bucket!
@@liivreacts Yes! Your sympathetic dry heaves were hilarious!
@@zh2184 Hilarious?
So glad to see you doing Chernobyl! This series was brilliantly well done. Looking forward to the rest of the episodes!
Another thing too, if you defy your superiors, you’re basically defying the state and will be blacklisted as a result if not outright taken and put somewhere. Not following orders is more or less an equivalent to social and economic suicide at the time.
Oh this is a great but also brutal show. can't wait for this one.
well done getting through the EP. enjoyed wathcing it with you. not seen it. but really enjoyed it.
The whole series is outstanding and close to actual events.
just came across this reaction after watching a different react channel for the same thing, it's really interesting watching someone who has no idea about these events watching this and asking things like 'why are they not wearing protective gear?' etc, it's as a direct result of this tragic event that 'we' have all the equipment and procedures in place to prevent such a thing from happening ever again, prior to this event there was seen as no real need for any specialist and expensive equipment and there was certainly no training or procedures in place like there is today, you need to keep in mind that this happened at a time when the soviet union was dramatically cutting all government spending on anything that wasn't the military, so if it wasn't for the severity of this event that forced their hand to spend on the cleanup with the world watching, you can bet your ass they wouldn't have spent much on the cleanup if it had been a lesser impact event.
This is gonna be good. Brutal show similar to BoB
A very hard watch. Most young people do not understand the context of the times living during the cold war, and don't understand how strict communist life was in the USSR. When he asked if they were bombing, he was refering to America bombing the USSR because of the tensions between East and West.
I love to see a new Chernobyl reaction. I did a lots of research on this, and spoke to a person who went into the destroyed reactor hall.
Pretty much everything and everyone in this series is true to the real events
Not nearly enough. This show is full of Soviet lies.
@retronomix7392 The show is based on an infamous book by Medvedev "Cherobyl Notebook" which is the origin of most myths and lies about Chernobyl.
As an answer to your question, all the emergency calls, the TV news footage etc you see/hear in this sublimely made series are real. How I know? I was 15 at the time and remember seeing that very footage on the news. The makers went above and beyond to make this series as close to the real event as they could. This really is one of the best series to ever grace the TV screen. But you might want to strap in for episodes 3 and 4, because it's going to be a bumpy ride.
I live in Europe. I was 15 years old when i happened - 51 now. I have hated everything nuclear related since.
This is such a great show! It's going to be a journey for sure.
Happy to see your reaction to this show
These guys live in a country where if you in charge of a project and something goes wrong, you get shot, regardless of whose fault it is. So the denial and resistance of the people in charge is sort of wishful thinking, but only in the sense that the alternative to what they hope is true, is their deaths. Sentencing everyone in the area to death by trapping them in the town and sealing off communications is also a thing they will get approval for, and get shot for failing to do. And getting shot for something like this also means that your family is on the government's shit list and most of them go to prison camps (like the Holocaust, but not as well constructed, and with a lot more manual labor). A little thing like the hospital requesting iodine supplies, because there is a nuclear power plant nearby could get a commendation for thinking ahead, but more likely will get a reprimand for having the audacity to think their marvelous engineering could possibly fail. If you think the government's power plant is going to let radiation out into the surrounding countryside so people will need iodine, then you must be harboring treasonous doubts about your country. Maybe five years in an arctic mining camp will help you appreciate the motherland?
One saddest TV Miniseries ever made.
@@salto1994 no spoilers
@@crispy_338 i know, but seeing her not feeling when someone was vomiting, i don't know how she'll react in that episode or episode 3, i don't remember which one it is that i can't watch
I have watched this series and it is one of the best mini series type documentaries I have ever seen. I have seen other documentaries on this subject and listened to the directors podcast on this mini series. They put in a ton of research to try and get as close to the truth as possible. They talked to many citizens who were in the area when that happened. It is certainly a tough watch.
They took a LOT of artistic licence, but it's mostly accurate.
I can say with almost certainty, that after you've seen this series it will remain in your consciousness for a long time, if not forever. It is incredibly well done, and all humans should fear the consequences of a nuclear disaster or the potentiel use of nuclear weapons, which effect will be seen for generations to come. I can still remember the fear even here in Scandinavia during this time in 1986. I was 12 years old, I didn't understand very much of it, but I still remember how scared people were.
Hey Liiv! I am so here for this. As with BoB, this series does justice to the event and, tragically, to all those who suffered. It will explain everything to you in the end and, I suspect, you too will be horrified at the incompetence of the state yet encouraged by the heroes that did the right things when it mattered. Another must see series from HBO.
They're wearing white clothes so that if they get anything on them it's easy to see it (the same reason labcoats are white).
For dramatic purposes, they did change the speed and effect of acute radiation exposure, but broadly not by that much. The blatant denial seen throughout this episode is genuine and indicative of a regime where cover-up and disinformation were habitual. It is worthwhile noting that this is not an evil unique to the former Soviet regime; you can currently see examples of such denial, disinformation and its adoption throughout the world; example one, climate change denial.
The actual reaction to radiation poisoning took longer to manifest these symptoms--hours, instead of minutes. But very few of these men survived.
To be fair, they genuinely believed the reactor core could not explode.
Dyatlov was not this much of a total ass. The whole series is full of dramatic license like that, but it doesn't change the basics or heart of the story.
I was eight years old when the chernobyl disaster happened and just when the radiation plume was floating across the sky over my home country of Austria it started to rain for days.
The fallout was quite enormous. Many - me included - got sick and for every Austrian eating domestic mushrooms and a lot of other stuff was a big no-no for about ten years afterwards.
But of course these are just trifles compared to what the people of the Ukraine must have had to suffer.
Belarus got it worse.
@@PV1230 Oh yes, for sure!
Brutal does sum it up perfectly it truly is . I've seen this a few times and I still find myself shouting at the screen in frustration that guy in charge my god I wanted to throttle him . Looking forward to continuing this with you Liv it's such a good series but wow emotional wise it's super harsh
Only the best for Liv! Tough series to watch at times but incredible in every way, hope you enjoy it through the awfulness that occurs
No offense to you Liv ... I enjoy your reactions ... but I am appalled at how little today's younger generations seem to know about the nature of communism as in the Soviet Union. Makes me fear for our future in the West.
Thanks for doing this but you are in for a rough ride on this series.
hi liiv
I'm sorry to say, but a lot of what you see in this series in an invention, and has been rehashing the old Soviet lies. For example, the plant director Bryukhanov was a decent, dutiful man. His responsibility was not just the plant but the whole of Pripyat city, which he built from nothing into a lively city brimming with life. Chernobyl disaster happened solely due to the lazy, inneficient Soviet system.
the volume was too low. thanks.
This episode is comunism in a nutshell
How's it going?
Excellent but horrifying miniseries. I think you'll find that the most terrible aspect of the show is the constant suspension of reality of the Soviet officials.