What’s the cost of a lie?
That question is asked at the end of HBO’s miniseries, “Chernobyl,” a five part series about the explosion and resulting fallout at the Soviet Union’s Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986.
Since my girlfriend and I live several hours away, we try to keep contact through distance dating, by reading together, playing games and watching TV shows and movies.
As newspaper editors with an interest in history, we (in a perhaps misguided decision) opted to watch the series together over several date nights.
We each pulled the program up and talked via videochat on Echo Show devices I got us for Christmas to make communication even easier when we’re apart.
Three nights and five episodes later, we’re staring silently as the ending text explained that improper reporting has made it impossible to tell how many people died on the night of the Chernobyl explosion or of the severe radiation from being or working to clear the 1,004 square mile exclusion zone.
The Soviet Union attributed the Chernobyl disaster to the deaths of 31 people (those who died directly or were in the response teams that died shortly afterwards). This does nothing to account for the thousands who started to face health problems after being exposed to radiation up to 37,000 times higher than a chest x-ray.
Both Wyndi and I appreciated the show, although she said she would never use the term “enjoy” in reference to the series.
Considering the show starts with the suicide of one of its principal personalities. shows the effects of radiation poisoning and accounts how all animals had to be ‘removed’ from the area, it does not make for easy viewing. The story also provides a thorough examination of the accident that cost so many lives though. The final episode hit me the hardest as they described the decisions and safety shortcuts that all added together to form disaster.
The government at the time attempted to pass all blame to the plant’s supervisors, a decision that would ignore safety problems at all the reactors still in operation within the Soviet Union. The truth did come out but only at great personal cost for those willing to expose it.
We all hear how those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it. If Chernobyl had been swept under the rug, the world might have had a very grim testament to the truth of that saying.
I highly recommend the show to those who are interested (although it might not always be great to watch with a date).
Gaudette is the managing editor at the Dublin Citizen and can be reached at 445-2515 and publisher@dublincitizen.com.