You may remember an article we published about unreasonable fears around nuclear power. It argued that the price of energy in human lives has been much higher in other forms of energy, with coal as the clear leader in causing harm.
Nuclear power has come back into view for many people following an HBO miniseries about the 1986 Chernobyl disaster called simply Chernobyl. The five-episode docu-drama written by Craig Mazin and directed by Johan Renck was focused on the human story around the disaster, on people, the truth, and lies.
The show's popularity (it was rated 9.7 out of 10 on IMDB.com) has also led to a surge in tourism to Pripyat and Chernobyl. Visitors turned up from far and wide to see the deserted city, including some famous Instagram ‘influencers', who, given their scantily-clad poses, seemed to be much more interested in gaining ‘likes' than heeding warnings about the risk of radiation poisoning, or for maintaining the sanctity of a place where many lost their lives.
Another interesting turn of events is that a Russian Politician has called the HBO Chernobyl show ‘Anti-Soviet Filth' and has apparently falsely accused producers of distortion. In fact the show has been praised as an accurate portrayal of events. In the podcast Chernobyl the writer goes into detail about how survivors were interviewed, authoritative books were consulted, the Soviet's own accounts of events were pored over. Evidence, corroboration, fact checking.
So what was it that might have upset the Russian politician?
Was it the way lies seemed to be valued more than the truth? Perhaps the way the Soviet Union was portrayed as a place where politicians seemed more interested in preserving their place in the hierarchy, making foolish decisions and ignoring the recommendation of scientists who were locked up, ignored and censored. Or was it because it was a place where denial of the truth seemed to be rewarded over speaking out about it?
As skeptics we should try hard to identify group-think, avoid it, and think for ourselves. Ideas should be judged on their own merits, not just followed because they have always been followed, and if evidence points in the other direction, it should not be ignored just because someone in authority says so.
According to Ilya Shepelin, writing for The Moscow Times, it wasn't hiding the truth that was the issue. "The fact that an American, not a Russian, TV channel tells us about our own heroes is a source of shame” they say.
There are many examples in the HBO show, of people doing extraordinary and heroic things to deal with the disaster, because of what they believe is right. But when honour is involved, actions may not necessarily be based on evidence, or the advice of experts. I believe we should always be deeply skeptical of honour, because like love it can blind us.
This idea of honour or love of country may explain why the Soviets did not admit to the world what had happened right away. To admit to the disaster would be to admit weakness. Despite the coverup though, the truth soon came out anyway when scientists in neighbouring Sweden detected the fallout blown over by the wind, that had a signature, like a fingerprint at a crime scene, that pointed directly to the cause and the nature of the disaster. The truth did not care about the lies, it came out anyway.
So given the HBO show doesn't follow Russia's ideal narrative, and only touched on the amazing lengths the country went to, to deal with the fallout over the following years, what to do? The answer is create it's own narrative. The Russian show “Chernobyl” is based on the conspiracy theory that the disaster was caused by a CIA operative at Chernobyl sabotaging the power station. Most comments I've read about that idea agree that a CIA agent may have been present, but the overwhelming evidence, according to the United Nations and the Nuclear Energy Institute points to a combination of a specific series of events, and a specific nuclear reactor design as being the cause.
I'll leave you with a quote from the HBO show “The truth doesn't care about our needs or wants. It doesn't care about our governments, our ideologies, our religions. It will lie in wait for all time. And this, at last, is the gift of Chernobyl.”
References:
Polygraph.com fact check: https://tinyurl.com/y2ujo2bh
Chernobyl Podcast: https://tinyurl.com/y5wsjeta
The Moscow Times: Putin's media struggle: https://tinyurl.com/yytdjnd7
Nei.org fact check: https://tinyurl.com/y3ph2v6t