\"Chernobyl\" Episode 4 Summary and Reaction PDF

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"Chernobyl" Episode 4 Summary and Reaction
Nuclear Chemistry...

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Episode 4: “The Happiness of All Mankind” August 1986, four months after the explosion and the core is still exposed. Episode 4 begins with the showcase of the human costs of the disaster. Here, all we see is sorrow and depression as we explore more of the consequences of the disaster, as residents are now displaced from their homes, with the military helping in the evacuation and cleanup of the area; disposal of the contaminated vegetation and forests, slaughtering and rounding up of radiated animals and pets, and forced evacuation by soldiers are some of the showcases in the episode. We also see Lyudmilla as she begins to feel the effects of radiation although most of it is absorbed by her unborn child. It is then revealed that the baby died as a result of absorbing radiation from Lyudmilla which came from her giving in to her emotions and not following the safety protocols as she visits her dying husband. Further into the episode, the storyline shifts to a young teenage soldier, Pavel, and two other soldiers who are tasked to round off contaminated animals in the area. Here we see how Pavel struggles in digesting the situation where he has to kill pets in order to prevent more suffering. This then goes deep as the two soldiers cheer him up saying that they are killing for the greater good, for the lesser suffering for the affected animals and unaffected humans and ultimately for the “Happiness of all Mankind.” September 1986, Legasov and Boris proceed to with the core. Firstly they used moon rovers which succeeded on cleaning some of the graphite. However, bigger chunks damage technology as they are being approached, which pushed the group to ask for international help. After a while, Germans decided to help them by giving them a more powerful rover. However, this is not enough. Boris then found out that the government told the other countries that the amount of radiation is not that strong for propaganda purposes. This made Boris furious and Legasov resorting to use actual men to do the job. The next sequences show hundreds of soldiers moving into the area to clean all the graphite as soon as possible within a short time frame. While all of this is happening, Khomyuk continues to investigate the cause of the explosion by researching the scientific cause, and asking the witnesses what happened. However, Dyatlov barely cooperates while most of the information she searched was redacted implying that the state is hiding something even from the scientific community. The last part of the episode then proceeds to Legasov, Boris, and Khomyuk discussing in a private place safe from the KGB. They discuss about Legasov being called in an international agency to talk about what happened. Khomyuk then proceed to state that Dyatlov and the others were guilty of gross incompetence, violation of safety regulations, and recklessness. However, she said that the very explosion was caused by the employees and engineers now knowing that the AZ-5, or shutdown button, does not shut down the reactor immediately, but causes it to spike dramatically. They do not know that as it was classified by the KGB as a state secret to show that the Soviet nuclear industry is superior and free from errors. This part of the episode brings us closer to the truth. It is because of this cover up by the state that the engineers, the employees, the management, and everyone believed that everything is alright, including the AZ-5, which is supposed to shut down the reactor. This just shows how far lies can go. Because of the Soviet propaganda informing everyone that they are superior, they don’t acknowledge their faults, whether big or small. From the meeting at the beginning of the series where they decide to prevent panic by lying to the public about the situation at the reactor, to lying internationally about how much radiation is produced in the area, to fabricating documents and scientific research. As a result of these countless lies, the state, the residents, even the environment get to suffer these horrendous consequences....