Top 10 Surprising Chernobyl Myths
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VOICE OVER: Rebecca Brayton
WRITTEN BY: Nick Spake
The Chernobyl Disaster: What's fiction and what's stranger than fiction? For this list, we're taking a look at common misconceptions regarding Chernobyl that took place on April 26, 1986. WatchMojo counts down the Top 10 Chernobyl Disaster Myths.
Script written by Nick Spake
What’s fiction and what’s stranger than fiction? Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the Top 10 Chernobyl Disaster Myths.
For this list, we’re taking a look at common misconceptions regarding the Chernobyl disaster that took place on April 26, 1986. A wave of misinformation was spread in the wake of this disaster and the cost of lies is still taking a hefty toll.
Okay, let’s get one of the more ridiculous myths out of the way upfront. In 2012, the disaster horror movie “Chernobyl Diaries” followed a group of friends picked off by humanoid mutants and monster fish in the abandoned city Pripyat. Now obviously, no one mistook “Chernobyl Diaries” for a documentary. But it does sum up the conspiracy theories about mutated monsters hiding out in Pripyat. “River Monsters” host Jeremy Wade took the rumors so seriously he visited Chernobyl in search of these deadly “mutant river monsters”. A trailer for the video game “S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl”, reuploaded as “real” zombie footage, has helped spread the myth. As catastrophic as Chernobyl might’ve been, it wasn’t exactly “28 Days Later.”
In the second episode of the HBO miniseries, nuclear physicist Ulana Khomyuk warns that corium lava leaking into the flooded basement could cause a dangerous steam explosion. She fears that the radiation released would not only plague neighboring cities and towns, but also make much of Europe uninhabitable. It’s true that experts believed Chernobyl was at risk of a steam explosion, and that it would have been disastrous. However, we weren’t quite as close to Europe-wide apocalypse as the show makes out. As Greenpeace nuclear energy expert Jan Haverkamp told “Business Insider”, it’s unlikely that all that melting corium would have hit the groundwater at once. He puts the claim that the explosion would have a force of up to 4 megatons down to “exaggeration”.
As one of the worst man-made disasters in history, you might assume that the inhabitants of Pripyat and other nearby towns were immediately evacuated following the meltdown. On the contrary, the higher-ups allowed citizens to go about their day, blissfully unaware of the fatal nuclear fallout. The Pripyat evacuation didn’t take place until April 27, 1986, almost 36 hours after the accident occurred. If you think that’s shocking, people were told that this would be a “short-term evacuation” when in reality they could never return to their homes. Even after the evacuation took place, the Soviet Union held off on making a public announcement.
In the miniseries, Valery Legasov claims that the fire at Chernobyl is releasing twice as much radiation every hour as the bombing of Hiroshima. Comparing them this way, however, is misleading. As Jan Haverkamp explained, the main health threat during the Hiroshima bombing was direct radiation exposure - which caused ten of thousands of deaths on the first day alone. The Chernobyl disaster DID release more radiation than Hiroshima, but the radioactive material contaminated the atmosphere and dispersed over the surrounding area, with an impact that was more long-term. Hiroshima recovered after the bomb was dropped in World War II, but Pripyat remains uninhabitable. So, while there are parallels, these disasters are two very different beasts.
While Chernobyl is still viewed as the worst nuclear accident to date, it wasn’t the first. On March 28, 1979 – seven years before the Chernobyl disaster occurred – the Unit 2 reactor at Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station suffered a partial meltdown. The incident stemmed from a stuck-open valve releasing nuclear reactor coolant. While activists have expressed concern that the accident increased the risk of cancer for those in the area, it’s generally believed that the incident had minimal long-term effects. Even if its results weren’t as devastating as Chernobyl’s, this remains the most substantial commercial nuclear power plant accident to take place in the U.S. The cleanup effort would last 14 years from 1979 to 1993, costing roughly $1 billion.
Just because humans were evacuated from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone doesn’t mean the area has been deprived of all living things. After people were forced to leave, wildlife inherited the land. According to a 2019 Popular Science report, Chernobyl wildlife is surprisingly booming. Between the Ukraine and Belarus, you can find wolves, bears, bison, lynxes, horses, and over 200 species of birds. Even some stray dogs have managed to survive despite high radiation levels. The study suggests that various animals have adapted to the radioactive area, and the lack of people has only helped certain mammals thrive. The idea of Chernobyl being an animal habitat may sound bizarre, but as Ian Malcolm would put it, “life finds a way.”
It’s widely contested how many lives were lost due to the Chernobyl disaster, but the death toll wasn’t limited to those who died of acute radiation poisoning. There have been long-term effects, most notably the spread of various cancers, and it’s impossible to pin down the total number of people who’ve been affected in some way. The official Soviet death toll by late 1986 was just 31. But as mentioned in the final episode of the HBO miniseries, estimates for the long-term cost of human life have ranged between 4,000 and 93,000. The truth is that nobody knows exactly how many people Chernobyl has killed and chances are we never will.
As seen in the “Chernobyl” miniseries, three men really were sent into the power plant’s flooded basement to drain the water and prevent a steam explosion. At the time, it was believed that radiation exposure would leave Alexei Ananenko, Valeri Bezpalov, and Boris Baranov with much shorter lifespans. In fact, reports have claimed they died soon after. Turns out however that this task wasn’t nearly as fatal as some thought. Passing away in 2005 from a heart attack, Baranov exceeded expectations by almost 20 years. Ananenko and Bezpalo, meanwhile, are reportedly still alive. Even if this wasn’t the suicide mission people assumed, it doesn’t take away from the extraordinary act of heroism that these men committed.
Chernobyl will always serve as a cautionary tale, but it hasn’t convinced the world to abandon nuclear power. Just look at Homer Simpson! What’s really alarming, though, is that Chernobyl-style RBMK reactors are far from obsolete. There are still 10 currently operating in Russia. While modifications have been made to prevent another Chernobyl, even these updated models carry more risk than most Western-style reactors. As acting director of the Nuclear Safety Project at the Union of Concerned Scientists Edwin Lyman told Live Science, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”
As harrowing as the miniseries was, it has ironically driven up tourism at Chernobyl. But wait, how can people visit Chernobyl if the area is uninhabitable? Believe it or not, the Ukrainian government actually allows tourists to enter the Chernobyl exclusion zone. Of course, going to Chernobyl isn’t like taking a trip to Disneyland. You need to receive a day pass from a tour service and reservations must be made at least 10 days ahead of time. Unless you yourself are a radiation expert with the proper equipment, don’t even think about stepping into the zone without a seasoned tour guide. Even if certain parts are off-limits, you may find that Chernobyl is a surprisingly nice place to visit.
Top 10 Chernobyl Disaster Myths
What’s fiction and what’s stranger than fiction? Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the Top 10 Chernobyl Disaster Myths.
For this list, we’re taking a look at common misconceptions regarding the Chernobyl disaster that took place on April 26, 1986. A wave of misinformation was spread in the wake of this disaster and the cost of lies is still taking a hefty toll.
#10: Pripyat is Occupied by Dangerous Mutants
Okay, let’s get one of the more ridiculous myths out of the way upfront. In 2012, the disaster horror movie “Chernobyl Diaries” followed a group of friends picked off by humanoid mutants and monster fish in the abandoned city Pripyat. Now obviously, no one mistook “Chernobyl Diaries” for a documentary. But it does sum up the conspiracy theories about mutated monsters hiding out in Pripyat. “River Monsters” host Jeremy Wade took the rumors so seriously he visited Chernobyl in search of these deadly “mutant river monsters”. A trailer for the video game “S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl”, reuploaded as “real” zombie footage, has helped spread the myth. As catastrophic as Chernobyl might’ve been, it wasn’t exactly “28 Days Later.”
#9: A Steam Explosion Almost Made Europe Uninhabitable
In the second episode of the HBO miniseries, nuclear physicist Ulana Khomyuk warns that corium lava leaking into the flooded basement could cause a dangerous steam explosion. She fears that the radiation released would not only plague neighboring cities and towns, but also make much of Europe uninhabitable. It’s true that experts believed Chernobyl was at risk of a steam explosion, and that it would have been disastrous. However, we weren’t quite as close to Europe-wide apocalypse as the show makes out. As Greenpeace nuclear energy expert Jan Haverkamp told “Business Insider”, it’s unlikely that all that melting corium would have hit the groundwater at once. He puts the claim that the explosion would have a force of up to 4 megatons down to “exaggeration”.
#8: Pripyat Was Quickly Evacuated
As one of the worst man-made disasters in history, you might assume that the inhabitants of Pripyat and other nearby towns were immediately evacuated following the meltdown. On the contrary, the higher-ups allowed citizens to go about their day, blissfully unaware of the fatal nuclear fallout. The Pripyat evacuation didn’t take place until April 27, 1986, almost 36 hours after the accident occurred. If you think that’s shocking, people were told that this would be a “short-term evacuation” when in reality they could never return to their homes. Even after the evacuation took place, the Soviet Union held off on making a public announcement.
#7: The Chernobyl Fire Is Comparable to Hiroshima
In the miniseries, Valery Legasov claims that the fire at Chernobyl is releasing twice as much radiation every hour as the bombing of Hiroshima. Comparing them this way, however, is misleading. As Jan Haverkamp explained, the main health threat during the Hiroshima bombing was direct radiation exposure - which caused ten of thousands of deaths on the first day alone. The Chernobyl disaster DID release more radiation than Hiroshima, but the radioactive material contaminated the atmosphere and dispersed over the surrounding area, with an impact that was more long-term. Hiroshima recovered after the bomb was dropped in World War II, but Pripyat remains uninhabitable. So, while there are parallels, these disasters are two very different beasts.
#6: Chernobyl Was the First Serious Nuclear Accident
While Chernobyl is still viewed as the worst nuclear accident to date, it wasn’t the first. On March 28, 1979 – seven years before the Chernobyl disaster occurred – the Unit 2 reactor at Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station suffered a partial meltdown. The incident stemmed from a stuck-open valve releasing nuclear reactor coolant. While activists have expressed concern that the accident increased the risk of cancer for those in the area, it’s generally believed that the incident had minimal long-term effects. Even if its results weren’t as devastating as Chernobyl’s, this remains the most substantial commercial nuclear power plant accident to take place in the U.S. The cleanup effort would last 14 years from 1979 to 1993, costing roughly $1 billion.
#5: There’s No More Wildlife
Just because humans were evacuated from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone doesn’t mean the area has been deprived of all living things. After people were forced to leave, wildlife inherited the land. According to a 2019 Popular Science report, Chernobyl wildlife is surprisingly booming. Between the Ukraine and Belarus, you can find wolves, bears, bison, lynxes, horses, and over 200 species of birds. Even some stray dogs have managed to survive despite high radiation levels. The study suggests that various animals have adapted to the radioactive area, and the lack of people has only helped certain mammals thrive. The idea of Chernobyl being an animal habitat may sound bizarre, but as Ian Malcolm would put it, “life finds a way.”
#4: Most of the Deaths Occurred Immediately After the Accident
It’s widely contested how many lives were lost due to the Chernobyl disaster, but the death toll wasn’t limited to those who died of acute radiation poisoning. There have been long-term effects, most notably the spread of various cancers, and it’s impossible to pin down the total number of people who’ve been affected in some way. The official Soviet death toll by late 1986 was just 31. But as mentioned in the final episode of the HBO miniseries, estimates for the long-term cost of human life have ranged between 4,000 and 93,000. The truth is that nobody knows exactly how many people Chernobyl has killed and chances are we never will.
#3: The Three Workers Who Drained the Basement Water All Died
As seen in the “Chernobyl” miniseries, three men really were sent into the power plant’s flooded basement to drain the water and prevent a steam explosion. At the time, it was believed that radiation exposure would leave Alexei Ananenko, Valeri Bezpalov, and Boris Baranov with much shorter lifespans. In fact, reports have claimed they died soon after. Turns out however that this task wasn’t nearly as fatal as some thought. Passing away in 2005 from a heart attack, Baranov exceeded expectations by almost 20 years. Ananenko and Bezpalo, meanwhile, are reportedly still alive. Even if this wasn’t the suicide mission people assumed, it doesn’t take away from the extraordinary act of heroism that these men committed.
#2: There Are No More Chernobyl-Style Reactors
Chernobyl will always serve as a cautionary tale, but it hasn’t convinced the world to abandon nuclear power. Just look at Homer Simpson! What’s really alarming, though, is that Chernobyl-style RBMK reactors are far from obsolete. There are still 10 currently operating in Russia. While modifications have been made to prevent another Chernobyl, even these updated models carry more risk than most Western-style reactors. As acting director of the Nuclear Safety Project at the Union of Concerned Scientists Edwin Lyman told Live Science, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”
#1: You Can’t Visit Chernobyl Today
As harrowing as the miniseries was, it has ironically driven up tourism at Chernobyl. But wait, how can people visit Chernobyl if the area is uninhabitable? Believe it or not, the Ukrainian government actually allows tourists to enter the Chernobyl exclusion zone. Of course, going to Chernobyl isn’t like taking a trip to Disneyland. You need to receive a day pass from a tour service and reservations must be made at least 10 days ahead of time. Unless you yourself are a radiation expert with the proper equipment, don’t even think about stepping into the zone without a seasoned tour guide. Even if certain parts are off-limits, you may find that Chernobyl is a surprisingly nice place to visit.
