All language subtitles for Chernobyl.The.Invisible.Enemy.2021.PROPER.1080p.WEBRip.x264-RARBG

[alarm blaring]

[speaking foreign
language over speaker]

[dramatic music]

- [Narrator] On April 26, 1986,

the catastrophe shook
the whole of Europe

and the world would
experience a fatal day

that became engraved
in its history.

A catastrophe that would
turn an entire city

into a post
apocalyptic ghost town.

[dramatic music]

A disaster that revealed
the true devastating nature

of nuclear energy
in the wrong hands.

[dramatic music]

This is the tragedy of Chernobyl

and the damages that left
behind after a deadly fight

against an invisible enemy.

[calm music]

This appears to be
pristine wilderness,

a world full of life,

a quiet area where nature
and wildlife is thriving.

[dramatic music]

This could be paradise on earth

but it has a dreadful secret.

[orchestral music]

Ukraine, 1986.

The Chernobyl
nuclear power plant

was one of the Soviet Union's
largest nuclear power plants.

Located 60 miles North of
Ukraine's capital city of Kiev

and near the border of Belarus.

Chernobyl was about
nine miles away

and home to about
12,000 residents.

[orchestral music]

Closer to the plant,

only two miles away
from the reactors,

the city of Pripyat
was built in 1970

as a home for the plant workers.

This new city had high quality

and modern high-rise buildings.

Pripyat housed
almost 50,000 people.

It was lively and
rich, full of talents,

and goods were more
available there

than in any other
parts of the Union.

[lively upbeat music]

Pripyat was the
perfect execution

of Soviet planning in ideology.

It seemed to be promising,

but its future wouldn't
be the bright one

that had been predicted.

In the spring of 1986,
its fate was sealed.

[dramatic music]

Inside the Chernobyl
nuclear power plant,

there were RBMK-1000
type reactors.

They would be proven
to be highly dangerous

due to having a design flaw.

According to the workers,

reactor number four
was the best of all.

It turned out they couldn't
have been more wrong.

[dramatic music]

On 26th of April,
1986, at 1:23 AM,

a catastrophe shook
the whole of Europe.

And the world would
experience a fatal day

that became engraved
in its history;

a major nuclear accident.

One of the worst manmade
disasters of all time.

The largest nuclear
catastrophe to this day.

[speaking foreign
language over speaker]

The amount of radiation
was 400 times higher

than what was released by the
Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs

in 1945.

A radioactive cloud

spread over the entire
European continent.

On that night,

a routine safety check
went horribly wrong.

The reactor four exploded,

ripping the 1000 ton
roof off in the process.

The power plant was shaken
by two enormous explosions.

During the test,

inadequately trained
personnel made fatal mistakes

and violated safety protocols.

Despite attempts to shut
down the reactor entirely,

a power surge caused a chain
reaction of explosions inside.

Finally,

the nuclear core
itself was exposed

causing a nuclear meltdown,

spewing radioactive dust
into the atmosphere.

In the springtime of 1986,

where flowers were
supposed to bloom

and nature come back to life,

a whole ecosystem was
disturbed, broken.

[dramatic music]

From then on,

a relentless fight against
an invisible enemy began

putting thousands of
lives on the line.

The incident would turn
out to be a milestone

in the history of nuclear power,

and the catalyst of the
collapse of the Soviet Union

as they tried to cover it up.

The people became disillusioned
with the Soviet ideology.

[dramatic music]

The station immediately became
unsuitable for human life,

and this disaster will
haunt its inhabitants,

and have repercussions
on the country

for thousands of years.

[dramatic music]

[dramatic music]

[alarm blaring]

The explosions immediately
killed two workers.

They were the first to die
within hours of the accident.

More than 100 were injured.

[dramatic music]

The first firemen to
arrive at the scene

battled the fire heroically

and without any adequate
protective equipment

unaware of the radiation
seeping into the atmosphere.

They poured tons of water
on this strange fire,

but nothing seemed
to be putting it out.

Some began to lose
consciousness. Others
started vomiting.

At least 5% of the
radioactive reactor core

was released into
the atmosphere.

People were urgently rushed
to the nearby hospitals

and all the contaminated
clothes, footwear and bed linen

were thrown away.

Over the next coming weeks,

on a total of 134 servicemen
that were injured,

28 firefighters and
plant workers would die

from Acute Radiation Syndrome.

Many more contracted
serious illness.

They were the first
victims of Chernobyl.

For the next several days,

emergency crews desperately
tried to contain the fire

and radiation leaks.

The death toll kept climbing.
The fire was still burning.

On the third day,

80 helicopters were sent from
Moscow to put the fire out.

When they arrived,

the temperature made it
impossible to get close.

From the air,

soldiers threw out 80
kilograms of sandbags

into the blaze with
their bare hands

to fill up the reactors
and smother the fire.

In two days,

2,400 tons of lead would also
be dropped into the reactor.

After a few missions, soldiers
would start throwing up.

It was heroism.

It had to be done. There
was no better solution.

During this operation,

600 pilots were
contaminated with radiation.

There was despair
and hopelessness

as the situation seemed
impossible to deal with.

Flying around in
helicopters wasn't enough.

They needed to get closer
and down into the core.

But how?

Something had to be done

to keep the magma
from melting down.

[dramatic music]

They came up with a solution,

but it would cause the
loss of more lives.

They built a 550 foot long
tunnel below the reactor.

The fire took 10 days and 250
firefighters to extinguish it.

However,

toxic emissions continued to
escape into the atmosphere.

Later on, the crews
discovered something horrific;

the most toxic mass on earth.

A solid large radioactive
mass of melted nuclear fuel,

metal and concrete,

located beneath the
destroyed reactor four.

The radiation
readers made it clear

that what was inside was
something to be avoided.

They called it 'the
Elephant's Foot'.

Scientists believe that it
is going to emit radiation

for many centuries to come.

In a month,

10,000 miners would
be sent to work there

facing extremely
dangerous conditions.

[dramatic music]

A total of 600,000 rescuers,
including firefighters,

pilots, miners, and
local volunteers,

were sent from
all over the union

to fight against this
terrifying invisible enemy

and to clean up the disaster.

These people would be
called 'the liquidators'.

[dramatic music]

These men and women who
fought a ruthless battle

have now become almost
forgotten heroes

yet it is thanks to them
that the worst was avoided.

[dramatic music]

[lively upbeat music]

At the Kremlin in Moscow,

eight hours after the disaster,

Mikhail Gorbachev, leader
of the Soviet Union,

received very limited
information on the situation.

The first information
consisted of accident and fire,

but no word about an explosion.

The reaction of Soviet
government was controversial.

For years,

the secretive state tried to
cover up what really happened.

At first they ordered a
complete media blackout

only to avoid
panic, they claimed.

The less knowledge and the
more silence, the better.

But frightening gossips were
already going around the city.

The situation was
underestimated.

No one really knew the
scope of the accident.

Even doctors were
strictly instructed

not to tell the patients
that something was wrong,

and that they would
lose their jobs

if they said anything opposite.

A few days after the accident,

and despite alarming
radiation levels,

authorities still
encouraged people

to participate in
May Day celebrations,

even in areas they knew to
be seriously contaminated.

Disturbingly,

all footage of May 1st, 1986,

has now disappeared from the
Ukrainian National Archives.

In Pripyat, by early
afternoon the next day,

the radiation readings
were already 15,000 times

higher than usual.

By the evening, it had
increased even more

creating a lethal dose
for the inhabitants.

They would die in only
four days if they stayed.

Even on photographs
radiation was visible,

but the city's
communication was cut

and all roads were blocked

to make sure no information
left the municipality.

Unaware of the
disaster happening

only three kilometers away,

people continued to
live their normal lives.

Children continued to play
in the radioactive sand

of the amusement parks

while radioactive particles
were falling on the grounds.

[dramatic music]

By the evening of April 26th,

windows and doors
should have been sealed

and iodide tablets swallowed.

But such order had
not been given.

The government only
started distributing iodide

10 days after the explosion.

Wrong doses were also
administered to children.

By that point, it was useless.

Iodide can protect
from thyroid cancer

only if it's given
in the right time;

a maximum of 18
hours after exposure.

- [Andrew] In Chernobyl, the
population was not moved.

The contaminated food stuffswere kept within the food chain

for critical period

and iodine tablets
weren't handed out

to protect the thyroid
from thyroid cancer.

- [Narrator] It was chaos.

Nobody had any
training in radiation.

At Chios National
Medical Library,

the librarians even
received an order

to take all the books
from the shelves

that contained the
word radiation.

The disaster was expanding.

No one in the surrounding
areas was evacuated

until about 36 hours
after the disaster began.

By that time,

many residents were already
complaining about headaches,

vomiting, and other early
signs of radiation sickness.

It was terrifying.

But the situation
turned critical.

The evacuations of Pripyat
commenced on the next day

on April 27th.

[dramatic music]

The people living
around Chernobyl

were finally notified
about the accident.

But authorities falsely stated

that they had it under control.

And that the evacuation
was only temporary.

Only the most necessary
belongings were needed.

Personal documents and
some food, they were told.

In a matter of a few hours,

people had to leave their homes,

their entire lives behind.

[calm upbeat music]

They were told that they were
leaving for three days only.

They would never come back.

The evacuation was
a massive operation.

49,000 people were forced
to flee in under four hours.

[dramatic music]

Officials finally closed
off the area by May 14th,

establishing an exclusion
zone around the reactor

and evacuating another
116,000 residents.

But it was too late.
The damage was done.

- Somebody at the
top has to decide

what's going to happen.

But what I don't
think will happen

is that they will
suddenly, as it were,

come clean and become very open,

allow international
inspection itself.

What is much more
likely to happen is that

in the course of time,

new information will be
released in dribs and drabs.

But this will come
out as they see fit.

They're not going to
suddenly open the doors

to people to go in to
see what's happened.

And I don't think that
they're going to accept

international aid either.

- [Narrator] People were moved
to other regions in Ukraine,

and most of the power plant
workers were sent to Kiev.

In total, some 350,000
people were evacuated.

[dramatic music]

No news about Chernobyl
surfaced until the next days

in the rest of the Soviet Union.

In fact,

the citizens only found
out about the catastrophe

via foreign
communication channels.

The Soviet media
channels kept quiet

until Sweden was
the first country

to detect that something
disastrous had happened.

This forced the Soviet
government to come out.

Such a massive disaster was
impossible to hide for long.

Radiation spread
quickly around Europe,

immediately affecting
Scandinavian countries.

It was only on the 14th of May,

after the 1st of
May celebrations,

and three weeks
after the accident,

that Gorbachev decided to make
a public announcement on TV.

- Today on Soviet television,

Mr. Gorbachev said the accident

has deeply affected
the Soviet people.

And as he put it,
disturbed world opinion.

He told his fellow countrymen

that the worst is
now behind them.

It has certainly taken Mr. Gorbachev a long time

to go public.

- [Translator] We were recently
stricken by a disaster;

the Chernobyl nuclear
power accident.

It deeply affected
the Soviet people

and disturbed world opinion.

[dramatic music]

- [Narrator] The news finally
reached the entire country.

- [Reporter] The white house says Mr. Reagan's attempt

to discuss the situation with Mr. Gorbachev personally

have been ignored by the
Kremlin for four days.

- They're usually a
little close mouthed.

[speaking inaudibly]

- We don't think that
they have provided

as full and prompt information as they should have.

Our own pictures
give us information

that suggests the
casualty rates are higher

than those that have been
announced by the Soviet Union

so far, by a good measure.

[dramatic music]

- [Narrator] As the
crisis continued,

more economic, technical,
and scientific forces

were mobilized.

It was a frontline
emergency situation.

The radioactive cloud
continued to drift over Europe.

It soon reached the United
Kingdom, France and Italy.

The French authorities
denied its presence.

In Chernobyl,

the radioactivity
continued to climb.

Millions of acres of forest and
farm land were contaminated.

And although many
people were evacuated,

hundreds of thousands
more remained.

Animals were also highly
contaminated and left abandoned.

Nobody took care of them.
Their owners wouldn't return.

Special hunting
squads were formed,

killing cats, dogs and all other
animals because of the fear

that they would keep
spreading the radiation.

Soon, but unfortunately
not soon enough,

the entire world realized

that it was witnessing
a historic event.

[calm music]

34 years after the disaster,

the area of Chernobyl remains
uninhabitable and abandoned.

Although Pripyat is safe
enough for a brief visit,

the cleanup was a
massive operation.

It took years and involved
hundreds of thousands of people.

Today, surprisingly,

there are still about 120
people who self settled

and are still living
in the exclusion zone.

Around 8 million people live
in the contaminated areas

of the Ukraine,
Russia, and Belarus.

For all these years,

they've been living
on contaminated land

and radioactive food.

This is an issue that has
been systematically ignored.

- [Joseph] In takes after

was a very long time
to decontaminate.

You know that the one
test in the beginning

must have been many years ago, over 30 years ago.

It took years

before the people
could go back there

and even then it was not allowed

to eat the food growing there.

It may take years and years
before it goes back to normal.

- [Narrator] The consequences
are still felt nowadays.

Among humans,

radiation induced
illnesses and cancer deaths

were expected in the longterm,

including thyroid cancer,
birth defects, mutations,

and deformations, intellectual
and physical disabilities,

and overall pain and suffering.

[machine beeping]

[lively upbeat music]

Livestock and wildlife
were also highly affected.

[dramatic music]

In West Germany,

down syndrome peaked
for nine months in 87.

The United Nations
Scientific Committee

reported that more
than 6,000 children

developed thyroid cancer after
being exposed to radiation.

[people laughing]

Although some experts
have recently claimed

that there is no evidence of
a major public health impact

attributable to
radiation exposure

20 years after the accident.

- [Woman] The Princess of Wales

had asked to visit
these children.

They're all suffering
from diseases

which can't be treated
effectively in the Soviet Union.

Three like four year old myself,

have cancers which
appear to be connected

with the Chernobyl disaster.

[dramatic music]

- [Narrator] The
liquidators were incapable

of going back to a normal life.

They were all victims of
the Chernobyl syndrome.

The ones who survived were
disabled or unable to work.

- [Translator] Even
robots couldn't work

on top of those buildings
because of the radiation.

And so they sent people.

It was so dangerous
the men never stayed

more than 20 to 40
seconds up there.

Otherwise they'd get
completely irradiated.

- [Woman] Anatoly
Vinucor used to work

as a hospital
attendant in the area.

He was sent to the site just
minutes after the explosion.

- [Translator] The doctors found
radiation burns on my face,

in my thoracic cage,
and in my throat.

I could hardly eat.

I looked through my
window all day long.

I saw a car that
drove big black bags

straight to the cemetery.

- [Woman] Today,

Anatoly suffers from
a dozen illnesses,

all as a result of the
exposure to the radiation.

And with a small
pension to live on,

he struggles to cope with
the medication expenses.

The Association
Sawyers Chernobyl

offers financial support
to victims like Anatoly.

Its president says that many
of them have the impression

they have been forgotten.

- [Translator] Medical help
to the people of Chernobyl

has shrunk eight fold.

Today it's only 6
million pruveners.

That's equivalent to 20 Euro
cents per person per year.

The Ukrainian government
has no respect.

- [Narrator] According
to the military,

out of the 600,000 liquidators,

10% have died

and 200,000 are disabled.

[dramatic music]

The real amount of radiation
these people are exposed to

has never been revealed to them.

There were a lot of lies

and only a few realized
the scope of these lies.

On the second anniversary
of the Chernobyl disaster,

on the 27th of April,
1988, Valery Legasov,

the chief of the commission
investigating it,

and who had worked so
hard to unveil the truth,

decided to end his life.

He had recorded and
hidden the tapes

blaming engineer
Anatoly Dyatlov,

who was in charge
of the safety test

that resulted in the disaster,

and other superiors
for the incident.

- [Mike] We are going
to talk this afternoon

about the impact of Chernobyl

something of the order of 40 or 45 deaths might be expected

in all subsequent years, as a result of this accident.

[dramatic music]

- [Narrator] To this day,

only 59 deaths have
been officially recorded

and attributed to the disaster.

The exact actual human
cost of Chernobyl

will never really be known.

There is little reliable data.

The full consequences
of the accident,

including impacts on health,

remain highly debated
and understudied.

Most estimates range from
4,000 to 93,000 deaths.

In the first few months
following the catastrophe,

Pripyat became a
conservation reserve.

Flowers were planted
along the pavements.

Goods were still in the shops.

And even the traffic
lights continued to work.

But there was no cars and
no sign of human life.

As time passed,

the city became more and
more empty, and silent.

Some old inhabitants
illegally climbed back

into their own homes to
see if they could find

the belongings that
they'd left behind,

only to realize that
nothing was there,

and that it was all over.

People came to rob the shops
and stole what was left.

People still take things from
the dead city as souvenir.

Pripyat may well be
the last place on earth

to conserve a little Soviet
Union in its 1980s state.

Now, trees and plants have
grown in the middle of the roads

and are reclaiming
the whole town.

The flowers are gone.

The Soviet apartments
are crumbling.

The 1st of May parades' posters

still decorate the buildings.

The amusement park with the
bumper cars were never used.

And the Ferris wheel
that never turned

has become an iconic
symbol of the disaster.

In the areas just outside
the exclusion zone,

people are beginning
to resettle.

The deadly disaster of
Chernobyl and the ghost town

had left behind
fascinated many people.

Surprisingly, it even
became a tourism hotspot.

In 2011, Ukraine opened
up the area to tourists.

The town gives us a glimpse

of what a real post-apocalyptic
world looks like.

Deserted towns,
abandoned buildings,

overgrown streets, high
grass, rusty vehicles.

Everything crumbling, breaking,

and among these, wild animals.

It attracts numerous tourists

who are interested
in its history,

in its danger, and in immersing
themselves in the past.

In fact,

the exclusion zone was
ranked the most exotic place

for tourism in the
world by Forbes in 2009.

The zone is visited by
more than 70,000 people

from all around the
world every year.

This place of tragedy
became a legend.

It is popular among
photographers and authors.

It is also featured in
movies and video games.

Even the illegal visitors

began to sneak into
the no-go zone.

Hunters and explorers

who were looking for
an adrenaline rush

or hoping to find scary
scenes and objects

still enter the sites that
are strictly prohibited.

It is said that
the town will fall

completely into ruin on its
own in the next 20 years.

The city that was
once so full of life,

only left eerie memories.

The city that once
represented hope and triumph

represents today,
destruction and defeat.

Pripyat was removed from the
maps. It became a dead city.

However today,

it seems that nature has started
to come back to life again.

[lively upbeat music]

The impact on the surrounding
forest and wildlife

also remains an area
of active research.

In the immediate
aftermath of the accident,

an area became known
as the 'red forest'.

The high levels of radiation

colored the pine
trees reddish brown

after absorbing such deadly
high levels of radiation.

It had to be cut down.

The area's still believed to
be the most contaminated land

on the planet.

Land that will take
thousands of years

to become healthy again.

Today, the exclusion
zone is eerily quiet.

But it also appears
full of life.

Mother nature began
to reclaim this place.

The region is filled with a
variety of wildlife and forest

that have thrived and creeped in

without interference
from humans.

Other wild creatures

that the people were so
determined to keep out

started reappearing.

Brown bears were seen
for the first time

after being absent
for over a century.

Wolves, deers, lynx,
beavers, boars, and elks

have been seen to run free
in the dense woodlands

that now surround the
silent power plant.

The man-made disaster
that ruined this place

turned it into a unique
sanctuary for wildlife.

But despite the
dense vegetation,

and even though this could
appear as pristine wilderness,

it is not.

It is still a contaminated
deserted wasteland.

The area has recovered
to some extent,

but is far from
returning to normal.

The animals are
still radioactive.

Yet due to the exclusion
of human activity,

there are a lot
more of them now,

and they are ruling the place.

This is the bittersweet
paradox of this place.

Three decades later,

it is not certain how
radiation still is and will be

affecting wildlife
in the years to come.

But it seems that
nature can triumph;

even when man has done
its best to destroy it.

The Chernobyl power
plant continued operating

after the accident.

More than 10,000
people work there

and appropriate conditions
had to be provided

somewhere near the reactors.

It took the government
about a month to decide

what to do with the
damaged reactor.

On May 20th, 1986,

they finally decided to
conduct a unique project.

It was going to be
hidden and sealed.

An enormous reinforced
concrete and metal structure

was built around the
damaged Unit Four.

The sarcophagus intended
to act as a shield

to contain the radiation.

The giant structures'
construction took seven months.

This was an enormous challenge

where humans could work for
only a few minutes at a time

without receiving a
fatal dose of radiation.

In 1988,

Soviet scientist revealed

that it had only been designed
to last for 20 to 30 years.

The Chernobyl power plant

finally shut down
completely in 2000.

However, the sarcophagus
condition was deteriorating.

It began crumbling down

and at a high probability
of collapsing.

The magma at the reactors
core was still a threat.

The government had to come
up with a replacement.

What remains of the
reactor is now inside

a massive 32,000 ton steel
containment structure

deployed in 2016.

The new safe confinement
began being built in 2010

to cover the first sarcophagus.

At that point it became the
largest land-based object

ever moved by humans,
costing $2.3 billion.

The area is safer, but
still highly radioactive

and will likely remain as
such for up to 20,000 years.

Both Chernobyl and Fukushima

were level seven
nuclear accidents,

but the health
consequences in Japan

were much less severe.

In part,

because there was far more
radiation released at Chernobyl.

And because the
Soviet plant's reactor

was not surrounded by
any containment structure

so radiation escaped freely.

The disaster sparked criticism
of the Soviet government.

It also fueled a global
anti-nuclear movement.

Countries combined their efforts

to fight against such
deadly consequences.

Yet today,

the disaster and its lessons
seem to be fading from memory

but it is still a global
problem and it isn't over yet.

11 RBMK nuclear reactors

are still in use
in the world today.

All of them in Russia.

Although they were all
modified for safety,

experts are still
researching ways

to prevent further
nuclear disasters.

On contrary to public belief,

nuclear energy is
still considered

the safest energy source in
comparison to other fossil fuels

like coal, which is by
far the most dangerous.

But it doesn't come
without a risk.

Renewable energies are still
not talked about enough

in Ukraine.

Chernobyl also led to
an economic fallout.

It has been estimated to cost

around $235 billion in damages.

The politicians were unprepared

and unable to effectively
handle the aftermath.

It undermined faith
in the whole system.

Gorbachev himself
claimed that the accident

was perhaps the real cause
of the Soviet Union collapse.

Chernobyl revealed
the potential dangers

and the true devastating
nature of nuclear energy.

Chernobyl is a lesson
for the present.

It warns us about the challenges
and high consequence risks

of our ever evolving
modern society.

As technology keeps progressing,

it is important that we
assess and manage the risks

that are big in
scale and complexity.

We need to be able to
anticipate a global catastrophe.

Chernobyl was one of the worst

manmade and terrifying
disasters in history.

Tens of thousands
of lives were ruined

and too many people lost
loved ones because of it.

But Chernobyl taught
us more importantly

about the cost of lies

by highlighting the
flaws of the system

that revealed how they
can lead to disaster.

And how the way we
tell information

about what really
happened, can cause harm.

If anything has been learned,

it is that response
to such a disaster

needs to be based on clear
facts, on science, and not fear.

Being transparent in today's
society is a necessity

because the truth
may be elusive,

but consequences
certainly won't.

We're all part of
the same planet.

And when a world
disaster happens,

it's countries and
their populations

deserve to know
what is happening

in order to avoid what
happened at Chernobyl.

Proper knowledge, protocol
and equipment is necessary.

It is also a great reminder

that we must steer future
generations from any risk

of another nuclear apocalypse.

The past cannot be undone,
but we can learn from it.

Chernobyl is a grave reminder

of the power of nuclear
energy in the wrong hands

and the consequences of lies.

[dramatic music]