30th of April, 1986, was a cloudless, sunny day in southern Poland. I was 13 years old, and went to school as everyday. Just before noon teachers started running, closing all doors and windows, and telling us to stay inside, that the air is radioactive. One hour later we were given Lugol's iodine (still remember its awful taste). There was discussion if we can safely go home. No one knew any details. Composition of beautiful weather and gloomy atmosphere was unreal. Years later, I know what was happening in the background. In morning hours of April 28th one of the stations of Polish Central Laboratory for Radiation Protection (CLRP) in northeast Poland measured radiation exceeding normal level half million times.Two hours later they knew it was reactor explosion, somewhere. Government crisis meeting took all 28th/29th night. Polish prime minister called his Russian counterpart, only to hear he "knows nothing" about any nuclear accident. By 3am "Polish Legasov", prof. Zbigniew Jaworowski from CLRP was called to join the meeting, and he achieved impossible - convinced Polish communists that the worst should be expected. They decided to give iodine to all children and suspend production of milk and vegetables countrywide, starting from the next day (east part of the country first).
Chernobyl - I've never written movie review. I've never seen such an accurate depiction of how communist country operates. How it looks. I was literally time-traveled over 30 years back. Incredible. 100/10. You know what is most chilling (for me)? 33 years ago communist Polish government, by some miracle, managed to react in relatively short time. Today - it's impossible. There are no iodine stockpiles. The network of Polish CLRP's 140 measuring stations was dismantled. What about other countries? I don't know, but...
Last remark - my grandmother died in early 1987. Rapidly developing thyroid cancer. What exactly caused it? I guess I'll never know.
Review of Chernobyl
