History ArtisticLicense / Chernobyl

** When the lead doctor, Angelina Guskova, found out Lyudmila was pregnant, she expressed disapproval but did not bar her from seeing Vasily altogether. Likewise several of the nursing staff warned her of the dangers but allowed her to stay on the ward with him for extended periods out sympathy for her.

* The idea that the radioactive lava could cause an explosion as large as the "2 to 4 megatons" described in the show is based on ''very'' flimsy evidence by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKV1piLjoa0 Vassili Nesterenko]] and not taken particularly seriously by the vast majority of nuclear physicists - a steam explosion that large could only occur if pretty much the entire remains of the reactor core fell into water at the same time. In reality what the Soviets were worried about was an explosion of ''any'' size that would cause the plant to release even more radioactive material than it already was, a very bad scenario but nowhere near as catastrophic as everything within a thirty kilometer radius of Chernobyl being leveled. The explosion would certainly have destroyed the plant and released more radiation to the point that it would make the initial incident look like someone turning on a microwave three miles away, but it would not have been akin to an actual nuclear device going off and destroying the city.

** Another thing in regards to the series was that during the moments where the plant was showing black smoke from the fire, those who witness the disaster say the smoke wasn't that heavily prevalent and died off a bit afterwards, with the smoke barely being noticeable. It can be debated that the series put in this element in order to add more fear than to something we couldn't see.

* An InUniverse example occurs at the trial when Legasov, during the description of the sequence of events, describes reactor [=#4=] as having been turned into a "nuclear bomb" due to the pileup of safety risks and oversight. The dramatic term is for the benefit of his audience, a mix of scientists and bureaucrats. In truth, however, it's physically impossible for a nuclear reactor to be turned into an ''actual'' nuclear bomb, because the type of uranium used as fuel is completely different from weapons-grade uranium. The first, smaller explosion was likely a ''steam explosion,'' caused when the water channels in the core failed and allowed the water to directly interact with the fuel, causing it to instantly superheat and expand, rupturing the core. His description of the second explosion is plausible, though in reality it isn't exactly known what caused it, due to the lack of data. Some scientists ''have'' theorized that the reactor might have ''briefly'' gone prompt critical, but the exposure of the core to oxygen (thankfully) made it explode before it could become a full-fledged nuclear bomb.

* Although the helicopter accident happened exactly as shown (it is a remake of video footage), it was in October instead of April. Furthermore, the series implies it was caused by radiation, but the actual crash was due to pilot error, not radiation: the pilot lost control in the air currents around the reactor and the rotor struck a crane.

** Even more, the CulturalTranslation merges with HistoricalVillainUpgrade with Bryukhanov, Fomin and Dyatlov, who are depicted failing to refuse to perform an unsafe test mainly due to greediness and [[AmbitionIsEvil desire to get promoted]], In real life, the reason they proceeded without objection was simply because someone higher up in the Party told them to. Again, in such a totalitarian country, if someone in a higher position demanded something, his subordinates would do it - period.

** Lyudmilla and her baby were never in any real danger by staying with Vasily. Those who suffer from Acute Radiation Syndrome are still injured, but they can't spread radiation to others. Once the person's clothes are removed and their bodies are washed, the main source of contamination is no more present. Some radioactive particles from the fire were inhaled by the first responders, but the amount of radioactivity these particles emitted from inside their bodies was still not enough to harm a nearby person or cause fetal malformations. The idea that her fetus "absorbed" the radiation and died, thus saving her life, is also nonsense. [[ScienceMarchesOn It is consistent with what some people thought at the time, though.]]

** There wasn't as much visible smoke in reality... and it was white-ish, not black. Any dark smoke that actually was produced would have been a result of the fires in the immediate aftermath of the explosion, which were largely extinguished within four hours. The change helps visualize the danger, but at the cost of not understanding why the characters keep thinking it's not as severe as it really is when huge plumes of black smoke are belching from the building.

** "Nuclear Tans", radiation burns resulting from direct exposure to fission material, are used to indicate characters suffering, often unknowingly, from early radiation sickness, even when the exposure was to material that would not directly damage the skin. A nurse who directs the hospital staff to remove the firefighters' outfits burns her palm in the time it takes her to carry the uniform to the basement. In reality, the risk from the uniforms was in inhaling the dust particles that had lodged on them, and they were not radioactive enough to cause burns in a short exposure (although the firefighters, having worn the uniforms soaked in water and dust all night, did develop skin-level beta burns. This was likely the least of their worries once ARS set in, however.)

* Radiation effects are sped up or otherwise exaggerated for story-telling purposes:

** Lyudmilla and her baby were never in any real danger by staying with Vasily. Those who suffer from Acute Radiation Syndrome are still injured, but they can't spread radiation to others. Once the person's clothes are removed and their bodies are washed, the main source of contamination is no more present. Some radioactive particles from the fire were inhaled by the first responders, but the amount of radioactivity these particles emitted from inside their bodies was still not enough to harm a nearby person or cause fetal malformations. But it is consistent with [[ScienceMarchesOn the knowledge and belief at the time period]].

* A lot of containment tasks that were undertaken by volunteers (examining the core, turning the valves, the miners) are depicted as being coerced at gunpoint. Mazin explained this as a case of CulturalTranslation. For example, the real Sitnikov didn't need a physical guard to drag him to the floor, because going there was as much of a non-choice for him, having been born and raised in a totalitarian state that didn't offer him a hope to turn down the order. A Western audience wouldn't understand this unless fed a script-derailing InfoDump, so he included the guard as a compromise. Of course, your mileage may vary.
** Similarly: Summary execution in the Soviet Union was rarely, if ever, practised after the 1930s and the Stalin era. Shcherbina would not have threatened to have anyone shot for disobedience. He might threaten that they would lose their job and good standing with the Party, but not even the GULAG system existed at that time. In general, Soviet workers just did what they were told because the Soviet propaganda system was powerful and the workers genuinely believed, largely uncoerced, that by following the instructions of their superiors they were helping to build communism.
** Even more, the CulturalTranslation merges with HistoricalVillainUpgrade with Bryukhanov, Fomin and Dyatlov are depicted failing to refuse to perform the test in unsafe conditions mainly due to their greediness and [[AmbitionIsEvil desire to get promoted]], while in real life, the reason they proceeded without objecting the request of delaying it was because that request was made by someone who had a higher position within the CPSU. Again, in that totalitarist country, if someone with a higher position demanded to someone with a lower position to do something, the latter would have done it, period. One of the things that kept URSS together until then was this idea that for everything to work as much as possible it was necessary that everyone did whatever those who represent the CPSU ordered to do without objection.

* Radiation effects are speeded or otherwise exaggerated for story-telling purposes:

* The divers only had one light that went out, instead of three, and had no backup wind-up flashlights. They accomplished their mission in total darkness, using a pipe to guide themselves to the pumps and then out of the basement. Presumably this was changed to avoid the need for HollywoodDarkness.

* The "[[DeadlyEuphemism Animal Control]]" task force was made of professional hunters rather than inexperienced draftees.

* The series epilogue states that Fomin went back to work on another nuclear plant after completing his sentence. In real life this is ''not true'' at worst and ''inconclusive'' at best. According to the available sources, he had a mental breakdown immediately following the incident and attempted to commit suicide. He then had yet another nervous breakdown following his sentencing and attempted suicide again. His unstable mental state resulted in him only serving one year in prison, after which he was instead transferred to a mental institution, where he was locked up for the next three years. Along with Dyatlov and Bryukhanov, the new Russian state granted him amnesty in 1991 after the fall of the Soviet Union, after which point he appears to have more or less disappeared from recorded history.

** Lyudmilla and her baby were never in any danger when staying with Vasily. Once the person's clothes are removed and their bodies washed, they're no longer contaminated. They're still hurt but they can't spread radiation to others. But it is consistent with [[ScienceMarchesOn the knowledge and belief at the time period]].
*** While the skin and clothing level contamination would have been removed, the firefighters were also inhaling radioactive particulates (and likely ingesting them as well). These particulates can linger in the body for months, and if they are emitting gamma radiation (which most fission byproducts do) the body itself is providing minimal shielding. While radiation sickness itself is not contagious, these men were absolutely still internally contaminated. The risk was lower than they thought, but still present.
** People in the final stages of Acute Radiation Syndrome in the series look nightmarish, like their skin is half dissolved. While ARS is in many ways a horrible way to die, it has nowhere near such a drastic effect on a person's outward appearance.

*** The latter is, according to the script, [[Victor Degtaryenko https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Individual_involvement_in_the_Chernobyl_disaster#Aleksandr_Yuvchenko]], who was in real life badly burned by steam coming from broken pipes in the destroyed section of the plant where Yuvchenko found and rescued him.

** The RealLife Lyudmila’s biggest specific objection to the series is the scene where Vasily is shown screaming and writhing in agony as the ARS starts to take hold, which she says never happened in reality.

Craig Mazin [[ShownTheirWork conducted extensive research]] into the Chernobyl disaster and has created one of its most authentic depictions in the ''Series/{{Chernobyl}}'' miniseries. Nevertheless, a number of licenses were taken, which he has addressed in the accompanying podcast.

* The fact that the addition of sand to the reactor helped form corium lava also meant the core melting through the base of the power plant never happened; as a lava it was sufficiently mobile to spread itself out as it flowed through pipes and corridors, losing enough heat in the process to not be a meltdown risk any more. As such, the liquid nitrogen heat exchanger installed under the plant to freeze the ground was never needed.

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%%[[caption-width-right:350:It may be Saturday morning, but there should be more people at the institute. Saturday was not a day off in the Soviet Union - In fact, Saturday WAS a day off in 1918-1940 and from 1967 onward, and the miniseries are set in 1986.]]

* Three men saw the exposed core (Perevozchenko, Kudryavtsev and Proskuryakov), but only Kudryavtsev and Proskuryakov do in the show. It is hard to justify this as a PragmaticAdaptation, because Perevozchenko is not AdaptedOut and still appears in the control room.

* When it came to writing the scenes involving Vasily and Lyudmilla Ignatenko, Craig Mazin drew extensively on the RealLife Lyudmilla’s account of the disaster as told in Svetlana Alexievich's book ''Literature/VoicesFromChernobyl''. Several months after the miniseries went to air, [[https://youtu.be/aRFkmFLl4zA Lyudmila gave an interview to the BBC]] in which she criticised the makers both for their inaccuracies, and not approaching her directly. [[note]] In the same interview, Lyudmilla also expressed disagreement with how Alexievich had represented her in ''Voices from Chernobyl'', which is significant given how big an influence that work was in making the miniseries .[[/note]]

** Also during that same conversation Legasov reveals that the flaw in the RBMK's AZ-5 emergency shutdown were discovered at a reactor in Leningrad in 1975, while certain flaws like the positive void coefficient and instability at low power were known ever since the first RBMK reactor came online, the AZ-5's "positive scram effect" was discovered a Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant in 1983 three years before the disaster.