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Probably overblown. The show was good, but some parts were technically scientifically inaccurate. The claims about megaton explosion certainly were.
by effie 7y ago
Probably overblown. The show was good, but some parts were technically scientifically inaccurate. The claims about megaton explosion certainly were.
- pfdietz 7y agoWhat precisely was said there? Perhaps they meant the fallout would be similar to that of a megaton range explosion? The long-lived fission products in a large NPP near the end of a fuel load are about the same as those from a 100MT nuclear bomb.
- effie 7y agoI don't have the HBO scene at hand, but I found this documentary on youtube which the scene was probably based on. Physicist Nesterenko says the experts concluded there was a possibility that the corium explosion due to contact with water tank could have magnitude of 3-5 megaton and that Minsk would be erased [1]. Now obviously the nuclear explosion of the corium is not entirely impossible, there are known mechanisms which could set it up. But even if it happened, it would not erase Minsk, that is not believable, because Minsk is too far away. So that puts the main claim into question. How probable such corium explosion is is not clear, some things about nuclear bombs which those experts knew are probably still classified, but internet pundits say not very likely. [1] https://youtu.be/ZKV1piLjoa0?t=58 https://youtu.be/ZKV1piLjoa0?t=58