[smacktoward]

I found this interview with the showrunner to be thought-provoking in that regard: https://slate.com/culture/2019/06/chernobyl-finale-hbo-minis...

> For a million reasons, this was not an anti-nuclear polemic. It’s anti­–Soviet government, and it is anti-lie, and it is pro–human being. But anyone who thinks the point of this is that nuclear power is bad, is just, they’ve just missed it.

[izzydata]

Thank you for that quote. I was going to try and write something along those lines, but that seems like a better summary. Anti-nuclear energy simply wasn't part of the narrative. It only seems like that because the events of Chernobyl really happened.

They pointed out a few times that the only reason the Chernobyl catastrophe happened was because of all the corners that were cut and the lies that were told. Other nations with Nuclear programs weren't likely to have the same problem because they were more open.

[smacktoward]

Mazin addresses this point in another good interview, this one with Vox: https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/6/4/18647339/chernobyl-fina...

> It’s the story of the Soviet Union, but the danger is you make the story about how the Soviets were a bunch of liars and it’s easy for America — and some Americans continue to do this, remarkably — to say, “See? Those Soviets ... they’re liars.” And it became clear to me that Soviets are just people, and we’re just people, and lying is not in the water over there. It’s something people do. And they do it here. The Soviet system is a warning: Don’t take it this far. Please, for the love of god, don’t take it this far.

[y_molodtsov]

Well, it’s not like there weren’t other nuclear disasters.

[izzydata]

That's true. I don't know what it would have taken to prevent the Fukushima disaster.

[kitten_smuggler]

I wouldn't say my take-away was that it was intended to be anti-nuclear, but with the need to move more towards nuclear now more than ever it felt poorly placed. That context makes sense though.

[cm2187]

In fact I must say that seeing how wreckless the operators had to be to make this reactor fail despite the fact that it was an early, soviet design with many design flaws, if anything, makes me believe more in the stability of these reactors if handled properly.