: The explosion was triggered during a low-power safety test. A surge caused by a design flaw in the RBMK reactor’s control rods (graphite tips) led to a massive steam explosion that blew the 1,000-ton lid off the reactor.
: Composed by Hildur Guðnadóttir , who used ambient sounds recorded at a decommissioned nuclear power plant.
The episode begins with a haunting prologue set two years after the disaster: "Chernobyl" 1:23:45(2019)
The premiere episode of the HBO/Sky miniseries "Chernobyl," titled "1:23:45," originally aired on May 6, 2019. The title refers to the exact moment on April 26, 1986 , when Reactor No. 4 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded in the Ukrainian SSR, marking the beginning of the world's worst man-made nuclear catastrophe . Plot Overview
: Inhabitants of Pripyat gather on a railway bridge to watch the "beautiful" blue beam of light emanating from the reactor, as radioactive "snow" falls on them, oblivious to the danger. : The explosion was triggered during a low-power safety test
: Deputy Chief Engineer Anatoly Dyatlov (Paul Ritter) refuses to believe the core has exploded, famously dismissing radiation readings of 3.6 roentgen/hour as "not great, not terrible," unaware the actual levels are thousands of times higher. Key Moments and Themes
: The narrative then shifts back to the night of the accident. Inside the Control Room of Unit 4, a safety test goes horribly wrong. The episode begins with a haunting prologue set
: Soviet chemist Valery Legasov (played by Jared Harris) records memoirs exposing the truth behind the disaster before taking his own life at exactly 1:23:45 AM, coinciding with the disaster's anniversary.