If I hadn't seen last week's first episode of Chernobyl, and had fallen asleep before the beginning of the second episode on HBO last night, and had woken up a few minutes into the episode, I'd have thought that I was watching a horror movie, or maybe a new apocalyptic series on AMC.
The second episode had all of the trimmings. Almost all the powers-that-be misunderstanding and downplaying the grave threat. A scientist or two, here and there, getting what was happening, urgently trying to alert everyone around them to the danger, being largely ignored. And when they're finally listened to, at least some of the vulnerable populace is evacuated, but not everyone, including a dog running in vain after a departing bus. And with a far worse, more monstrous catastrophe about to happen, three brave souls stepping up.
Except all of this really happened. And it could happen again, since understanding one accident can never preclude another happening, for slightly different reasons. I'm usually a champion of technology. But I turned against nuclear power after Three Mile Island in 1979 near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. That was a partial meltdown. And I wasn't surprised when the far worse accident happened at Chernobyl in 1986.
This mini-series is a stark reminder that we have take nature and our technologies which seek to harness it very seriously. Because the truth is there is no complete harnessing of the natural world - not of atoms, not of genes, not of bacteria, not of you name it. The best we can be is, yes, bold with technology in trying to improve out lot, but always wary of its unforeseen consequences.
See also: Chernobyl 1.1: The Errors of Arrogance
