Chernobyl and Fukushima: The Lesson

Oct 30, 2016

0h 59m

★ 0.0

Documentary, Nuclear Meltdown

Overview

Chernobyl 1986. A nuclear reactor exploded, spewing out massive quantities of radiation into the atmosphere. Within days, the pollution had spread across Europe. Living on land contaminated with radioactivity would be a life-changing ordeal for the people of Belarus, but also for the Sami reindeer herders of central Norway. It even affected the Gaels of the distant Hebrides. Five years ago there was a meltdown at the Fukushima reactor, and thousands of Japanese people found their homes, fields and farms irradiated, just as had happened in Europe. This international documentary, filmed in Belarus, Japan, the lands of Norway's Sami reindeer herders and in the Outer Hebrides, poses the question: what lessons have we learned?

Genres

Documentary

Production Companies

BBC

Chernobyl and Fukushima: The Lesson Trailers

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Cast

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What would happen if the world were suddenly without people - if humans vanished off the face of the earth? How would nature react - and how swiftly? On the edge of Europe, the deserted village of Chernobyl reveals the surprising answer after an unplanned experiment. Chernobyl was abandoned by people after the worst nuclear disaster in history (April 26, 1986). A level 7 meltdown resulted in a severe release of radioactivity following a massive explosion that destroyed the reactor. More than 20 years later, Chernobyl has been taken over by a remarkable collection of wildlife and descendents of pets that were left in the city when its residents fled the nuclear fallout. Unexpectedly in the aftermath of this disaster, Chernobyl has become a sanctuary for plants, birds, and animals, including some species thought to be on the brink of extinction.

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Pripyat: Ghost City Chronicles

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The word Chernobyl became known worldwide shortly after the 1986 blast. The small town Pripyat, situated just 3 km from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, up to this day serves to remind about the extent of the tragedy. Pripyat used to be a lively little town, both a powerful nuclear centre and a conveniently planned city with schools and urban apartments. It is now a dead, lifeless stretch of land littered with scraps of the past.

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Ljudmila Ignatenko tells the story of her and her husband Vasilij, a firefighter who was one of the victims of the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.

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No overview available.

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The Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 triggered a tsunami, nuclear meltdown and mass evacuations in Fukushima Prefecture. Today, as part of a Government push to encourage resettlement, local hunters have been enlisted to dispose of radiated Wild Boars that now roam the abandoned streets and buildings. This short film follows a lone hunter into an isolated and changed landscape. Along the way, other citizens who still live near the reactor share their perspectives on the aftermath. "The Toxic Pigs of Fukushima" was inspired by the photographs of co-producers Toru Hanai and Yuki Iwanami. The original score was written and performed by renowned ambient artist Midori Takada.

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Six months after the explosions at the Fukushima nuclear plant and the release of radiation there, Professor Jim Al-Khalili sets out to discover whether nuclear power is safe. He begins in Japan, where he meets some of the tens of thousands of people who have been evacuated from the exclusion zone. He travels to an abandoned village just outside the zone to witness a nuclear clean-up operation. Jim draws on the latest scientific findings from Japan and from the previous explosion at Chernobyl to understand how dangerous the release of radiation is likely to be and what that means for our trust in nuclear power.

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Three decades after the nuclear explosion, almost everything has been said about this ecological and sanitary disaster that made Pripiat a part of History. How did the greatest industrial disaster change the course of History, disrupt global geopolitics and, directly or indirectly, redistribute the balances and power relations of the twentieth century? The world will never be the same again. By retracing the incredible battle waged by the Soviet Union against radiation, this film proposes to retrace and enlighten an extraordinary story, while exploring the historical stakes in the medium and long-term…

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Mothers and doctors speak out about the grim reality of life in the five years following the Chernobyl disaster. In children, doctors witnessed a massive increase of recurrent infections, baldness, as well as leukaemia and other cancers.

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The Russian Woodpecker

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The Battle of Chernobyl

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0.0

Can We Live Here?

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Olmany, Terebejov, Gorodnaïa: Three villages in the Stolyn district, Belarus, 200 kilometers from Chernobyl. In this area, the radiation rate was considered too low to justify the systematic evacuation of the population. Sixteen years after the disaster, life continues in a seemingly unchanged landscape. These farming communities face an invisible threat on a daily basis.

0.0

Savagely, silence

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