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In the early hours of 26 April 1986, reactor No. 4 of the Chernobyl (Chornobyl) nuclear power plant exploded, about three kilometres from the town of Pripyat (Prypiat). The Short follows Natalia, a fictional hairdresser, and her daughter through the day and a half before the town was evacuated. This is the history behind it.
An explosion destroyed reactor No. 4 of the Chernobyl plant, about three kilometres from Pripyat. It was the middle of the night.12
Reactor No. 4 exploded at 1:23 this morning. Nobody has told the town.
26 April · Saturday
An ordinary spring day
Residents were not told. It was a warm Saturday: children went to school, couples got married, and people were out in the streets.235
NATALIA
Sunshine in April! The whole town is outside today.
26 April · daytime
Washing the streets
Street sweepers washed the roads with foam while officials quietly measured radiation.2 By the evening, levels were rising and an evacuation was being prepared.1
OKSANA
Mama, why are they washing the streets with foam?
27 April · about 1:10 pm
The announcement
A radio announcement told residents to prepare to leave. Buses began loading from about 2 pm.45
PRIPYAT27 APR 1986 14:00
27 April · afternoon
Three days
Residents were told to pack for about three days. More than 1,000 buses carried roughly 50,000 people out; sources give 43,000 to 51,000.4
NATALIA
Three days, they said. Take your coat. Hurry.
Since 1986
An empty city
No one has lived in Pripyat since. A few people later returned to villages elsewhere in the zone, but not to the city.9
The toll
Still disputed
The official early death toll is 31. Long-term estimates range from under 100 (UNSCEAR) to around 9,000 (a WHO projection) and higher, and remain disputed.8
Pripyat's new Ferris wheel was due to open on 1 May 1986.
It still stands, rusting, in an empty city.
Natalia is fictional. The Ferris wheel is real.
Every line, checked
Each line from the Short that makes a historical claim, beside what the record says.
On screen · opening
Reactor No. 4 exploded at 1:23 this morning. Nobody has told the town.
The record
The plant's own record and later accounts put the explosion at about 1:23 am; one source says about 1:25.12 Pripyat's residents were not told that day.23
High
On screen · life
NATALIA
Sunshine in April! The whole town is outside today.
The record
26 April 1986 was a warm, ordinary Saturday in Pripyat.25
High
On screen · life
OKSANA
Mama! Can we ride the new Ferris wheel on May Day?
The record
The amusement park's new Ferris wheel was due to open on 1 May 1986, for May Day.67
High
On screen · the omen
OKSANA
Mama, why are they washing the streets with foam?
The record
One detailed account describes street sweepers washing the roads with foam; other accounts mention water.2 Either way, the streets were being washed.
Medium
On screen · shrug-off
NATALIA
Something at the plant. They'd tell us if it was serious.
The record
The plant monitored radiation from the morning of 26 April, and by the evening levels had risen and an evacuation was being prepared.1 Residents were told the next day.4
High
On screen · the event
PRIPYAT27 APR 1986 14:00
The record
A radio announcement went out at about 1:10 pm on 27 April, and buses began loading from about 2 pm.45
High
On screen · chaos
That afternoon, about 50,000 people left on more than 1,000 buses.
The record
Sources give 1,100 to 1,400 buses and 43,000 to 51,000 people.4
High
On screen · aftermath
They were told: three days. No one has lived in Pripyat since.
The record
Residents were told to pack for about three days.45 The city has been uninhabited since.9
High
On screen · fact card
It still stands, rusting, in an empty city.
The record
The wheel still stands in Pripyat's abandoned amusement park.67
High
Open question
Open question
Did the Ferris wheel ever turn?
Most sources say the wheel never carried a single passenger. Some say it ran for a few hours on 27 April, the day of the evacuation.67
Either way, it was built for May Day, and it is still standing. The Short only claims what everyone agrees on.
Contested
Think about it
Officials measured rising radiation for more than a day before the town was told. What might explain the delay, and what were the risks of waiting?
Residents were told to pack for about three days. Why might officials have said that, and how would it change what people took with them?
Sources give different numbers for people, buses and deaths. How should a historian handle numbers that disagree?
Many people who lived in Pripyat are alive today. How should a story about a recent event be told differently from one about Pompeii?
Glossary
Reactor
The part of a nuclear power plant where a controlled chain reaction makes heat to generate electricity.
Radiation
Energy given off by unstable atoms. In high doses it damages living tissue.
Evacuation
Moving people out of a dangerous area.
Exclusion zone
The restricted area around the Chernobyl plant that people were moved out of.
Pripyat / Prypiat
The Russian-based and Ukrainian spellings of the same town. Chernobyl and Chornobyl work the same way.
May Day
1 May, International Workers' Day, a major holiday in the Soviet Union.
Natalia
Oksana
OKSANA
PRIPYAT27 APR 1986 14:00
NATALIA
