Television Reviews : Measuring the Effects of the ’86 Chernobyl Disaster

Tick, tick, tick. Correspondent Bill Kurtis is worried by that ticking, as well he might be. It comes from a meter that measures the radioactivity as he and Harvard physicist Richard Wilson go “Back to Chernobyl” (tonight at 8 p.m. on Channels 28 and 15, 9 p.m. on Channel 50) to examine what has been learned from the biggest nuclear plant disaster so far. Don’t expect much reassurance.

As Kurtis and Wilson approach Chernobyl, riding on a bus through the bleak, snowy Ukrainian countryside, the newsman asks the scientist if they’re in any danger from the radioactivity behind those increasing ticks; Wilson says no--as long as the two of them don’t stay too long.

Arriving at the gutted plant, which has been entombed by tons of steel and concrete, the men are shown a huge, flat field that used to be a forest--all the trees were cut down and buried under concrete because they were highly contaminated.

The show then recaps what happened in the early hours of April 26, 1986, illustrated with Soviet footage, some of which has not been seen on American TV before. There’s also a technical explanation of what went wrong, a discussion of the poor planning and boneheaded human errors that led to the disaster, and speculation on long-term health effects.

Complacency, the documentary clearly shows, helped lead to the explosion. But Chernobyl did not end complacency. Many of the officials Kurtis questions don’t seem all that concerned, even Wilson--an attitude symbolized near the end of the show when he’s again asked about those ticks. Now, near the plant, the needle’s going right off the scale, but the physicist says don’t worry, your clothes and skin block most of the radiation from entering your body.

Nuclear black humor isn’t confined to fictional films like “Dr. Strangelove.”

Thoughtfully constructed and amazingly comprehensive for just an hour, “Back to Chernobyl” is well worth the trip.