BBC - Days that Shook the World Series 1 (2003) Part 9 First Nuclear Reaction and Chernobyl

Through dramatic reconstructions, eye-witness accounts and archive footage, each episode in the “Days That Shook the World” TV series pieces together the thrilling stories of the landmarks of our time; the moments in history - human tragedies, scientific breakthroughs and calamitous events that have profoundly affected the way the world thinks and acts. Days that Shook the World examines some of the most important days in history, creating a detailed and forensic analysis of 24 hours that changed the world. It covers some of the biggest themes in World history - from the history of flight, to the rise and fall of Communism. This fresh and unusual BBC production explores mankind's defining moments. A gripping anatomy of some of the most important days in history, hour by hour as they unfolded. Incisive, fascinating & dramatic, the complete series builds a compelling picture of the seismic moments in world history. From ancient Egypt to the Berlin Wall, these episodes look at events that had a lasting impact on human history, from technological breakthroughs to political tragedies. Finding new angles and putting events into historical context, the series spans centuries and continents with one common thread On each of these days, the lives of millions were changed forever. Incredible breakthroughs, acts of shocking brutality, and stories of hope form the themes of these compelling programs. This collection presents the pilot episode and complete first season of the series, including the episodes “The Wright Brothers' First Flight and the Moon Landing,” “The Assassination of Martin Luther King and the Release of Nelson Mandela,” and “Hiroshima.” All are examined through dramatic reconstruction, eye-witness accounts and archive footage, bringing them alive for young and old to relive or to discover for the first time.

Part 9 First Nuclear Reaction and Chernobyl

Two days reflected the terrifying power of the atom - the first controlled nuclear chain reaction heralded the atomic age, but Chernobyl's runaway chain reaction was the final warning. This episode explores the launch of the atomic age and how it was originally foreseen as clean, cheap and efficient power in the 1940s and 50s. No one had even considered the possibility of an accidental nuclear disaster. How did one of the most exciting scientific breakthroughs ever lead to the disaster that the world had dreaded? Chain Reaction. On 2 December 1942 a squash court at the University of Chicago is the unlikely venue for the triggering of the first nuclear chain reaction. Chernobyl. In the Ukrainian town of Prypiat, 25 April 1986 seems just an ordinary day– until the world's worst nuclear accident occurs at nearby Chernobyl. A dramatic reconstruction of the events when the Chernobyl nuclear power station became the site of the world's worst ever nuclear accident.

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Episode One Shown Here