In this ETV Classic, host Mark Quinn invites us to a special panel discussion where we learn more about aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster in a three-part documentary that was aired in 2011.
Twenty-five years before, the largest nuclear disaster in history took place behind the Soviet Iron Curtain. In partnership with USC, ETV and the crew of naturalists, scientists, and historians review and discuss the ongoing recovery of the lands around Chernobyl and the effects upon the people who live there. Archival footage and photography were used extensively throughout. Rudy Mancke viewed all of this as part of the scientific process, to view, document and revisit. The documentary gives the eye-opening reality of a terrible disaster and includes the following segments. In part two of the discussion, the team reflects on the impact, and in the third part, we observe the return of life to the area.
Side Notes
- Rudy Mancke (1945 – 2023) - South Carolina Hall of Fame. A look at the life and legacy of Rudy Mancke.
- Charles Bierbauer (1942 – 2025)-past president of the White House Correspondents' Association and longtime CNN Correspondent. Charles J. Bierbauer Obituary - University of South Carolina.
- Timothy Mosseau - Biological Sciences; Earth Ocean and Environment, McCausland College of Arts and Sciences.
- Gordon B. Smith - Distinguished Professor Emeritus Political Science.
- Eduardo B. Farfan is a professor of Nuclear Engineering in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, has been at Kennesaw State University since 2014. He was born in La Paz Bolivia and completed his undergraduate studies in Nuclear Physics at the Belorussian State University in Minsk, Belarus.
- Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to the country's dissolution in 1991.
- Radioecology - is the branch of ecology concerning the presence of radioactivity in Earth’s ecosystems. Investigations in radioecology include field sampling, experimental field and laboratory procedures, and the development of environmentally predictive simulation models in an attempt to understand the migration methods of radioactive material throughout the environment. The practice consists of techniques from the general sciences of physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology, and ecology, coupled with applications in radiation protection. Radioecological studies provide the necessary data for dose estimation and risk assessment regarding radioactive pollution and its effects on human and environmental health.
- View the entire Chernobyl Collection.
