Zero Hour

At precisely 01:23:48 on a spring morning of April 26th 1986, the world changed forever. In Pripyat, Ukraine in the Soviet Union the largest nuclear reactor of its kind exploded at the Chernobyl Power Station. Disaster at Chernobyl uses previously undisclosed facts and eyewitness reports to reconstruct the events of the last fateful hour. It creates the most accurate and thrilling account ever produced of this world-shattering event. Shot on location inside Reactor Number 3 at the remains of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station, separated by only a few feet of concrete from deadly Reactor #4, it uncovers key secrets lying at the heart of the tragedy. Deputy Chief Engineer Anatoli Dyatlov, the man in charge that night, was driven by a private grief to impose his will on the immense nuclear reactor. Dyatlov’s human failings are more than matched by the reactor itself – there is a secret, unknown fatal flaw in its original design. In this episode of ZERO HOUR, viewers witness the 60-minute countdown to the fatal clash of these two, unstable forces – one human, the other machine. It is a confrontation that will destroy thousands of lives and help cause the downfall of the Soviet empire.