Heavy Water A Film for Chernobyl

On April 26th 1986 reactor four at Chernobyl nuclear power station explodes sending an enormous radioactive cloud over Northern Ukraine and neighbouring Belarus The danger is kept a secret from the rest of the world and the nearby population who go about their business as usual May Day celebrations begin children play and the residents of Pripyat marvel at the spectacular fire raging at the reactor After three days an area the size of England becomes contaminated with radioactive dust creating a zone of poisoned land Based on Mario Petruccis awardwinning booklength poem split over two books Heavy Water a film for Chernobyl and the shorter version Half Life a Journey to Chernobyl tells the story of the people who dealt with the disaster at groundlevel the firefighters soldiers liquidators and their families