AllMovie

Nova travels to the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster in Nova: Back to Chernobyl. Affecting some areas as far away as Northern Europe, the Ukrainian event released an unprecedented amount of radiation into the atmosphere. Beyond the far-reaching nuclear fallout, the Soviet Union's failure to respond in a timely and honest manner created powerful global tension. The reactor explosion left an indelible stain on Mikhail Gorbachev's tenure. Bill Kurtis and physicist Richard Wilson return to Chernobyl to uncover the societal wounds caused by such a massive accident.