Adam,
Regarding that new movie called "K19: The Widowmaker" and statements like "a Chernobyl-style nuclear meltdown...." or " threatened to turn the North Atlantic Ocean into a radioactive gumbo...." or "The film stresses that had a meltdown occurred, it would have triggered a Chernobyl-like explosion that could have led to a Cold War confrontation...."
I suppose its Hollywood's nature to manufacture mythology, but unfortunately the viewing public doesn't know that that's what it is and takes it at face value....
Many people who do know a bit about nuclear science & technology, think its a waste of time to try to correct such misconceptions. But how else is the public ever to achieve some meaningful level of informed opinion, on which it can base important decisions on all nuclear-related matters ?
For now I will only point out that the total radioactive fission product inventory in a submarine reactor is a tiny fraction of that which is present in a powerplant like Chernobyl. The fission product inventory is roughly proportional to its operating power and duration of operation. The thermal power output rating of Chernobyl-type reactors is about fifty times that of a submarine reactor, and the load-following feature of the submarine reactor means that it only operates at its full rated power a small fraction of time. This is particularly true of a sub like the K-19, the Soviet Union's first ballistic missile submarine -- these types of subs ("boomers"), in contrast to "hunter-killer" types, spend most of their time stationed at a particular ocean site, virtually undetectable, because their noisy engines & propellers are not running. Under these circumstances, the fission product inventory is likely to be hundreds of times less than Chernobyl. Plus of course there is no graphite to burn & spread the radioactivity in case of a meltdown, as at Chernobyl.
Please feel free to add other items to this list (and to send your comments to any forthcoming media film reviews....).
Thanks,
Jaro