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In the HBO miniseries Chernobyl after the initial explosion we see a clear bright light shooting vertically up from the plant. I presume this was a thing that actually happened and not some creative license they took.

What was the cause of this light and what are the mechanisms by which it works?

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There are 2 sources:

  1. Ionized-air glow, caused by gamma radiation from the core (more bluish color). While gamma radiation is emitted in all directions, it is shielded on the sides , and escape to air directly only in the vertical direction.
  2. Just light scattering (like in regular projectors), where core is a bright light source (more reddish color - due to high temperature and fire). Light scattering is enhanced by dust in the air. Again, light can only escape upwards.

It seems to me that the effect was somewhat exaggerated in the movie. Not sure there is anything which could make light so well collimated. I would expect much less "focused" beam of light.

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