Chernobyl Disaster

The greatest nuclear disaster to ever unfold took place on April 26th 1986. I was too little to remember the event, and for all I know the Soviet Union did a good job of keeping it a secret from the rest of the world, so maybe westerners didn't know about it until some time after. The small city of Chernobyl became famous to the world once news was released that a nuclear power plant had melted down and the whole city was to be evacuated. Some families were told they could return soon after, but as time went on it was clear that no one would inhabit this city anytime soon. I visited Chernobyl about 25 years after the disaster when radiation levels are still high and present, but low enough that your signature on a waiver and hiring a Ukrainian guide is all that it takes to visit.

Chernobyl Links
	The Chernobyl disaster area is surrounded by three zones, each requiring a check point to enter. The sign above is from the very first zone which prevents people from accidently entering the area. It's within this outer zone where the city of Chernobyl is actually located. On the right is an abandoned building in Chernobyl, one of many in the city.

	The wildlife and forests around Chernobyl actually look normal. If you were just dropped off here you'd have no reason to suspect anything was wrong. Eventually though, you would come across some of the signs below, which are staged along the road warning people not to go into the grass. Right after the disaster happened, lots of wildlife and vegetation were destroyed by the powerful radiation, but over the past few decades the area has recovered.


Above are two portions of the waiver I had to sign in order to enter Chernobyl. The waiver basically tells you that you will be exposed to internal and external radiation and have no right to make claims against Ukraine in case you or your personal belongings deteriorate or die.

Within the outer zone, some people have actually returned here to live again. After I was told we had entered Chernobyl I was surprised to see some civilians walking around. These buildings above are probably inhabited while most structures aren't used. Government workers are allowed within zone two even, but you're only allowed to work there 14 days a month. Most are on construction projects related to the damaged factory. A new dome is supposed to be built over the failed reactor which will isolate the radiation for 10,000 years.

These guys are permanent residents of Chernobyl, the cat on the left was with another friend, and the bird had reclaimed the remains of a warehouse like building. I also saw many giant beetles here, but didn't get any shots worth posting.

Above is a photo of a geiger meter used to detect radiation. At 0.65 microsivets, the radiation is much higher than normal but no where near being significantly dangerous. The map on the right shows the where the radiation was most present immediately after the nuclear meltdown. The dotted line is actually the border between Ukraine and Belarus. With winds heading north, what is now Belarus actually suffered most of the effects of radiation and had indirect deaths and side effects in the thousands.

Also located in Chernobyl is a memorial to those who fought to try to control the disaster and later help civilians evacuate when the order was finally given.

While Chernobyl gets the name for the disaster since it is the main population center, the nuclear power plant is actually not in Chernobyl, but farther north in a small town called Pripyat. This town's economy was from the nuclear power plant, and when the nuclear plant was destroyed Pripyat was taken with it. This town is located in zone one, where no people are allowed to live.

Above are some photos of the nuclear complex, with a large facility on the left and cooling reactor #5 on the right.

Above is another memorial to the disaster, located directly outside of reactor #4, which was the cause of the meltdown. The geiger meter I'm holding is reading 4.34 microsivets, much higher than the previous reading of 0.65. I was not allowed to get any closer to the plant than this, but I was told the radiation levels increase dramatically each step you take. Below is a clearer photo of reactor #4 and its power grid on the right.


And by the way, these photos above are from the river that you might have seen going past the nuclear compound structures. You can see the water looks pretty damn nasty, but there are some giant catfish in here! This thing was several feet in length, I call him the Kraken of Chernobyl.

Some of the first abandoned buildings I saw in Pripyat. I didn't go inside either of these buildings, but I think they may have been office buildings.

I was allowed to climb to the top of the highest building of Chernobyl and get a view of the town. The surrounding Soviet block style apartments are being overtaken by the trees and plants below. It would be interesting to see what this place looks like in another 50 years if they continue to leave things as they are.

Most things in the street are still standing such as street signs. The one on the upper left is completely rusted over after 25 years of exposure, the lamp post on the right is slowly working its way to the ground.
One of the most famous areas of Pripyat is the remains of the amusement park. It's hard to imagine these bumper cars in use and the Ferris wheel spinning back in the early 1980s full of kids. I wonder how much longer the Ferris wheel will hold until it finally comes tumbling down. I wouldn't expect this to be any time soon, but maybe in another 10 years it will no longer be standing.

Since the evacuation order was given without any pre warning, residents who left in a hurry have lots of their personal items remaining behind. This makes Pripyat an interesting visit, since it's like someone hit the pause button on a Soviet town. Above are some Soviet leaders and some type of icon for the country, below were books I found in someone's apartment.


	Above is the remains of a broken chair and what I think was a bulletin board that was once in an indoor stadium. All the papers on the bulletin board were related to soccer.

	The green radioactive doll that is throwing up on the left was definitely brought here by someone. I'm not sure why anyone would bring this and leave it here, but because of its condition and that no one would make something like this prior to the accident it's obvious it's not from 1986 or earlier. The book on the right though, has some dates from the early 1980s, some of these were before I was even born.
This swimming pool here was another interesting place to visit. I'm not sure the quality of everything here back in the 1980s, but being that a relatively small city has their own huge swimming pool and amusement park it looks like life wasn't that bad here. Below are two random photos from another decaying building. Some areas are being retaken by small plants, but most are just made up of fallen bricks, broken glass, and random belongings thrown around the floor.


These next photos are from the abandoned school of Chernobyl. The school was pretty large and had several floors. The condition of it was no better than the rest of Pripyat, and while inside it reminded me of Silent Hill. Above seems to be a small class room on the left with the stairwells on the right. Below is a larger classroom and one of the destroyed hallways on the right.


I found a room with a box full of old used gas mask and canisters. This was also where I found the strange green doll. I felt fortunate to find the box of used gas masks, but later on another floor I found an entire room filled with them. I have no idea why there were so many and why they were even abandoned. I can understand throwing out the canister filters since they need to be changed routinely, but that doesn't explain why people abandoned their gas masks on the floor unless they were a one time use.

These surrounding four photos were from random places as well. The mural on the upper left survived pretty well since the 80s, I would expect it to be faded out even though it was inside. The next three photos are of random abandoned hallways, rooms and another staircase. The light at the bottom of the staircase was sunlight because of an open door below.


	Above is the final memorial located right at the nuclear reactor #4 dedicated to the workers who lost their life immediately after the accident. Many of them were killed in the explosion and melt down, and some from exposure why they frantically tried to get the plant under control. The device on the right is used to check radiation levels, and in order to leave Chernobyl I had to step through it. I was told if I didn't pass I would not be allowed to leave and would have to finish building the dome on reactor #4. After the dome is built I have no idea if Ukraine has any intentions to reuse Pripyat again or encourage people to move back to Chernobyl. Until then, birds and bugs like these below are the only permanent residents of Pripyat.

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Chernobyl Travel

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