From Devastation to Tourist Hotspot, Chernobyl and Prypiat
There are few in the world that haven’t heard of the Chernobyl Disaster of 1986. The catastrophic event that occurred on April 26th will be forever remembered in history, and the many alive today that experienced the tragedy first hand will never forget. For years, even decades, after the tragedy the region was closed off to all that wanted to visit. While many would travel there illegally, be it for illegal reasons or for mere curiosity, most were held back by the exclusion zone.
Today, however, things are very different. The nuclear waste around reactor 4 has been removed, a sarcophagus has been placed around the worst areas of the reactor, the radiation levels have fallen considerably throughout the region, and travelers have begun coming in droves. The radiation map to the left gives you a sense for what the area looked like 10 years after the catastrophe. You can see that the majority of the fallout went north into Belarus, saving Ukraine’s capital Kiev from almost certain abandonment. The last 15 years have seen a massive international effort to clean up the region and ensure that no further environmental damage would occur.
Now that much of the region has been cleaned, there are numerous tours to the area that mostly launch from Ukraine’s capital, Kiev. The tours start at around $150, and there are numerous vendors. While visiting the actual Nuclear Plant is out of the question (at least legally), visiting Prypiat is perfectly acceptable. The city is a ghost town and will stay that way until the end of time. While visiting is permitted for an hour or two, anyone staying here for a prolonged period of time has a substantially increased risk of cancer. So, while hiking is permitted, camping is probably a bad idea. Just as a reference for how radiation may affect you, I highly recommend XKCD’s Radiation Dose Chart, it is incredibly informative and gives a great sense of what you can expect from traveling to a place like Chernobyl or Prypiat.
This week we will be discussing the Chernobyl/Prypiat region in greater detail. Each day will have a few facts about the region, highlight some points of interest, and of course we will provide numerous photos from previous travelers. Today we will give an overview for the region, how to get in and what to expect when you get there. The obvious first step you need to take before visiting the region is to make sure you have all the correct permits. While locals may find it entertaining to sneak into the exclusion zone, it isn’t recommended that tourists attempt this. Most tourist agencies can help attain all the necessary paperwork.
Once your papers are in order, you will likely get shuttled there on a bus. Once you arrive at the exclusion zone border, all papers will be checked and you will be allowed to enter. This is only the outer most check which allows access into the exclusion zone, further checks will be made the deeper you wish to go.
This is the entrance to 30 km restricted zone around Chernobyl nuclear plant. So long as your documents are in order, entrance is easy
Leaving is a bit more involved. All visitors are scanned before leaving the zone to ensure no significant contamination leaves Chernobyl. It is unclear what will happen to those who exceed the norms, but it is impossible to exceed them without a prolonged stay in the region.
Just inside the zone is a grand moment to the firefighters who helped quench the heated reactor.
On October 2nd, 1986, a second tragedy befell Chernobyl. A helicopter carrying 4 people crashed after its blades were caught on some wiring. All passengers died. This plaque rests by the helicopter pad just inside the exclusion zone.
These signs are common throughout the exclusion zone, remembering all those who were evacuated. They detail how many people were evacuated from an area, when they left and where they went. This sign states that 1114 inhabitants lived in Kopachi village, they were evacuated on 3 May 1986 and sent to the town of Barsishivski in Kiev’s region.
Just outside of Prypiat’s entrance, we can see that the radiation levels are already quite high.
Before entering Prypiat, all visitors must go through another checkpoint. This post is lightly guarded and all you need to do is show your paperwork. This added redundancy seems overkill, especially since it is very easy to go around.
Entering Prypiat, visitors are greeted with shear devastation. The city hasn’t been maintained in 25 years, and all the while it was subject to looters. Since the city was evacuated in great haste, people weren’t even allowed to go back home for their belongings. Immediately after the tragedy, and ever since, those who were aware of this fact tried to turn the tragedy into a profit. Valuables were quickly stolen, which led looters to search for scrap metal. It was some time before neighboring countries caught on, but much damage was done. Now, tourists come from all over the world and while they are encouraged not to bring anything with them, they often do. It isn’t very dangerous to bring items back with you, but this may cause problems when crossing international borders. It is recommended that visitors look, but don’t touch, and under no circumstance should anyone pocket anything they see, no matter how beautiful or how valuable.
Welcome to Prypiat
The radiation levels are much lower once you enter Prypiat. While they are substantially higher than non polluted areas, the levels are low enough where no danger is posed. For reference, you will receive 3 μSv in an hour at Prypiat, while a simple dental x-ray will give you 5 μSvin a specific area. A chest x-ray gives out 10 μSv, and a mamogram a whopping 400 μSv.
The Culture House
The reactor can be seen in the distance
View on the 4th block of the Chernobyl Nuclear plant from the Pripyat – ghost town, left 25 years ago after catastrophe on Chernobyl Nuclear plant 26 April 1986.
Another view of the reactor
The culture house in all its glory
The graffiti around town is quite depressing. Many are in the form of a shadowy art, remembering the shadowy past. Many, such at this, also have disturbing phrases along side them.
Prypiat’s amusement park is a bitter reminder of the town’s happy past. Tens of thousands of children played here, and likely thousands were given a lethal dose of radiation here.
Walking inside many of the building of Prypiat will likely give you the chills. A true ghost town, the disheveled interiors of the buildings will likely frighten even the manliest of men.
True horror will strike when you see the remnants of the schools. Notebooks are still open on children’s desks as they didn’t even have time to close them while they were being rushed out of the town. Imagine the fear running through the kids as they were scooped up out of class almost 5 days after the catastrophe, only having been shoved into buses and shipped off to some unknown city.
This board hasn’t been erased for 25 years. It contains various physics equations and notes. However, in the lower right hand corner an addition was recently made: “09.05.2008 – Here studied Tatiana Vladimirovna. Our first loss was very hard. We remember her.”
While visiting the Chernobyl Power Plant isn’t likely, the most direct route to Pripyat is to take a road that goes beside the plant. Hence, it is likely that you will be able to see the plant out of the window of the bus you take there, and it is also likely that you will be able to stop nearby to snap a few better shots. Here is what you are likely to see if you book the right tour. One thing you will notice right away, the plant is still operating. When you think about it, it makes perfect sense. You can’t just stop a nuclear reaction. Hence, the plant still has a small staff who work at the plant to make sure another meltdown doesn’t occur. It is also said that much of Ukraine still feeds from Chernobyl, although I can’t find any reputable sources to validate this claim.
At the plant, the radiation levels are quite high.
Looking at specific places, here are how things have changed since the plants initial christening. In short, not a whole lot.
All photos in this post are taken from two sources. The first photographer goes simply by Vadim. He often writes for Russia’s Green Peace blog, but he also has his own. The original article where his images were taken from is here. The second photographer is widely known by his nickname, Holy Mozart, but is more formally Sergey Nagorniy. Sergey is an incredibly popular Russian photo blogger whose work is well worth looking over. His original articles can be found here and here.
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