one of the worst disasters in human history
On 26 April 1986, a routine night-time inspection and serious breaches of safety regulations in reactor block 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant set in motion a chain of events that led to the explosion of this very reactor. In the worst nuclear disaster ever, huge quantities of radioactive material entered the atmosphere, which were then distributed by winds as far as Western Europe. Radioactive fallout contaminated especially areas north of Chernobyl.
As a result, surrounding villages such as the 50,000 inhabitant town of Pripyat had to be abandoned overnight. In November of the same year, a temporary protective shelter made of reinforced concrete was erected to contain the radiation, usually referred to as a "sarcophagus".
There has been controversy for years about the long-term health effects worldwide, especially those due to an increased effective dose compared to natural radiation exposure. The WHO suspects up to 4000 deaths, whereas official reports speak of less than 50 reported cases.
a life dream coming true
The next day it was finally time for my Chernobyl tour! Even if it sounds strange to be exicited to visit this place, it was a dream I had cherished for years. Not only since I played the incredibly atmospheric video game S.T.A.L.K.E.R. it started. Many documentaries about the reactor catastrophe and its effects brought me even closer to the topic. Also the excellent and melancholic book by Nobel Prize winner Svetlana Alexievich showed me how bad the catastrophe was, especially for the people who lived there. In Chernobyl you get a feeling what a society without people could look like.
entering the closed radioactive zone with security checks
For the daytrip from Kyiv I only paid a bit more than 80 €. A minibus took off from Maidan Square, the central main square of Kyiv. We made our first stop at the town sign of Chernobyl. Still today this place is inhabited by people who work in the zone, the radioactive contaminated area. They usually work here for 2 weeks and then recover for 2 weeks from the immense radiation dose to which they were exposed.
The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone and the Pripyat town are closed secured areas, enclosed by several rows of barbed wire, with patrols and checkpoints. Within the zone there are two checkpoints where the passports of all tour members are checked. In order to visit the zone you have to register about one week in advance.
signs and statues remembering of abandoned cities and heroic fire fighters
A collection of signs with names in Chernobyl reminds us of all the villages that had to be abandoned as a result of the reactor accident. Not far from there is a monument to the heroic firemen, some of whom knowingly sacrificed themselves to further contain the disaster. In the village there is also a coffee shop and a hotel where you can stay overnight (which would make the tour three times more expensive). In the local coffee we had lunch.
a kindergarten like in a horror movie
Afterwards our tour bus stopped at the kindergarten, which had to be abandoned very suddenly due to the catastrophe. That's why you can still find all the dusty and dirty toys, school books and other clothes there today. The beds are rusty and the walls and floors already have holes. It could well be the setting for a horror movie. However, I'm not sure to what extent these arrangements have been made creepier by human hands. Some of the puppets look so horrendous, as if they were set up to send more shivers down the spine of the disaster tourists.
Again and again our guide measured the radiation with her Geiger counter. You can also borrow one for a fee. I preferred to leave that to others. In particular, the soil of the entire area is extremely contaminated, because the water seeped into the soil and radioactively polluted it. Therefore you should not touch the soil and wash your shoes very well after the tour. I had picked out extra old shoes and trousers for the tour, which I threw away later. But in general the radiation exposure should not be dangerously high on this tour if you always stay with the group.
Getting close to the reactor
Afterwards we drove to the nuclear power plant. But you can't see the reactor itself anymore, only the chimney still sticks out. Shortly before, a huge sarcophagus was put over the old reactor so that as little radiation as possible can escape into the environment. The previous one already had cracks.
The new sarcophagus - a fantastic piece of engineering
The French team of engineers did a masterpiece of engineering here, because the high radiation made it impossible to build the sarcophagus directly over the reactor. Instead, the construction work took place a few hundred meters away. When the sarcophagus was completed, it was driven over the reactor with a rail system and then sealed absolutely airtight. It will now keep in the radiation safely for around 100 years.
I was amazed how far we could really get to the reactor. But the radiation meter here showed an amazingly lower radiation than in other areas. The guide joked that even at her university in Kyiv there was a higher radiation exposure than here.
The Red Forest - the most contaminated area
The tour took us close to the Red Forest, the most contaminated area in the entire zone. We only saw the sign, we were not actually allowed to enter, which could have had fatal consequences. The name "Red Forest" comes from the ginger-brown color of the pine trees after they died due to the high levels of radiation. The explosion and fire at the Chernobyl reactor contaminated the soil, water and atmosphere with radioactive material equivalent to that of 20 times the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Entering the ghost town of Pripyat
The journey continued and it felt as if we were driving into a dense forest. But in fact we entered Pripyat, the biggest city close to the reactor catastrophe, where almost 50.000 people had to be evacuated virtually over night. The government told them they could came back 3 days later but in fact they never could, so they had to leave everything behind. The ghost city is not safe to live in for another 20,000 years!
post apocalyptic scenery
Nature had already reconquered the city - within 30 years. Right next to the Soviet apartment blocks or in the former football stadium there was already a dense forest. The centre of the city was also already completely overgrown. The windows were missing everywhere and had to be removed after the radioactive clean-up.
The guide always showed us the pictures before and in our eyes we saw how it looked like now. Frightening! This is what it would look like if people no longer existed.
already feeling the effects of radiation
We walked to the river, where it is better not to bathe, unless you want to have 6 fingers in the future or become infertile.
A much photographed object is the Ferris wheel in the amusement park of the city. Directly under the Ferris wheel wagon the guide showed us her Geiger counter and there we read 188 µS. This is one of the highest radiation levels in the whole Chernobyl area! Apparently the high radiation already made made me lose my head and I tried to drive one of the bumper cars standing there! haha!
a gigantic radio station
The last station of the trip was a huge secret radio station of the USSR, the Duga radar. On the map it was marked as a youth camp for reasons of secrecy, but in reality there was a huge listening system here. These radars were intended to detect a possible launch of missiles in the European and American area at an early stage. From the obviously high transmission power of the Duga systems, a detection range of up to 15,000 km can be derived. The system distrupted legitimate broadcasts, amateur radio operations, oceanic commercial aviation communications, and utility transmissions, resulting in thousands of complaints by many countries worldwide.
radiation test before leaving the zone
Before you leave the zone, you are examined for radiation with a device. You put your feet on the platform and place your hands on two prescribed areas. If you are radiation-free, you can pass through. Very rarely someone cannot leave the zone immediately. My tour guide only told me about one guest who had walked a lot through muddy earth and was too contaminated to leave.
On the way back we drove through the colourful autumnal forests and fields of the country and reached Kyiv in the evening. A great tour that makes you realize how limited human beings are. They believed they could control nature with nuclear power, but nature struck back mercilessly, leaving a zone hostile to human life.
