my journey into the dead zone Chernobyl 2017 (pic heavy)

[Kapitan]

Chernobyl 2017 by Blair shaw, on Flickr



It all started on the morning of 26 April 1986, at 01:23 when reactor 4 suffered a catastrophic power increase, leading to explosions in its core. This dispersed large quantities of radioactive isotopes (Iodine 131, Thorium 157 and caesium 137 among others) into the atmosphere.

Nobody knew outside the plant what had happened most of the 49,000-people living in Pripyat we fast asleep when the event took place and little did they know that in a few days’ time they were to leave their homes forever.

We travel for nearly an hour and a half on board our tour bus, nothing fancy yet adequate in fact it had 16 seats and the group of just six of us, not including tour guide Natalia and Driver Igor.

We set off for the dead zone at 0745 stopping briefly at a gas station to buy snacks and water for the onward trip, don’t forget there are no stores in Chernobyl, well that are open and have items to sell anyway.
We head back onto the motorway and then sometime later we start hitting the back roads, for those who have false teeth I highly recommend super glue ! like a lot of roads in Ukraine and indeed Kiev they are not very well maintained and in our case winter tyres are a must!

After being shaken up like a martini for the best part of twenty minutes we come to the first checkpoint, now this is the entrance to the first exclusion zone the 30km one (there is two in Chernobyl a 30km and 10km depending on how radioactive each zone is) the guard is pleasant and can take a joke which was good news for my friend when I told the guard that his passport wasn’t his (yes he did excrete a brick).

The barrier represents all that was wrong with the world we are entering one of the most contaminated places on earth, no one lives here full time and no one has done since 1986 and its very likely no one will do at least not for another 140 years.

Chernobyl 2017 by Blair shaw, on Flickr


We pass through the checkpoint unhindered it’s become a common thing now curious tourists (like me) turning up every single day come rain or shine or in our case snow, to come and see the weird spectacle of the human races most spectacular screw up in person.

On the night 25 April 1986 no one in that control room knew that their actions would lead to the worlds worst nuclear disaster none of them knew that their actions would seal the fate of hundreds and thousands of people across the world and the effects would live on long after they and their grandchildren died.

We drive along the main road in Chernobyl passing what looks like fields with street lamps growing, Natalia informs us that these were once streets with houses and all around were other houses but because they were made of wood they were all demolished and buried now just the lamps stand as a silent monument to a village of none.

our first stop is to the village of Leliv it still stands, once home to a couple of hundred people today stands very overgrown and deserted, in fact if this was summer you wouldn’t even know it was there.

Chernobyl 2017 by Blair shaw, on Flickr

Leliv is unique it is actually a big settlement and boasted a clinic it’s hard to imagine now that this was once an area where babies were born.

Chernobyl 2017 by Blair shaw, on Flickr

Leliv also had its own grocery store and was a self-sufficient community many of the peoples worked on the collective farms and even had their own cattle and poultry at home, we got a chance to go inside a house something which makes you wonder if you should really be there at all.

Chernobyl 2017 by Blair shaw, on Flickr

Chernobyl 2017 by Blair shaw, on Flickr

Chernobyl 2017 by Blair shaw, on Flickr

Unlike stores in the west where today we can just walk in and walk out the same day with our goods a lot of the items including basic items such as sugar bread and milk basically had to be pre ordered and bought in especially for each person and in some cases they had to wait days even a week to have their order fulfilled.

In Chernobyl you don’t walk much nearly everything is done by vehicle, mainly because you don’t have a clue where the hot spots are and walking would take a long time due to the vast distances, the exclusion zone in Ukraine alone is 2,600km square, I hope your fit and healthy because walking that I can assure you that you won’t be.

During the night / morning of 25/26 April Chernobyl reactor 4 team were conducting a safety test something that would save power increase efficiency and make the reactor safer to operate in an emergency, still in the back of everyone’s mind was the threat of nuclear war and in that event Chernobyl was deemed a high target.

And why was that you may ask?

Not far from Leliv is a place marked on the map as “Abandoned children’s summer camp” again it is a soviet cover up, in fact this place was once guarded very heavily, it was also the source of much annoyance to HAM radio enthusiasts, air traffic controllers and also basically anyone with a radio.

The site is home to Duga 1 NATO code name “Steel yard” it is an over the horizon RADAR for the detection of ballistic missiles, it is so powerful the signal can and has traversed the earth full circle.

Known as the Russian woodpecker for its distinctive and annoying sound it makes over the air waves, this radar system is actually huge and is made up of 3 arrays, the system is 146 meters high and 750 meters long, today the most sensitive equipment is gone but the antenna still stands.

Chernobyl 2017 by Blair shaw, on Flickr


Chernobyl 2017 by Blair shaw, on Flickr


Chernobyl 2017 by Blair shaw, on Flickr

The Duga 1 was built in the mid 1960’s and only became operational in 1976 known as Chernobyl 2 this site operated completely secretly right up to the day of the disaster, it has never worked since instead it has sat here for 30 years unused and it has only been since 2013 that close up tours have been allowed.

So it is back on the bus and one hell of a slippery bumpy ride to the main road, it’s almost like being in a car with a world rally driver Igor seems to love getting the back end out on the bus, were now heading to a new place but this one is even more radioactive.

We are about to enter the most heavily contaminated zone the 10km exclusion zone
but just before we do we pass by the abandoned village of Kopachi we don’t stop as the village was knocked down and buried much like Zalissya.

Again the checkpoint guard checks our papers it’s almost like being back in the old soviet union, but this time we have to pass through a radiation check.
after all is in order we get back on the bus and to the right I notice a rather large lake, Natalia informs us that this is the cooling pond for reactors one to four and currently it is in the process of drying out.

Igor suddenly stops the bus and we are told to get out, in front of us is the abandoned building site of reactors 5 and 6 seen from the other side of the road as just a partially built cooling tower.

Chernobyl 2017 by Blair shaw, on Flickr


Chernobyl 2017 by Blair shaw, on Flickr


then right out of the blue and in the distance there it is the entire reason I came The main plant of Chernobyl with her famous red and white chimney the old sarcophagus now under the new safe containment arch which was put in place in November 2016 the damaged reactor is entombed for the second time, even at this distance it’s a sight to see and the knowledge I am heading closer to the reactor makes me even more elated.


Chernobyl 2017 by Blair shaw, on Flickr

Chernobyl 2017 by Blair shaw, on Flickr

The chimney once promised modern living and electricity for all, the promise of prosperity and a good life now just a relic as the country itself slips back in time.


we get back on the bus for a short trip, this time we will be staying for a while as you can imagine the Geiger counters do raise up a little around here 0.35m/s (normal background is 0.30m/s) still we are safe and safe enough that we can indeed get this close to reactor number 4 ……………. Yep right outside.

Chernobyl 2017 by Blair shaw, on Flickr

Now obviously this is a restricted area and a restricted site so we won’t be going inside in fact the permissions to go inside have to come directly from government (let’s face it I won’t be getting that any time soon)

Standing outside reactor 4 is the monument to the liquidators the men and women who helped clean the zone up after that fateful day in 1986.

Chernobyl 2017 by Blair shaw, on Flickr

outside this place is rather busy almost as if nothing has happened workers go about things just as if it were a normal day and nothing to worry about, in fact radiation levels here at reactor 4 are low they don’t even set off the Geiger counters, which is good news because this is where we are having lunch with the workers.


Now far be it from me but any restaurant I have ever been in across the world including many nuclear plants in the UK Germany and France I have never had to pass through a radiation detector just to go for lunch.


Chernobyl 2017 by Blair shaw, on Flickr


Well I did and like everyone I passed ok I’m not glowing yet, although with what is on the menu today I think my last thought would be glowing more have they put the toilet seat back on the bog.

Chernobyl 2017 by Blair shaw, on Flickr

eating dinner with our comrades brings a new experience I have no idea what the drink is but I do not recommend it what so ever I also have an allergy to corn product and what looks like a pancake is actually fried chicken plus onion salad and potatoes with sweet bread (which was nice).

Chernobyl 2017 by Blair shaw, on Flickr

The atmosphere in here is rather glum every worker knows we have spent nearly their month’s salary to come here, talking to one of them they earn double the national minimum wage yet still struggle Ukraine is a very poor country and they don’t even have the money to fix the bathroom let alone much else.

After dinner we head out this time to the town of Pripyat, we pass by a young wooded area to which Natalia tells us that this was once the red forest, its so called because on nights after the accident the birch trees glowed red due to the radiation, it is one of the most dangerous places in Chernobyl and no one is allowed access to it all the trees were chopped down and buried but new trees have taken their place.

Heading down the road we stop by probably the most famous road sign the sign that indicates were in the town of Pripyat.

[Kapitan]

Chernobyl 2017 by Blair shaw, on Flickr

Established in 1970 the young town lasted merely 16 years it was home to 49,000 people most of who worked in or around the plant, a plant that was meant to be in the end the world’s largest bigger than Fukishima Diachi with reactors 5 and 6 being built it would put it en par with Fukishima Diachi (who would later in 2011 suffer a similar fate) but the soviets also planned reactors 7 and 8 which would make it undoubtedly the world’s largest and so was named the Vladimir Ilyich Lenin nuclear power plant.

The town is rather desolate the buildings are now so degraded that the government has told the tour operators no one is allowed inside in case they collapse, Russian concrete isn’t the best when new and 30 years of neglect wont help.

Chernobyl 2017 by Blair shaw, on Flickr

The Gymnasium and Disco once huge panes of glass stood outside and this looked rather nice now all gone.

Chernobyl 2017 by Blair shaw, on Flickr

“Let the atom work for peace” put on the top of this building the soviet propaganda is everywhere.

Chernobyl 2017 by Blair shaw, on Flickr

Two apartment blocks bestowed with the hammer and sickle the sign of communist might and soviet rule a relic to a bye gone and failed era.

Chernobyl 2017 by Blair shaw, on Flickr

This store was slated to open on May 1st (may day) 1986 the shelves were stocked and ready for the new customers yet it never took a penny the accident took place days before the grand opening another empty wasted relic.


Not far from here is another relic and one of the most recognisable landmarks of this era it too never went into operation again slated to open on May 1st 1986 the fair ground with its dodgems and Ferris wheel were left as they stood.

Chernobyl 2017 by Blair shaw, on Flickr


The Ferris wheel is radioactive as Natalia points out with her Geiger counter and all around there are hot spots of high radioactivity.

Chernobyl 2017 by Blair shaw, on Flickr

The Ferris wheel gives off 14.08m/s of radiation which is very high for anyone standing here for long periods of time is not advisable.

After the fairground we arrive near a block of apartments we are told it is safe to go in some the first place we arrive is a kindergarten, laying all over the place when we first go in are cots for the children, this is the largest kindergarten in Pripyat.

Chernobyl 2017 by Blair shaw, on Flickr

In other rooms we find toys and dolls littered everywhere this one particularly caught my eye.

Chernobyl 2017 by Blair shaw, on Flickr

Like the USA and UK the Soviets also instilled the cold war fear that they might be attacked this doll was used to show children how to use a gas mask in civil defence training.


Chernobyl 2017 by Blair shaw, on Flickr

They started them young propaganda in a kindergarten is still around.

Chernobyl 2017 by Blair shaw, on Flickr

the last room I entered looks untouched as if the toys are waiting for the children to come back and play with them, knowing that many may have suffered long term illnesses in the future it makes you wonder a lot if nuclear power is the viable option.

Chernobyl 2017 by Blair shaw, on Flickr

We leave behind the apartments, fairground and stadium heading out back towards Kiev, we spent over an hour going around the place finding nothing but relics and ruins one that has undoubtably inspired many generations to come about the dangers of nuclear power if you ever wanted to see how badly it could go wrong this is the place to come.

Chernobyl 2017 by Blair shaw, on Flickr

The abandoned homes of Pripyat.

We end this part of the tour by walking through the bus terminal, no busses have stopped her since 1986 and today the only people who use it are the people who see it on the tours.

Chernobyl 2017 by Blair shaw, on Flickr

On the way back to Leliv we stop by the local police station, here we see where to criminals would have been locked up all I can say is I have spent a few nights in a few cells myself but I wouldn’t want to spend a night in this one.

Chernobyl 2017 by Blair shaw, on Flickr

Not far from the police station is the fire station these fire fighters were the second team to respond to the Chernobyl reactor that night after the first started to be overcome with radiation sickness they all shared the same fate.

Chernobyl 2017 by Blair shaw, on Flickr

This is the fire station which the very first fire fighters were called to the scene

Chernobyl 2017 by Blair shaw, on Flickr

This memorial stands outside it depicts the struggle between man and the atom, behind the left fire fighter is a doctor he stands behind because they tried to save the already dying men, this monument was built by fire fighters themselves from donations and their own money.

Chernobyl 2017 by Blair shaw, on Flickr

We leave the area and head back to the Zalissia checkpoint again we have our last radiation checks and today we have received 0.02m/s which isn’t a lot in fact you get more in one hour of flight than you did here, once they have established that the vehicle is safe and we are safe too they allow us to leave this baron wasteland and back along the bumpy icy road to Kiev.

It makes you think that in all a flawed design, over confidence, a system of errors along with 5 human beings one with a questionable back ground (Anatoly Dyatolov Chief engineer that night) has led to the world’s worst nuclear disaster.

Do I think that nuclear power is safe? Absolutely provided you don’t let a team of idiots run it and you build it right, the only thing that stops Fukushima being number 1 is the design of the plant, all the reactors had containment domes Chernobyl and plants like her were built on the cheap and safety was of little concern it was bound to happen sooner or later and in fact it had happened once before in the Russian town of Chelyabinsk it just seems history has repeated itself.

Today there have been around 160 nuclear accidents across all countries yet none have been deemed by the IAEA as level 7 alert (the highest) with the exception or Chernobyl and Fukishima.

Chernobyl’s reactor (RBMK 2500) was a flawed design one that was known about in advance, coupled with the short comings of the reactors control rods which were tipped with graphite and made of boron, the fact that the reactors had no containment dome, and bitumen and felt roofs made this one disaster that was bound to happen, the system of flaws eventually caught up with them and the lid was literally blown off.


Chernobyl 2017 by Blair shaw, on Flickr

The Avenue of sorrows 166 village names now all gone

Chernobyl 2017 by Blair shaw, on Flickr

Even the machines gave up this is the graveyard to the robots, they are painted each year to try and keep the radiation levels down as they are highly radioactive, they are kept behind a fence so you have no access to them.

Chernobyl 2017 by Blair shaw, on Flickr

The 30 year monument to the tragedy which some believe was prophesised in the bible.


Chernobyl 2017 by Blair shaw, on Flickr

The End  


All pictures can be found in my link in the signature 270 odd

[Tango589]

Thanks for posting this, it is fascinating!

[Commander Wallace]

As always, thanks for posting the pictures and narrative of your trip. The pictures are surreal.

You said it yourself, there are perils in using nuclear power.


I'm hoping you are not glowing in the dark.

[Skybird]

The perspectives and details on some of the shots reveal you have a good photographers' eye, Kapitan.

[Buddahaid]

Wow, that was really nicely done. Thanks.