Chernobyl

The ominous sign as you enter the exclusion zone to Chernobyl.

A sign appears for every village that was permanently abandoned due to the catastrophe.

The abandoned interior of a kindergarden.

Standing in front of the four original reactors.  Reactor 1 is the black and white lines on the right, Reactor 2 is the black and white lines in the middle of the picture, Reactor 3 is directly above my head, and Reactor 4 (the exploded reactor) is directly adjacent to the left of Reactor 3.

The effects of abandoned building and the reason why we can't enter them.  Experts predict that this will start to become a common site in the next 20 years.

A before and after of a popular street prior to the disaster.

A before and after constrast showing a popular auditorium/event center near the power plant.

The famous merry-go-round (supposedly never used) contrasting the hope and happiness with today's emptiness.

The classic bumper cars left as they were.  Assuming they would return in a few days, the residents saw no reason in storing or winterizing anything.

A Geiger counter measuring the amount of radiation on the cement.  At 61.17 millicurie, this exposure level would be harmful over a long period of time. 

                 April 26, 1986 is a definitive day in the history of the world.  During a safety check of reactor 4, there became a sudden power surge that began the nuclear explosion which would precipitate the beginning of the end for the Chernobyl plant.   The explosion constituted a fire that would take two weeks to put out, radioactive smoke into the air that would spread over Europe and Asia, and graphite rods exposed to the atmosphere. 

                Initially after the explosion, fifteen firefighters were sent to put out the fire inside and on top of the reactor.  All of the firefighters would die within two weeks due to high levels of radioactive exposure.  Robots were then sent in to grab the exposed graphite and bury it in order to prevent highly radioactive exposure.  Due to the radioactivity in the graphite, these robots stopped working within two days of operation. 

                Next was the beginning of an evacuation that would ultimately compromise 350,000 people from over 40 villages in modern day Ukraine and Belarus.  These residents were initially told that they would only leave for three days and return, but none would ever come back to their homes.  This evacuation began an exclusion zone that is in effect to this day.  In order to get within 30 kilometers of the reactor, you must pass Ukrainian check points and have prior approval.

Chernobyl (at the time in the USSR, but in modern day Ukraine and a two hour drive north of Kiev) initially didn’t disclose the explosion due to fear of raising nuclear fear wars and embarrassment.  However, the USSR did finally confirm the explosion after scientists in Sweden noticed abnormal levels of radiation in Scandinavia and confronted the USSR about possible nuclear issues. 

                A sarcophagus would be constructed around rector 4 in order to limit the radioactive exposure to the environment.  The current sarcophagus has had structural failures, but a new, permanent sarcophagus is being constructed nearby and will be moved on rail tracks into place to protect the reactor.  This permanent solution should be completed by 2015. 

                Prior to the explosion, two more reactors were being constructed (bringing the total amount of reactors to six) which would have made Chernobyl the largest energy producer in Europe.  After the explosion, the three other reactors continued to produce power until reactor 3 (the reactor adjacent to the exploded reactor) was finally shut down in 2000.  There are no permanent residents in the exclusion zone.  Farming and raising of animals is not permitted in the area, and people are checked for radioactive exposure upon leaving the exclusion zone.  The area remains a serious issue to this date and will be a permanent issue for Ukraine.

                You can visit Chernobyl on a full day guided tour originating in Kiev.  The tour costs between $120 - $180 including lunch and transportation.  I visited in early October to witness one of the only two major nuclear reactor explosions ever to happen (the other in Japan in 2011 due to the tsunami) and highly recommend this tour to anyone who wants to see what the world would be like 25 years from now if we all died today.