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[TheFurizzlyBear]

I'd love to visit their someday, seems so interesting. Had never really knew about it till CoD4. I has a very basic idea of the place after that. After watching the Chernobyl episode though of Destination Truth it was surreal though. CoD4 really nailed the look and layout for the most part. I was recognizing the area they were in and it was kinda neat.

Also great OP

 

[hydragonwarrior]

You don't have to fly to Ukraine to personally see thousands of people who will die as a result of our prolonged fossil fuel use caused directly by our nuclear phobia. There's a pretty solid chance that somebody that you know personally will die from coal-related air pollution, and that they'd have survived had we switched over to nuclear power a decade ago.

But I guess that's a bit too subtle for people to care.

All that is dependent on the type of fuel used and safety standards employed. Thorium and salt reactors are the best in both categories but a decade ago you'd still be stuck with using plutonium.

 

[TheRedSnifit]

All that is dependent on the type of fuel used and safety standards employed. Thorium and salt reactors are the best in both categories but a decade ago you'd still be stuck with using plutonium.

They were still wildly safer than fossil fuels.

Chernobyl's RBMKs were designed in the 1950s, had no containment dome, and had its (hilariously) inadequate safety features shut off. It's in no way comparable to later generation reactors designed in the '90s and 2000s, which are essentially foolproof regardless of the fuel used.

 

[Chittagong]

Thanks for the kind words everyone, I'm glad everyone are finding the thread interesting.

Not entirely deserted.

People still live in the main town in shifts as they work in the area and on the reactor. I believe it was 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off, IIRC.

When I visited, we had lunch in the town cafeteria.

Yeah this was the big surprise, that still thousands of people live and work there. I think we ate in the same cafeteria, there is probably only one. It must be the least excited I have been ever to eat something

 

[Wag]

Make sure you bring a supply of these with you.

 

[Chittagong]

Great thread and photographs.

Also another channel that has lots of videos about it, she doesn't do that many uploads any more but there is a lot of interesting things to watch nonetheless. For example she did a video about Duga-3 which I suppose OP might find interesting too: Inside Duga-3 / Дуга-3, computer mainframe of the Russian Woodpecker / Chernobyl-2

Thanks! And thanks for the links, Duga-3 is amazing!

 

[TheFuzz]

Echoing others, but thanks for sharing. This is incredibly interesting. Feel free to share more pics of you have them, I find this stuff fascinating.

 

[Chittagong]

Here's a few satellite images from Apple Maps to give an idea of where you get to go.

The big metallic object on the left is the new sarcophagus that will completely cover reactor four. Once its laid on place, the old sarcophagus is dismantled inside it. Reactor Four is the brown circle in the middle of the map. You can see a parking lot with a diagonal road in the upper left corner. That's the viewing platform I snapped the pic of Reactor Four from, as well as the meter pic.

Here I've zoomed out so that Prioyat fits in. I have placed the yellow ferris wheel to the top left corner, you can just barely see it. You can see how trees have taken over the town.

It's crazy that the people in Pripyat weren't told about the accident until more than a day later. They were evacuated nearly two days in. Four days would have killed all 50,000 inhabitants.

 

[infinit777]

I have always wanted to go to Chernobyl and Pripyat. If anyone wants to foot the bill to get me there from Illinois I would gladly go with you.

 

[Chickadee]

Your pictures are amazing! Thank you so much for sharing! I have always found Chernobyl and the who scenario utterly fascinating. It's interesting to think if the animals are better off living without human contact, yet with radioactive poisoning all around them. Those poor dogs, the sadness in their eyes!

Has anyone said why they're building the cover for Reactor 4?

 

[Savitar]

The whole event that went on around that was surreal, seen the documentaries about people not being really suited or anything and going up on the roofs only for them to literally fall apart if they were up too long. How one guy pushed a door open with his arm only for it to be so damaged by the radiation it's a shrunken shriveled thing now. Even during clean up the time a helicopter that was removing things struck something and crashed which is on youtube. People not being allowed back, can only imagine what was left behind because the answer for thousands was everything.

 

[Ristifer]

Awesome thread. I've always wanted to go, and I'm hoping someday I'll get the chance to actually do so. Probably within the next couple of years.

Love the pics! Thanks for sharing them.

 

[spawnsniper]

Great post. No one go googling the effects of radiation on people/animals...crazy stuff.

 

[Escape Goat]

I think Id rather go to Waikiki.

 

[UnluckyKate]

want to do that with friends ever since we played Stalker so nearly 10 years now.

I guess it's very easy nowadays it's becoming a real tourist attraction

 

[Ledhead]

Great thread OP. Thanks for taking the time to share your pictures and the details of your trip with us.

 

[RoyalLaFlame]

Fascinating place despite what happened. Great shots OP and I hope I get to go there one day.

 

[Soyongdori]

Get out of here, Stalker.

 

[ImpalingNarwhal]

I'm currently reading an oral history called Voices from Chernobyl. Highly recommended if you're interested in the subject.

 

[Ristifer]

I'm currently reading an oral history called Voices from Chernobyl. Highly recommended if you're interested in the subject.

Thanks for the recommendation. I'm going to check it out for sure.

 

[Chittagong]

Your pictures are amazing! Thank you so much for sharing!

Has anyone said why they're building the cover for Reactor 4?

Thanks! The reason for the new sarcophagus is that the old one is collapsing, risking another disaster. With enough radioactive material left to kill 100 million people, the risk is significant.

The existing shelter, formally referred to as the Object Shelter and often called the sarcophagus, was constructed between May and November 1986 as an emergency measure to contain the radioactive materials within reactor unit 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (ChNPP). The shelter was constructed under extreme conditions, with very high levels of radiation, and under extreme time constraints. The Object Shelter was moderately successful in containing radioactive contamination and providing for post-accident monitoring of the destroyed nuclear reactor unit.

The existing Object Shelter is primarily supported by the damaged remains of the Unit 4 Reactor Building, which are largely considered to be structurally unsound as a result of explosive forces caused by the accident.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_New_Safe_Confinement

Here's an excellent documentary explaining the incident, we saw this on the way to the site:

http://youtu.be/dS3WvKKSpKI

I've added it to the OP.

 

[firehawk12]

Heh, I remember the Top Gear episode where they went there and they made a big deal about nearly getting exposed or whatever.

 

[Candeldandel]

Wow. I can't imagine how strange it must feel walking around Pripyat. I dunno, I think I would feel too nervous to take a tour there, though I'm fascinated by it. Thanks so much for sharing your pictures with us.


PS I watch that documentary like, all the time. It's well cut, a good length and covers basically everything. So good. The only drawback is that they use Roentgens as the unit of measurement, and apparently it's outdated or something because I find it hard to convert the info they give us into whatever is used now :\ Oh well

 

[RyudBoy]

I feel like playing Stalker now, but I know I'll never finish it because the gameplay sucks!

Nice pics, OP.

 

[Staccat0]

Fucking amazing thread. Thank you! Amazing photos.

 

[Chickadee]

Thanks! The reason for the new sarcophagus is that the old one is collapsing, risking another disaster. With enough radioactive material left to kill 100 million people, the risk is significant.

Oh YIKES! Thank you for explaining!

 

[CoolOff]

So, uh, thanks for the inspiration. I'm going to Chernobyl next Thursday just because of this thread.

 

[Chittagong]

So, uh, thanks for the inspiration. I'm going to Chernobyl next Thursday just because of this thread.

You are? Amazing! Have fun & be sure to post impressions & pics back here

 

[Booser]

Great read man, thanks.

Hopefully this is a place I'll get to visit someday. Seen it on an episode of Destination Truth too. Pripyat is creepy as hell.

 

[NumberThree]

Cool thread. Definitely considering going there myself.

 

[Abstrusity]

I wasn't the only one leery of those OP pictures having photoshopped white eyes in them, was I?

 

[Chittagong]

Found this fascinating National Geographic documentary about the rich wildlife in Chernobyl:

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/news/160418-chernobyl-exclusion-zone-nature-vin

 

[Nordicus]

Found this fascinating National Geographic documentary about the rich wildlife in Chernobyl:

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/news/160418-chernobyl-exclusion-zone-nature-vin

Yay for wolves

 

[CoolOff]

Just got back. Absolutely amazing experience. I'll post a few pics when I get to a computer at home.

 

[Animator]

Wish the situation in Ukraine wasnt so shit because I would love to visit.

 

[dan2026]

Where did all the stray dogs come from?
Were they just abandoned there?

 

[Chittagong]

Wish the situation in Ukraine wasnt so shit because I would love to visit.

You couldn't tell the country is at war when you visit Kiev or Chernobyl, except for the lack of tourists. Their currency has collapsed, which makes it super cheap for tourists. Going there is good for the country, and I didn't feel unsafe at all.

 

[TheSeks]

I'm surprised you were able to get so close to the reactor. I thought they didn't allow that.

I'd go, but I hate planes and traveling across the world for a quick trip just doesn't make sense to break my "yeah, screw planes" fear.

Where did all the stray dogs come from?
Were they just abandoned there?

Partly, but a bunch of them are probably strays that moved it and reproduced. Similar to the wolves and bears and other things. Lack of human interaction/destruction = good thing for animals and safety for them.

 

[IronRinn]

I feel bad saying it, considering all the suffering associated with it, but this is somewhere I have always wanted to visit.