Chernobyl, or there and back again: reporting from the dead zone
The experienced tourists often say: "It is better to see once than read a hundred times." Thousands of materials, analytical articles and detailed photo reports are devoted to the Chernobyl exclusion zone, but none of them can convey what a tourist can see with his own eyes.
The parallel universe has been deprived of children's laughter and the noise of everyday life for 32 years; it borders 130 km away from densely populated city of Kiev. Once the radiation outlined the borders and exceeded the average to thousands of times. It still remains the hostess in the zone after more than three decades, even though the zone is not so dangerous to people these days.
The streets devastated by tragedy and marauders, the dangerous background still keeps the history, human memories, their belongings, dwellings and amazing energy.
What attracts tens of thousands of extreme tourists most of all year after year is probably an opportunity to merge into this terrible episode of history, to see it live, see how nature absorbs deserted streets and high-rise buildings. The Red Forest, the ghost town of Pripyat, the city-museum of Chernobyl, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and the facilities that have turned into unique exhibits are shown to tourists.
Being so close to the anniversary of the tragedy at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, we willingly accepted the offer of the travel agency to take a ride through the most memorable places of the exclusion zone and tell the reader how the epicenter of the largest man-made disaster in history looks like after 32 years.
Myths, facts and the most popular tourist locations; will the terrain scorched by radiation sometimes become open to public visits or not, and how specialists strive to preserve the only museum in the world of this kind. This and many other things you will find on our site.
Road to the Zone
“Please go outside and be ready to show your passport,” a loud voice coming from the front of the bus distracted my attention while I was looking at the cellphone. There was no mobile service throughout the entire route from Kiev to the “Dytiatky” checkpoint on the border with the exclusion zone. We barely made it through Ivankov, the first city that welcomed immigrants from Pripyat and Chernobyl in 1986. You can't call it a ghost, but the impressions of deserted streets and empty fields, which seemed to absorb the drama of what is happening here three decades ago, made me to write a post on Facebook.
This is my first trip to the Zone, I have heard a lot about it when I was at school, both facts and funny myths, which, of course made me even more interested. To be honest, it is likely that everyone is eager to go to Chernobyl after the "Stalker" game was released.
Immediately after the traffic light of the "Dytiatky" checkpoint, a gray ribbon stretches the road into a 30-kilometer zone that remains closed today and is strictly secured by a security group. A heavy barrier bar is opened exclusively for guests with special permits, tourists and half-dead LAZ vehicles, similar to those that were supplied during the evacuation of residents of Chernobyl and Pripyat; employees of Chernobyl nuclear power plant and other operating facilities of the Zone get here from different areas and for different periods of stay.
I was so excited to take the dosimeter when we reached the checkpoint. The 30-kilometer zone was clean, that’s not what I expected to see. What is even more interesting is that the background fluctuates almost at the same level as in the center of Kiev: 0.12 - 0.15 microsieverts/h or 12 - 15 microroentgens/h at an average rate of 0.1 - 0.3 microsieverts/h.
Location: Ramp for contaminated vehicles and abandoned car wash
The first stop was a few kilometers from the Dytiatky checkpoint: a barely noticeable right turn was pretty overgrown with trees and bushes; the entrance was closed with a white-green wooden barrier bar. Judging by the dense yellow grass that covered the road, we can say that cars don’t even drive here.
Our guide the head of the association of Chernobyl tourism and the liquidator of the consequences of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster, Sergei Mirny, led the tourists along a straight road that separated a large part of the forest. The zone did not look dangerous at all: bright sunlight beams were punching between the pines, birds singing; the air seemed fresh and clean. When the huge constructions started appearing through the heavy thickets, the dosimeter immediately reminded me of how insidious this paradise illusion was.
Right behind the dense dry plants there is a spacious asphalt platform with rusty structures of search towers sticking out along the perimeter. There are rows of concrete racks in the center of the territory.
The Soviet Union was actively preparing for a nuclear war, Mirny recalled smiling. The tons of a powder-deactivator, intended for cleaning radiation contamination of buildings and strategic facilities were stored in the country in case of a war. They used the powder to wash the first contaminated vehicles.
The dosimeter fluctuated at around 40-50 microroentgens/h in this area, which is not critical for external exposure.
Location: Half survived the town of Chernobyl
Unlike the devastated town of Pripyat, Chernobyl being several times smaller has not become a ghost, but it rather resembles a town museum, which is supported by a few locals.
After the accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, liquidators, Zone employees and local authorities settled the town; several years later some locals got back to their homes. Today, there are about 100 the so-called self-settlers, but they themselves consider this name as insulting, because they didn’t settle in the God-forgotten area, but came back home despite any restrictions.
There is a real life in the center of Chernobyl: enterprises, the only church in the area, several cafes and hostels. It is very unusual to see white borders, well-groomed flower beds, light and curtains in the windows next to empty houses. This is a town of contrasts.
Judging by the names of the streets and the unique monuments of the Soviet era, the de-communization has not affected the Exclusion Zone. Some houses are still decorated with "red" slogans, and there is the last monument to Lenin in Ukraine hiding in one of the yards.
The Jewish cemetery and the synagogue remain unique objects in the town, the relics of the ship cemetery; the dumping ground water equipment in the local port, which also took part in the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster.
The radiation level in the town in some places does not exceed the recorded figures from Kiev, and some areas along the route have the lowest level, which is extremely surprising.
Fact or myth: it is strictly forbidden to step on the moss, as this type of plant is dangerous by high levels of radiation in the Zone.
Well, it’s yes and no. The fact is that one can observe truly amazing form of the radiation background on the territory of the exclusion zone: one step to the right or to the left out of the route, and you can already see how your dosimeter jumps up. There are strong background spots on the streets and squares; the area may be clean, but then you suddenly come across a bush or tree and you see how dosimeter exceeds the average in several times. It does not mean that there must certainly be moss around the polluted spot. We also had to sidestep mounds of sand, high grass, and trees. Therefore, it is strictly forbidden to sit, lie down or lean on something in the Zone; it is also not allowed to pick up any items from the ground.
Location: Concrete transfer unit at the Red Forest
The trip on the eve of the 32nd anniversary was also devoted to the issue of how to preserve some sites of the Zone and include them on the UNESCO heritage list. According to the tour guide, no one is able to save abandoned cities, but it is possible to maintain the most interesting and important objects.
One of these facilities is called a concrete transfer unit located several kilometers from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The unique design of a rather gloomy appearance played one of the most important roles in 1986.
The huge facility is designed in such a way that it is possible to drain concrete from one machine to another without mediocre contact. Dosimeters were already set inside the buses upon entering the node: the radiation level at this place reaches 50-70 μR/h, which exceeds twice the average. The platform under the transfer node is the dirtiest, as if the trucks drove under the reactor. The mounds of concrete are tightly hardened at the foot of the structure.
The Red Forest is stretched along the right side of the transfer unit. At the moment of the catastrophe, this area absorbed the largest dose of radiation emissions; the trees dried up, became red and that is why it was called the Red Forest. Today, the radiation background on the route at the Red Forest is a bit over 50-60 μR/h. Most of it was previously destroyed and buried in the ground.
Location: Pripyat
The town counts five neighborhoods, five schools and about two dozen kindergartens. Railway and bus stations, river port and about 50 thousand inhabitants with an average age of 26. The once promising and rapidly developing town has now become a part of history with devastated and plundered skyscrapers, traces of the rapidly evacuated population; the nature has become the ruler of the town.
You don’t know what to see first, you literally want to come closer and see everything. But there is a strict rule in the Zone that was recently introduced: all visitors of this area are forbidden to enter buildings: most of them are in alarm condition today, there is a risk of a collapse and droppings of window glass. Don’t forget about the background spots that may be scattered in the most unexpected places.
We spent about an hour in Pripyat, moving in small groups along the mapped route. The paralyzed town has turned into a kind of installation and each new location is breathtaking: a community center, a sports complex, a restaurant, a hotel. All this is sunk in terrible paints and dead silence.
There is a complete mess in the main 16-floor building located at Heroev Stalingrada Street: the marauders took advantage and broke every object into parts and sold it.
There are no radiators and taps in the apartments; there almost no furniture nor belongings of the owners left. You can sometimes hear voices for a split second while you are standing in a silent wet corridor when drought comes in and out.
The Chernobyl nuclear power plant is placed within a stone throw. It still remains a secret why such a bright and hopeful town was built and developed 10 minutes walking from nuclear reactors.
Fact or myth: there are giant catfish near the nuclear power plant.
It is true that there are giant catfish residing near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The pools that were once designed to cool reactors are now full of fish, among which you can see huge 1.5-2 meters long catfish. The only myth is the stories about mutations; this fish is big not because of radiation, but because tourists are not allowed to catch it, and can only feed it with bread.
Location: the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, local canteen and giant catfish
Despite the fact that the Chernobyl nuclear power plant no longer generates energy, about 3 thousand people work in its territory today. In particular, the new cover of the old sarcophagus is now being built; it has become the world's largest mobile structure.
The destroyed fourth power unit was covered with an arch, which is 110 meters high, 165 meters long and 257 meters wide. When you are two steps away from this structure, you understand what 36 thousand tons of Shelter-2 looks like; the Statue of Liberty would go straight under it.
Having toured around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, we made a stop at one of the three dining rooms. If the sarcophagus has a high radiation level since the local background exceeds the average three times (96 - 112 μR/h), the dining room is rather clean, and the indicators only jump between 12-14 μR/h, which is pretty much okay.
Despite this, all tourists undergo dosimetric control and wash their hands before they enter the canteen.
- Cold water? - A staff member laughed, carefully rubbing his hands with soap. - Do you know why it’s cold? It’s not because we are poor. Just because hot water expands the pores, which is much more likely that polluted dust can get inside your body. The same is with taking shower; the station workers first take cold shower, and only then use hot water. That’s an interesting fact. It is a pity that no one thought about this in 1986.
The standard lunch includes; the red borsch that reminds of school times. According to the staff, all products are delivered to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant from Kiev on a daily basis.
Have grabbed a couple of pieces of fresh bread we went to the pools. When it is cold, catfish often hide deep in the water, but not the other fish; it is ready to pick some food as soon as they see tourists on the bridge. However, we were lucky, to enjoy an important and slow-moving inhabitant of these waters. When you are on excursion, you have ten minutes of spare time to spend watching the fish.
Location: "Duga" radar station in the secret town of "Chernobyl-2"
Another facility, the last one in our tour; it has no direct relation to the Chernobyl disaster, but it is a popular destination for tourists. Soviet over-the-horizon radar station (ZGRLS) "Duga", located in the secret town of "Chernobyl-2" is a unique monument of the Cold War.
ZGRLS took the air defense of the USSR into combat duty in 1985; the station was created for an early detection system for intercontinental ballistic missiles. In 1986, the system was completely modernized due to the complexity of working with frequencies, but after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant the facility was removed from combat duty.
The exact geometric characteristics of "Duga" are still unknown and there are only approximate numbers: a creepy-looking and at the same time so impressive construction is about 150 meters high and about 500 meters long. You can observe the iron wall at any part of the Zone standing on the top of the facility.
Another interesting fact is that there are no such structures left in the CIS. A total of three stations of this type were built in the USSR, one of them is located near Nikolayev (destroyed in the early 2000s), another one in the Khabarovsk Territory (Russia), which was also dismounted. The organizers of Chernobyl tourism are hoping to preserve the “Duga” with the help of the International Council for the Preservation of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and UNESCO.
A small former military town is located around the radar. People tell that there is a secret bunker, i.e. a communications center that has been preserved underground. Official maps marked this area as an abandoned pioneer camp, because at the very beginning of the 7-kilometer "concrete" wall that led to the locator through the forest there was a bright bus stop with Olympic symbols on it. It was made so to distract people’s attention.
When you leave the zone, you must go through a double dosimetric control: the first one is at the exit from the 10-kilometer zone ("Lelev" checkpoint), the second one is on the border of the 30-kilometer zone ("Dytiatky" checkpoint). Dosimetrists thoroughly check all the vehicles.
The future of the Chernobyl exclusion zone remains unknown. Some experts argue that this territory may be inhabited only after a thousand years, others are confident that the Zone will never become appropriate for life.
The towns and other buildings in the Zone will last for another decade or two; then they will collapse under the pressure of nature and time. It is possible that the most unique and memorable objects will survive thanks to the efforts of activists, and will remain on the closed territory full of myths.