25 Years After Chernobyl

terminator363

terminator363

4,792
Bulgaria
Canada
I know I'm about 2 days late, never mind that. But it was on the news for a bit today and I thought it might spark an interesting discussion. About Chernobyl/Fukushima, the new shell they are building at the plant and so on.

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I might sound a bit idiotic here, but if it wasn't for COD4 I'd have only recently found out about Chernobyl. I'd like to have a day trip there, just to see what a ghost town that big will be like. Sure, I've seen pictures (and played the mission). But it's really interesting 👍
 
I didn't know about the new shell being built. A very interesting topic.

I remember around the anniversary a few years ago, I'd come across a web site (I don't know if the web site still exists) of a woman who fairly regularly rode her motorcycle through the radioactive zone & took photos. Apparently a lonesome road, for obvious reasons, and no doubt very enticing for who want to use a motor vehicle of any type on an isolated stretch of road!! (I wonder if any speed limits are posted or enforced! haha)

I found it captivating. And a bit scary. Although apparently the risk is minimal if you stay on pavement & you're "just passing through".
Even so I couldn't help thinking - but what if you broke down there? :eek:

Even more interesting I found, the surprising amount of wildlife that habitat the area... and one wonders how they are.
 
A while back I ran across a blog by some lady who took motorcycle trips there occasionally. Her dad had some sort of clearance that allowed her to get in there on her own and explore. She cautioned people who take tours to stay in the middle of the road.

EDIT: Ah, here it is. That was easy to find!

It literally is Fallout. Crazy.
 
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watermelonpunch
I didn't know about the new shell being built. A very interesting topic.
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They have been planning the shell for ages, almost since the accident happened and the project still hasn't even started. I hope with renewed interest in nuclear safety they will finally start building it.

I find Chernobyl fascinating and there are many great documentaries on YouTube about it. I also find the Duga 3 array really interesting and kinda spooky. That whole area is just one big question mark!

watermelonpunch
Even more interesting I found, the surprising amount of wildlife that habitat the area... and one wonders how they are.
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They say the radiation has actually altered and improved certain animals and vegetation allowing it to flourish, scientists have documented slight genetic mutations. Also the lack of humans has done wonders.

Daniel
I'd like to have a day trip there, just to see what a ghost town that big will be like.
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Same here, they do coach trips there and it would really a weird experience I'm sure. Somehow the pitch of going to Chernobyl on holiday hasn't really been appealing to others :lol:

Robin.
 
Keef
A while back I ran across a blog by some lady who took motorcycle trips there occasionally. Her dad had some sort of clearance that allowed her to get in there on her own and explore. She cautioned people who take tours to stay in the middle of the road.

EDIT: Ah, here it is. That was easy to find!

It literally is Fallout. Crazy.
Click to expand...

I have just read the whole of that website, stuff like this really intrequies me, how different life in the soviet era must have been, and how it is as it was 20+ years ago.

I would definately want to go there, its quite amazing how the radioactivity increases with every pace close to the reactor, and how it goes off the scale if you go onto the dirt (hence why that person doesn't ride with a partner to could kick up dust).
 
Our country was dumb enough to give captain corruption Putin of Russia billions of dollars to start building a new containment shell which of course was cough, cough misplaced and never found again!
 
Robin.
They say the radiation has actually altered and improved certain animals and vegetation allowing it to flourish, scientists have documented slight genetic mutations. Also the lack of humans has done wonders.
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That's what I've read... The lack of humans is probably nothing but great for the wildlife. But I can't help wondering... they must change genetically, no? I'm pretty sure DNA is broken down, or changed somehow, by radiation.
I think that's why radiation exposure leads to higher risk of cancer, but I'm not clear on the details.

Anyway, it just goes to show that humans can't "destroy the planet" in the sense that ... sure humans could someday muck it up so bad humans can't survive... But that doesn't mean something else won't! (Like cockroaches, they're apparently really hardy!) And all that will be left of human trace in some thousands of years will be the astronaut poo bags left on the moon.
 
People still work at the plant, and it kept producing power until 2000. Chernobyl is still inhabited by the plant workers (the have to maintain its de-commission) along with some hotel businesses, restaurants, etc.

Only reactor 4 was covered up, the others kept working for 14 years until Ukraine was finally persuaded to shut them down. In 1991 there was a big fire near reactor 2. 1 & 2 were both old first generation reactors that were more dangerous and very hard on the environment apparently. Although it argued by the nuclear industry that its not.

The Ghost town is Prypiat, which was 3 km from the plant. As far as radiation being good for wildlife, lol. The levels arent that high so many years after the concrete sarcophagus was built.
 
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I think Pripyat is amazing, as it is frozen in CCCP 1986. I would be curious to see it repaired but untouched as it would be a historical museum for future generations.

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As for the new reactor cover:



Edit: Apparently this is a before and after of the Pripyat Pool

After 1986

pripyat-baths.jpg
 
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Agreed. The town should be kept as a historical artefact for future generations (while keeping the radiation at bay :) )
 
Tesla
Agreed. The town should be kept as a historical artefact for future generations (while keeping the radiation at bay :) )
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👍 I know it looks cool as it is abandoned now but after a few years nature will take over it completely and there will be nothing of it. So I'm hoping that in the near future when radiation levels drop the town will be repaired to the way it was in 1986 with no more or less. As a tourist destination/museum of course.
 
Chernobyl was a terrible yet fascinating event.

I lived in northern Italy at the time the disaster happened, I was little, pre-kindergarten age and I remember for weeks I was not allowed to go outside and schools shut down. Also I remember i developed a taste for long life milk because you could not drink fresh milk for fear of radiation poisoning.

The site with the bike rider going through what's left of the area is downright incredible!
 
Keef
A while back I ran across a blog by some lady who took motorcycle trips there occasionally. Her dad had some sort of clearance that allowed her to get in there on her own and explore. She cautioned people who take tours to stay in the middle of the road.

EDIT: Ah, here it is. That was easy to find!

It literally is Fallout. Crazy.
Click to expand...

Some of those pictures were amazing. It really makes you wonder what those people saw that morning. It surely would have been a sight seeing all those common objects exposed to radiation and glowing like the trees. Spooky stuff.
 
It would be too dangerous for workers to reconstruct the place. Long-term exposure isn't safe without protection and a geiger counter when you venture off the asphalt. Metals especially have still retained a good bit of radiation.
 
I read all the pages on the kid of speed.com blog. Cool seeing all that old stuff, and right before the labor day parade. Creepy seeing the high rise that they all stood on top of to watch the glowing radioactive cloud. :scared:

I like how the communists started giving out free drinks so people would show up and vote. :sly: I would pay $200 bucks to walk right up to the sarcophagus and then glow in the dark later that night. Sweet.
 
Ha, it kind of makes you wonder how amazing the nuclear lightshow was. So many people gathered on the highrise and the bridge to watch it.

I watched a documentary about the wildlife in the area a few years ago. Now the containment fences have fallen and animals can come and go as they please - inside the fences it is a haven for young animals to grow up, due to all the shelter available. Even the bears that hibernate underground (where radiation is stored) haven't shown signs of mutation. It is re-writing our understanding of the effects large doses of radiation have on animals over long periods of exposure.
 
That site is incredible. I do kinda feel sorry for all the people who stood on the bridge and essentially killed themselves. Plus the thing about the radioactive fog in the park.

I do hope they replace the sarcophagus soon. Especially if it's collapse would leas to Europe being water-less...
 
ryanb98
That site is incredible. I do kinda feel sorry for all the people who stood on the bridge and essentially killed themselves. Plus the thing about the radioactive fog in the park.

I do hope they replace the sarcophagus soon. Especially if it's collapse would leas to Europe being water-less...
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A sarcophagus won't help if it's an underground problem.
 
Wow, Chernobyl incident...

If it isn't another reason why some countries don't want to take risk for developing nuclear energy, and reserving a good energy supply to every corner of their nation...
 
Easily the most scariest place in the world. Wouldn't you get radiation sickness if you start to glow?
 
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Tesla
Agreed. The town should be kept as a historical artefact for future generations (while keeping the radiation at bay :) )
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Although the nuclear accident posed a tremendous risk of entrance around the site which made it almost impossible to fix the damaged shelter until years after and told us lessons as to use of nuclear energy, the buildings are left open as they are, as the last historical museum representing the age of Soviet Union(USSR, in 20th century) in existence.
 
YellowBird23
Although the nuclear accident posed a tremendous risk of entrance around the site which made it almost impossible to fix the damaged shelter until years after and told us lessons as to use of nuclear energy, the buildings are left open as they are, as the last historical museum representing the age of Soviet Union(USSR, in 20th century) in existence.
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The reason the area is still mostly uninhabited is because of the radiation levels (especially in the ground, where it seeps into water supplies). As soon as it is deemed as inhabitable you can bet it will be redeveloped and people will move back in there. I doubt it will preserved as cool as that would be.

There are still a fair few Soviet buildings and monuments standing throughout what was the U.S.S.R, one of the most impressive being the 'Woodpecker'. Check it out before it collapses!
 
I know this weird but Chernobyl is apparently haunted.:scared:I saw Destinition Truth and they went there to see if it was haunted.They used the thermal image and they saw some human figures around the place.
 

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