In August 2017, one of my favorite photographers, Sean Gallup, visited the Chernobyl zone, who brought many unique photographs from the ChEZ, including those taken from a quadcopter. I myself was in Chernobyl this summer and filmed the Chernobyl zone with a drone, which I talked about in a photo report about, but in general I filmed in other places than Sean.
And in this post you will also read about one interesting project related to the dogs of Chernobyl - of which, according to scientists, about 900 individuals live there. Come under the cut, it's interesting)
02. The central part of the city of Pripyat, in the foreground you can see a two-story department store building, which also (on the right) housed a restaurant. In the background, perhaps the most famous residential buildings of Pripyat are visible - two sixteen-story buildings, one with the coat of arms of the Ukrainian SSR, the second with the coat of arms of the USSR. I talked about what is happening now inside one of these sixteen-story buildings.
03. The roof of a sixteen-story building. Pay attention to the relatively good condition of the roof covering.
04. Another photograph of the central part of Pripyat, it clearly shows how the city is overgrown - the buildings are practically invisible due to the forest already fully formed on the territory of the city (with tiers and ecosystem). On the balconies of Pripyat apartments, they love to build nests of swallows, and I once discovered one nest directly.
05. The roof of the House of Culture "Energetik", which at one time was a very futuristic building - huge windows with aluminum frames, a light foyer, decorated with tuff fashionable at that time, socialist realist frescoes on the entire wall. Frames from all windows have long been removed and taken away "for non-ferrous metals", the building is gradually deteriorating.
06. Photo "Energetika", taken from the lobby of the hotel "Polesie", which is also located on the central square of the city. This foyer is very popular with photographers because of the huge panoramic windows on the wall.
07. Ferris wheel in an amusement park in Pripyat. Another "Chernobyl myth" and a journalistic stamp is associated with this wheel, which I did not mention in the post about - supposedly this wheel never turned on, since its launch was scheduled for May 1, 1986, and on April 27 the entire city was evacuated. This is not entirely true - the official opening of the entire amusement park was planned on May 1, but the wheel was built a relatively long time ago and repeatedly made "test runs", rolling everyone - this can be seen, among other things, in pre-accident photographs from Pripyat.
08. And these are the famous cooling towers of the Third Stage, which are located right on the territory of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The "third stage" refers to the two unfinished power units of the station, which were supposed to be commissioned in the late 1980s, after which the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was supposed to become the largest nuclear power plant in the USSR.
09. The unfinished cooling tower of the fifth block close-up. Why was this design needed? First, you need to say a few words about the design of a nuclear power plant - the reactor can be imagined as a huge boiler that heats water and produces steam that rotates the turbines of generators. After passing through the turbine hall with steam generators, the water needs to be somehow cooled - while there were only 4 power units at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, an artificial reservoir - the so-called cooling pond - successfully coped with this. The pond would not have been enough for the 5th and 6th power units, and therefore cooling towers were planned.
The cooling tower is something like a hollow concrete tube in the form of a truncated cone with sloping sides. Hot water gets under this "pipe", after which it starts to evaporate. Condensation forms on the walls of the cooling tower, which falls down in the form of drops - until the drops reach the surface of the water, they have time to cool down - which is why cooling towers are built so high.
10. Very good photograph with the cooling towers and the new sarcophagus of the Fourth block in the background. Pay attention to what a huge territory the Chernobyl nuclear power plant occupies - the power transmission towers in the haze near the horizon also belong to the station.
11. Photographed Sean and dogs, which are found in large numbers at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, in Pripyat and the surrounding area. They say that these dogs are direct descendants of domestic animals, abandoned by the inhabitants of Pripyat in April 1986.
12. Chernobyl dogs right next to Unit 4:
14. Uncle aims at the dog from the pneumotube. Do not be alarmed, this is not a dog hunter at all - he is a scientist and participant of the "Dogs of Chernobyl" program, he shoots a dog with a special sedative.
15. This is what a syringe with a tranquilizer looks like, which is used to shoot a dog. Why is this done? Firstly, in this way, the participants of the "Dogs of Chernbyl" program help sick and wounded animals - they are examined by a vererinar and, if necessary, performs various operations.
16. Secondly, scientists are investigating the effects of radiation on dogs and on living tissues. Sleeping dogs are placed under devices that very accurately record the radiation contamination of tissues, as well as perform a spectral analysis of this contamination - thanks to this, it is possible to determine which radioactive elements are involved in the contamination of certain tissues.
17. Does radiation affect the life of dogs? Yes and no. On the one hand, cesium and strontium do accumulate in the dog's body, but for a short period of its life (no more than 7-10 years in the wild) they simply do not have time to do anything.
18. So, in general, the dogs in Chernobyl live pretty well)
Well, and the traditional question - would you go on an excursion to the Chernobyl zone? If not, why not?
Tell us interesting.
A sad lesson for humanity - Chernobyl before and after the accident, which affected almost the whole world - is not over yet. A large power plant located not far from the Ukrainian town of Pripyat still attracts the attention of the whole world. But April 26, 1986 is thirty years from today!
What do we see
Chernobyl before the accident and after the accident are two different locations. When the fourth power unit exploded, the evacuation of the entire population immediately began, and all the nearest villages and cities, just filled with life, simple joys and sorrows, were empty forever. It is not known when life will reappear in these places. Now there are broken windows of empty buildings with everyday objects abandoned to their fate.
All roads and sidewalks are overgrown with wild plants, and even the walls of houses have sprouted seeds that have fallen on them. This is what the apocalypse will look like. But Chernobyl before the accident and after the accident is fundamentally different. Once upon a time in Pripyat it was spacious, life was in full swing, schools and kindergartens rang with children's voices, and then they had to run away in panic, saving the children. And only abandoned children's things and toys remind that happiness once lived here.
Compared
Chernobyl before the accident and after the accident is an interesting subject of study for future generations, so that man-made disasters do not repeat themselves in the future. Two years earlier, an even more dire disaster had occurred in India, in Bhopal. These two disasters differ from each other in that the Indian could have been prevented. Life in these territories is also impossible. Such tragedies should not happen, but they happen almost all the time. The Chernobyl nuclear power plant did not bring more destructive disaster that happened after the tsunami in the Japanese city of Fukushima in 2011, there was at least the seventh level of the international scale of radiation accidents.
In 2010, an oil platform exploded in the Gulf of Mexico (Louisiana, USA), and this man-made disaster even more negatively affected the environmental situation in the world. Fewer people died, but many millions of barrels of oil poured into the bay, the slick reached seventy-five thousand square kilometers, where all living things died. People living on a coastline about two thousand kilometers long fell ill in great numbers. Even on the Gulf Stream, this disaster did not respond well. It's a shame that April 26, 1986 was far from the last black day on the human calendar. Unfortunately, people are more and more in need of financial gain, for the sake of which the nature of the unique planet Earth suffers.
Chernobyl nuclear power plant
When the explosion thundered, poisonous radioactive substances poured into the air, and some areas had a background of pollution a thousand times higher than the standard. Chernobyl (the consequences of the accident can be seen not only in photographs, of which there are a great many on the Internet) today you can see with your own eyes. It is already possible to visit Pripyat with excursions, which have been gaining popularity in recent years.
To see houses in which they have not lived for thirty years, fields that previously flourished and fructifying, the Pripyat River, where catfish of unprecedented size live, since fish is not allowed. Even wild animals - wolves and foxes, who settled in the forests after the disaster, are not afraid of people. Probably the safest place to live for them in our time is Chernobyl after the accident. Animals take food from human hands, even those that normally have a mistrustful or ferocious disposition.
History
A picturesque and exceptionally cute corner of central Ukraine with lush fields and pastures, where a peaceful and calm life was in full swing, at one point turned into a deadly desert. Here people blessed the richly bearing fruit and vegetables black soil, rejoiced at the harvest, worked hard - in villages and small towns where enterprises existed, and most of the local residents were given jobs by Chernobyl itself. 30 years after the accident changed literally everything in the history of this region.
The photo shows lively, even festively-minded people, couples with children, with baby carriages, everyone is extremely beautifully and smartly dressed, on their faces there are smiles full of happy peace. Another photo shows the same city, the same street, the same park. But this is a city that has become a ghost. Darkness and desolation, apocalypse in reality. They no longer sell ice cream and the attractions do not work there. Perhaps these changes are forever. How long can you not live in Chernobyl after the accident? Even the opinions of scientists differ. But some people in the exclusion zone already live, and permanently.
Causes of the accident
The definition of all the reasons is still a controversial issue. Professionals have split into two camps, where the views on the cause of the destruction of the installation are the most opposite. Two opinions are considered, in which the whole of Chernobyl is investigated in the deepest way. The causes of the accident are seen, firstly, on the part of the designers, and secondly, on the part of the operating personnel.
Naturally, both of them accuse each other of insufficient professionalism. In the thirty years that have passed since the disaster, discussions have not ceased, and the root causes of such a large-scale accident are still vague. And over the years, versions appear more and more sophisticated.
The construction of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant began in 1967, in winter. Lands were chosen of lower productivity, but with excellent water supply, transport and the possibility of creating a protective sanitary zone. In the summer of 1969, reactors were already delivered to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The developers were the institutes "Teploproekt" and "Hydroproject". In the winter of 1970, the construction of a satellite city, the capital of a peaceful atom, Pripyat, begins. In April 1972, the birthday of the new city came, named after the most beautiful river on the banks of which it is located. In 1977, the first power unit was adjusted and started operation. Everything collapsed in 1986.
Effects
The liquidators in Chernobyl are still working, and this activity will never completely end. There is no need to believe the tales of two-headed bunnies that jump on the former sidewalks of Pripyat, as well as information about the thousandth victims of the accident. There are no mutant people in abandoned buildings attacking lonely sightseers.
Radiation sickness kills, but in no way can cause supernatural abilities - five meters in height or possession of telekinesis. The trees got tall, yes. Because they have a lot of space and sun, no one touches them, and thirty years have passed. However, the consequences of the disaster are not only dire, they are for the most part irreversible.
Nuclear industry
She suffered a crushing blow. In addition to the fact that many of the weaknesses of the nuclear power industry have become known, the world community could not find out the specifics of this. From here the most incredible rumors arose, protest movements arose.
The design stopped and the construction of new nuclear power plants was mothballed until the moment when scientists can clearly explain how the Chernobyl disaster happened and why. This affected not only the USSR, but all of Western Europe and America. For sixteen years, not a single nuclear power plant in the world has been built.
Legislation
After the accident, it became impossible to hide the real scale of the disasters and their consequences, since the corresponding laws were adopted. The deliberate concealment of the threat and consequences of man-made disasters now provides for criminal liability.
Information and information of an extraordinary nature - demographic, sanitary-epidemiological, meteorological, ecological - can no longer be a state secret, and also cannot be classified. Only open access can ensure the safety of the population and industrial and other facilities.
Ecology
As a result of the accident, a huge amount of cesium-137, strontium-90, iodine-131, radioisotopes of plutonium was released into the atmosphere, and the release lasted for several days. All open areas of the city - streets, walls and roofs, roadways - were contaminated. Therefore, the thirty-kilometer zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was evacuated and has not yet been populated. All areas where crops were grown became unusable.
Many dozens of collective and state farms, farms far beyond the thirty-kilometer zone, have been closed, since radioactive substances can migrate along food chains, then accumulating in the human body. The entire agro-industrial complex suffered significant losses. Now radionuclides in the soil do not have such a concentration, but most of the abandoned land is not yet used. Also, water bodies that were located directly near the nuclear power plant turned out to be contaminated. However, this type of radionuclide has a short decay period, so the waters and soils there have long been close to normal.
Afterword
Scientists all over the world admit that Chernobyl was a gigantic experiment for them, no matter how blasphemous it may sound. It is simply impossible to carry out such an experiment on purpose. For example, in a molten reactor, a crystal was found from a substance that does not exist on earth. It was named Chernobyl.
But this is not the main thing. Now all over the world, the safety systems of nuclear power plants have become many times more complex. Now a new sarcophagus is being built over the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. One and a half billion dollars was collected by the world community for its construction.
April 26 - Day of Remembrance of those killed in radiation accidents and disasters. This year marks 27 years since the Chernobyl disaster - the largest ever nuclear power in the world.
A whole generation has grown up that has not seen this terrible tragedy, but on this day we traditionally remember Chernobyl. After all, only by remembering the mistakes of the past, one can hope not to repeat them in the future.
In 1986, an explosion thundered at the Chernobyl reactor No. 4, and several hundred workers and firefighters tried to extinguish the fire that burned for 10 days. The world was enveloped in a cloud of radiation. Then about 50 station employees were killed and hundreds of rescuers were injured. It is still difficult to determine the scale of the disaster and its impact on human health - from 4,000 to 200,000 people died from cancer, which developed as a result of the radiation dose received. Pripyat and the surrounding areas will remain unsafe for human habitation for several centuries.
This 1986 aerial photograph of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, shows the destruction from the explosion and fire of Reactor 4 on April 26, 1986. As a result of the explosion and the fire that followed, a huge amount of radioactive substances were released into the atmosphere. Ten years after the world's largest nuclear disaster, the power plant continued to operate due to an acute shortage of electricity in Ukraine. The final shutdown of the power plant took place only in 2000. (AP Photo / Volodymyr Repik)
On October 11, 1991, with a decrease in the speed of turbine generator No. 4 of the second power unit for its subsequent shutdown and withdrawal of the SPP-44 separator-superheater for repair, an accident and fire occurred. This photograph, taken during a visit by journalists to the station on October 13, 1991, shows part of the collapsed roof of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, destroyed by fire. (AP Photo / Efrm Lucasky)
Aerial view of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, after the largest nuclear disaster in the history of mankind. The picture was taken three days after the explosion at the nuclear power plant in 1986. The destroyed 4th reactor is located in front of the chimney. (AP Photo)
Photo from the February issue of the magazine "Soviet Life": the main hall of the 1st power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on April 29, 1986 in Chernobyl (Ukraine). The Soviet Union admitted that an accident had occurred at the power plant, but did not provide additional information. (AP Photo)
A Swedish farmer removes the straw contaminated by rainfall a few months after the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in June 1986. (STF / AFP / Getty Images)
A Soviet medical worker examines an unknown child who was evacuated from the nuclear disaster zone to the Kopelovo state farm near Kiev on May 11, 1986. The photograph was taken during a trip organized by the Soviet authorities to show how they dealt with the accident. (AP Photo / Boris Yurchenko)
Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev (center) and his wife Raisa Gorbacheva during a conversation with the leadership of the nuclear power plant on February 23, 1989. This was the first visit by a Soviet leader to the station after the accident in April 1986. (AFP PHOTO / TASS)
Kievans queue up for forms before being checked for radiation contamination after the Chernobyl disaster, in Kiev on May 9, 1986. (AP Photo / Boris Yurchenko)
A boy reads an ad on the closed gate of a playground in Wiesbaden on May 5, 1986, which reads: "This playground is temporarily closed." A week after the explosion of a nuclear reactor in Chernobyl on April 26, 1986, the Wiesbaden municipal council closed all playgrounds after detecting radioactivity levels from 124 to 280 becquerels. (AP Photo / Frank Rumpenhorst)
One of the engineers who worked at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant undergoes a medical examination at the Lesnaya Polyana sanatorium on May 15, 1986, a few weeks after the explosion. (STF / AFP / Getty Images)
Environmental activists mark railroad cars containing radiation-contaminated whey powder. Photo taken in Bremen, northern Germany on February 6, 1987. The serum, which was brought to Bremen for onward transport to Egypt, was produced after the Chernobyl accident and was contaminated with radioactive fallout. (AP Photo / Peter Meyer)
A slaughterhouse worker places fitness stamps on cow carcasses in Frankfurt am Main, West Germany, May 12, 1986. According to the decision of the Minister of Social Affairs of the federal state of Hesse, after the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, all meat was subjected to radiation control. (AP Photo / Kurt Strumpf / stf)
Archive photo dated April 14, 1998. Workers of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant walk past the control panel of the destroyed 4th power unit of the plant. On April 26, 2006, Ukraine celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, which affected the fate of millions of people, demanded astronomical costs from international funds and became an ominous symbol of the danger of atomic energy. (AFP PHOTO / GENIA SAVILOV)
The picture taken on April 14, 1998 shows the control panel of the 4th power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (AFP PHOTO / GENIA SAVILOV)
Workers who took part in the construction of a cement sarcophagus covering the Chernobyl reactor, in a memorable photo in 1986, next to an unfinished construction site. According to the "Union of Chernobyl of Ukraine" thousands of people who took part in the liquidation of the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster, died from the consequences of radiation contamination, from which they suffered during their work. (AP Photo / Volodymyr Repik)
High-voltage towers near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on June 20, 2000 in Chernobyl. (AP Photo / Efrem Lukatsky)
A nuclear reactor operator on duty records control readings at the site of the only operating reactor # 3 on Tuesday 20 June 2000. Andrei Shauman angrily poked in the direction of a switch hidden under a sealed metal cover on the control panel of the reactor in Chernobyl, a nuclear power plant whose name has become synonymous with nuclear disaster. “This is the same switch with which you can turn off the reactor. For 2 thousand dollars, I will allow anyone to press this button when the time comes, "- said then Shauman, acting chief engineer. When that very time came on December 15, 2000, environmental activists, governments and ordinary people around the world breathed a sigh of calm. However, for 5800 Chernobyl workers, it was a day of mourning. (AP Photo / Efrem Lukatsky)
17-year-old Oksana Gaibon (right) and 15-year-old Alla Kozimerka, injured in the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, are being treated with infrared rays at the Tarara Children's Hospital in the Cuban capital. Oksana and Alla, like hundreds of other Russian and Ukrainian teenagers who received a dose of radiation, were treated for free in Cuba as part of a humanitarian project. (ADALBERTO ROQUE / AFP)
Photo dated April 18, 2006. A child during treatment at the Center for Pediatric Oncology and Hematology, which was built in Minsk after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. On the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, representatives of the Red Cross reported that they were faced with a lack of funds for further assistance to the victims of the Chernobyl disaster. (VIKTOR DRACHEV / AFP / Getty Images)
View of the city of Pripyat and the fourth reactor of Chernobyl on December 15, 2000, the day of the complete shutdown of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (Photo by Yuri Kozyrev / Newsmakers)
A Ferris wheel and a merry-go-round at a deserted amusement park in the ghost town of Pripyat next to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on May 26, 2003. The population of Pripyat, which in 1986 was 45,000 people, was completely evacuated within the first three days after the explosion of the 4th reactor No. 4. The explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant thundered at 1:23 am on April 26, 1986. The resulting radioactive cloud damaged much of Europe. According to various estimates, from 15 to 30 thousand people later died as a result of radiation exposure. More than 2.5 million inhabitants of Ukraine suffer from diseases acquired as a result of radiation, and about 80 thousand of them receive benefits. (AFP PHOTO / SERGEI SUPINSKY)
In the photo dated May 26, 2003: an abandoned amusement park in the city of Pripyat, which is located next to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (AFP PHOTO / SERGEI SUPINSKY)
Photo from May 26, 2003: gas masks on the floor of a classroom in one of the schools in the ghost town of Pripyat, which is located near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (AFP PHOTO / SERGEI SUPINSKY)
In the photo dated May 26, 2003: a TV case in the room of one of the hotels in the city of Pripyat, which is located not far from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (AFP PHOTO / SERGEI SUPINSKY)
View of the ghost town of Pripyat in the vicinity of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (AFP PHOTO / SERGEI SUPINSKY)
Photo from January 25, 2006: an abandoned classroom in one of the schools of the deserted city of Pripyat near Chernobyl, Ukraine. Pripyat and the surrounding areas will remain unsafe for human habitation for several centuries. Scientists estimate that the complete decomposition of the most dangerous radioactive elements will take about 900 years. (Photo by Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images)
Textbooks and notebooks on the floor of a school in the ghost town of Pripyat on January 25, 2006. (Photo by Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images)
Dusty toys and a gas mask at a former elementary school in the abandoned city of Pripyat on January 25, 2006. (Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images)
In the photo on January 25, 2006: an abandoned gymnasium of one of the schools of the deserted city of Pripyat. (Photo by Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images)
What's left of a school gym in the abandoned city of Pripyat. January 25, 2006. (Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images)
A woman with piglets in the deserted Belarusian village of Tulgovichi, 370 km southeast of Minsk, April 7, 2006. This village is located within a 30-kilometer zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (AFP PHOTO / VIKTOR DRACHEV)
A resident of the Belarusian village of Novoselki, located just outside the 30-kilometer exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, in the photo from April 7, 2006. (AFP PHOTO / VIKTOR DRACHEV)
On April 6, 2006, an employee of the Belarusian radiation-ecological reserve measures the level of radiation in the Belarusian village of Vorotets, which is located within a 30-kilometer zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (VIKTOR DRACHEV / AFP / Getty Images)
Residents of the village of Ilyintsy in a closed area around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, about 100 km from Kiev, walk past the rescuers of the Ministry of Emergencies of Ukraine, who are rehearsing before a concert on April 5, 2006. Rescuers organized an amateur concert dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster for more than three hundred people (mostly elderly people) who returned to illegal residence in villages located in the exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (SERGEI SUPINSKY / AFP / Getty Images)
The remaining residents of the abandoned Belarusian village Tulgovichi, located in a 30-kilometer exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, on April 7, 2006, celebrate the Orthodox holiday of the Annunciation of the Virgin. Before the accident, about 2,000 people lived in the village, and now there are only eight left. (AFP PHOTO / VIKTOR DRACHEV)
A worker at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant measures the level of radiation using a stationary radiation monitoring system at the exit from the power plant building after office hours on April 12, 2006. (AFP PHOTO / GENIA SAVILOV)
A construction team wearing masks and special protective suits April 12, 2006 during work to strengthen the sarcophagus covering the destroyed 4th reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (AFP PHOTO / GENIA SAVILOV)
On April 12, 2006, workers sweep away radioactive dust in front of the sarcophagus covering the damaged 4th reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Due to the high level of radiation, the brigades only work for a few minutes. (GENIA SAVILOV / AFP / Getty Images)
"Post from the Past": Today, April 26, marks the 26th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster. In 1986, an explosion thundered at the Chernobyl reactor No. 4, and several hundred workers and firefighters tried to extinguish the fire that burned for 10 days. The world was enveloped in a cloud of radiation, it was the worst nuclear disaster in the world. Then about 50 station employees died and hundreds of rescuers were injured. It is still difficult to determine the scale of the disaster and its impact on human health - from 4,000 to 200,000 people died from cancer, which developed as a result of the radiation dose received. Earlier this year, the Ukrainian government announced that it is going to narrow the radius that tourists can approach the territory of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. In the meantime, the steel hull, called the New Safe Confinement, weighing 20,000 tons, is expected to be completed by 2013.
(39 photos total)
1. A military helicopter carries out decontamination and degassing over the area around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, a few days after the explosion at reactor No. 4. (STF / AFP / Getty Images)
2. Aerial view of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, where the largest man-made disaster of the 20th century occurred, in April 1986. In front of the pipe is the destroyed fourth reactor. Behind the pipe and very close to the 4th reactor was the third reactor, on which work ceased on December 6, 2000. (AP Photo)
3. Repairs at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine on October 1, 1986 after the largest explosion in April, which affected 3,235,984 Ukrainians, and radioactive clouds enveloped most of Europe. (ZUFAROV / AFP / Getty Images)
4. Part of the collapsed roof at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant after the fire on October 13, 1991. (AP Photo / Efrm Lucasky)
5. Lieutenant Colonel Leonid Telyatnikov, head of the Pripyat fire brigade that fought the fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, points to a photograph of the fourth reactor after the explosion on April 26, 1986. After that, the reactor was filled with cement. Telyatnikov, 36, was hospitalized for two months with acute radiation sickness. He was twice awarded for courage, received the title of Hero of the USSR. (Reuters)
7. Employee of the Institute of Atomic Energy. Kurchatov in the rays of the sun streaming into the cement-filled room of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant after the explosion of the reactor on September 15, 1989, three years after the disaster. (AP Photo / Mikhail Metzel)
8. A worker of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant checks the radiation level in the engine compartment of the first and second power units on June 5, 1986. (Reuters)
9. A cemetery for irradiated equipment near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on November 10, 2000. About 1,350 Soviet military helicopters, buses, bulldozers, tanks, transporters, fire trucks and ambulances were used to combat the aftermath of the man-made disaster at Chernobyl. All of them were irradiated during the cleaning work. (AP Photo / Efrem Lukatsky)
10. Employee of the Institute of Atomic Energy. Kurchatov in the mechanic's room in block 4 on September 15, 1989. (AP Photo / Mikhail Metzel)
11. A nurse at a Warsaw hospital tries to instill iodine solution in a three-year-old girl in May 1986. After the Chernobyl disaster, in many neighboring countries, all possible measures were taken against possible radiation damage. (AP Photo / Czarek Sokolowski)
12. Concrete mixers at a construction site where concrete sarcophagi are made, near the fourth reactor in October 1986. (Reuters)
13. Representative of the Ukrainian Academy of Science Vyacheslav Konovalov with a stuffed mutated foal in Zhitomir on March 11, 1996. Konovalov studied biological mutations after the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The stallion was nicknamed "Gorbachev" after Konovalov brought a full-length photograph of the poor animal to the Supreme Council in 1988 to show Mikhail Gorbachev the aftermath of the disaster. (AP Photo / Efrem Lukatsky)
14. Statue of Vladimir Lenin in a small park in the port of Chernobyl, near the frozen Pripyat River January 29, 2006. The Chernobyl port was abandoned shortly after the 1986 disaster. (Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images)
16. Screen of the control unit of the first power room at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which shows the process of unloading the last batch of nuclear fuel from the reactor on November 30, 2006. (SERGEI SUPINSKY / AFP / Getty Images)
17. Raven on the sign "Radiation hazard" in the 30-kilometer exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, near the village of Babchin, December 23, 2009. (Reuters / Vasily Fedosenko) #
18. Ukrainian schoolchildren put on masks during a training session at a school near the restricted area on April 3, 2006. (AP Photo / Oded Balilty)
20. Ferris wheel in the ghost town of Pripyat, which was evacuated after the explosion. (Reuters / Gleb Garanich) #
21. A cradle in a hospital in the abandoned city of Pripyat, in the restricted area around the closed Chernobyl nuclear power plant, April 2, 2006. The city of Pripyat with a population of 47 thousand people was completely evacuated within a few days after the incident. (AP Photo / Oded Balilty)
23. A guide with a dosimeter at which the radiation level is 12 times higher than usual. A girl from behind takes pictures of the concrete sarcophagi of the destroyed fourth block of the nuclear power plant. Every year, thousands of people come to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, where in April 1986 the largest man-made disaster of the century occurred. (GENYA SAVILOV / AFP / Getty Images)
24. Crying 67-year-old Nastasia Vasilyeva at her home in the disaster-affected village of Radnyya in the restricted area, 45 km from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Dozens of settlements and villages in the contaminated zone were deserted, and their residents were evacuated. However, despite warnings about radiation, many residents returned to their homes, as they were unable to settle down elsewhere. (AP Photo / Sergey Ponomarev)
25. A Ukrainian with a dog on the street of a ghost town in Chernobyl on April 13, 2006. (Reuters / Gleb Garanich) #
26. An abandoned house in the deserted village of Redkovka, 35 km from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, March 30, 2006. (AP Photo / Sergey Ponomarev)
27. A wolf in a field in the restricted area around the reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, near the village of Babchin. Wild animals in the restricted area have been breeding despite the radiation as people have left the area. (Reuters / Vasily Fedosenko) #
28. A man lights a candle at the monument to the victims of Chernobyl in Slavutych, 50 km from the disaster site, where most of the station's workers used to live. (SERGEI SUPINSKY / AFP / Getty Images)
29. Photos of workers of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, military and firefighters who worked immediately after the explosion in 1986, in a museum in Kiev. (Reuters / Gleb Garanich) #
30. Reactor No. 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. On the left is the monument to Chernobyl, erected in 2006. Photo taken on May 10, 2007. (AP Photo / Efrem Lukatsky)
31. A worker with a drilling rig checks the sarcophagi in reactor No. 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (Reuters)
32. MCR (block control panel) of the 4th power unit. Geiger counters recorded about 80 thousand micro-roentgen per hour, which is 4 thousand times higher than the safe level. (AP Photo / Efrem Lukatsky, file)
33. An employee of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the control room of reactor No. 4 on February 24, 2011 on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the largest man-made disaster. (SERGEI SUPINSKY / AFP / Getty Images)
34. Graffiti on the wall of a building in the ghost town of Pripyat on February 22, 2011. (SERGEI SUPINSKY / AFP / Getty Images)
35. One of the buildings inside in the abandoned city of Pripyat. (Reuters / Gleb Garanich) #
36. A man in his former home in the restricted area around Chernobyl, in the village of Lomysh, southeast of Minsk, March 18, 2011. (Reuters / Vasily Fedosenko) #
37. Nine-year-old Anya Savenok, who was born disabled due to radiation, in her house in the village of Strakholesye, just outside the restricted area on April 1, 2006. (Reuters / Damir Sagolj) #
38. A girl walks past a sign at a fire station depicting the time, temperature and radiation background in Vladivostok March 16, 2011. (Reuters / Yuri Maltsev) #
39. Eight-year-old Ukrainian Vika Chervinska, suffering from cancer, with her mother in a Kiev hospital on April 18, 2006. In its 2006 report, Greenpeace noted that more than 90,000 people are likely to die from cancer from radiation exposure following the Chernobyl disaster. Although previous UN reports reported that the death rate for this reason will not exceed 4 thousand people. The different conclusions highlight the persistent uncertainty over the sequence of the world's largest man-made disaster on human health. April 26 this year will be exactly 25 years since the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. (AP Photo / Oded Balilty)
The Chernobyl tragedy is a sad lesson for all mankind, which has affected almost the entire world. A huge power plant, which is located near the small Ukrainian city of Pripyat, attracted attention due to the fact that in the spring of 1986 a loud explosion sounded here. The next day, the evacuation of the local population began, and after a short time the city of Pripyat and nearby towns and villages were emptied forever. Chernobyl before and after the accident is a curious but terrible sight, which seems to scream that this tragedy should not have happened.
The largest man-made disaster in the history of the "peaceful atom" occurred on April 26, 1986, forever burying the opportunity to live in that area. Chernobyl before and after we can see now only in the photo. You can see modern Chernobyl with your own eyes if you go to, which are becoming more and more popular nowadays.
When the explosion thundered, many poisonous reactive substances were thrown into the air, and in some places the level of pollution was thousands of times higher than the standard background radiation. Then it became clear that after all this a new world came, a world that would be worse, dirtier, and, of course, would no longer be subject to human life. Chernobyl today is a land where it is no longer possible to sow, plow, swim, fish; these are houses that had to be abandoned because they are uninhabitable.
Maybe someday it will be possible to live in Pripyat again, but definitely not in our time. Now all that we can see is empty buildings with broken windows, abandoned children's toys, forgotten household items. People then fled in panic, threw everything that was dear to their hearts, forgot about their homes, about their home. Chernobyl before and after is an absolute contrast between the past of the USSR and the frozen future of Ukraine.
History of Chernobyl before and after the accident
As we have described in previous articles, the history of Chernobyl is quite rich and eventful. If we compare Chernobyl before and after the accident, then once this region was a lovely, picturesque corner where people were engaged in agricultural activities and worked in factories. No one even thought that one day there would come a moment that would literally turn the fate of thousands of people. After the accident, Chernobyl turned from an area that was once full of life into a desert territory inaccessible to humans for the next 25 thousand years.
For those who want to learn more about the Chernobyl area before and after, but who do not have the opportunity to go on an excursion to see everything with their own eyes, it will be interesting to see the consequences of Chernobyl, photos of which are posted in this article and in sufficient quantity on the Internet. It will be possible to compare those photographs in order to assess how much the small city has changed, which for some was the whole world.
For example, the street photo in the first photo shows a busy crowd. Here is a group of young people on the square near the Palace of Culture, couples with strollers. All smart and beautiful, because it can be a holiday or just a day off. And on the second photo of the same - desolation, gloom. There are no people, the lanterns are broken, almost all the vegetation has died. Civilization left one of the most prestigious cities in Ukraine. Now it is a ghost town, where you can only mentally imagine a past life.
To feel all the horror that took place here, just look at the photo of the famous amusement park. In one photo you will see a magnificent Ferris wheel, cars in order to ride them and ram each other, and in the second photo it all appears in a rusty state, and you understand that no one will have fun there, eat ice cream, laugh.
Comparing Chernobyl before and after can be infinitely long, but one thing is clear: after the accident, Chernobyl has changed forever. It will never be the same again.
The consequences of Chernobyl still make people talk about Pripyat with awe, because some things are beyond our control. The consequences after Chernobyl are clearly visible in the photographs of eyewitnesses.
When the familiar world collapsed Chernobyl after the explosion.
When the explosion occurred on April 26, 1986, events began to develop at a breakneck pace. The given rhythm was especially difficult for ordinary residents of a small town, where they got used to, albeit a civilized, but at the same time measured and stable life. Already an hour after the fatal explosion thundered, the radiation situation in it turned out to be obvious.
However, proper measures to ensure the safety of residents were not immediately taken. They could not take any measures due to the fact that people simply had no idea what to do, how to act in this non-standard situation. According to the instructions and orders that have existed for thirty years, this problem was supposed to be solved by the authorities, which did not react to what happened in time.
Most of all, outrage is the fact that while the Government Commission arrived at the scene, residents could have been evacuated, and even on foot, but this was not done, perhaps because they did not think that the tragedy was so serious and dangerous. Also, most likely, no one dared to take on such responsibility.
For example, as a comparison, when a similar accident (although immeasurably smaller in size) occurred in Sweden, people were first evacuated there, and only then they began to find out at which station the radiation was released.
But in Chernobyl, everything was different. Chernobyl before and after the accident represents two different worlds, which will never draw a parallel between themselves, will never again resemble what they were. We feel the consequences after the accident in our time, as the Chernobyl nuclear power plant dealt a very severe blow to the environment, economy and the fate of people.
Pripyat in the morning after the accident
On the morning of April 26 in Chernobyl, all the roads were flooded with water and something white, similar to a solution. Everything was white, all the roadside, it seemed that a strange Apocalypse had begun. A huge number of policemen appeared in the city. But, no matter how strange and paradoxical it may sound, they did nothing, they just settled down in the city and practically went about their business.
People did not yet understand all the impending danger. Residents walked, small children played, the day was beautiful, the heat was intense, people were rushing to the beach, to rest, to fish. People were resting on the river, near the cooling pond, which was an artificial reservoir near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. That is, at that time there was no impending danger, or rather, the danger was very obvious, but the local population could not yet realize it. After the explosion, Chernobyl looked almost the same as before the explosion, if only because no one expected trouble. In other words, the trouble came unexpectedly and was not yet obvious.
The question is involuntarily asked about the irresponsibility that was allowed by the authorities during the first days after Chernobyl. After all, then they did not say anything about the evacuation, they allowed the children to walk freely along the streets of Pripyat.
The schoolchildren of that time did not suspect anything and ran during breaks. Really, even then it was impossible to save them, to forbid them to be on the streets of an already infected city. It is unlikely that anyone would have condemned the authorities for such a desire for reassurance. The consequences of the explosion at Chernobyl turned out to be much more complicated and worse than it could have been assumed then.
Pripyat after Chernobyl. The beginning of the evacuation
After Chernobyl, the evacuation in Pripyat began on the evening of April 27, or rather, it was not exactly an evacuation, but the first talk about it. In previous articles, we talked about the fact that the evacuation took place quickly. This is true because everything that could be done in that situation had already been done. The bottom line is that everything could be done much faster.
At one o'clock in the morning from April 26 to April 27, an order was received to prepare the documents necessary for departure within two hours. Also on April 27, a directive was published, which read: “An evacuation is announced in connection with. You need to have all the necessary documents, essentials and, if possible, a supply of food for three days. The start of the evacuation is scheduled for two o'clock in the afternoon. "
The consequences of the Chernobyl disaster even then put a powerful pressure on people, forcing them to leave their usual places. Just imagine a long line of people and thousands of buses that were taken out of the radiation zone by the local population. Old people, children, adults, newborn babies, adolescents. All these people with the essentials left their past life, not yet fully understanding that they would never return to their former life.
Columns of buses drove towards the village of Polesskiy in the Ivanovskiy district, which was adjacent to Chernobyl. And they never came back. This is how Pripyat turned from the flourishing capital of nuclear energy into a ghost town that will never be inhabited.
The evacuation of people from Pripyat was carried out accurately and as quickly as possible. Almost everyone who was evacuated showed restraint, people already consciously realized that their own safety and future future depended on them.
Some people decided to leave the city on their own, along the road that led through the "Red Forest" located near Chernobyl. Witnesses claimed that at that time men and women with children were moving along the road, who literally glowed from the radiation. Be that as it may, but the mechanism for making important decisions regarding saving people, preserving their health, did not stand the test and put them at unnecessary risk.
Timeline of events from start to finish
The consequences of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, as mentioned above, we see now. But how did it all begin? How did the construction begin, what did everything look like initially? Let's look at some of the chronological events that led to the tragedy that has become infamous throughout the world. We may not be able to tell you all the dates down to the details, however, we will nevertheless reveal the most important points.
1967, January
The collegium of the State Planning Committee of the Ukrainian SSR recommended a place to place one of the nuclear power plants with a reactor in the village of Kopachi, Kiev region. This site was selected after a survey was conducted at sixteen locations including Kiev, Vinnitsa and Zhytomyr regions. Located on lands with low productivity on the right bank of the Pripyat River, 12 kilometers from the city of Chernobyl, this territory met all the requirements for water supply, transport and a sanitary protection zone.
1967 February
1969, June
At the NPP, RBMK-100 reactors were used. This happened on the basis of the Ural developments of the Teploenergoproekt Institute with further design by the Hydroproject Institute.
1970, February
It is believed that at this time the construction of the city of Pripyat, the future capital of the atomic world, began. It is characterized by the fact that the first peg was hammered in, the first clod of earth was taken out with a special bucket. The first dormitory, the building of the construction department, the first canteen were also laid, and the construction of the Lesnoy village was also started.
1970, May
They started to mark the pit for the first power unit for the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Already in June 1971, the first multi-storey building was commissioned, and soon water, electricity and gas will be installed there. In July of the same year, the construction of the Chernobyl substation was completed.
1972, April
The birthday of the city of Pripyat is being celebrated. On the same day, thanks to the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR, a name was given, which was chosen in honor of the beautiful river near which the city is located - Pripyat. A little later, namely on April 24, 1972, by the decision of the executive committee of the Kiev Regional Council of Deputies, the Pripyat of the Chernobyl region was assigned to an urban-type settlement.
1972, August
At eleven o'clock in the morning, the first cubic meter of concrete was solemnly laid in the base of the deaerator stack of the main building of the first stage of the station. At the same time, a stainless steel capsule was laid, where a letter to future generations was placed. The consequences of the Chernobyl accident can tell more eloquently about what happened, and if our descendants find this letter, they will be very surprised at the inconsistency of the events that were then and that are happening now.
1976, October
They began to fill the cooling pond, and in the same year, in order to carry out the adjustment, as well as to ensure the repair of the power equipment of the turbine hall at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the organization of the production site of the enterprise was carried out under the name Lvovenergoremont.
1977, May
A team of installers, builders, and adjusters started commissioning works at the first power unit.
Further, after all this, the active development of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant began, which gradually led to a disaster, and the Chernobyl nuclear power plant has consequences until this time, since even for three decades, the environmental problem has not subsided.
One way or another, but the fact that once a tragedy of a global scale occurred in Pripyat, we still remember. For example, already in the twenty-first century, in the 2000s, various actions were carried out in order to save the city of Pripyat. There were also events dedicated to the anniversary of the tragedy. In addition, in modern schools, rulers are held every year, in which children are taught how to quickly and methodically evacuate from the city, if suddenly the disaster happens again.
Chernobyl before and after the accident, 2010
In 2010, the consequences of the Chernobyl accident began to be liquidated as part of a new stage to ensure the radiation safety of the population. For this, the following actions were carried out at the Chernobyl NPP:
- maintaining the shutdown power units of the Chernobyl NPP in a safe state;
- ensuring safety in terms of nuclear and radiation plan;
- termination of operation of power units at the Chernobyl NPP;
- preparation for a complete shutdown of the Chernobyl NPP;
- ensuring the safety of the Shelter;
- implementation of plans for the implementation of measures at the Shelter under construction.
The consequences of the Chernobyl accident have been eliminated and continue to be liquidated for many years, but even now it is impossible to say how soon this will be done completely: the consequences of the Chernobyl accident were too serious.
Chernobyl before and after through the eyes of random people
If you want to learn more about the Chernobyl accident and go to study third-party sites, do not rush to believe everything that will be written there, because traditionally, in order to attract more attention, it is customary on the Web to exaggerate a little. Therefore, if, for example, you come across information that will convince you that the number of victims in the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant reaches a thousandth figure, that they say two-headed bunnies run along the roads in Pripyat, and mutant people lurk in abandoned buildings, attacking lonely people who somehow wandered there - do not believe it.
In fact, in life, everything is much less prosaic. No matter how hard the films try to convince us, none of the people who have undergone radiation sickness, have not grown five meters, have not received supernatural powers, have not become super-heroes, as we used to think. Moreover, mutation is also impossible for plants and animals, except that the trees became very tall, which were very close to the accident site.
If you are interested in a direct picture of all the consequences, you need to go to Pripyat to see everything with your own eyes, or contact search engines with questions. You can simply enter in Google or Yandex "the consequences of Chernobyl, photos, people", and then you can definitely decide whether people have become mutants in the photo or not. Although, of course, it is not so difficult for someone to add a second head or tail using Photoshop.
Chernobyl before and after. Facts
If mutations in Chernobyl are mostly fictions, then, unfortunately, radiation sickness has done its dirty deed. Many people suffered from radiation sickness, which claimed their lives, and continues to carry them away even now. The consequences of the Chernobyl accident continue to strike the entire world ecology and human health, not to mention the fact that those firefighters who came to extinguish the fire, almost all died: out of twenty people, only six remained unharmed. Therefore, there were enough problems here even without mutation. No horror films, documentaries, books or articles will convey the proper horror that happened then in 1986.
Of course, some of the photos showing Chernobyl before and after the accident are genuine. They clearly show the life of Chernobyl before and after, show that sometimes it can happen that a flourishing and successful city in a matter of seconds can turn into a ghost that will never hear the steps of its inhabitants on its roads.
Today the tragedy at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is the largest in the world of those that have ever occurred in the field of nuclear energy. Probably enough just to find out that it is considered even more ambitious than the notorious tragedy in when atomic bombs were dropped on peaceful cities. And although the number of victims at that moment turned out to be incomparably greater, the consequences were still managed to a greater extent, but the consequences of Chernobyl cannot be eliminated so easily. People already live in the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but in Pripyat it will be possible to live only in 20 thousand years.
Considering Chernobyl before and after the tragedy, one is surprised that such things can happen at all, but still it is so. Just a few seconds changed the lives of thousands of people irrevocably. The worst thing is that this can happen at any moment: the number of nuclear power plants in the country, neighboring states and the world is too large, and no one knows when any of them will fatally fail.
