However, you can get quite close to the strcture and for those who go inside the power plant, you can actually go inside the Control Room #4, where the accident basically started. It is cool to see it from outside, but visiting the Control Room is even better.
Those areas aren't considered dangerous anymore; in fact, you'd probably receive a higher dose of radiation from the flight over. But the infamous Reactor 4, where the explosion occurred, remained closed to everyone except researchers, cleanup workers, and a few journalists — until now.
Chernobyl is now safe to visit, with very low radiation levels similar to those on a trans-Atlantic flight, but it is subject to very strict regulations. It is only possible to visit the Exclusion Zone with an official Chernobyl guide.
The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant sarcophagus or Shelter Structure (Ukrainian: Об'єкт "Укриття") is a massive steel and concrete structure covering the nuclear reactor number 4 building of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Currently the sarcophagus resides inside the New Safe Confinement structure.
Yes, the area surrounding Chernobyl remains radioactive. Referred to as the "exclusion zone," this 20-mile radius around the plant has largely been evacuated and is closed to human habitation.
However, the general radiation in the area is considered safe and, on the whole, much lower than you would experience on a long haul flight. Alexei, our government guide, was a policeman in the area at the time of the accident.
Scientists have previously said, due to the huge amount of contamination in the Chernobyl area, the exclusion zone will not be habitable for many, many years. Experts have said it will be at least 3,000 years for the area to become safe, while others believe this is too optimistic.
The accident destroyed the Chernobyl 4 reactor, killing 30 operators and firemen within three months and several further deaths later. One person was killed immediately and a second died in hospital soon after as a result of injuries received.
The Chernobyl disaster occurred when technicians at nuclear reactor Unit 4 attempted a poorly designed experiment. They shut down the reactor's power-regulating system and its emergency safety systems, and they removed control rods from its core while allowing the reactor to run at 7 percent power.
The nuclear particles in the air were so strong they started eroding the cameras film causing the image to appear grainy.
1. Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Plant, Japan is one of the world's most radioactive places. Fukushima is still highly radioactive today.
To visit the Exclusion Zone, you must be dressed in closed clothing that covers all areas of the body as much as possible (long sleeve, long tight pants, comfortable shoes, preferably with thick soles), the headdress is welcome. Forbidden: shorts, skirts, dresses, slippers, sandals, high-heeled shoes.
Our guide on the Chernobyl day tour reminds the group to avoid touching anything. An area hit by the world's worst nuclear accident may seem like an unlikely tourism hot spot, but the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone has become one of the world's most visited dark tourism destinations in recent years.
Underneath his portrait, the text reads: “Valery Khodemchuk's body was never recovered. He is permanently entombed under Reactor 4.”
The Power Plants are located approximately 18 km north west of the City of Chernobyl. Reactor Number 1 was completed in 1977 and followed by Reactor Number 2 in 1978, Number 3 in 1981, and Number 4 in 1983. Reactor Number 5 was approximately 70% complete at the time of the accident.
Living among radiation-resistant fauna are thousands of feral dogs, many of whom are descendants of pets left behind in the speedy evacuation of the area so many years ago.
Reaching estimated temperatures between 1,660°C and 2,600°C and releasing an estimated 4.5 billion curies the reactor rods began to crack and melt into a form of lava at the bottom of the reactor.
The official death toll directly attributed to Chernobyl that is recognized by the international community is just 31 people with the UN saying it could be 50. However, hundreds of thousands of “liquidators” were sent in to put out the fire at the nuclear power plant and clean up the Chernobyl site afterwards.
In the very unlikely scenario that all four reactors exploded simultaneously, it would resort to chaos. Not only in terms of the fallout but ecologically and politically – and radioactive would have completely reshaped life over central and Eastern Europe virtually overnight.
The caps on the top of the reactor core, weighing more than 750 pounds, begin to literally bounce in the reactor hall. The 700-plus pound steel blocks resting on top of the reactor core started rumbling around and being lifted into the air in the moments before the explosion.
On April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl disaster happened due to a fatally flawed shutdown system, after the AZ-5 shutdown system was initiated after a core overheat. RBMK reactors were subsequently either retrofitted to account for the flaw, or decommissioned.
Chernobyl animals are mutants ...
Scientists have noted significant genetic changes in organisms affected by the disaster: According to a 2011 study in Biological Conservation, Chernobyl-caused genetic mutations in plants and animals increased by a factor of 20.
The Fukushima event has been rated 7 on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale, the same level as the 1986 Chernobyl accident. Even so, Japanese authorities estimate that radiation released at Fukushima is only 10 percent of the amount released from the Ukrainian plant.
The radiation in Hiroshima and Nagasaki today is on a par with the extremely low levels of background radiation (natural radioactivity) present anywhere on Earth. It has no effect on human bodies.