Introduction to today's journey
Today's journey takes me from Kiev northward into the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. There we explore a few villages before reaching Chernobyl City, then onto the reactor and the abandoned city of Pripyat. From there we head back to Kiev.
Today's Journey
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Departing Kiev in the early morning I join a group heading north almost to the border of Belarus entering the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. After briefly exploring the forest we discover the remains of the town hall of one of the villages. |
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We head into Chernobyl City where some of the equipment used to explore and seal the reactor after the explosion are on display. |
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The Dugar Radar near the Chernobyl Power Station. It was able to detect signals from well over the horizon, but needed a lot of electricity to power it, so it was built near the power station. It was the source of a lot of strange radio activity over parts of western Europe in Soviet times. |
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An old Soviet propaganda mural which has survived the 30 years since the area was evacuated. |
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One of the bedrooms of Kopachi Kindergarten just a couple of kilometres from the power station. |
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View of reactors 3 and 4 of the Chernobyl power station. Reactor 4 at the back was the one that exploded on 25 April 1986. |
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Heading around the other side of the reactor where workers are sealing the sarcophagus in preparation for the nearby cylindrical dome to be installed above it to seal it from future radiation leaks. |
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We head a kilometre away to the city of Pripyat, and visit its old swimming pool. Before the city was evacuated, it was the most modern city in the Soviet Union. |
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Inside a classroom at one of the schools in Pripyat. It shows 30 years of neglect since the town was suddenly evacuated. |
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The dodgem cars in an amusement park due to open the day after the disaster. Everyone was evacuated being told they would return after 3 days, but 30 years have passed and only one person lives here. |
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