I went to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone in 2013. You’ll find here a few facts about this place and photos from my trip.
The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Zone of Alienation, also commonly known as the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, is an officially designated exclusion area around the site of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
The Chernobyl disaster was a catastrophic nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine (then officially the Ukrainian SSR), which was under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities of the Soviet Union. An explosion and fire released large quantities of radioactive particles into the atmosphere, which spread over much of the western USSR and Europe. It was the worst nuclear power plant accident in history in terms of cost and casualties.
Soon after the 1986 disaster USSR military established the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone which initially existed as an area of 30 km radius from the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant designated for evacuation and placed under military control. Its borders have since been altered to cover a larger area of Ukraine. The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone borders a separately administered area, the Polesie State Radioecological Reserve, to the north, in Belarus. The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone is managed by an agency of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, while the power plant and its sarcophagus (and replacement) are administered separately.
The Exclusion Zone covers an area of approximately 2,600 square kilometres (1,000 sq mi) in Ukraine immediately surrounding the Chernobyl nuclear power plant where radioactive contamination from fallout is highest and public access and inhabitation are restricted. Other areas of compulsory resettlement and voluntary relocation not part of the restricted exclusion zone exist in the surrounding areas and throughout Ukraine.
The Exclusion Zone’s purpose is to restrict access to hazardous areas, reduce the spread of radiological contamination and conduct radiological and ecological monitoring activities. Today the Exclusion Zone is one of the most radioactively contaminated areas in the world and draws significant scientific interest for the high levels of radiation exposure in the environment, as well as increasing interest from tourists.
[ source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_Exclusion_Zone; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster ].
Awesome photos. I love urban exploration so these are of special interest. How long were you allowed to be in there for? I mean due to the radiation levels?
Thank you. I spent in the Zone about 7 hours, but it’s just because I went there for a short trip (there are also a few days trip to that place), not because of the radiation level. Actually radiation level is not the same in different places in the Zone, somewhere is very low. I like exploring abandoned places too, and soon there will be more posts about such places in this blog. If you’re interested, you can also have a look on my page on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/stepoffthebeatentrack , it’s about my trips to abandoned or just unusual places.
Cheers for that. Your Facebook page looks well wicked. I’ll be posting one about an abandoned place in Beijing soon. Also discovered an abandoned prison/hospital up the nearest ‘mountain’ Cant wait to get up there. I’ll deffo keep my eyes open for your posts. I’ll watch out in my e-mails 🙂
I’ve just have a look on your page – looks great! Looking forward to see this abandoned place 🙂
Woah, I really found this interesting to see. At the moment I’m reading a book (Voices from Chernobyl).I’m intrigued by the stories and also by your pictures. Did you meet any living people while you were there?
Thank you. No, I just met people who work there. It was a short trip, so not too much opportunity to meet inhabitants 🙂