Chernobyl

Exclusion zone

September 2017 · 94 photographs

exclusion zone

Entering the 30KM zone first checkpoint

Normal radiation level in a industrial city is around .13 µSv.A good radiation comparison chart: https://xkcd.com/radiation/

A handheld yellow radiation meter reads 0.43 near the ground. — first signs of higher radiation for us. Near the water.

30KM zone

Now a safer zone of the exclusion zone. Lots of wild life and nature taking over.

An abandoned building stands among dense green trees.

An empty room with tall windows and a damaged ceiling.

A dark abandoned room with several windows and a doorway.

A debris-strewn room with peeling blue walls and large windows.

A doorway looks through a hall with peeling paint.

Concrete steps disappear beneath overgrown vines.

Broken objects lie across the floor of a dark room.

Дуга radar station

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duga_radar

The steel framework of the Duga radar array rises above the trees.

The Duga radar structure stands beside an open sandy clearing.

A close upward view of the Duga radar's metal framework.

inside the Duga radar station

A long empty corridor inside an abandoned building.

An abandoned industrial hall with concrete columns and debris.

Rows of rusted electrical panels lie scattered on the floor.

A hand turns through a book on a dark control console.

A deteriorated stairwell viewed from above.

Old desks and an educational display in an abandoned classroom.

A person kneels among debris in a damaged room.

A rusted pipe lies across a mossy forest floor.

The Duga radar array stretches across the sky.

A bare room with a chair beside a window.

A wall display shows a timeline and science posters. — Aquarelle paintings of the known nuclear missiles with the variables that the radar station would pick up

A torn poster depicting a uniformed man rests on a shelf.

Small objects and rubble scattered across a concrete floor.

The open doorway of a weathered green building.

Sight of the new sarcophagus and halted construction of a new reactor

A curving park path crosses a lawn with buildings in the distance.

Industrial structures and power pylons beneath a blue sky.

10km zone - pripyat

A small syringe and bottle sit on a dusty tabletop.

An abandoned hall with broken flooring and daylight through windows.

Rows of metal desks stand in an empty classroom.

A blue stuffed toy sits beside a window and an open book.

Small containers and objects line a low shelf in a damaged room.

An open book and yellowed specimens rest on a dusty table.

on top of the highest flat in pripyat

16 floors, no elevator but so worth it. Nature taking over.

Aerial view of an abandoned high-rise among dense forest.

Aerial view across an empty apartment block and surrounding trees.

An abandoned apartment roof seen above the treetops.

Aerial view of forest and disused buildings beneath cloudy skies.

A lone high-rise rises above a broad forest canopy.

An apartment block viewed from directly below.

Abandoned apartment buildings surrounded by green woodland.

Chernobyl power plant by night

End of day 1. Leaving the exclusion zone with the train that transports the workers to Slavutich. 45min with the train.

An industrial building glows blue against the night sky.

People gather inside a dark room at night.

A passenger train stands at a station beneath green lights.

Passengers walk through a brightly lit station concourse.

Day 2 - pripyat

A white apartment block stands behind overgrown trees.

An open balcony corridor runs along an abandoned building.

A green-painted hall seen through a doorway.

A long corridor with a small figure at its far end.

A derelict industrial room with a collapsed roof and rubble.

A dark room with a red-stained floor and fallen panel.

A long abandoned interior bordered by tall glass windows.

An empty room with broken windows and peeling walls.

A circular domed ceiling inside an abandoned building.

Trees grow through the broken windows of a derelict room.

An empty flooded corridor reflects the windows and ceiling.

A broad hall with a blue floor and tall windows.

A dark abandoned room with exposed beams and a window.

An overgrown bumper car sits in a clearing beneath trees.

A weathered bumper car beneath a metal framework.

A Ferris wheel stands abandoned above the trees.

A rusted bumper car sits in a grassy clearing.

Green plants grow across the floor of a dark room.

Old service counters and seating in an abandoned hall. — Supermarket

Kindergarden

Tables and scattered items remain in a damaged classroom.

Small toys sit on a red plinth in a ruined room.

A toy stroller and ball lie on a dusty floor.

An empty wooden toy cradle rests in a blue-painted room.

Discarded stuffed toys lie in a wall niche.

Decorative relief panels cover a weathered wall.

A small blue-and-yellow toy cart sits on a ledge.

Metal bed frames are visible through a series of doorways.

Rusted metal beds stand in an abandoned institutional room.

gasmasks

Gasmasks from the school collected by looters for copper. All pupils needed to learn how to put up a gas mask.

Broken brick and rubble cover the floor.

A dark classroom full of debris seen through a doorway.

An old medical examination chair stands in a tiled room.

A dim corridor recedes through an abandoned building.

A metal bed stands beside a broken window.

Jupiter factory

Blue machinery, pipes, and debris fill an industrial room.

pool

An empty tiled room with windows and a blue sign.

A large tiled room with tall windows and a missing ceiling.

An open tiled room with damaged roof supports and windows.

Scariest thing seen

The scariest thing I have seen in Chernobyl, a piece of clothing in the hospital that a fireman was wearing while trying to put out the fire in the plant straight after the explosion. This piece of clothing is still highly radioactive 30 years later. One of the most dangerous hotspots in the Chernobyl exclusion zone that you can access. Meter went up to over 1000µSv when holding close.

A yellow radiation warning sign stands on a desk among debris.

Visitors gather inside a bright exhibition room. — Radiation check machines. Mandatory when leaving or entering the plant.

A cafeteria tray with several dishes sits on a table. — Lunch in Chernobyl power plant canteen.

A memorial monument stands before the New Safe Confinement structure.

Workers in white uniforms stand in a control room.

Electronic instruments and devices arranged on a tabletop.

A close view of switches and instruments on a control panel.

A wall of control panels fills a large room.

Rows of switches and control panels line an operations room.

Colored wires lie across switches on a control desk.

Down the hallway inside the Chernobyl power plant

Two people walk away through a dim corridor.