"Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"

It's awfully cliched, I'm sure, but Shelley's verse kept running through my head today as I clambered my way through the ruins of Pripyat, the largest town that was evacuated following the Chernobyl disaster. Vladimir and I got word early in the morning that we would have access today and, after a few more problems with the van, made our way out to the Exclusion Zone. (For some background reading on the Exlcusion Zone, what it is, and how it functions, I reccomend, as always, Wikipedia's article, available here.)

Stops today included an old Kindergarten outside of Chernobyl, which used to be for the children of the village of Kopachi, one of the towns inside the zone. Stop number two was Reactor 4 itself, though you can only get within about 100 meters or so. Our guide helpfully informed us that the electrified fence around it actually carries enough current to kill a person.

(Below: An industrial garage located directly beside the reactor.)


(Below: Reactor 4. I got much closer than this, but liked the radiation warning sign in the foreground with this shot.)

Later stops included the tallest building in Pripyat, a 16-story apartment complex that's been heavily looted. The view from the top is amazing though, and was well worth the climb. I also spent some time in the Pripyat Kindergarten and the "Palace of Culture" in the town square, which included a movie theatre, stage theatre (complete with lights still hung on the pipes at stage-level) a library (I snagged a copy of "Reminiscences about Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov Lenin".) and a gymnasium with a tree growing through the floor.

(Below: One of the classrooms in Pripyat Kindergarten.)


(Below: Detail of a bear on the ground at the Pripyat Kindergarten.)

(Below: The gymnasium at the Palace of Culture.)

I've got a bit of a headache and a dry throat, as does Vladimir. Our guide had one too, and helpfully informed us that it was "quite normal" after 6 hours inside the 10km Zone... A brief Wikipedia search seems to indicate that I probably received a radiation dose somewhere between 0.5 and 1.0 Sieverts (or 50 - 100 REM). I should feel fine by morning, and am somewhat comforted in the knowledge that most of the plant workers receive this level of radiation on a daily basis while at work.

I expect to be making at least another two trips into the zone, but likely not in nearly as heavily contaminated areas.

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Nic's Current Location:
Yaroslavna Hotel, Vasilkiv, Kyiv, Ukraine
+50° 10' 43.11", +30° 18' 49.24"