At 1:23am on 26th April 1986, an explosion at the number 4 reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant blew the roof open and sent a cloud of radioactive dust into the sky.
In recent times, agencies set about leading trips to the area in the region of Chernobyl. The full day tours set out from Kiev somewhere around 9am and these have to be booked in advance. Details of people on the trip need to be submitted and you have got to take your passport. If you are not on the list or you don't have your passports, the guards at the edge of the exclusion zone will not let you through as two people on our bus found to their dismay and had to disembark the bus. The checkpoint is just about 78km (49 miles) from Kiev and there is absolutely nothing to do there. From here the bus makes its way into the exclusion zone and doesn't return for several hours.
At the time of the accident, Chernobyl was home to 14,000 folk and nowadays, a few hundred people still live within the exclusion zone and a number of people construction in the town for around 4 days a week. The visit commenced in Chernobyl for a conventional Ukraine lunch. First stop is the fire station where there is a monument to the brave fireman who battled to contain the radiation the majority of of whom were to die of radiation sickness.
Next stop is the Chernobyl power plant and it is here you have your initial view of the disused buildings. There are one or two visits close to the plant and you get to within two or three hundred metres of the reactor. Today, its difficult to visualize what took place here but the guides Geiger counter leaves you under no illusions that there is still a huge amount of background radiation in the zone.
The last stop is at the ghost town of Pripyat which is situated under two miles from the power plant. On the day of the disaster it was a much bigger urban centre than Chernobyl with a population of approximately 50,000. Even so, police evacuated the populace with not much notice and it is an eerie place to visit. Books lie all about the class rooms, the fun fair which was due to be opened on 1st May 1986, is little by little rusting away and nature has began to over grow the roadways, town square and properties.
The excursion departs Pripyat and heads back to the edge of the exclusion zone where everybody have to pass through a scanner to make sure that they haven't been exposed to substantial amounts of radiation. As soon as everyone is back on the bus has been given the all clear, it heads back to Kiev.
In recent times, agencies set about leading trips to the area in the region of Chernobyl. The full day tours set out from Kiev somewhere around 9am and these have to be booked in advance. Details of people on the trip need to be submitted and you have got to take your passport. If you are not on the list or you don't have your passports, the guards at the edge of the exclusion zone will not let you through as two people on our bus found to their dismay and had to disembark the bus. The checkpoint is just about 78km (49 miles) from Kiev and there is absolutely nothing to do there. From here the bus makes its way into the exclusion zone and doesn't return for several hours.
At the time of the accident, Chernobyl was home to 14,000 folk and nowadays, a few hundred people still live within the exclusion zone and a number of people construction in the town for around 4 days a week. The visit commenced in Chernobyl for a conventional Ukraine lunch. First stop is the fire station where there is a monument to the brave fireman who battled to contain the radiation the majority of of whom were to die of radiation sickness.
Next stop is the Chernobyl power plant and it is here you have your initial view of the disused buildings. There are one or two visits close to the plant and you get to within two or three hundred metres of the reactor. Today, its difficult to visualize what took place here but the guides Geiger counter leaves you under no illusions that there is still a huge amount of background radiation in the zone.
The last stop is at the ghost town of Pripyat which is situated under two miles from the power plant. On the day of the disaster it was a much bigger urban centre than Chernobyl with a population of approximately 50,000. Even so, police evacuated the populace with not much notice and it is an eerie place to visit. Books lie all about the class rooms, the fun fair which was due to be opened on 1st May 1986, is little by little rusting away and nature has began to over grow the roadways, town square and properties.
The excursion departs Pripyat and heads back to the edge of the exclusion zone where everybody have to pass through a scanner to make sure that they haven't been exposed to substantial amounts of radiation. As soon as everyone is back on the bus has been given the all clear, it heads back to Kiev.
About the Author:
Kiev is one of the host cities for the Euro 2012 Championships. Visitors to Kiev may want to take a visit out to Chernobyl.. This article, Excursion to Chernobyl and the Exclusion Zone has free reprint rights.
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