IN THE CHORNOBYL EXCLUSION ZONE, Ukraine – What was supposed to be a routine test at the fourth reactor of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant turned into the world’s deadliest nuclear accident in history on April 26, 1986.
Today, slightly more than 100 residents remain in the 1,000-square-mile exclusion zone, according to Denis Vishnevskiy, head of the research department at the Chornobyl Radiological-Ecological Biosphere Reserve, which spans over two-thirds of the area.
Then, about 8.4 million people in Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and other European countries were affected. To mitigate the effects of the nuclear fallout, some 600,000 people took part in containing the disaster. Thirty-one people died in the first days of the accident, and an estimated 4,000-10,000 died later from causes related to radiation exposure.
State Agency of Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management
A moose cow ambles amid tall grass with her two calves in the Chornobyl Radiation Ecological Biosphere Reserve.
Perhaps the most heroic feat that prevented the destruction of Kyiv and pollution of a water supply system used by 30 million people was carried out by three plant volunteers: senior engineer Oleksiy Ananenko, middle engineer Valeriy Baspalov and shift supervisor Borys Baranov.
On May 1, 1986, as the exploded reactor was still melting, its core still had 185 tons of nuclear fuel inside. If it would have made contact with a reservoir containing 5 million gallons of water underneath, separated only by a concrete slab that was slowly burning away, a massive radiation-contaminated steam explosion would have been triggered.
Mark Raczkiewycz
The metal and stone Star Wormwood memorial to the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear disaster in the eponymous city.
So, the three volunteers, equipped with aqualungs, dove into the flooded chambers of the fourth reactor to find a pair of check valves so that the water could be emptied before it would perilously make contact with the reactor’s active zone, according to an article published by the Ukraine Crisis Media Center.
“After a long search, the divers opened the latches. The pool began to empty out quickly. Over the next day, all 5 million gallons of radioactive water flowed out from under the fourth reactor,” read the article. “A second explosion was prevented. After a few weeks, all three died. The men were buried in leaden coffins with sealed lids. Even devoid of life, their bodies were saturated with deadly radiation.”
After the accident, over 100,000 people had to be evacuated, roughly half of whom lived in the city of Prypiat, which was built simultaneously with the Chornobyl plant to house workers in the area.
Mark Raczkiewycz
A radiation dosimeter detector is seen on April 20 at the entrance to the cafeteria of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant.
An area encompassing the land within a radius of 19 miles from the nuclear plant was designated in 1986 as the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone. Today the zone covers about 1,000 square miles, more than two-thirds of which is now a wildlife reserve – currently Ukraine’s largest.
“Nuclear” or “extreme” tourists have now made the site a popular destination, with over 60,000 having visited last year, Anton Taranenko, the chief of Kyiv’s tourism department, told journalists in April. He expects more to make the 82-mile drive north from Kyiv this year.
The internationally known rock band Pink Floyd shot a music video in the ghost town of Prypiat for its “Marooned” song that was released in 2014. The YouTube version has more than 20 million views.
Gamers also know of Prypiat and Chornobyl from S.T.A.L.K.E.R, a worldwide renowned computer game developed by Ukrainians.
The areas tourists are allowed to visit are considered safe. The average daily radiation dose is negligible. It’s usually the equivalent of a one-hour airplane flight, or 160 times smaller than an X-ray chest exam.
Mark Raczkiewycz
A memorial to the first responding rescue workers, consisting mostly of firefighters, who rushed to the fourth reactor at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant when it accidentally exploded and erupted in a fire on April 26, 1986. Over 650,000 workers, known as liquidators, worked for seven months to extinguish the flames while working on a temporary cement covering for the radioactive structure commonly referred to as a sarcophagus.
Depending on the itinerary a traveler chooses, lunch could be had at the plant’s cafeteria in between viewing the 1.4 billion euro new safe confinement at the infamous fourth reactor. The structure, completed in 2016, has a 100-year life span and was built by a French-led consortium.
The completely abandoned town of Prypiat nine kilometers away offers a glimpse of how hastily it was evacuated. Toys and furniture are scattered in vacant apartments amid debris and overgrowth that partially conceal an amusement park that was mostly frequented on weekends.
Walking on foot through Chornobyl, visitors see three memorials to the disaster. It seems that, with each Chornobyl anniversary, the area gets a new memorial. The town’s Desyatka Hotel has rooms ranging from 700 to 1,000 hrv per night for travelers seeking to spend more than one day in the area. The town of Slavutych, located only 33 kilometers to the east, offers more hotels and restaurants.
Outside the town are gigantic antennae for an intercontinental missile radar known as the Chornobyl-2 secret USSR military installation, along with its abandoned military settlement.
Dosimeters that measure radiation levels can be rented for $3 to $10 per day from budprokat.com or chernobyl-tour.com.
Still, the most hazardous spots are in the 296-square-mile radioactive waste zone, which comprises over 12 percent of the total exclusion area.
Nature abounds
Often overlooked, yet cherished by nature lovers and researchers, is the abundant wildlife in the area. The nature reserve, created by presidential decree on April 26, 2016, is now Ukraine’s biggest.
Denis Vishnevskiy/Chornobyl Radioecological Biosphere Reserve
A lone wild Przewalski’s horse meanders in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone in April. Believed to be the last wild horse breed in the world, they were brought to the area in 1998 to replenish the breed, with their numbers swelling to 60 by 2013.
Wild animals native to the Polissia region’s wooded geographical area have returned and are flourishing without human encroachment. Because the area is mostly devoid of human presence, the environment evolved naturally in the absence of forestry, hunting and agriculture.
Thus, some animals show little fear of humans and come within close proximity to people.
The Ukrainian Weekly’s correspondent saw a fox grooming itself along a canal at the Chornobyl power plant and a beaver building a lodge in a nearby drainage waterway during a visit on April 20. Wolves have been spotted exploring Prypiat, and visitors know to bring salami sandwiches to feed the foxes.
Denis Vishnevskiy/Chornobyl Radioecological Biosphere Reserve
A red fox capers in February in the snow in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone.
All told, more than 400 types of fauna thrive in the area, according to Mr. Vishnevskiy, the nature reserve’s head of research. Seventeen animals listed on Ukraine’s endangered species list have been spotted thus far. These include, badgers, lynx, river otters, black storks, American mink, eagle owls and white-tailed eagles.
Some 60 wild Przewalski’s horses, introduced in 1998, roam the area. Up to seven wolf families have been counted and wild boar, moose, brown bears, European bison, deer and roebuck also live here.
Since they’re part of what Mr. Vishnevskiy calls “umbrella species,” this indicates that the ecosystem in the exclusion zone is healthy.
Over the last 30 years, radiation seems to have had little effect on wildlife. Mr. Vishnevskiy said that “aberrations” or signs of mutations are negligible. “Perhaps one in 10,000 cases I might see a wolf with a face that’s not symmetric,” he said.
“Mike Wood of the University of Salford, U.K., whose ongoing wildlife camera study in the Chornobyl zone has confirmed the return of the brown bear and the European bison, says that although wildlife is thriving, it’s probably too soon for large animals to have evolved radiation resistance because they breed so slowly,” the New Scientist magazine wrote in October 2015.
“The study results support what many scientists have long suspected, that the impact of radiation on wildlife within the exclusion zone is much less than the impact of humans,” Mr. Wood told the New Scientist.
But to see the animals in their natural habitat, plan for at least three days and arrange for a tracker to accompany you through the State Agency on Exclusion Zone Management – the starting point for gaining access to the restricted zone. Follow the instructions on the English-language version of dazv.gov.ua after clicking on the “Exclusion Zone Visiting Procedure” section. (For accommodations, there’s the Hotel Desyatka in Chornobyl: https://www.rektan1.com/hotel-cee5.)
If you’re planning a trip alone, take the P02 highway north from Kyiv. After crossing the Teteriv River, take the second exit at the roundabout heading towards Ovruch. At the second roundabout take the second exit toward the Dytiatky check point – one of 12 in the area depending how you leave or enter it.
Or use chernobyl-tour.com/english/ to book a tour (prices start at $89). Be as specific as possible when arranging the trip to get the most of what you want. If nature-watching is preferred, Mr. Vishnevskiy or one of his subordinates probably will be your guide.
RECOMMENDED READING:
https://thebiologist.rsb.org.uk/biologist/158-biologist/features/1493-out-of-the-ashes