Disaster tourism has become a trend. Chernobyl and Pripyat now have about 30,000 visitors per year, and after the new sarcophagus over reactor 4 was completed in 2016, the trip in here is considered safe.
The trip is set to go through the cleanest areas. There are many areas that are not trusted, so it’s wise to follow the guide. Of course, there is a moral-ethical question if a human tragedy like this is suitable for tourism. You go into broken homes where personal effects are thrown around. On the other hand we got the feeling that some of the places we were led to were somewhat staged, with the deployment of a broken doll here, some school books there. With 30,000 visitors at a price of 100 USD per person this is this big business.
But this is an important part of recent history and a monument to misguided politics and technological foolishness. So we chose to go.
On April 26, 1986, a series of explosions destroyed the reactor and the building of unit 4 in Chernobyl due to a man-made situation. The emission of radioactive material was enormous, equivalent to 400 Hiroshima bombs. Even after a week, this was a worldwide problem. Not many was killed as a direct consequence of the disaster, but how many thousands who where affected by after-effects, no one knows for sure. 800,000 soldiers were commissioned to clean up. Only a few of those responsible received a symbolic penalty.
The reactor sarcophagus costed USD 768 million and was funded by 28 countries. Only the metal weighs 18,000 tonnes. The accident is the twentieth century’s biggest technological disaster.
Chernobyl, Afghanistan and, in general, a high military budget are considered to be some of the most important causes of the Soviet Union’s breakdown.
Elin lived in Moscow in 1987, and it made an impression to see how Chernobyl largely had an consequence for ordinary people’s lives. Ukraine was considered as the Soviet Union’s food chamber, and many were worried about whether it was safe to eat the food that came from there, together with the general radiation danger. No one relied on the information they received from the authorities.
There lived 50,000 people in Pripyat, and the city is now completely taken over by nature. Sad and unreal to see this. Words get poor when we describe the impressions of the visit to Chernobyl. The pictures will speak for themselves.
We used soloeast@me.com as a guide. They appeared as very professional and the guide was knowledgeable.
