MovieChat Forums > Chernobyl Diaries (2012) Discussion > I went to Pripyat/Chernobyl in 2008

I went to Pripyat/Chernobyl in 2008

posted 13 years ago by j-cusick
123 replies | jump to latest

i highly recommend a visit. Spen a whole day (but not night there)

was an amazing time, very sombre and peaceful but also sad seeing thinking about the people who died during the disaster

stood 20 metres from the reactor 4 building.
also visited Pripyat and went into the buildings and the fairground

would love to go again, but theres a huge develoment with the reactor building having another enclosure being erected around it

me=

http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/359_1060164542909_1189774326_191591_3519_n.jpg

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/359_1060164502908_1189774326_191590_3202_n.jpg

food we ate within the zone=

http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/359_1060169343029_1189774326_191634_2755_n.jpg

Pripyat =

http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/359_1060165142924_1189774326_191606_8558_n.jpg

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/359_1060169063022_1189774326_191627_9736_n.jpg

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] j-cusick 13 years ago

that is what persuaded myself and a friend to go.

I did lots of research before going. the whole even and nuclear energy fascinates me. im no scientist though. i also enjoy gaming and played STALKER and COD MW1 set in the Zone before going. i wanted to see how it was IRL, both games were quite lifelike with the exception of the mutations etc. We used tour kiev website IRC to plan it all.

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] unknown_soul278 13 years ago

How old are you? Do you remember this or have you seen any of the damage that was caused?

The Chernobyl disaster has had lasting effects and done irreparable harm not only to the people living there at the time, but to their children, grandchildren, and possible more. Radiation in those quantities causes genetic damage and mutations that are passed to future generations. Many of these people did not know the extent of the damage until their children were born.

It's not sad, it is completely heartbreaking.

The wild, cruel animal is not behind the bars of a cage. He is in front of it.

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] unknown_soul278 13 years ago

I'm sorry, was that supposed to be English?

Age has something to do with it. Things leave a much stronger impression on those who were alive and old enough to understand what was happening when the incident was reported. The Challenger is just a page in history to today's students, but it is more to those who saw the launch. My grandparents understood the impact of the first person on the moon more than my generation did; it was history to us.

Are you actually asking for names of those who died or became ill as a result of Chernobyl and of the children born with handicaps because their parents were exposed? Do you really think everyone present that day walked away unharmed and suffered no ill effects?

The wild, cruel animal is not behind the bars of a cage. He is in front of it.

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] 13 years ago

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[–] nake89 13 years ago

I agree.

[–] smartass_120 12 years ago

You're

[–] Hancockenstein 12 years ago

the guy said he was watching Russian language documentaries

[–] lunanegra-2 10 years ago

So, what has this remark about English supposed to mean? Are we all obliged to speak fluent English? Would you prefer French for instance? Or Swedish?

jump!
[evh]

[–] danimal09752 10 years ago

Being that you came onto a message board that's in english.....came to a thread that's in english......gee why would anyone expect you to speak english under such circumstances....

[–] avidgamer86 13 years ago

give you names of people who were harmed are you serious?

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] Ono-Ovo 13 years ago

Does someone have to die to make the place sad? There were 50,000 people living in that town. 50,000 faces, 50,000 souls. And all of them had to move in a blink of an eye, abandoning everything they had at the time, everything they worked for their entire life. Knowing they'll never be able to go back to all the places that meant something to them, their home, their favourite bar, their work, the graveyard where their loved ones are buried. All distant memories now. That's even sadder than all of them dying, if you ask me. That way, there would at least be closure. This way, there's nothing. Just a bunch of lives relocated from a town that once was home. It's *beep* sad, dude.

[–] jhetski0925 13 years ago

After seeing those images, the closest I had been in Pripyat was when I played CoD MW.

[–] Swangirl 13 years ago

Since you asked, here are some facts to get you started.

Even though it's been many years since the Chernobyl disaster, the repercussions of what happened are still being felt today. You just may not see it at the reactor site itself.

It's true, many of the residents around the disaster were evacuated. Many went to hospitals and recovered, a number slowly died from numerous cancers.

The biggest horror, however, began to come when survivors began having children. Many children were born with severe birth defects, deformed limbs, mental problems, etc. And as the younger Cherynobyl survivors grow up and have children, their children are born with problems as well. The genetic damage done cannot be measured.

So what happens to many of these handicapped children? They end up in state-run orphanages for the rest of their lives. They have little access to good medical care. The Irish, especially, have taken a decided interest in these children and there is a program to bring them over to visit and get medical care on a frequent basis.

Many Irish families have offered to adopt some of these children but the Ukranian government, for whatever reason, refuses to let them go.
As a result, efforts have been underway to build privately build and run orphanages in the Ukraine to provide better care for these children.

http://students.expression.edu/malonen/chernobyl-orphans/

http://www.chernobyl-international.org/news.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_FI2alBpBY&feature=related

So when you scoff about the extent of the damage done by the Chernobyl disaster, think of these children. They are living proof.

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] cannotrecall 13 years ago

Being Russian and born within the year of the disaster have i the right to tell you to curb your *beep* Really, your cocky attitude about this is quite disturbing. Even though to me this was technically history, i have many a childhood memory where the event was recounted and discussed, the adults throughout the country were visibly affected, despite the fact that most "soviets" lived 1000s of kilometers away. Most of the national artists (Pugacheva as an example) went there very soon post the disaster, and with the lack of knowledge about the effects or radiation most have passed away so early in their lives, so many from thyroid cancer. Pugacheva's voice has been irreparably affected, and so has her health after the 2 days they had to spend there performing for their fellow Russians. The effects of Chernobyl are heartbreaking to this day across current Russia, Ukraine and the rest of the countries.
Don't be a know-it-all dick if this isn't part of your history or personal passion. It is sad because most people are capable of something called empathy and don't need to be "part of a nation" affected by disaster to be sympathetic to tragedy. With your logic 9/11 was no big deal because really only like 4000 people perished during that disaster. The millions of New Yorkers directly affected by it in a psychological manner or via longterm effects of inhaling that dust cloud do not count, neither does their misery, thus it isn't really all that sad? Please climb off your high horse.

On an unrelated note, the premise of this movie is pissing me off. There is indeed so much tragedy associated with Chernobyl that to turn it into a paranoia filled Blair Witch Woods type thing is just beyond disturbing and distasteful to me.

[–] jenner1973 13 years ago

cannotrecall - Thank you for saying this. The idea this film was pitched to a studio exec and funded is BEYOND distasteful. I came to this site out of curiosity to see who else felt this way about the simple naming and premise of the film, using the name and by connection, the disaster, to create a horror film. Unless they are funneling money to the orphans or to cleanup, totally unacceptable.

Yuck.

[–] reeseslightning 12 years ago

I hope you feel that way about all the World War II films with scenes about the holocaust and camps.

Make him do it again -Ilithyia

[–] maverick494 13 years ago

Great post. The ignorance and stupidity on this board sometimes really amazes me, but I'm happy to see there are also people like you walking around.

[–] vytautas_galdikas 13 years ago

Are you actually being serious?

Its a common knowledge that people died from radiation exposure. Its a common knowledge that it had direct impact on a lot of people (and their children, and their childrens children.)

And a not "almost all" liquidators died... a good few did but not almost all. There is still good few around, but many of them have bad condition health.

And stop being smart ass and going around asking people for facts... Because it is a fact that lot of people died as a direct consequent of this, and a lot more are in very bad state health-wise... I believe even russian government isnt trying to deny this..

[–] Hopper10 13 years ago

While I realise English may not be your first language, using a comma to split up 5 different sentences makes you look like a child so i dont blame him for questioning your age. Also your an idiot. Are you really trying to say you know more about Chernobyl than the many websites and books and publications that were made about it?

Dear Warden, You were right. Salvation lies within.

[–] melodydemure 13 years ago

In many languages, especially Slavic languages, a comma appears at the end of each clause. So it's understandable that someone might not understand the proper use of commas in English when their first language uses them in a very different way.

[–] martymoves 13 years ago

Listen hypocrite, you only know what you've been shown and choose to believe it; whether it is the truth or not. Also, don't ever criticise someone who's first language isn't English, when you can't even appropriately use the words "your" or "you're".

You stand completely owned. You can go back to shutting the *beep* up now.

[–] Hopper10 13 years ago

All i ment was that its understandable that someone may question your age...easy there big fella. Still you remain one of those ignorant douche bags who take national tragedies and try to make them sound like conspiracies or make claims that you know more about it than anyone else. Its just fvckin annoying. This may be what you think but stop trying to force your bullsh!t on everyone else

Dear Warden, You were right. Salvation lies within.

[–] maniuis 13 years ago

For someone so touchy when it comes to grammar issues, your knowledge of pronouns is appalling.

[–] Hopper10 13 years ago

I was merely explaining to him why someone might question his age.

Dear Warden, You were right. Salvation lies within.

[–] maniuis 13 years ago

"I was merely explaining to him why someone might question his age." I'm so sorry man. You right, you were merely doing that. I don't know why I was under the impression you insulted him.

[–] ADz-83 11 years ago

I find it quite ironic when people tell others they're an idiot by saying "your and idiot". It's "You're" as in "You are". "Your" means it belongs to you.

[–] DriftRS 13 years ago

sentiovereor, are you daft? Have you not heard of radiation before? Do you understand what 'nuclear radiation' is? A nuclear power plant 'exploded', look that word up in a dictionary 'exploded'. There was massive fallout. They were unable to evacuate quickly enough, the children were left in irradiated chernobyle playing in a theme park that never officially opened while the adults tried to organise an evacuation. It was not a quick process.

I'm not going to do your research for you, it looks like you didn't look this up at all and have no background on the issue or what radition is. There is a reason that over 25 years later the place remains uninhabitable, the people who were there at the time of the accident would have sustained rather damaging levels of radiation, especially those unable to evacuate straight away.

Your knowledge of radiation poisoning is lacking too if all you are after is a death toll. For example, I'll go gouge out your eyes, the eyes of all your relatives, and everyone in your town, but don't worry, it's not a tragedy, you all survived! (yaaaay).

[–] Strazdamonas 12 years ago

yes there are countries on this planet where English is not the first language,deal with it.

yes, sadly world is full of egoistic *beep* that think their language is superior and refuse to speak other languages, ergo in 6500 years or written history we still haven't managed to make one universal language to communicate. English comes closest to it at the moment.

---------------------------------------------
Applied Science? All science is applied. Eventually.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] Strazdamonas 12 years ago

Many people much smarter than me has proposed this and even created a language.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperanto
if you think that a common language would not benefit humanity you are simply stupid.

---------------------------------------------
Applied Science? All science is applied. Eventually.

[–] ToxicShockTaco 11 years ago

Open up any history book dude, and you'll find plenty of info about this disaster. Although judging by your obviously young age and terrible grammar, I find it unlikely you have ever done so.

[–] gmikal 11 years ago

Jesus Christ, you're *beep* stupid. Were you born yesterday?

[–] xenatikkanen-1 13 years ago

Yeah, apparently this moron expects you to have a list, seeing as it is not covered by disaster victim/government confidentiality. GIVE UP THE NAMES!

Why does everyone here keep bothering to answer this complete sick nitwit. You never bother with someone so woefully armed and ill prepared for reality. You just move on and hope they learn something or take a long walk off of a short pier.

[–] jenner1973 13 years ago

sentiovereor - I was in high school when Chernobyl happened. The entire world was following the news when the threat of meltdown, then actual meltdown began. Ted Koppel was one of the more noteworthy journalists covering it day by day. Forgive me if you are old enough to have seen this firsthand as well. In case you were not, news and media in the 80's had a much higher standard for reporting facts. What was most frustrating was that the Soviet government refused help from other nations in the time leading up to the meltdown - point of no return! They refused to provide information on what is a world impacting disaster (waste cloud - an absolute certainty in a meltdown). Worst of the worst, the entire thing could have been prevented if it were not for their government's sheer neglect of well-established standards for operating a power plant. Asking not just the survivors or those affected directly in the immediate area, but also the Belarussians today who lived through this how they felt about this tragedy would be an interesting point of view to get.

I don't know what more viable sources there are other than the international science community, and coalitions such as the EPA cooperative with the WHO. All are on record loudly about what went wrong and the ongoing "fallout". Yes...it is impossible to prove the source of cancer generation upon generation. Genetic mutations, even harder to prove linkage to radiation. This doesn't mean you can't decide using Occam's Razor. In other words, what more likely to be the cause for the deformed, and the doomed (due to terminal cancer).

There is also an HBO documentary, "Chernobyl Heart". Anyone who holds doubt about the human suffering should see it. Almost unwatchable due to the unimaginable state of some of the newborns descended from survivors. It's pretty much the only tragedy I am aware of where the survivors are on camera actually questioning whether the dead have it better. Think about it. To me...this alone warrants the term "heartbreaking".

[–] dr-dexxter 12 years ago

Wow... you people got trolled big time! sentiovereor - most successful troll of IMDB!

[–] emma-lou-who 13 years ago

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deaths_due_to_the_Chernobyl_disaster

Annd if you care to click on those blue numbers at the end of the sentences they take you to real sources.

Only Valery Ilyich Khodemchuk died immediately. Everyone else (except for the three people that perished in a Helicopter accident) suffered for days or weeks some even had neurological issues for years before finally succumbing.

[–] theluckdog 12 years ago

Watch "Children Of Chernobyl" for starters. That'll give you a wee hint about your requested "harmed,dead people". Then you need to go read ANY reputable site outlining what happened on that sad day & the weeks following, because you obviously have NO clue about this disaster.

Id!ot.

[–] unknown_soul278 12 years ago

'Chernobyl Heart' is another eye-opener. All those kids born, even, now, with horrible birth defects. The fatalities didn't end with those who died soon after the meltdown...we can't know when they will truly end.

The wild, cruel animal is not behind the bars of a cage. He is in front of it.

[–] Agent_Mothman 12 years ago

You are one stupid excuse for a human being.

"The world is indeed comic, but the joke is on mankind" ~H.P. Lovecraft

[–] Royalcourtier 11 years ago

You say that you know about Chernobyl, yet ask if there was a war there. You know nothing about it.

[–] jdk2891 13 years ago

Not trying to say that it was not a terrible accident with horrific and long lasting social and environmental consequences...

But I think it might be worth reminding people that the town of Pripyat was founded in 1970 and built for the workers (and families (and teachers, shopkeepers, doctors etc.) of the Chernobyl power station. Therefore... no power station no economic reason to stay!

World Health Organisation figures put the total number of people to have lost their lives as a result of the disaster as 64 from 1986 until 2008 (50 of them being the liquidators who did the clean up with out proper protective equipment & 9 being children who died of thyroid cancer). Although the figure is disputed by organisation such as Green Peace (who "estimate" it to be much higher- circa 200,000)"I" think that the WHO figure is probably the more realistic and scientifically sound figure.

The claim of causing deformities and mutations is scientifically unfounded as well, as radiation only effects the development of infants still in the womb, and following the disaster pregnant women in the area (Ukraine and Belarus) were "advised" to have abortions.

There are a lot of facts available from reputable sources about Chernobyl (and other nuclear disaster (such as USAs atomic bombs in Japan)). So stop believing what you read in the tabloids. and stop contributing to all the rubbish anti nuclear propaganda which is partly responsible for climate change (about 8.67 gigatonnes of CO2 released each yr from burning fossil fuels).

Again... it was a terrible disaster... but really stop spouting unfounded (or ill researched) b*ll*cks just to try and seam clever and sensitive!

[–] katie-oneone8 13 years ago

Wow, so much stupidity in one place.

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] axelboutry 13 years ago

don't worry guys this douchebag probably does not believe in the holocaust

[–] deltajvliet 13 years ago

I mean, 31 directly attributable deaths...? Sure, that's unfortunate and tragic, but there have been far worse disasters, and much more recently. The 2004 Tsunami, for example. A quarter of a million people.

I can promise you a day of reckoning that you will not live long enough to never forget.

[–] shenagoogabloga 13 years ago

Well, I don't think they were comparing which disaster was worse, just saying that the place is sad because of what happened to a lot of those people. And yeah, it is sad, whether it's 31 people or thousands. And I can say that more than 31 people were affected by this. If they did not die within a few weeks, plenty of people had health issues for the rest of their lives. Animals died too, from eating food that was exposed to radiation.
I was born 80 miles from the reactor, less than 2 years after it happened, so I heard a lot of stories directly from people who were there.

[–] xenatikkanen-1 13 years ago

There were 51 deaths but thousands that were injured or affected and then generations of indirectly affected due to genetic malformations. You don't escape unscathed. Even today there are unacceptable levels of radiation in the affected area. It amazes me that people dismiss it. It is the worst disaster in the history of mankind. I've lived through horrible hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, and 9/11. I graduated high school when Chernobyl happened. I lived through the years of the end of the Cold War and the beginnings of the talks of "no nukes." The disaster of Chernobyl is not going away just because it didn't have the tangible death toll you so desperately need to fill your quota of one-ups on how bad an event is. The disaster was something like 400 or some ridiculous number times worse than Hiroshima, and that was a disaster that still resonates today. I am not minimizing the tsunami's horrible damage. But nuclear damage lasts forever, not just until people clean up their village.

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] jtuds 13 years ago

First of all, who are you to tell someone who they think is a sad place and what isn't?

Secondly, think about the families who had made their homes in Pripyat and the kids who grew up there and then had to leave everything behind and evacuate in a matter of hours.

That's not sad? What a dumbass thing to post...

[–] tomasthedreamer 13 years ago

@sentiovereor
People are still dying and suffering today as a result of this accident, but yet you don't find it sad?

[–] olgagl 13 years ago

you can not be serious! my neighbor's mother has been evacuated with other Pripyat's citizens and, of course, she came to her son. i remember we all tried to cheer her up, brought a bottle of red wine to her. it's said to be a good way to "clean up" a blood..yeah.. it took her only a month. others lived a bit more, like one or two years. no one really did the research on the hypothyroid/ hyperthyroid disease thousands(!) Ukrainian female got after Chernobil. thousands people around (!) Pripyat died because of This but have never been recognized as the Catastrophe's victims. if you think anyone can go away the day after and LIVE or stay healthy you are... just naive,to say the least, sorry..

[–] xenatikkanen-1 13 years ago

Apparently you don't read very much or have any sense of history.

[–] DACHokie 13 years ago

I've been fascinated by the Chernobyl disaster for several years now ... the STALKER games are what really got me immersed in the subject matter (great game and amazing recreation of the zone and it's eerie, mysterious nature). There are several excellent books I've read on the subject matter as well. While actually visiting Chernobyl/Pripyat is interesting to me, see WWII battlefields from the Eastern Front would take priority. For those, like me, not able to actually go there ... I found Google Earth to be quite interesting and clear (can't see the new enclosure construction at this point, but the vegetation overwhelming the abandoned cities in the zone is easy to see.

While the movie will probably be totally stupid, I'll probably see it just because it's about Chernobyl.

[–] xenatikkanen-1 13 years ago

What really persuaded you to visit the site of such a horrible disaster. Do you normally do that? What other disaster sites have you visited? Video gaming is not exactly a preparation or persuasion for a rational decision to visit the site of disaster and suffering.

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] tehmck 13 years ago

I went to Six Flags once.

[–] jsawhite2 13 years ago

ROTFLMAO. Me too, Six flags over Georgia, (U.S., not anywhere near Chernobyl)Awesome reply, still laughing.

[–] Staley67-02 13 years ago

Did you grow a third arm recently?

“If you do not overcome your tendency to give up easily, your life leads to nothing.”
-Mas Oyama

[–] wishmaster80 13 years ago

I think it is really sad that there is a discussion going on if the Chernobyl accident is sad or not. This accident had a tremendous effect on the lifes and the health of the People who lived there. Maybe people didn't die instantly but it's far more worse to suffer a long and slowly death due to cancer. Not to mention the damage it did to the nature.

How could someone say what happened isn't sad? What is sad than 9/11 or the Tsunami from 2004. There is no difference a tragic event is a tragic event. After all this years People are still suffering from the consequences. People that were not even born at that time.

So what is sad to you guysif this isn't?

[–] unknown_soul278 13 years ago

I think only one person has denied the sadness. The rest have just retaliated.

The wild, cruel animal is not behind the bars of a cage. He is in front of it.

[–] jtuds 13 years ago

or *beep* on someone for not speaking acceptable English, right?

[–] BigGayKirk 13 years ago

Just curious, what condition is the wildlife around there? Is there any? What about deformities, etc.

[–] renegade916 13 years ago

Does not matter how many deaths there were, thousands of people were forced to leave their homes immediately, you think they all had a second home waiting for them in another city? Radiation exposure, as was stated in several other replies to this post will have lasting consequences for generations for many of them, and the emotional gravity of it all probably meant severe depression for all of them. Its not just sad, its a outright tragedy. =/

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] gemmaread 13 years ago

I'm just so shocked that you think something like this isn't sad or a tragedy, are you for real, seriously?

I also didn't know that tragedies like this were a game, the way you and some others have gone on, saying things like "yeah but more people died here" that makes it any better? So less people died so it's not a tragedy?

Why don't YOU provide facts, completely unbiased facts about Chernobyl instead of accusing people of only ever reading Wikipedia articles.

Stupid as hell...you're such a joke.

[–] mrconfusion87 12 years ago

Yeah so true! Anyway, I did notice the troll hasn't posted here a damn thing on IMDB since his last post here back in May, despite having logged on as recently as October... Sounds like he got mauled badly by the (much-deserved) mauling by the users on this thread for his disrespect to the past, present, and future victims of Chernobyl!

I'm gonna eat your brains to gain your knowledge!!!

[–] d_green_maverick 13 years ago

let's not resort to insults, shall we? although I agree with you that the number of fatalities maybe of insignificance, the threat and danger is there if the reactor wasn't sealed immediately. we could had expected a higher level of radiation which would make the place uninhabitable for a very long time not even visitable til now. the place was abandoned due to the mortality risk. I agree with the others not because of the number of fatalities, but it's sad to know that people died there and most are evacuated from the place they called home.

[–] DivaGoddessoftheUniverse 13 years ago

Watch the PBS Nature episode called "Radioactive Wolves" (the name of my band).

No link included because I'm a lazy bitch

"I know it's bad, but, I like it!" KK

[–] thepyrethatburns 13 years ago

I've always kind of wanted to go to Pripyat and Centralia, Pennsylvania. I'm not sure why as the story behind both has always struck me as sad.

[–] Nukeuz 13 years ago

Thats a dangerous place, the radioactivity there is so high i heard vegetation wont be able to grow there for another 100,000 years.

[–] antiswa77 13 years ago

You're kidding, right? Did you not see the photos the OP provided links for?

Pripyat is overgrown with vegetation. Additionally, the larger zone has seen an explosion in wildlife, due to the absence of human activity.

[–] olgagl 13 years ago

this is right. life there is impossible for the next generations.

[–] lightcaster1 13 years ago

There's something beautiful and horrendously depressing about those photos. Is it really safe? I'd love to go but I'm fairly worried about the effects of radiation.

[–] Nukeuz 13 years ago

Radiation doesnt just go away. Not even bacteria can survive severe radiation. If there is vegetation there, i am surprised because the soil at Chernobyl and anywhere near it is severely damaged.

You cannot plant anything if you wanted to, even the water used to water the plants is highly toxic. Even the clouds in the area when it rains it rains acid.

The Chernobyl that people visit is probably not near the really dangerous areas, because its seriously not safe to even breath within at least 10 miles of the perimeter of the city i cannot believe the gov't allows any living organism in city limits.

They might require you to take a Baking Soda pill or some other form of Sodium bicarbonate to reduce the danger of radiation during your stay at those locations.

[–] antiswa77 13 years ago

I refer you back to my previous post. Seriously, do a quick google search and you'll find a lot of info that refutes your claims.

"The Chernobyl that people visit is probably not near the really dangerous areas, because its seriously not safe to even breath within at least 10 miles of the perimeter of the city i cannot believe the gov't allows any living organism in city limits."

-The OP has a photo of himself standing directly in front of the reactor, and there's vegetation everywhere in his photos. You can reference hundreds, if not thousands of reports and blogs that discuss wildlife, vegetation, and visiting the exclusion zone. You can even sign up for vacation tours.

"Radiation doesnt just go away. Not even bacteria can survive severe radiation. If there is vegetation there, i am surprised because the soil at Chernobyl and anywhere near it is severely damaged."

-Understand that, generally speaking, the most dangerous radioactive isotopes decay the fastest, and these have largely decayed. What you do not want to do (and are barred from in the zone) is dig into the soil around Pripyat and other areas of the zone, as you could stir up isotopes that have been naturally buried under the topsoil.

"You cannot plant anything if you wanted to, even the water used to water the plants is highly toxic. Even the clouds in the area when it rains it rains acid."

-If precipitation were so highly toxic, there wouldn't be forest encroachment all over the region, would there?

I strongly encourage you to spend a few hours looking some of the aforementioned webpages, it's fascinating stuff, and you'll learn a lot about what the current state of the Chernobyl exclusion zone really is. Some really great photos as well.

[–] xenatikkanen-1 13 years ago

They refer to the site as The "Red Forest" in the high radiation area there. I was shocked at how much vegetation existed there in the documentaries I saw and the pics sent by people who have visited the area over the past years. But when you look at the books that show before and after shots of Prypjat and the surrounding area of the reactor, you will notice a marked difference in the type of vegetation and greenery that has grown there. One video shows blood red mushrooms all over the place. That may be a result of people not existing there and the vegetation taking over, but that does not make it okay or look right. People use it as a way to dismiss what they don't get.

It amazes me how woefully ill-prepared/mentally unarmed people there are on this board and are in this world. There are the morons who post here talking about how nothing really happened but some people who don't know how to clean properly (and tell you not to compare it to 9/11 or the holocaust); some morons who don't think the death toll was enough to rate as a disaster; some who think it is a government hoax. There are those who believe that radiation is no big deal adn that it is okay to go there and no big deal (let alone the overwhelming number od fools who live life through video games and continually compare them to real life events on this board, let alone all over). There were many who believed and still believe the Holocaust did not happen. That is why it could happen again. There are many people who believe 9/11 was a hoax or that the Jews caused it. That is why it could happen again. Let's get something straight: it happened. I don't need to show up on the reactor's doorstep to know that. I am a native New Yorker and Russian-American Jewish person; I don't need to go to Germany or Poland or the neighboring areas to believe that the Holocaust happened. I also don't have a problem saying that both events: the Holocaust was horrible, but so was Chernobyl. So was 9/11. So was Haiti. So was the tornado that destroyed Alabama and Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Andrew. Hiroshima. I am not comparing them or saying one is worse or not bad or whatever. I do place a distinction on Chernobyl that even surpasses Hiroshima. We see the horrible effects that Hiroshima has caused and continues to cause many many decades after (60 years or abouts). Supposedly the effects of Chernobyl were hundreds or thousands of times worse in terms of radiation than Hiroshima. The problem is it is not seen or tangible in the same way that a "regular" horror is. Nuclear is forever. It will never go away. I wish all of the governments that work on nukes would just look at some of the mutations and genetic malformations. The lasting effect on people and the land. It is invisible in some senses but will be there and affect people forever.

[–] j-cusick 13 years ago

ok, i didnt realise my post went this out of control whether it was sad or not.

A- yes it is sad. no question!

@ Nukeeus.

are you trolling? as antiswa77 corrected you in their reply. when you visit the chernobyl area you go right next to the reactor that went into meltdown and imploded. It may not be possible now as they are building a new more modern enclosure. yes the areas around it vary in the degree of radioactivity. the areas we went in ranged from 20 up to 2000 on the geiger counter we had with us. it was about 10-30 in most of the areas we went to like the swimming pool complex, right by the reactor building it was about 500+, driving back through the red forest it shot up within milliseconds to 2000+. Also there is wildlife everywhere. nature has claimed it back. we saw many wild dogs and cats, they didnt have visible deformities and didnt seem that agressive as there is still a common human presense in the area. when you go into the zone you get scanned for radiation, the same when you leave. there are armed guards present when we went there. they check your passport and entrance pass. we went to the fairground in pripyat, the guide picked up a wild mushroom which read high on the geiger counter as does moss. the area was very green, you can see a tree growing inside one of the buildings on my pics. we booked the tour through Tour Kiev, we were picked up by the chenobyl tour guide from our apartment in Kiev city. Oh we also ate food within the exclusion zone by the hotel within the zone which is a place foreign workers and other people working in the zone stay at. I have had no health issues since going either. i believe we had about the same radiation dosage in a day as travelling by plane the average jet setter gets in a lifetime.

oh, bananas are radioactive too! (potassium)

[–] DeRo64 13 years ago

I tell you what. I'll visit Chernobyl if I ever get enough money ... and after I've already gone to Japan, China, Thailand, Scotland, England, Paris (I really want to see the skeleton-filled catacombs in person), and... uh... yeah, then I'll go to Russia. Hopefully by then I'll have overcome my fear of hostels in Eastern Europe.

"There is no escape, John!"

[–] kassandra-morton-1 13 years ago

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster

That should have everything you want to know about it.

[–] 13 years ago

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