19 stunning photos show what the radioactive area inside the Chernobyl nuclear plant

http://www.businessinsider.com/ ^ | Sarah Jacobs

[BBell]

19 stunning photos show what the radioactive area inside the Chernobyl nuclear plant looks like 32 years after the explosion

The Chernobyl nuclear power plant was the site of one of the worst nuclear disasters in history.

As many as 150,000 people in the area were permanently relocated, and an estimated 4,000 clean-up workers got radiation poisoning.

Experts say that more than 70,000 people experienced severe poisoning from the accident on April 26, 1986.

On April 26, 1986, a radioactive release many times as large as the that of the Hiroshima bomb occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Soviet Union.

Chernobyl would go down in history as one of the worst nuclear disasters.

The explosion at the plant in Pripyat, Ukraine, blasted radioactive gas and dust into the air, and winds carried it across central and southern Europe. More than 30 people died, and thousands of lives have been affected by the exposure to radiation.

About 150,000 people were forced to evacuate their homes in the "nuclear exclusion zone" within an 18-mile radius of the plant. The town hardest hit was Pripyat, which remains empty.

In 2012, construction began on the New Safe Confinement, a structure to cover part of Chernobyl.

Here are 19 photos that go inside the eerie Chernobyl plant and the New Safe Confinement.

[BBell]

32 years ago today Chernobyl went up. Met a lady who was in one of the last classes to evacuate Pripyat. She was in High School. Interesting to talk to her. She was also a young pioneer.

What is amazing is the abundance of wildlife there. People moved out, animals moved in.

[RedMonqey]

Soviet technology at it’s finest.

[LouieFisk]

I expected to see an abandoned sack of potatos and empty vodka bottles strewn about the place.

Poke around this site for some interesting photos & stories re: Chernobyl -

http://www.angelfire.com/extreme4/kiddofspeed/highres/highres.html

[Dilbert San Diego]

I heard people wanted to study the animals there, as they have high amounts of radiation in their bodies. Apparently they are good case studies for finding mutations or other effects of radiation.

[RedMonqey]

What is amazing is the abundance of wildlife there. People moved out, animals moved in.

Life will find a way...

[x_plus_one]

Fukushiima Daichi will kill the Pacific ocean soon enough.

[Fungi]

Radioactive boars are roaming Czech mountains after eating mushrooms contaminated by the Chernobyl disaster

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4249582/Radioactive-boars-roaming-Czech-mountains.html#ixzz4ZS47ycyM

[dfwgator]

Remember their names!

Alexei Ananenko
Valeri Bezpalov
Boris Baranov


Three Brave Men who literally saved Europe

Ten days after the initial explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear plant, another potential disaster in the making was uncovered beneath the damaged reactor.

Immediately after the accident, large amounts of water were used in a futile attempt to put out the flames burning in the exposed reactor core.

The water came in direct contact with the radioactive materials in the reactor core and got heavily contaminated and it gradually started accumulating into a large pool underneath the reactor core.

Huge quantities of sand, clay and boron mixture were dropped from helicopters into the exposed reactor core in an attempt to bring the fire under control.

However, the immense heat inside the reactor core caused all these materials to form a hot molten lava like substance that was slowly burning through the reactor floor.

If the reactor floor were to be breached, then this lava like material would come in contact with the huge pool of accumulated water beneath the reactor setting off an enormous steam explosion that would release all the remaining 200 plus tons of radioactive materials into air.

The resulting contamination would have been so severe that the entire Europe would have been deemed inhabitable for tens and thousands of years due to radiation.

The only way to avoid this disaster was to drain the 20,000 tons of water that had accumulated beneath the reactor.

However, there was one big problem, the valves for the draining pipes were submerged and hidden deep in the dark radioactive pool of water and no one except Alexie Ananenko an engineer at the plant at that time knew the exact location of the required draining valve.

Everyone present there were aware that diving into the radioactive water was suicidal with absolutely no chance of survival.

They suited up in wetsuits and using scuba equipment and a handheld torch, they were ready for the mission. The trio made one last request “please take care of our families after our death”

Once deep inside the pool of water, they were able to locate the draining pipes, but before locating the actual draining valves, their hand held torch failed due to radiation. Fortunately, they were able to locate and successfully open the valves in dark and resurface.

They were greeted by a group of colleagues who were jumping in joy realizing the importance of the task these three brave men had accomplished.

A fortnight later Ananenko and Bezpalov died at a specialty hospital in Moscow while Baranov managed to hold on a little longer. All three were buried in sealed lead coffins because their bodies were highly radioactive.

Months later experts established that the molten lava like material had indeed breached the reactor floor and poured into the empty pool area immediately after the water had been drained.

The actions of these brave men saved countless lives and their names should go down in history as true heroes!

[kaehurowing]

Dahhyummmm, look at those 70 foot grasshoppers in the background.

[sparklite2]

One of my favorite FPS video games in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series. Pripyat and Chernobyl are radiants in the game. The graphics portray the town and reactor very accurately, judging from actual photos I have seen.

What they don’t mention in the article is the Red Forest, four square miles around Chernobyl where radiation turned the pine trees red. Eventually, the area was bulldozed and surface soil hauled away. It is still one of the most contaminated sites in the world.

[nickedknack]

The most polluted and polluting countries on planet Earth are the Socialist Workers Paradises, a.k.a. kleptocratic kackocracies such as Russia, China, North Korea, Venezuela, Cuba.

[dfwgator]

The worst cases of radiation poisoning occurred in Belarus, hundreds of miles from Chernobyl.

[dfwgator]

I believe also at the time, Cuba had a nuclear power plant in operation that was just like the one in Chernobyl.

[rktman]

Didn’t see the “OH CRAPSKI” button anyplace. I did read about the animals there. Still high rad levels.

[sparklite2]

Europe would have been deemed inhabitable

---

Now, that’s funny right there.

[BBell]

A number of years ago I watched a bunch of her videos. She’s quite a women.

[Blue House Sue]

[Wuli]

The animals knew better than humans how quickly actually harmful levels of radiation would recede. The entire standard that was developed for harmful levels of radiation was based on a scientific researcher’s error. That error has been recognized and admitted, but the standard remains; mostly because the scientists have never independently tried to develop a new one, because of the institutional problem of everyone publicly admitting they all might be wrong.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/samlemonick/2017/01/31/what-if-theres-a-crack-in-the-foundation-of-our-radiation-regulations/#5ed630e83218

[rktman]

THEM! Scared the crap out of me as a kid. LOL!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Them!_(1954_film)

[LibWhacker]

The resulting contamination would have been so severe that the entire Europe would have been deemed [un]inhabitable for tens and thousands of years due to radiation.

Those three men died for nothing because once muslims get a strong foothold in Europe, it'll be uninhabitable for forever anyway.

All kidding aside, those three guys are heroes of the highest order, imo, if the facts are as presented here. Imagine sacrificing your life like that on a moment's notice. Unbelievable bravery.