Chernobyl, Have some pretty neat info on it Options

[ThePerson98]

I bet a good number of you know about Chernobyl. The 1986 reactor explosion. But this is for those of you interested in it, or the ones who dont know about it.

There was one girl who decided she wanted to go to Chernobyl. And she got a government permit from her father.
Kid of speed
She's lucky, in my opinion. I would love to go to Chernobyl. I have HUGE interest in it, and plan to go when I am older. And dont say you can't. Because there is Tourism in Chernobyl
Before we know it, that place is gonna go from a zone of death to being completely reopened.

Even though the place is completely evacuated of humanity, wildlife still is there.
BBC Chernobyl wildlife
Its pretty suprising that the sarcophagus is home to birds! I expected wildlife to be there but taking THAT much radiation is incredible.

Here's the part most of you will have fun with. Google Earth has moderate quality Chernobyl pictures now.
Find the city of Kiev in Ukraine and there is a river that runs through it heading north. Follow the river. It starts to split into many small rivers but there are two major ones, one heading north and one heading northwest. Follow the one going northwest.
You quickly run into a quality change in pictures, the quality change is the picture of Chernobyl.
If you are having trouble finding it refer to this picture
Chernobyl Google earth instructions


BBC news had a 20th year anniversary of chernobyl, getting stories of people who were evacuated or things planned for it. They also have many pictures of places around chernobyl, that are in the forbidden zone. Its neat to see what people said about it.
BBC Chernobyl 20th Anniversary

I also want to see what you all think of chernobyl. And those of you who were alive during the time, what was the news like about it, if you remember.

EDIT: Title has typo! Oops, and there is a gallery with neat pictures of chernobyl
LINK to pictures

This post has been edited by ThePerson98: May 14 2006, 07:27 AM

[minque]

I live in on the eastern coast of Sweden, as you can see on this picture the radiation was actually affecting my area the days after the disaster.

I was pregnant at the time, my daughter was born in july so I was six months into pregnancy. The news were on all channels, radio and TV. We were told it would not be immediate danger for us, we didn´t have to stay inside or so, but we were adviced NOT to pick mushrooms, or stuff from the woods. I was also adviced not to eat my own vegetables from my garden, maybe because of the pregnancy.

Anyway like all news they were very active the first weeks but then diminished as usual. Now in northern sweden the reindeers did accumulate cesium-37 a lot because they got it in them from the bait..and the nuclide accumulate in their muscles so the ppl north could not eat their reindeers!

My daughter was born without any problems....not then and not everafter!

What also concerns me is the fact that they tried to hide such a lot of information then at the time, the whole extent of the catastrophe was unknown for a long time!

I had the opportunity to work together with a german engineer in Germany 2004, who in fact had been living in Slavutich, the new town that was built in stead of Pripyat, the "ghost-town" where the former nuclear-workers lived. Slavutich is pretty modern according to ukrainian standards and my friend bought a small hpouse there. He was working with the aftermaths of the accident.

Anyway it also concerns me how, when they used normal firemen, helicopterdrivers and so on did not equip them with proper shielding and special clothes!, I blame it on ignorance and the somewhat "normal" russian or soviet way of being a bit nonchalante about human lives!

If an nuclear accident would happen today, the consequenses would be handled in a far better way....at least here in Sweden.

I´m still pro-nuclear power....not only because I´m in the business myself, but I think it´s a good way of producing cheap, available and environmentally good electricity...