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

[stargelman]

Nevertheless.....I´d still like to see it....but from a safe distance!

Try here.

They are building it near the reactor. And then after done constructing it simply sliding it over.

I'm not sure I'd use the word "simply" in the same sentence as referring to the worlds largest movable structure ever (to be) built. I guess the lid you mentioned would be the UBS (upper biological shield). I guess the roof coming down would be worse. That whole thing is just another disaster waiting to happen. Probably the worst part about it is that nobody really knows just how much radioactive material is actually left in that thing. The only thing most experts seem to be certain about is that a lot of what's left exists as dust that would enter the athmosphere if that thing was to crumble....

[Olav]

I'm not sure I'd use the word "simply" in the same sentence as referring to the worlds largest movable structure ever (to be) built.

NOOO!!! They're gonna break the record of our Troll oil platform?!

Seriously, regarding this whole Tsjernobyl accident (yes I remember it clearly, and a lot of Norwegian children and animals have been born deformed bacause of it); it is amazing that there haven't been more meltdowns considering all the nuclear power plants around the world. How many are there? 100s? 1000s?

Nuclear power is still considered the safest (and definitaley most efficient) power in the world amongst scientists, but of course accidents like these leave a mark in the memories of the general public. Renewable energy plants like water plants (like we use in Norway) are of course much safer, but not very efficient compared to nuclear power plants.

I recently read an article about 'fool-proof' nuclear power plants developed by Sweden or Finland, I think. The cores will be submerged 1000s of feet into the ground with access to ground water, so in the case of a meltdown they will be isolated and cooled down immediately. The main buildings will be built inside a fortress-like wall/dome that can handle the largest bombs, in case of terrorism. This same concept is going to be used for storing burned out nuclear cores etc. Don't remember more about the details, but rest assured nuclear power will be around for a long time, and until we discover how to build fusion power plants (or it is fission? I keep mixing them...), nuclear power plants will be essential for providing the human race with enough power for a long time to come.

Recently Statoil (the company I'm working for) discovered a coal deposit underneath one of the oilfields in the North Sea, large enough to provide the entire planet with energy for hundreds of years, but for now there aren't any efficient ways to bring this coal to the surface, and as you all may know - burning coal is extremely polluting. However Statoil have already half-planned to ignite the coal while it is still down there, thus freeing immense amounts of hydrogen, which is a very clean and safe (if handled correctly) source of power. Some of you may already have hydrogen powered buses/cars etc. in your cities?

Anyway there will probaly be accidents like Tsjernobyl again, although not in the same scale, since most nuclear power plants - many of them much older than Tsjernobyl - have been rebuilt and secured to prevent an accident as devastating as Tsjernobyl.