Chernobyl
Chernobyl, here’s the one ill-advised destination that drew the most criticism. Today I visited the abandoned town of Pryprat directly next to the exploded reactor #4 as well as the reactor itself and a few surrounding areas.
First off I’m going to bore you with the science. You’ll see my Geiger counter in the video and a number of the photos. To get an idea of what the figures mean, here’s a few common doses of radiation that we all get regularly, listed from lowest to highest (these measurements I took myself):
| Sitting at my desk at work | 0.15 μSv/h |
| Enjoying the Australian sunshine | 0.18 μSv/h |
| Using the marbled lifts | 0.22 μSv/h |
| Maximum considered to be natural radiation | 0.30 μSv/h |
| The international flight to get here | 0.80 μSv/h |
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The video and a number of the photos show readings well above any of these. Before anyone freaks out about my person safety, there’s really no cause for concern. I didn’t hang around those areas long and my total exposure for the day according to to my Geiger counter was about 0.012 mSv. About what you would get from a few days sun baking. Probably not much more than i got on the flight to get here.
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Anyway, about Chernobyl. Yes it is still very contaminated and will be for many years. Many areas made the Geiger counter complain bitterly. More disturbing though is the abandoned town of Pryprat.
Much is left as it was on that day in 1986. The school menu is still up on the board, Bumper cars are still in the children’s playgrounds, medical equipment is still left in the hospital with no one to treat, pictures of Lenin are still on the walls.
It’s a stark reminder that many people died or were displaced in the disaster or got sick later on.
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On the bright side, a lot of areas even very close to the reactor are now remarkably clean. Radiation levels drop every year.
Also there are many people who do live and work there for at least short periods of time. Many of these people work in often in hazardous circumstances to make the place as safe as possible. There were many hero’s on the day of the disaster and there are still many more quietly working away to this day.
Photo’s and video follow. I’d highly recommend you take the time to download the better quality version, you cant see much in the low quality preview.
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Or download Windows Media High quality (near DVD) Right click, Save as..
(62MB – 16 minutes or less on broadband or up to 4 hours on dialup)
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September 22nd, 2006 at 9:02 am
did they let the kids off the ferris wheel before abandoning the town?
November 29th, 2006 at 3:34 pm
Dude, I done a lot fo research on Chernobyl and I am drawn to that place for some reason. How much did it cost you for the tour? And is it possible for a regular person like myself to go there?
November 29th, 2006 at 5:21 pm
Scott November 29, 2006
How much did it cost you for the tour? And is it possible for a regular person like myself to go there?
Thats a question i’m getting quite a bit either ere or on YouTube. i should write an FAQ.
Either way the basic answers is; it’s quite expensive but yes any bum off the street can go as long as you pass the security checks. Unless you’re an international spy thats not an issue
December 12th, 2006 at 7:39 am
Hi Carl,
To follow on with scotts comment, i’m considering a tour of the area in the near future.
How do you go about passing the security checks and clearances you need to be able to enter there? I also saw Richard Carlton go into the control room, was this part of the tour available to you at an extra cost or was he just very lucky? also is there some sort of ball park figure you could give me to get in?
December 17th, 2006 at 1:47 pm
Scott/Kurt
I’m getting a steady stream of these questions. To help I’ve set up a FAQ.
http://www.carlmontgomery.com/faq/
Anyone can feel free to Contact me if they need any help/questions.
Carl.
December 19th, 2006 at 11:06 pm
Hello Carl,
I am Giancarlo, writing from Italy
I appreciate a lot you reportage.
I am also thinking about all people living there before, where they went to live, how their life changed in one night.
December 21st, 2006 at 9:49 am
giancarlo December 19, 2006
I appreciate a lot you reportage…….
Thanks Giancarlo
January 9th, 2007 at 3:21 am
hi there, a few weeks ago i became very interested about Chernobyl and I found your stuff very cool, and I also wanna say that you are crazy
anyway, thanks by this!
January 9th, 2007 at 10:08 am
Pedro – January 9, 2007
…..and I also wanna say that you are crazy
Thanks Pedro, your certainly not the first or last to say that. There’s FAQ for that question spacifically
January 9th, 2007 at 1:32 pm
I was intrested in this whole thing about chernobyl and nuclear disasters since i watched the documentary in the discovery channel, then i jumped to youtube to watch more cause i love this kind of things. Let me tell you that the work you had done is amazing, i really dream about going to the chernobyl plant. Im from Mexico, im 19 so i still have a lot of time to plan a travel. Im glad that i found your site cause i really think that in a certain moment you can make the diference by giving the information to a person who need it.
Keep up the good work Carl, you just made a new fan in Mexico..
January 10th, 2007 at 8:53 pm
Armando January 9, 2007
Thanks Armando,
This has got to be one of the best comments I’ve gotten on this video. Also, considering you weren’t born when the Chernobyl disaster happened (i was only a child myself at the time), I’m also impressed with your grasp of modern history. I only just remember the disaster myself. It was probably the first bit of world news that broke through my childhood innocence.
Anyway, good luck with whatever travels you come up with. If your interested in visiting Chernobyl, I wrote a FAQ which explains mostly how to get there. http://www.carlmontgomery.com/faq
Thanks again for you comments.
Carl.
February 5th, 2007 at 3:49 pm
Carl, that’s some amazing footage and great information. I think Chernobyl just made my list of places to visit thanks to your video and site. I’ve been to Hiroshima and it was just so powerful to stand right by the A-bomb dome.
February 5th, 2007 at 4:45 pm
MrBlue – February 5, 2007
I’ve been to Hiroshima and it was …..
Have you got any pics/video from Hiroshima? Might have to add it to my own travel plans.
February 5th, 2007 at 10:10 pm
[...] Auf seiner Homepage gibt es noch eine FAQ und Fotos vom Trip. [...]
February 10th, 2007 at 2:16 am
I find chernobyl is avery interesting theme .That is a good site. Friends of me and I are planning for next year a trip to chernobyl. Thanks to this site.
February 15th, 2007 at 6:04 am
Very cool video, Chernobyl is something sometimes dont let me sleep, i think i need go and see it by my self, you just make a fan in Costa Rica.
February 17th, 2007 at 11:06 pm
Michael Quesada February 15, 2007 | 6:04 am
Very cool video
Thanks Michael
March 10th, 2007 at 11:14 am
hi Carl, nice vid on youtube, any ideas to how long its going to be “hot” for?
March 10th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
Ghost March 10, 2007 | 11:14 am
….any ideas to how long its going to be “hot” for?
Sort of depends on what you define as “hot”. Some areas a quite clean right now. Most isn’t. some parts that are heavily contaminated probably wont be clean for many 1000’s of years.
That said, radiation levels drop every year. The situation is always getting better
March 30th, 2007 at 7:13 pm
Hey Carl
Very nice Video and pictures! Thank you very much for your trip to chernobyl.
At last time, im very interested in chernobyl and nuclear power plants.
I am 18 years old, so i didnt born, before the accident, but the radioactivity cloud also came near where i live (i come from Bavaria in Germany) and you can still measure the higher radioactivity at the ground and at mushrooms.
And i am really scared that i live very near to a nuclear power plant, 20km or so, some years ago we get a yellow envelope with warning and a map which shows us that i live in the inner circle, where the biggest danger is if “something” happens at at the nuclear power plant!
So, again thank you for your travel! I would like to go there to, but im scared about the radioactivity, because of cancer!
Have a nice day
Ben
April 8th, 2007 at 9:21 pm
I saw your films on you tube,good work!,Chernobil NPP is interesting me since i was small child because i was 4years old when NPP explode…I live in one of the country of former Yugoslavia,Croatia in town called Osijek,my town is the less of 1000km air distance of chernobil NPP…we felt disaster in own skin,the day after explotion army didnt let us to go outside because of coming contaminated clouds and yellow rain…I m sorry for those people there…
keep the good work carl!
Matija
April 12th, 2007 at 11:38 pm
oh can you tell me how did you get there and how much it costed to you because im very exited and wanted to got there i’ve readed about chernobyl everything for about 5 years P.S.im in lithuania
April 19th, 2007 at 6:25 am
Even though I was only 9 years old, I still remember clearly that my dad found out about the accident from a neighbor, a doctor, who gave my dad a few pottasium iodine pills. This was on Monday evening April 28 1986 in Minsk, Belarus, some 320km from the reactor. My dad also didn’t allow me or my brother to go to school for the next few days, kept the windows shut, and, to my mom’s delight, thoroughly cleaned every square inch of our apartment. Of course this was an overkill but at that time no one had dosimeters or officials to tell exactly what the situation was like. Almost 21 years later and living in New York for the past 15 years I do think that it’s relatively safe to visit the zone, but still it takes some major testicular fortitude to actully do it. Having said that I’d like to add that Carl’s trip was truly one of a kind experience and the video that he produced truly deserves tons of appreciation. The closest I have ever been to the reactor was about 100km (city of Gomel). Carl was only about 100m from the sarcophagus. Way to go man!
May 23rd, 2007 at 6:16 am
I must say that I was surprised to find this web page, but – - – Good Job.
June 11th, 2007 at 4:00 am
Hello Carl
im very interrested in this place and the ghost towns around, and i think you reportage was very inspiring.
Im planning a tour there soon.
And by the way do you know it`s true that the trees was glowing red some days after the accident?
Thanks. Marius
June 14th, 2007 at 6:45 pm
Hi Carl,
That has to be one of the best videos I’ve seen of the Chernobyl area. I’m a 6th-grade history teacher in the U.S. and I’ve shown several different videos to my students on this subject. Almost without fail, when we start discussing the school, the abandoned city and the amusement park area the kids all are very much interested. I’m interested in showing your video in my class next spring. Anyway I can get a copy with your permission? Thanks again for the great video.
June 20th, 2007 at 9:40 pm
Hey
very nice video. like others said allready, one of the best videos i found on the net
July 3rd, 2007 at 11:38 am
What song playing in the piano ?
July 7th, 2007 at 7:01 pm
Hi Carl,
I’m one of the lucky ones who has made the trip to Chernobyl and Pripyat, and I was excited to see the sights again. I wish I could have walked through the school and hospital, but we didn’t have time for that. One of my lasting memories is when a few of the guys in my group got yelled at for sitting in the bumper cars to pose for a picture … not the brightest idea, I’m sure. I was in Ukraine for a two-month study abroad in college, and I fortunately didn’t need to make any arrangements myself, but I think it was easier for us to get in to Chernobyl for academic purposes. Anyway, I enjoyed reading and watching your account and appreciate you helping others share in the solemn experience of visiting this place.
–Nate
July 10th, 2007 at 4:21 pm
Carl.
Great work, I was born only a year before the disaster, but Chernobyl has been a big subject of interest of mine for many years. I was actually in Kiev a few years back while backpacking and wanted to visit the NPP but all the red tape and costs were a little much at the time. Planning a trip in the near future and your FAQ has provided some very useful information. Thanks again for the video and web page.
July 11th, 2007 at 4:17 pm
Hello Carl, I would like to ask you this,
Did you see any animals around? birds? wildlife? I was just wondering..thank you.
BTW excellent work/video
abbby from Texas
July 18th, 2007 at 11:15 pm
Hi Carl,
I just found your site and really enjoyed your video. It brought back memories of my 2 day trip to the Chernobyl area in June 2006. I went with a former Pripyat resident, and Yuri was also my guide. Through my connections with Pripyat.com (I am an editor for the English-language sections), I was able to access the Reactor 4 control room. I have posted a photo journal article about my trip at:
My Journey to Chernobyl: 20 Years After the Disaster
I have also posted an article on the web with some general information about travel to Ukraine. Feel free to link to it from your FAQ if you like.
July 19th, 2007 at 8:57 pm
MarkR July 18, 2007
I just found your site and really enjoyed your video…….
Thanks Mark,
I actually found your site a while ago. Great pictures. Really wished I could make it into the control room. As a matter of interest, what do you have to do to make that happen?
I’m guessing you found my site through the question I posted on the Pripyat.com forums?
I don’t suppose you have any contact with Yuri to ask him what he is playing on the piano? I get this question about once a week. It’s really starting to get to me.
Thanks for the general information article. I’ve updated my FAQ with a link to it.
July 25th, 2007 at 6:13 pm
Hello Carl. I am very happy I have seen your video. I live very close to Ukraine. I am from Slovakia, city of Košice. I want to know, If I entered the radioactive zone, what will happen to me. thanks
August 12th, 2007 at 1:11 am
quite interesting, and I must say the 60 minutes clip was very informative…
A game was recently released, called S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and focuses on Chernobyl and Pripyat… quite amazing that I now see the ferris wheel and all the buildings were amazingly well reproduced in the game… the “game” plays on a theme of another disaster, and after looking at the 60 minutes video, it sounds like there is a real risk of further problems…
At the very least, STALKER has raised the interest level of the young guns on Chernobyl…
Coert, from Perth….
August 18th, 2007 at 12:54 am
Hi Carl.
Strong unique video,
I remember the disasters, 25 april 1986 I was parking my truck at “Windmill” Keskemet Hungary to celebrate my 27nd. birthday, with other Danish truckdriver.
It was friday night so we all was first getting reload monday.
Anyway we was drinking throughout the night to 26 april morning without knowledge what have happen in Ukrainian.
Hungary was missing truly news so we get the bad news from our phone call monday to Denmark, waiters was not belief us. What at misdeal former USSR was playing with everybody in Europa.
I was great to see you video and thanks for share, also want to know what he (your guide Yuri Tatarchuck) play in the video??
Be good and take care out there.
August 20th, 2007 at 12:58 pm
Very sad video..long time ago I saw it on youtube and became interested in Chernobyl tragedy. I was born few years after this happened. Actually I didn’t know anything, untill I accidentally found information in the book. Well, it wasn’t and still isn’t a popular topic in Russia. Also I read some forums where people from Pripyat discuss their memories about their city..many-many of them want to visit it again..
Such a morons, our government
September 19th, 2007 at 10:37 pm
Hey, I’m Russian , but living in Sydney, Australia. Your trip was certainly interesting and I guess it must be exciting to see a total ghost town. Chernobyl was unfortunately due to human error and since the Soviet Union wasn’t top notch in the technological areas in those times, they didn’t have the correct safety procedures and instruments .A very unfortunate accident that has left a huge mark. Thanks for reporting it and showing it to us.
October 5th, 2007 at 8:30 am
i was only a teenager when this disaster took place i had a neighbor who went to help but died from radiation poisoning. he gave the true ultimate sacrifice that firemen are expected to do. i will always remember him as a hero because he felt people were more important than politics. you are a brave soul for entering these areas.
October 30th, 2007 at 7:01 am
First of all, great site and video. Thanks for sharing it! I’m planning a trip to Chernobyl myself.
You wrote on you page, that according to measurements, you’ve received a dose of 0.012 milliSv for the day. Well that is actually 12 000 microSv, for let’s say no more than 12 hours in the zone. For an average of 1000microSv /h, that’s not a little amount (if we take 0.30microSv for normal background radiation!) Is this right, or am I missing something? Thanks for the answer in advance.
October 30th, 2007 at 7:18 am
Oooh, never mind!!! I work with numbers all day – this is what I end up in the evening
Mea culpa.
0.012 mSv is 12uSv which is roughly 1uSv an hour. That’s not too bad…
October 30th, 2007 at 8:50 pm
Greg – October 30th, 2007 – 7:01 am
Although you answered this yourself, I’m going to expand it
The 0.012uSv I was referring to was a cumulative dose in uSv as opposed to dose rate. If you get a Geiger counter for your trip you will see it has these two modes.
even a high dose rate isn’t that bad if you are not in that particular area long. 0.3 uSv per hour is the maximum normal background dose rate. normally much less. generally in an average day you would receive about 0.004uSv cumulative dose (if my figures are correct). i got about 3 times that in my visit to Chernobyl but still that is very little in the scheme of things.
I got these figures from this PDF from ANSTO.
November 5th, 2007 at 6:51 am
I’ve done some resarch about dosimeters / dose rate meters, and I’ve liked the one you have the most. (Terra-P) Are you satisfied with this device? Would you recommend it to anyone else?
December 6th, 2007 at 8:00 am
I just wanted to thank you for taking your time to make the videos, piks and info and all that. Not many people would take their time to create FAQ’s and all the other info and all that.
I’ve always been interesting in Chernobyl since it has a very strong sense of mystery to it, and now i have a much better idea of what it looks like from a normal persons perspective. Who knows, i might take some friends there for a surprise holiday haha
So yeh thanks, and keep doing what you do so greatly!! ^^
December 17th, 2007 at 8:00 pm
I got interested in Chernobyl when i watched a friend of mine play a game called “S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl” and wanted to look a little further into it. I read a couple articles on Wikipedia and headed over to YouTube to see if I could find anything else. Man, this video really opened things up! Firsthand insight into ground zero, absolutely incredible. Also, the link to the 60minutes report on Chernobyl was also a great help. Keep up the good work!
December 21st, 2007 at 5:14 am
Hey there Carl,
I found your photos via the creative commons search tool for flickr and like them very much. Wish they were higher rez.
I’m downloading the video right now, what is it’s license, do you release it under cc-by 2.0 or 3.0 too?
Regards, qubodup
December 21st, 2007 at 9:21 am
Qubodup
….do you release it under cc-by 2.0 or 3.0 too?
Unless i otherwise speciify, everything on this site is cc 3.0 atribution. one of these days I’ll get around to putting that on the site somewhere.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.
December 22nd, 2007 at 3:36 am
wtf? this be no duplicate…
That’s cool of ya! (you might want to update the license on flickr.com then, it’s cc-by 2.0 there afaik..)
If you’re interested in spreading the video more or videos in general: vuze.com is a bittorrent-based *thing* where I have seen a lot of crap, but also some interesting self-made videos. the good thing is, that they allow unlimited quality. there’s also vimeo.com which too allows hd while being one of the common view-online youtubes.
with that license of course anybody could do the spreading, huh? =) (naaah I’m laazyy – at least today!)
Oh by the way, obviously the video is a post-production one, Would you concider releasing the whole source (the original, uncut video files?) I guess that would be like.. four to twenty gigs, but bittorrent makes it possible =)
That certainly would be interesting (at least for me ^^) Do you have any objections besides the uploading effort it would take to do this?
I am by the way also one of the ones attracted by stalker, but some months ago I found a book at my granddad’s, from one of the engineers, who were in chernobyl, planning the sarcophag. – Very ‘absorbing’ to read it was for me, next time I give him a visit, I’ll borrow the book. I think it was english, so if you’re interested, tell me.
Oh, I think it’s this one: ratical.org/radiation/Chernobyl/ChernobylIftI.html the book itself contains pictures too. As I said, tell me if you’re interested.
Regards again!
December 27th, 2007 at 6:55 am
this is a big catastrofe fo our nation, many children are now invalids, now a community of chernobyl collects money for a online web-camera in Pripyat
December 27th, 2007 at 7:02 am
http://pripyat.com/en/ – this is a site about chernobyl, pripyat, VERY big photo gallery and many video and other
January 26th, 2008 at 12:26 am
I want to go til Chernobyl
February 5th, 2008 at 3:52 am
Thanks Carl for your help before my trip to Chernobyl half year ago.I’ve got a question-when you were in Pripyat,have you heard alarm from nuclear power plant as you can hear on this video:http://youtube.com/watch?v=EMuxdG8bz70.Could you give me any ideas about trips to such interesting places like the exclusion zone.To be honest places like Paris and London(where I live now) makes me boring-too many tourists and in my opinion nothing really interesting to visit.I’m from Poland and I think you should visit my country,there are many interesting places to visit,for example,concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau(I was there,really sad place but in some kind fascinating) and many others.If you will decide to go to Poland in the future I can help you(you can write on my e-mail lukasz@gamcom.pl)
February 5th, 2008 at 4:04 am
If anyone’s interested here is my short movie with photos from my trip to Pripyat: http://youtube.com/watch?v=x7ONDrCELlM
March 19th, 2008 at 9:26 am
Carl,
Excellent video.. thank you much for sharing. I am a nuclear reactor engineer in the US and am in the process of planning my trip that I will take at the end of October. I plan on documenting my trip as well, from a nuclear engineer standpoint, and hope my video comes out half as good as yours! Take care.
March 21st, 2008 at 7:27 pm
Wow great video… yesterday i was surfing online, found that Elena site, i was amazed by the girl, and aftermath i found out it’s a fake, then i came to your site…
You have given me a lot to think about… i have lived in thoughts that Chernobyl exclusion zone is forbidden to everyone but military or scientist… i never known that there are tourist tours there…
Right now i’m seriously concerning going there
Thanks for that revelation
May 9th, 2008 at 5:24 am
i went to pripyat.com, but i cant read… whatever language it is =p where xan i get an english version?
May 28th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Hi carl,
just watched the vid and was very impresed. picked up a game call S.T.A.L.K.E.R. shadow of chernobyl, which sparked my intrest in the accident. I would love to go some day. Great vid, keep up the good work!
September 5th, 2008 at 8:58 am
Hi Carl
I just want to thank you for making such a interesting and refreshingly unbiased documentary. And having worked in the nuclear industry, pass on a bit of advice to anyone who like myself is contemplating a visit to chernobyl and pripyat. put foil liners in your footware, never poke around or disturb dust and dirt, where a disposable cap, and never bite your fingernails or pick your nose
September 5th, 2008 at 10:14 am
“I just want to thank you for making such a interesting and refreshingly unbiased documentary….”
Thanks for the kind words. Unbiased is the sort of thing i was aiming for, glad i hit that. I dont have any politacal allegences or agenda to push, i’m not a journalist so i dont have to find an angle.
Carl.
October 12th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
[...] have been a bit of a cavalcade of odd and often ill-advised adventures (Sierra Leone, Somalia, Chernobyl, Burma, Zimbabwe to name a few). All this in the name of seeing if the world is as bad as [...]
October 23rd, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Hello Carl!
I came onto your video “Chernobyl 2006″ on YouTube, followed the link from there to here. I really like the way you approach matters like this. You do what I call: “Pat the Pitbull”.
People have all kinds of paranoias and fears. While it is perfectly rational to be wary of things you have little knowledge of, I find it sad that people stop there and don’t inform themselves. So many people would rather live in fear than do what you do: go see for yourself what it’s really like.
“Pat the Pitbull” comes from one of my pet peeves (or rather: major annoyances): the common and irrational fear of certain breeds of dogs. The tiniest bit of reserach tells us that Pitbull breeds and other breeds with a bad reputation are not in fact any more dangerous than any other type of dog. Every dog must still be treated with respect though… but with knowledge and appropriate caution, pitbulls are not dangerous to be around.
What can we do to curb soch fears and paranoia with people? My suggestion: Pat the Pitbull. If you see someone with a pitbull, ask the owner if it’s allright for you to pat the dog. Others may go “Aaaah! You’re crazy! It’ll rip your throat out!”. But you pat it anyway and show them that it didn’t.
And this is what you did here. Others said “ZOMFG! The radiation will kill you and make you grow an extra arm and a head and make you into Zaphod Beeblebrox!”. You ignored that, got yourself a guide that knows what he’s talking about… and went there to show that it didn’t. You Patted the Pitbull, and walked away fine.
I like that. I like it alot. Good job!
/Michael
November 1st, 2008 at 11:45 pm
hi Carl, do you intend on going back to Pripyat and Chernobyl?
also what was the purpose of that large stack between block 3 and 4 of the power station, (that iconic red and white one)
November 15th, 2008 at 3:14 am
send me a link buddy nice work
old man i love ur video
November 15th, 2008 at 3:47 am
old man
November 15th, 2008 at 3:48 am
hey i loved it
old man
December 26th, 2008 at 11:32 pm
hola, soy camila de Argentina. Desde que lei sobre esta tragedia, quise saber mas.Mi pregunta es: la gente que visita chernobyl, tan cerca del reactor n°4 como tu, que consecuencias les causa en su salud? cuanto tiempo aproximado hay que estar para que la radiacion te afecte?
mis saludos atentamente.
December 28th, 2008 at 8:18 am
Translation of the above
hello, I’m camila from Argentina. Ever since I read about this tragedy, I wanted to know about it.My question is: People who visit Chernobyl, so close to the reactor No. 4 like you, will there be consequences to your health? approximately how long can you be that close to the radiation before it affects you?
my greetings.
End Translation
My FAQ Answers most questions. Your question is mostly answered here in This question.
As for how long you have to be there before there is any real danger, that is a good question. I’m not sure if i can answer it. If you want to do the Math, have a look at this table on wikipdia. It should help with your question:
Radiation exposure (english)
Radiation exposure (Spanish)
January 16th, 2009 at 8:17 am
Sweet the irony of this was the fair was to open 1-3 days after the accident. Guess it couldn’t wait. On a more serious note nice job. I love all the photos and the videos. Hey if you ever go again can i come wit please
.
February 16th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
again you lucky S.O.B. awesome pictures and video say Hey to your Ukrainian Tour guide guy for me.
March 18th, 2009 at 7:39 am
Hallo Carl! Ich hätte mal eine frage an dich. Wie ist es wenn man sich in Pripjat aufhält? Ich war zwar noch nicht dort, aber wenn ich mir Bilder oder Videos von dieser Stadt anschaue, denn überkommt mich ein heftige Trauer. Als ob ich das alles miterlebt hätte.
Es könnte auch daran liegen, dass ich auch mal in einer ähnlichen Stadt gewohnt habe. Doch diese Stadt ist noch bewohnt. Sie befindet sich auch in der Nähe eines Atomkraftwerkes. Sogar die Häuser sehen genauso wie in Pripjat aus. Vielleicht wäre diese Stadt auch mal ein Ziel für dich. Dann kannst du es mal einfach vergleichen…. Ist aber nur ein Vorschlag.
March 18th, 2009 at 7:45 am
Hello Carl! I would have sometimes one asks to you. How is it if one in Pripjat detains? Indeed, I was not yet there, but if I look pictures or videos of this city, then a violent grief overcomes me. As if I had seen all that. It could be also due to the fact that I have also lived sometimes in a similar city. However, this city is still inhabited. She is also near a nuclear power station. Even the houses just look like in Pripjat. Maybe this city would also be sometimes a purpose for you. Then you can compare it sometimes simply …. If is, however, only one suggestion.
Translated with Abacho.de
April 6th, 2009 at 11:47 pm
Just wow…. Sounds like a lot of fun. Very excited about going now.
Thanks for the great information.
Jaime.
April 27th, 2009 at 3:04 am
COM CERTEZA O POVO DESTA CIDADE QUE ESPLODIU NAO PASSA DE UM BANDO DE RETARDADOS MENTAIS POIS COM CERTEZA ESTE BANDO DE IDIOTAS SAO OS CULPADOS, BANDOS DE CANALHAS.
May 21st, 2009 at 10:12 am
Hey Carl,
First of all thanks for the post about Chernobyl, I have recently seen a doco on the whole story (The True Battle Of Chernobyl), this was the first time I really got an insight into this terrible event in history, although I have been interested since I was a child. I then stumbled across your video and now I am hooked, I am in the throngs of planing a trip through Germany and Poland on a trek to visit the Concentration camps of WWII. I am now going to try and include a trip over to Chernobyl.
Which brings me to my next bunch of questions, I have looked up a few tour operators and they are asking big bucks, an accomodation is quite exey as well.
I would like to know how much your guide charged you and does he do tours regularly?
Also how would I get ahold of him?
and what would be the best time of year to visit the site?
Once again thanks for your time
Pete…
May 27th, 2009 at 8:15 am
hello Carl,
Didn’t you finally find the music Yuri is playing ?
I have a friend, Jack, who will marry a young woman from Ukrajna, and I’tell him to ask her if she knows the song.
Your homepage is very essential. I live in France, we know that every day it can happen, here. We are not ‘the best’… Each time there is an incident, it is classified.. at the lowest level, 1 ! But this country, France, is a country of liars.
So is life. All this exists just to help us remember what exactly we are. I’ve read the book written by Svetlana Alexievitch, “La supplication”. A very instructive book.
Best regards.
May 27th, 2009 at 9:36 pm
Didn’t you finally find the music Yuri is playing ?…
I never did get a definite answer to what he is playing. I’d really appreciate it if you can ask your Ukrainian friend.
It’s really hard to compare to anything since it’s played on a piano that is way out of tune and thus will always sound different
Some say it’s Kije’s march by Russian composer Prokofiev. I tend to favour this opinion since Yuri grew up under USSR rule and learnt that culture.
The other theory is that it’s the theme from the US movie enemy at the gates. It Sort of sounds like it but I find it hard to believe.
Perhaps it should just be considered an original since it will never sound like anything else.
One YouTube user agrees and made his own version from ear. He promises to also produce sheet music in the future if your interested.
If you come up with some better suggestions please let me know. I’d like to answer this question once and for all
Carl.
July 3rd, 2009 at 6:49 pm
Hello to everybody/
I am Yuriy who playing piano on the video.
I am playing folk Ukrainian lallybay.
If you will have questions U could find me http://www.pripyat.com
http://www.chernobylzone.com.ua or e-mail tatarchuck@rambler.ru
July 8th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
Interesting video Carl. Thank you for sharing.
For those who are interested about Chernobyl, I found an interesting long and detailed documentary on youtube about the day of the accident and all the cleaning works inside and outside the power plant. There are several interviews with people who worked there and there’s a lot of real image videos as well as technical explanation of the cleaning and building of the sarcofagus. There are truly unbelievable stories told by those interviewed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSRC1_OZPIg
Best regards
July 16th, 2009 at 1:37 am
Very interesting post – Might be old new, but it was new to me. Thanks.
July 25th, 2009 at 10:25 pm
i wanna see more about chernobyl its interesting but awful too… I hope never again something like that passed..
greetings mike
August 31st, 2009 at 1:27 pm
hey..i no this sounds daft but im a 14 year old boy from england and its my dream to go to this place im so interested iv seen every video there is about this its one on my life dreams to go on this tour and good videos keep them coming
September 14th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
Of all of the info you have shared I find this to be the most interesting.
The international flight to get here 0.80 μSv/h
September 14th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
One more thing, do you know a good source for effects of radiation at the virus level and also a good source of migratory birds of the ukraine region.
September 23rd, 2009 at 7:42 pm
cool pics
October 19th, 2009 at 12:10 am
Hi there Carl,
Just recently discovered your video up on youtube,
Its must of been breathtaking visiting this area.
So many lives must of been ruined by this disaster.
you did a great job documenting this for the Australian people.
But I cant help but to often wondere about the effects of visiting areas like this. I know scientists have proven that it is safe (in small doses..etc ), But when I think back to basics, In my case the example of ring reading trees.
When cut down you can read the rings and see good years, bad years and shocks that occoured in its growth.
I know that trees are by no means as complicated as a human body But one has to wonder whats happening on a cellular level within us even after an international flight.
Cheers,
Looking forward to more of your infomative travels,
Steve
October 23rd, 2009 at 10:36 pm
Umfangreiche Informationen ?ber die private und gesetzliche Krankenversicherung und Vergleichsm?glichkeit zahlreicher Anbieter.
October 29th, 2009 at 7:10 am
Hello Carl, I’m a musician who travels around the globe to ‘rare’ places to write about and discover stories and music from the locals.
I am very very interested about that bit of lullaby the man’s playing in your vid. I read he said it’s an old Ukranian Folk lullaby?
May I ask what’s the name of the piece? or where can I get a recording of it? for I’d like to know more about the song if you can, of course
Kind Regards
Alec Deblanc
November 16th, 2009 at 6:41 am
Hi,
I did a project on nuclear power. And safety was apart of it. That’s when i stumbled upon Chernobyl. Its fascinating, but sad. Model project gone wrong. Played COD 4, there’s an entire level dedicated to Papriyat. I will go there someday.
November 27th, 2009 at 10:30 pm
I went to Chernobyl and Pripyat in October 2009 and got a few more pics as well. The links to my review, and pics are :
Pictures : http://www.krisisdnb.com/event-gallery/mx-ukraine-belarus-and-chernobyl-october-2009
Review : http://www.krisisdnb.com/content/mx-ukraine-belarus-and-chernobyl-october-2009
Hope you enjoy !!!
MX (Malcs)
November 28th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
en verdad lamento mucho lo que le paso a chenobyl pronto en el 2010 se cumpliran 24 años del accidente de la planta pero en verdad lo siento mucho y estoy en contra de las pruebas nucleares
February 21st, 2010 at 9:22 pm
I think you are misleading people. 10x radiation level will damage your cells so bad over a few minutes. it will kill your cells.
February 21st, 2010 at 9:23 pm
not all cells but few, anyways there is a big risk then to cancer.
March 13th, 2010 at 5:30 am
I would like to see Pryprat, abandoned places (especially gas factories and) stations) seem very attractive to me.
Will go some time, and thanks for pics.
BTW what is the song Yuri plays on the piano? sounds like Resident Hill’s themes.
April 1st, 2010 at 10:35 pm
Thanks for this post and i will add you.
April 5th, 2010 at 2:03 am
THE CHERNOBYL TOUR IS RECOMMEND BY THE AWARD WINNING TRAVEL CHANNEL TV
Our AK47 Kalashnikov shooting tour in Kiev
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTEE6TIGEN4
April 26th, 2010 at 6:25 am
Nos gustaría pedirte permiso para publicar tu fotografía en nuestro blog. Somos una sencilla familia de acogida de Euskadi, en Bizkaia, en el País Vasco. Acogemos todos los veranos desde 2005 una niña víctima de la radiactividad. Comentaremos que tú eres el autor y te generaremos un enlace directo. Creemos que no debe caer en el olvido.
Muchísimas gracias, cada grano de arena que aportemos cada uno de nosotros desde diferentes lugares puede ayudar para que no se olvide ni se repita.
¡Gracias Carl por dejarnos compartir tu experiencia!Excuseme but my english isn´t good now, because I can not remember it. That 20 years that I don´t speak or write in english.
Thank you! but I can not write well all in your lenguage.
May 2nd, 2010 at 9:16 pm
Does anyone actually know the name of the song Yuriy is playing??
June 7th, 2010 at 10:58 pm
Hi Carl,
I came across your video when I was looking at other videos about people exploring abandoned buildings and such, and it reminded me of the tragedy. I was almost 15 years old when it happened. I have since watched other videos and read about it online.
Chernobyl is obviously well known, but without delving into the story I imagine few know of Prypiat. I didn’t before now. It certainly is a fascinating but devastating story. To visit must have been quite eerie, to be able to walk around a once thriving city that now stands derelict with not one soul left, all their belongings left behind in a time capsule. They escaped with their lives, and a ticking time bomb within them.
I can’t help but believe this accident occurred for the same reasons the Titanic sank: ego, propaganda, ignorance, arrogance and a misguided belief that nothing could possibly go wrong, that Man was the master of the world.
By the way, I absolutely agree with your travelling philosophy. I also live in Australia, and my travels overseas concur that our problems are indeed petty and small. Thanks for your reminder, Carl
Cheers!
June 13th, 2010 at 3:47 pm
cool picsxxx
June 15th, 2010 at 9:42 pm
Hello,
My name is Martin,and I and my friends want to travel into the Chernobyl and Pripyat in next year,thats the way why I am asking if someone know a name of any guider (stalker) or have his E-mail adress.If someone have it,please write it to my E-mail miksoun@seznam.cz .
I thank you very much in advance for yours response.
July 5th, 2010 at 9:12 am
Hello,
My name is Miranda and 1,5 week ago me and my boyfriend Graham were in Chernobyl and Pripyat guided by Yuriy. He didn’t play the piano this time though
I think he is playing this song http://www.umka.com.ua/sounds/kazkytakolysanky01/kazkytakolysanky01-02.mp3
Sleep Is Tiptoeing About (Hodyt’ son kolo vikon)
further googled: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oi_Khodyt_Son_Kolo_Vikon
July 9th, 2010 at 12:12 am
@Miranda Says:
July 5th, 2010 at 9:12 am
You are a genius!
That is absolutely it.
I’ll update my FAQ and video info with this in the next day or two.
Thanks for this. It’s a question I get many times a week and I’m really glad to finally have a definitive answer.
Carl.
July 23rd, 2010 at 3:35 am
Ok tell me that there is not a fix to this. The plant is cracked right now.Slowly radiation is leaking.Mars rovers may be able to fix that.The rover are ment to with stand the heat and radiation of mars so if they go to the plant it can be fixed.The city could be cleaned and the whole area can go through extinsive clean up.The area could become natral again. Email me plese and tell me if its senceble and if you could tell sombody important about my idea and maby this city can be wonderfull again.
September 14th, 2010 at 7:54 pm
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