Flew into Kyiv this past Fri/Sat and spent 3 days on the ground with the primary purpose of seeing Chernobyl. On Sunday, I walked around Kyiv from my hotel for the morning but then it started raining and didn't do much more after that.

Not much to say about Kyiv itself, I didn't really do anything there. It's a nice Eastern European city and I found the food to be fantastic and the people were very nice. I would definitely go back just for the city itself at some point, but the purpose of this trip was Chernobyl.

For Monday and Tuesday it was Chernobyl and the area around Chernobyl, including a stay in the city of Chernobyl Monday night. The food at that hotel was fantastic again. I've never had better fried eggs in my life!

Monday was primarily in plant. I got to see the grid control room which is still in operation, Chernobyl 3 control room, Chernobyl 4 control room, and part of Chernobyl 3 plant including main circ pumps and reactor hall. We got to have lunch at the plant canteen and again, it was fantastic! Better than any power plant food I've ever had! I posted this mini rant in another thread;

"It astonishes me still that they have nuclear tourism. You would never see anything like this in the USA or other 1st world western countries. Hell, we lose our shit if one of our operators picks up a millirem they're not supposed to. On my trip, I picked up more dose than I would an entire year at my PWR facility. It's incredible to me.

And that's just the plant.


The entire region is still contaminated and people just go walking around through it like it's nothing serious. Yes the levels are mostly low, but there are hotspots all around, and what's left behind is the long lived nasty shit. I see relatively recent videos of people going into the Pripyat basement to see the fireman's clothes. They're nuts. I wouldn't go down there without full anti-contamination clothing and an SCBA. And now things have started going missing from down there. Those people do not understand that they're taking fuel fragments to their homes and families and kicking up the dust down there that will embed itself in their lungs.


Ukrainian authorities know this because they've since filled the stairwells with sand and such, but there's still ways in, yet they let it continue. The people at the plant are convinced they're providing a safe tourist activity, and I'm not trying to be alarmist about it, I'm just emphasizing the point that you are going to get dosed there, and it would never happen in the US. The openness of the region and contaminated areas like Pripyat is the dangerous part. Yes they have the illusion of security with "check points" and "tickets" and "passport control," but YouTube is full of people that got around them, and just walk through highly contaminated areas and handle highly contaminated objects without knowing anything about the isotopes they're ingesting. One of their mottos is "no dosimeter, no radiation."  


I am glad I got to do it though, because like standing in Auschwitz, pictures and videos just don't do it justice what happened here. It was very moving, to me, to stand in the very spot that Akimov pushed the AZ-5 button and again to stand just a few feet from the exploded reactor.



Tuesday was visiting the Duga radar site which, outside of the plant, was the next biggest highlight for me. I knew of the radar and always saw pictures of the radar itself. What I didn't know is that they built a city for 2000 people there to run the radar! That's mostly what my pictures focus on. A kindergarten, a primary school, apartment buildings, social club, movie theater, grocery store, etc. You name it, they had it. This city was so secret that it wasn't discovered until the Chernobyl disaster and it also had to be evacuated (according to the guide, who knows what American intelligence knew). I didn't know about the city until I visited. It was incredible. You could easily spend an entire day there, but I had to spend some time in Pripyat.

After another fantastic lunch at the hotel we stayed at in Chernobyl, we headed to Pripyat for a few hours. Because Pripyat has pretty much been photographed from every angle, I focused on finding color in the nuclear wasteland. Of course, there's some iconic site photos as well.


To start with, some photo from around Kyiv. Nothing much, mostly just some murals and cool buildings and such.


JEC01160 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr

JEC01166 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr

JEC01169 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr

JEC01184 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr

JEC01187 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr

JEC01190 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr

JEC01193 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr

JEC01202 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr

JEC01208 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


St. Andrew's Church

JEC01217 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr

JEC01223 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Monument Za Dvoma Zaytsyamy: Pronya Prokopivna and Holokhvastov

JEC01229 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


1980s replica of 11th-century Golden Gate, the main fortified entrance to the medieval city.

JEC01253 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


St. Sophia's Cathedral and Christmas Tree

JEC01279 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Ferris wheel and Christmas festival right outside my hotel.

JEC01282 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr

Day 2 is inside the plant.


Interesting mural depicting the wild horses that now roam the exclusion zone.

JEC01286 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Door to the bunker that was shown in the HBO series where the director and other VIPs met.

JEC01289 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Inside the actual bunker.

JEC01298 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


The "Golden Corridor." It connects all the units and control rooms. It became golden after the accident and they put that gold colored paneling as additional shielding.

JEC01316 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


The grid control room is still manned with the same tech from 1986 and earlier. We had to wear those clothes as well on the tour.

JEC01322 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


The "SKALA" computer system that was telling the operators that things were fucked, but they bypassed and ignored.

JEC01328 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


One of Chernobyl 4's process card racks. It would have received information from field sensors and processed it for reactor protection and controls.

JEC01340 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Chernobyl 3 control boards.

JEC01349 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Chernobyl 3 AZ-5 (it's a switch now, was changed from button to switch as an upgrade after the accident. Yes I turned it, it doesn't do anything anymore).

JEC01358 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Reactor control panel.

JEC01364 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Individual rod position indication.

JEC01373 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Control panels.

JEC01379 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Full core display and rod position indicators.

JEC01385 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Despite the language barrier, I was able to identify most control in the control room based on my training. This is the power range neutron meter.

JEC01400 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


This is the source range neutron meter.

JEC01403 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


This is the intermediate range neutron meter.

JEC01406 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


This is the reactor period meter (or how fast the neutron population is changing in the reactor). They wouldn't have seen it with everything else going on, but this meter would have been pegged to the right during the accident (very short period).

JEC01409 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Chernobyl 3 turbine controls (including red trip switch under cover).

JEC01415 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Chernobyl 4 control panels. Plant person say plant people began stripping it before the state finally stripped it for decontamination. That means there's parts out in the world. Hoping to track some down.

JEC01433 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Still a lot of contamination in the panels.

JEC01442 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Chernobyl 4 turbine controls.

JEC01445 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Chernobyl 4 reactor control panel. The spot Akimov pushed the button.

JEC01448 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Where AZ-5 was.

JEC01451 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Final look.

JEC01463 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


The "not so golden corridor" to unit 4.

JEC01469 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Memorial to Valery Khodemchuk, the 1st person that died in the accident. He was, and still is, somewhere near the main circ pumps at Chernobyl 4. Just on the other side of this wall is the exploded reactor.

JEC01472 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Chernobyl 3 main circ pumps (one set, there is another set on the other side of the reactor).

JEC01478 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


D/P transmitters, not unlike those in the USA.

JEC01487 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Chernobyl 3 reactor lid.

JEC01490 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr
Online refueling machine.

JEC01499 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


JEC01502 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


JEC01508 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


There's no spent fuel in the pools anymore, it's all off at the wet storage facility outside of the plant. There are, however, still used control rods here. These are them.

JEC01511 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


JEC01517 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


JEC01529 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr

They had a neat model that was made after various photos and video trips by people and robots.

PXL_20211220_124655129 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Friendly fox will come right up to you and eat out of your hand.

PXL_20211220_070552232 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr

Food at the Chernobyl plant canteen.

PXL_20211220_120209546 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr

Did stop and visit a robot graveyard. I liked this moon buggy because that's a piece of graphite from the exploded reactor displayed on it. I laughed in the guides face. I asked what was stopping me from grabbing it and taking it home. Nothing.

JEC01568 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr

The Duga site was eye opening to me. I mean, yeah, it's not surprising that the USSR built a giant over the horizon radar facility, but what was surprising is that they built a city with all the amenities for the people. This facility really revealed my ignorance about the people in the USSR since I knew nothing outside of what US propagandists and media wanted us to know. I always envisioned them all as dark, grey, lifeless. This "secret city" was anything but grey and lifeless. These photos will reveal a site full of color and life..., at a secret military facility. I had no idea.


You're greeted by a guard and a bust of Lenin.

JEC01571 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Murals.

JEC01574 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


JEC01577 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


First glimpse of this colossal radar.

JEC01583 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Even the signs telling the soldiers how to be soldiers were colorful.

JEC01595 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Just a couple cool old masks at the motor pool.

JEC01604 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Driving school!

JEC01607 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Guard tower.

JEC01610 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


JEC01616 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


One of the equipment rooms. When it was shut down shortly after the accidents, most important equipment was removed and reused elsewhere.

JEC01619 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


This was one of the coolest rooms, I can't believe it's still mostly intact. This is a training room, and do you recognize those missiles in those displays? Those are US missiles!

JEC01625 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr

JEC01628 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr

JEC01631 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr



This place even had its own power plant, and these are the cooling towers.

JEC01643 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Can of pork in the empty building that I believe housed the power plant.

JEC01649 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Check out the wire window decorations.

JEC01655 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


JEC01679 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


JEC01682 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Even this area is contaminated.

JEC01688 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


They did have an elevator at either end.

JEC01691 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


The fire department for the city. Check out that miniature map of the city and radar!

JEC01694 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


The fire department, where I'm standing, is that little building in the front. Behind it are 5 apartment buildings

JEC01697 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr



Standard Soviet apartment.

JEC01709 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Mail boxes.

JEC01712 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


JEC01715 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


JEC01721 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Kindergarten mural.

JEC01730 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


A jet for a play set.

JEC01736 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


JEC01742 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


I took this just to show the forest fire that came through here in 2020, spreading contamination again. You know, that's all we needed on top of Covid. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Chernobyl_Exclusion_Zone_wildfires

JEC01745 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Gym in the primary school.

JEC01748 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Science.

JEC01751 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Composers line the cupboards of the music room.

JEC01754 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


JEC01757 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


In the primary school kitchen.

JEC01760 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Movie theater in the community building.

JEC01769 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Gymnasium in the community building. The basketball floor has seen better days.

JEC01772 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Men's room in the community building.

JEC01775 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Community building stairs. I'm more interested in the design of the metal display in the wall.

JEC01781 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Then off to Pripyat. A very modern city in the day compared to other Soviet cities.

JEC01808 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


A lot of dogs everywhere. They were generally friendly and seemed happy to see humans. They all appear to be well fed by guards and tourists.

PXL_20211220_124001653 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Pripyat cafe.

JEC01811 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Incredible stained glass in the Pripyat cafe. I've never seen anything done like this, and the guide claims it's the only stained glass in the world done like this. Each piece is hand laid stacked side by side. You'll see below.

JEC01814 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


JEC01817 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


This helps show how each piece was laid in the structure.

JEC01820 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Prometheus theater. This, among other buildings, has mosaics by Ivan Lytovchenko. They still bring color into this nuclear wasteland.

JEC01835 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


JEC01838 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


A mosaic on the music/concert building.

JEC01847 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


That nuke sign was made in California. No surprise those commies were making signs for commies.

JEC01853 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


I liked the graffiti that was around.

JEC01856 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Palace of Culture that was at the head of Lenin Square.

JEC01859 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr



This is an example of my rant in the OP. Where I held this meter is was 155 micro Sieverts, or 15mrem/hr. I was able to get it to read 400 micro Sieverts, or 40 mrem/hr. Those are dose readings right on the ground around here, that are much higher than the average nuke worker experiences at a US plant on a day to day basis. Yes, there some areas at the boilers where you can get some dose, but it is incredible to me that they just let the public, me, approach this stuff haha.

JEC01865 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Apparently this was the first grocery store in the USSR to feature shopping carts.

JEC01871 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr



Looks just like Walmart.

JEC01880 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


More color in the nuclear wasteland.

JEC01886 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Pripyat post office mural.

JEC01892 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


The iconic Ferris wheel is colorful.

JEC01913 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


JEC01925 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


JEC01922 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Bumper cars.

JEC01928 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr



On the way to the final thing I wanted to see, a playground being eaten by nature. It's sad to think there were still children playing here for weeks after the explosion with fire from above raining down on them.

JEC01952 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Final stop, a visit to Anatoly Dyatlov's apartment, the antagonist of my avatar. We had to sneak in the back because his building is on one of the main thoroughfares and our guide was notified that the state minister of the exclusion zone was in Pripyat for an inspection. Entering buildings has been banned since 2012 since things are starting to collapse. They put motion detectors on the most entered areas, but she was real nervous about going in.

JEC01955 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


AZ-5 points the way.

JEC01976 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


Number 39.

JEC01970 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


His was a standard Soviet apartment, like anyone else. That was the point of Soviet Communism.

JEC01967 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr


His bedroom. Someone put something like "can't repeat 1986".

JEC01961 by JustinC's Photos, on Flickr

Awesome!

Ost

Welcome back, looking forward to the epic pics.

Very cool !
Lotta bright colors.
Thanks for sharing.

Pretty cool OP

Good stuff OP.

Great Pics OP!  Thanks for sharing!

Tagged

That town looks awesome.

Good thread

In!

Awesome! I can’t wait for more pics

Thanks!

My wife's best friend is working in Kyiv and we're hoping to visit before she ships out.

sweet pics! tagged for more.

IBMP

(In Before Most Pics)

Taggity

Awesome thanks for sharing with us

Did you at least wear your protective hat?

That's awesome. I've been trying to get my employer to send us over under the guise of training but they're not having it.

Awesome thanks for sharing

Excellent! Thanks for sharing.

Cool stuff!

Tag!

In before OP sets off gieger counters for the rest of his life.

Great pics OP, subbed for more!

Dear diary, today OP was a super-awesome cool guy!

Looking forward to more pics.

Very cool; were you shooting from a tripod for some?

Plant pics are up, but my philly cheesesteak just arrived, so will post next batch in a bit.

Awesome pics
Thank you for sharing

Tag

One of the best travel photo threads in recent memory!

I didn't realize Shiey had an account here.

that's very cool

thanks for sharing your experience

Attached File


Badass OP!

Fascinating and excellent pictures, thank you for sharing.

Cool pics OP. Thanks for sharing.

This is amazing!  I’d love to go there someday but doubt I’d be able to talk my wife into it. Maybe a trip with my son at some point.

Thanks for posting. I'd love to visit Pripyat someday.

Tagged to look at and re-visit when I'm sober.... Very cool!

(tap tap tap tap)....fuel......fuel.....FUEL!

Nice!!

Well fuck...don't you win post of the year? Show off.
Thanks for pics and captions!

THANK YOU

very cool! more please

Epic. Amazing trip and right up my alley.