Chernobyl and other nuclear places of the planet
Today, even those who are not in the picture know about the restricted area in Chernobyl. This is not surprising, because a powerful nuclear explosion literally overnight completely devastated an entire city and diligent territories within a radius of 30 kilometers, leaving behind only pain and an echo of the once-mighty empire. But have you ever thought about the existence of other restricted areas, which in their scale are in no way inferior to the Chernobyl exclusion zone? So we thought about it, and exhumed something…
On March 28, 1979, a huge amount of radioactive material was released into the atmosphere in the United States. The accident began with a nuclear secondary system failure followed by a seized pilot-operated safety valve in the primary system. This allowed a large amount of the nuclear reactor coolant to escape.
Mechanical failures were aggravated by the fact that at the initial stage the plant operators could not recognize the situation as a loss of coolant accident due to inadequate training and human factors. The operator mistakenly believed that there was too much cooling water in the reactor, causing the steam to depressurize. The river near Harrisburg also suffered from contaminated cooling water entering it. As a result, the incidence of cancer in the population increased rapidly. Basically, the reactor itself and the site near it were contaminated with radiation. It took 14 years and $ 1 billion to clean them up. The ruins are still radioactive to this day.
The White Sands launch area in New Mexico is the place where the very first atomic bomb in human history exploded. The 18-kiloton monster exploded in 1945 and had a mushroom cloud in 12 kilometers high, and the noise was heard from a distance of 320 kilometers. The sand at the site turned into green radioactive glass called Trinitite. Even today, more than 60 years after the test, the radioactivity is 10 times higher than normal.
The first nuclear power plants were built in Germany in the 60s of the last century. Then the question arose: what to do with radioactive waste, which retains hazardous radiation for thousands of years?
The Asse salt mine was the answer to the question, but it did not cope with its task, because the containers with waste began to rust and emit radioactivity. Now Asse has become one of the most dangerous and closed facilities in Germany.
This is one of the largest nuclear test sites in the United States. It has existed since 1951 and covers an area of about 3500 km². Almost 1,000 underground nuclear tests were carried out on it, which made sure that the area became completely uninhabitable. In the 1960s, nuclear mushrooms from explosions were visible within a radius of 160 km, including Las Vegas, where people came as tourists to see them. Most of the nuclear fallout fell on the city of St. George, Utah, and there were far more cancer patients in that city than the national average.
It was a nuclear test site of the former Soviet Union. 506 tests were carried out here. Some parts of the area are so contaminated that they have to be covered with steel plates two meters thick so that the radiation cannot escape. In 1996-2012, a joint secret operation of Kazakhstan, Russia and the United States took place at the test site to collect and dispose of about 200 kg of plutonium remaining after testing at the test site.
On August 6, 1945, an atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. This was one of two cases of the military use of nuclear weapons. 90% of people within a radius of 500 meters died on the spot, which is more than 166,000 people. The birds flying in the sky instantly burned out, and the light radiation left the silhouettes of human bodies on the walls. The blast wave was so strong that it did not just knock you down, but threw you tens of meters away.
People who were in buildings tended to avoid exposure to light from the explosion, but glass fragments hit most rooms, and all but the most durable buildings collapsed. One teenager was thrown out of the house by a blast wave across the street, while this very house collapsed behind him. There were many more deaths, but the investigation continues to this day.
There are other restricted areas in the world that have been subjected to ultra-intense radiation exposure, but they are either completely inaccessible and are strictly controlled, or they do not represent anything interesting.
In this context, Chernobyl is a kind of phenomenon, because it is not only open and safe to visit, but also has something to surprise. Primitive nature, dilapidated buildings of the times of the USSR, rare species of animals, monuments, "Red Forest", "Bridge of Death", Over-the-horizon radar "Duga" - all this is just the tip of the iceberg. And believe me, even this peak will be enough to turn your picture of the world upside down.
But there is one problem - this is the time, and it is very limited. Day by day, all the structures of Chernobyl are destroyed, so very soon the entire territory will be completely closed for visits. If you are thinking of postponing your trip to next year, think, perhaps you will forever say goodbye to the opportunity to visit the most mysterious forbidden zone on earth. The choice is yours!
And for those who have already decided to visit places about which films and books are written, the go2chernobyl.com team has prepared the most delicious conditions. Follow the link right now and book a place!
