Day trip to Chernobyl (1 Viewer)

[Rob Gillespie]

I picked this up over on Slashdot but I thought it worth posting here to.

http://www.angelfire.com/extreme4/kiddofspeed/

The site was made by a young Ukrainian woman named Elena who takes occassional motorcycle trips into the 'dead zone' around the area where the Chernobyl nuclear disaster occurred in 1986. Her english is a bit broken in places but the photos are terrific and she has an almost poetic way of describing the eerily vacant 'ghost towns'.

 

[Peter Kim]

Hell on Earth.

One of the greatest tragedies that made the most impression on me, when I was a junior in high school. I recall somehow finding out about this disaster earlier than most and reporting it to my chemistry teacher. His face turned ashen white when learned of the details.

I'm surprised the events of Chernobyl and the subsequent fallout haven't been publicized much more than it was...it's almost a forgotten tale.

I flipped through a French photo magazine a couple of years ago, only to be horrified of pictures of the children of Chernobyl. I can only say that it exceeds any nightmares - think Alien 4 where Ripley is cloned, but only after many attempts. The prototypes were reflections of what the unfortunate children appear like now.

Man's deadliest enemy is himself.

 

[Peter Kim]

For the brave of heart...google children of chernoby, but steel your soul, for it's heartbreaking.

Another man-made disaster that deeply affected me - Bhopal '84, where The Dow Chemical Company (nee Union Carbide) released toxic chemicals and killed 6000.

In a settlement, Union Carbide paid victims anywhere from $580 to $1300 each, including those who were killed.

 

[Scott L]

very surreal stuff. thx for the link.

 

[Chris]

Boy, has this link really been floating around.. seen it a few times today.

Shows a lot about how you can't cut corners in engineering, and how the Russian block design was wrong from the beginning, something even their own engineers thought before hand.

As a big advocate of nuclear energy, I've read a lot about Chernobyl.. the thing that always gets me is how few "safeties" they actually designed into that project compared to even the base safeties required in any design almost anywhere else in the world. It's a travesty that cutting corners killed and left the land destroyed.. and yep, also makes me think of Bhopal.

 

[Hugh Jackes]

Absolutely stunning and sobering. Thank you for the link.

 

[Chuck Mayer]

Like Chris, I support the use of nuclear power, which helps when you are a one-time nuclear engineer, as I used to be. Chernobyl and TMI were required reading, and the design flaws in Chernobyl were beyond belief. The aftermath (which will continue long after we are gone) defines tragedy, and it is heart-rending to think of the devastation passed on by this unthinkable act.

Nuclear power is no different than fire (with one major exception). It is a source of energy, both useful and dangerous, and should be always treated with immense respect and understanding. The major exception is that NE is far more damaging than fire, and safety should be dealt with accordingly.

:frowning:
Chuck

 

[Chuck Mayer]

Took a look at the pictures, and even those simple shots break my heart. As did the words "didn't tell the soldiers, pilots, or firefighters" what they were fighting.

Take care,
Chuck

 

[Philip Hamm]

Amazing. Nothing "almost" poetic about those photos or word.


The only thing I've ever seen that comared are Pictures of Love Canal and there are only a couple photos on that site.

I'm also an advocate of Nuclear Power, Chernobyl, TMI, and Davis-Besse offer some very hard-won lessons that should be heeded.

Nice bike, too. Must be fun to ride with no traffic, but what happens if she has a single vehicle accident?

 

[Dave Poehlman]

There was an amazing documentary on not too long ago that chronicled the whole thing... I wish I could remember the name of it or what channel I saw it on... but the footage where the reactor could be seen glowing red hot amongst the rubble was chilling.

 

[Scott McGillivray]

Excellent stuff. I wish that such horrific and world affecting events like this were in the media more. We must be reminded of what happened.

Does anyone know of other good web sites out there about this? I did some "googling" around but did not find anything that really stood out.

 

[Ron-P]

Wow, that is amazing. Very sad, but amazing. One could only imagine what it would be like to be in her shoes and experience that.

 

[Henry C]

WOW...that is all I can say....so tragic.

 

[Scott L]

BBC Real Player Video - Starts to get good at 7:30.

The Disaster - Good graphical Analysis of what happened

Video from inside the sarcophagus (AVI 4.1 MB)

I'd like to see a good 3D video of inside the plant of what happened if anyone knows where one is.

 

[Philip Hamm]

We need to remember that this kind of contamination is similar to what we were exposed to in many open air nuclear tests. Interesting bomb testing link here They blew off many nuclear bombs in the Nevada test site, and the fallout, much like Chernobyl's, came down in rain all over the country. Where it rained determined where the radiation came down. Due to climactic norms, much of it came down in upstate New York. There are maps somewhere that show where some of the fallout rained down.