Welcome to Day 2 in the Chernobyl series! Previous thread here:
https://uer.ca/for...=1&threadid=134567 This was our first full day in the zone, as much of day 1 was spent commuting and getting checked in. Most of the day was spent touring the Chernobyl power plant itself, which was an incredible experience, though we had time for several other spots before and after.
1) We woke up and started heading towards the plant. On the way we made a quick stop at a small elementary school.
Our guide brought out his dosimeter and demonstrated that the ground around the school was about 100 times more radioactive than background. This is because radioactive rain that hit the roof of the school all pooled up around the exterior, leaving a ring of radioactive dirt along the perimeter.
Then we went inside and, oh, what's this?
Conspicuously positioned creepy ass dolls turned out to be a recurring theme in all the schools and kindergartens we visited. This was our first real taste. A lot of them do seem pretty set up, but honestly for once I didn't mind. I thought they were pretty cool.
Baby shoes never worn something something
2) Then we were back on the road. While heading towards the plant we caught our first glimpse of the unfinished cooling towers and unfinished reactors.
3) Finally we started the plant tour. This is where we would spend a little over half of the day. A very, very angry Ukrainian women took us to a locker room where she yelled at us in Ukrainian, I'm told about the ways we were meant to wear the anti-radiation gear we were given, and gave us the suits we would wear in the tour.
After we were dressed we spent a little time hanging out in this bunker conference room. I believe this is where a lot of key decisions were made in the immediate aftermath of the explosion.
Backup Genny
Some curated antiques
After we were dressed and away from the angry lady, we went into the active parts of the plant.
The "Golden Corridor"
We were then allowed into one of the active control rooms, which presumably governed the switch yard.
Some workers were just out of frame in the last photo. I felt kind of bad taking photos of their workspace while they were busy, but I was assured by our guide that they didn't care at all. Sure enough they didn't respond to our presence in any way.
After that was over, we were taken to the SKALA computing system, the computer used by plant operators before the plant closed.
The entire system used old magnetic tapes and strips for memory. From what I understand this computer was kind of a dinosaur even by 1980's computing standards, and often prone to malfunction.
Next up were the real highlight of the tour, the control rooms. First we checked out the very photogenic Control Room #3. Our guide gave a talk about how the disaster unfolded. I tried to pay attention while zooming around the room taking as many photos as I could.
I believe these gauges displayed the depth of each of the graphite-tipped boron control rods, as in, the depth at which they were plunged into the reactor.
I was even allowed to flip the infamous A-Zed-5 switch, the last ditch backup button that was the final catalyst for the explosion in Reactor #4.
Group shot, me in the back
After that, we were briefly allowed into the infamous Reactor #4 Control Room. Our visit here was brief, maybe a few minutes, as it's one of the most radioactive portions of the plant. As you can see, it's also tragically very stripped out. But still, it felt surreal just to stand there.
Where A-Zed-5 would have been
After that we went to go see other parts of the plant. I forget what these were, some kind of pumps or water tanks I think.
After that we went on top of the biological shield covering Reactor #3. Famously, the lid for Reactor #4 was thrown into the air and flipped on it's side by the explosion, despite consisting of nothing but heavy metal and weighing tons.
Back in the halls we found a dead bat. Highlight of the tour.
That was it for the plant tour. Afterwards we were taken to a small peripheral building and shown this incredible scale model.
As close to a shot of the turbine hall as I'm ever gonna get.
Pullout control room
We were then allowed to take photos of the newly constructed Sarcophagus. This was actually one of the only areas we were allowed to take exteriors. Photographs from most other angles were prohibited for reasons of national security. That seemed pretty bureaucratic and perfunctory back in 2021, though it makes a bit more sense now...
4) Whew. By this point it was mid afternoon, but we still had a few more hours of daylight to kill. So, our guide begun by taking us to the Dental division of the Hospital 126 complex. We would explore the rest of the hospital complex on Day 3.
5) Afterwards, we payed a visit to...this thing...
6) Then it was time to actually head into Pripyat proper. I think this was our first actual visit to the city for the week.
7) Our first spot in the city was this small but beautiful piano store. It was incredible, but difficult to find good compositions.
8) Next was our first of the Pripyat Public Schools. Pripyat has five public schools, all labeled by number, and all are incredible. I believe this one was Public School Number 2, but honestly I don't remember for sure. In any case, it might have been the best school of them all. Unfortunately we were very time crunched here, and I had less than an hour to spend running around photographing this place. That's really a shame, I could have spent an entire day here.
9) Our last stop of the day was this wonderful creepy ass Pripyat kindergarten. Tragically, we only had about 20 minutes of daylight for this one, so I didn't get to see all of it. A lot of the dolls and toys looked pretty set up but honestly I was into it.
That was it for Day 2. Next up is Day 3, which was the most jam packed day of the trip by far. See you soon!
