Lost Places - Chornobyl Zone

The railway bridge, crossing the river Pripyat, was built in the 1930's, together with the branch line which connected Chernigov and Ovruch. This branch line was, as railway-men say, "single-track". The bridge over Pripyat received the name of the nearest large station "Yaniv", and so began to be called "Yanivsky". However, some sources have since named this bridge "Chornobylsky". The 6-span bridge is about 700 meters long. Before the Second World War, the bridge served a mixture of purposes, both for trains and automobiles. The highway adjoined the bridge, which had rails laid flush to the timbered decking. Cars could thus move to opposite side of the Pripyat. 

ChNPP. The Third stage. Incomplete units 5 and 6.

It has taken me a long time to prepare this report, due both to the complexity and "photogenicity" of these reactors. Besides, it was necessary to re-read heaps of literature, review a tremendous amount of technical drawings and consult with several experts.

I found that, each time, after visiting units 5 and 6, I constantly stopped myself: "Enough, you already have more than a hundred photos of this place close-up." But then I would think: "The building of VSRO (auxiliary systems of the reactor) is mostly unsurveyed from inside... I'll just get photos of cranes and the water foundation pit!" For all of that, and despite attempting to organize myself, I had at first selected far too many photos, enough even for the whole site - not just one report! Anyway, I got a hold of myself, and I selected only thel photos that, to me, seem the most beautiful and informative.

After visit on the former over-the-horizon radar station "Chernobyl-2", we go in (again former) Pripyat cargo port. I was in this place and photographed majestic pelican-like port cranes many times. And also Evgenie Samoilov, participant of elimination of the consequences of the accident - 86 and simply a good person, has written four years ago remarkable memoirs of the work in Pripyat port after failure. On the way to port we have decided to stop off near a tiny cemetery of homestead Pidlisnyj. This homestead for a long time was a source of mess and Zone riddles. Old residents do not remember such homestead, on maps is not present at all, but on its place quite safely exists PZRO (point of radioactive waste disposal) "Podlesnoe" - the boring concreted platform with boxes for RAW (radioactive waste) with activity from 5 to 250 R/h.

We did not have any specific aims for this trip, and decided that we will simply leave our plans to chance. I have noticed that the most interesting and productive trips happen when you do not build any grandiose plans, and operate purely on intuition.

7.30 AM We leave Kyiv. This week was hot. Weather forecasters said that it is the hottest in 64 years of recording! It’s early morning, but the sun is hot and the air-con in the car is on full. Folk in shorts and sandals are spending a lazy day on the beach, whereas we are in closed clothes, as is normal for radiating safety, to go to the Chornobyl Zone.