Chernobyl - a place where time stands still

Ukrainian town of Chernobyl in the world is constantly associated with a major environmental tragedy in the history of the planet, nuclear threat, the dead zone. The first word of many foreigners who were asked about the Ukraine - it's Chernobyl. Many of them have not thought of Kiev and other cities, but know about Chernobyl, almost everyone. History of the Chernobyl nuclear power station (15 km from Chernobyl) deserves to be remembered always. Human arrogance and irresponsibility sometimes lead to catastrophic consequences, affecting the lives of millions of people.

April 26, 1986 in 1 hour 23 minutes in the USSR at the Chernobyl nuclear power station there was the largest nuclear accident in the world. Were released into the atmosphere 190 tons of radioactive substances. 8 out of 140 tons of radioactive fuel reactors were in the air. Other dangerous substances continued to leave the reactor as a result of fire that lasted for nearly two weeks. People in Chernobyl were exposed to 90 times greater radiation than the fall of the bomb on Hiroshima.

Contaminated area size is of 160 square kilometers. Hardest-hit was northern Ukraine, western Russia and Belarus. Approximately 400 000 people were evacuated from the disaster zone. Territory, which they left for many decades will be deserted and surrounded by a barbed wire fence.

Belarus suffered the most. More than 70% of the radiation fell exactly on its territory. 25% of the fields and forests were seriously polluted, 10% of the land are generally unsuitable for use. International environmental standards in Belarus represents only 1% of its territory. Many people in Belarus have to eat contaminated food, as access to environmentally friendly products is virtually none. On the radioactively dangerous territory of Belarus live 1.8 million people, half of them - children.

In Ukraine, in the contaminated areas live from 3 to 5 million people. There are also prohibited gathering of berries, mushrooms, flowers in the affected areas.

25 years ago was ceased the time of the peaceful atom. As a quiet and ruthless killer, it began to mow people down right and left. It was the worst for the people - the radiation could not be seen, from it was impossible to defend. Only a metal taste in your mouth - the first sign that your dose of radiation is off scale.

25 years ago in the small town of Chernobyl, lost somewhere in the vast Ukraine, but now is recognized throughout the world. At this point this city has already been destroyed, burned around the graphite rods, and the wind carried radiation on and drove the luminous cloud over Europe.

The largest man-made monument of the catastrophe - it's not even a giant concrete sarcophagus over the fourth power, which is not sparing the lives of the whole country. Pripyat - this is the symbol of disaster. The huge abandoned city, which for decades looked to the world of empty eyes of high-rise buildings. I always wondered - who thought of building nuclear power plants a few kilometers from the city. Yes, the city originally intended to settle the station staff, but not just next to the walls of ...

As a result Pripyat was covered almost immediately. And people whose apartment windows and balconies were open turned a strange scarlet color. Even then it was already called the "nuclear burn."
About what happened back in the 86th must be remembered. But at least this, you need to remember those who gave all their strength and, very often the life of the fact that we now live in a clean and bright world, and half of our country and Europe were similar to the scorched deserts of radiation.

Sarcophagus is erected over the affected units, which is a very insecure shelter and its life comes to an end. A quarter century after the Chernobyl accident, was assessed the impact. Some researchers argue that society tends to exaggerate the threat, others - that the governments of affected countries no longer is willing to spend vast sums on disaster management and deliberately spread excessively optimistic information.

The most dangerous place, experts believe, is the victim unit, which in case of collapse of structures can throw a cloud of radioactive dust. However, after an accident over the place usher in a new arched shelter, you can proceed to an analysis of the ruins, without fear of radiation leaks.

Environmentalists argue that the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster will be felt for several generations. "Consequences of Chernobyl will be felt for several generations. Even the radionuclides in the soil will be in a dangerous condition even 200 years ", - assured some ecologists.

According to them, Belarus has spent a few years ago to eliminate the consequences of the accident for more than 20% of its national budget, Ukraine - up to 5%, Russia - about 0.5%. "These three countries have already spent 550-570 billion on Chernobyl, and, of course, they do not want to spend more", - said Yablokov.

Recently in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine have been released atlases with maps, which reflect the projected situation in the contaminated territories in half a century, said the ecologist.

"These maps are clearly marked up to 2056, almost all the same places that we now see, where to live will be very difficult, it will be necessary to conduct special agriculture. All this will continue for decades, and genetic effects will last up to seven generations "

It took more than twenty years since a grand accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, that possibly changed the course of history, and people still continue to be interested in this place. According to the magazine «Forbes» Excursions to Chernobyl is one of the most exotic options for pastime. Now you can take a day tour in the heart of the disaster, located less than a hundred kilometers from Kiev.

In addition to "stalker" tourism, the tour is also a trip to the bosom of Nature. Despite the tons of radioactive waste buried in the "sarcophagus" and the infected area for many miles, nature here is booming. The Exclusion Zone gradually turned into a nature reserve inhabited by foxes, wolves and wild boars. Here you can find lots of plants and animals, including very rare.

The tour includes an introductory lecture on the accident: the general story of the disaster, recovery and life today Chernobyl. This is followed by a trip to the observation deck, which is well seen "sarcophagus", burying the radioactive masses and debris reactor left after the explosion. " The most exciting part of the trip to Chernobyl - a trip to Pripyat, a ghost town. Nearly 50 thousand population of the city were forced to flee after the accident, leaving behind everything. There you will walk through the deserted city, visiting once inhabited, but now abandoned homes, schools, kindergarten, as well as the hotel "Polesie" - the highest building in the city. Completes the tour of a study tour of the city of Chernobyl, and dinner.

It should be mentioned that a trip to Chernobyl is absolutely safe. Radiation levels in areas frequented by less than the one you can get away with conventional radiography.
Important notes:
- The territory of the Zone are banned entry to persons under 18 years
- From April 2011 to all tourists must purchase a special insurance
- Accessed only by a passport
- Clothes and shoes should be as closed

Nuclear power plant (NPP) - is the nuclear plant for energy production in a given mode and conditions of use, located within the defined project area, which for this purpose, a nuclear reactor (reactors) and a set of necessary systems, devices, equipment and facilities with the necessary staff (HR).

World leaders in the production of nuclear power are: U.S. (836 630 000 000 kW * h / year), France (439 730 000 000 kW * h / year), Japan (263.83 billion kW * h / year), Russia (160 , 04 billion kW * h / year), Korea (142.94 billion kW * h / year) and Germany (140 530 000 000 kW * h / year). The world operates 441 nuclear power reactors with total capacity of 374.692 GWh, the Russian company "TVEL" supplies fuel to 76 of them (17% world market).

The largest plant is in Europe - Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in Energodar (Zaporozhye, Ukraine), whose construction started in 1980 and since 1996 has 6 units with total capacity of 6 GW.

The largest nuclear power plant in Kashiwazaki-Kariwa world of installed capacity (in 2008) is in the Japanese city of Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture - The plant has five boiling reactors (BWR) and two advanced boiling water reactors (ABWR), total capacity of 8.212 GW.
The U.S. and Japan are developing a mini-plant with a capacity of 10-20 MW for heat and electricity individual industries, residential complexes, and in the long term - and private houses. With the reduction of plant capacity increases anticipated scale of production. Small-scale reactors (see, for example, Hyperion NPP) are using secure technology, many times reducing the possibility of leakage of nuclear material.