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Doesn't radiation usually disperse about 30 years on? I wonder if they'll ever be able to make chernobyl inhabitable again, although I doubt anyone would like to live there anymore. It would be rather disrespectful.

31 workers died shortly afterwards. A total of between 600,000 and 800,000 men were involved in the clean-up operations in Chernobyl up to 1989. Of these men, 300,000 received radiation doses 500 times the limit for the public over one year. Today, the ones who still survive are still suffering from the damage to their health.

Scientists predict that the next nuclear catastrophe in the scale of Chernobyl will be in Chernobyl itself, due to the fragile status of its protective shield.

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It's amazing to think that some of them managed to survive the explosions, It must of been so scary what they saw.

Wow! Really interesting stuff there BLH. Thanks for sharing it with us. One question though, when you mentioned the tale of the people that perished on the bridge and the fact they all received 500R's worth of radiation, surely the bridge would remain highly radioactive to even get close to? Why/how has it become safe-ish to walk on now?

BLH, I am now seriously considering going myself in summer. Could you PM me the details of what you paid etc and what airport you flew to? My friend has a house in Kharkiv which we could stay in before we head to Chernobyl, but I'd love to hear how you got about etc.

I showed your pictures to my dad and he mentioned that one of guys he worked/works with was one of the engineers who had to deal with Chernobyl. Will have to check if he's still there because it would be nice to ask him some questions.

This is in a fish factory btw, as his work permit/ visa thingy won't let him do much else. It still pays better than his old job in Russia and god knows what he could earn as an engineer here with his level of qualification and experence.

Edit - turns out he's moved on.

Sergei, the tour operator told us this before we left on the tour. His words were 'the problem with chernobyl isnt over, i think its only just beginning'. That scared the strawberry float out of me, truth be told

I still smoke I thinks its good to smoke late at night, the fire in my hand mirrors the fire in my mind.

first post updated with the rest of the pics! Yeah it was one hell of an experience. By the end i really felt conflicted tho, it was like i felt guilty, for me it was an experience of a lifetime, but for the 20,000 people who lost their homes it wasnt fun, and an estimated 300,000 people in total have been killed of affected by the radiation. I wont forget it for a long time tho. Id advise anyone whos thinking about it to just do it tho. Getting there was such a ******* nightmare, but in the end, it was more than worth the hassle.

Emily, we stayed for about 3 - 4 hours. Apparrently its fine for a day to stay there, but hang around too long and you wont be leaving! The scariest part is when you leave, you have to go through decontamination. Its like a turnstile at a football ground, you stand on it, put your hands on the side, and if youre clean, you get a green light and the little gate opens. If youre not clean....it doesnt open
Mini E if youd like to translate any of this feel free, im curious to know myself