Chernobyl : Mistakes Of The Few, Paid By The Many

Chernobyl is forever etched in history as one of the worst nuclear disaster that happened on Earth. On the fateful day of April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl Nuclear Station in Ukraine exploded and released extremely dangerous amounts of radioactive materials in the atmosphere. The catastrophe was the result of a flawed reactor design managed by inadequately trained plant operators. The explosion killed approximately 30 people and indirectly killed several other thousands due to cancers and other illnesses caused by radiation exposure.

Pripyat is the city closest to the No. 4 reactor that exploded; only about three kilometres from the plant. It was founded in 1970 and has a population of around 49,000. Pripyat housed many of Chernobyl’s workers. It was bustling city complete with facilities such as schools, hospitals, factories, railway stations, phone lines, malls, cafes, a cinema, gyms and sports stadium. It was totally evacuated and excluded from masses after the explosion. It will be uninhabitable for the next thousand of years.

Today, Pripyat is an empty shell and a haunting reminder of what once has been a vibrant city that champions man’s nuclear ambitions. The remains of the city were left undisturbed and frozen in time. Personal belongings, communist propaganda, children’s toys, books and pictures lay abandoned. The area 30 kilometres (19 miles) in all directions from the Chernobyl plant is uninhabited except for a very few who refused to leave. It is called the ‘zone of alienation’.

After almost three decades of abandonment, Pripyat and its surrounding areas are being swallowed up by the forest and wildlife. It is as if Nature is taking back what belongs to her.