Is Chernobyl safe to visit?

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angelioana

not very safe i will not go to visit Chernobyl why do you want to visit it? are so many beautiful places to visit

Vladimir ILL

Yes - go there - you'll come back fluorescent

By the way - Cherno is ukrainian not russian - but clouds ignore borders - it's great, no ?

Obama Happends

You should better to see your doctor, first. Nice referral to psychiatrist will do.

www.freewebs.com/belles-lettres

The backgroung radiation is now below the global average: it is absolutely safe.

Mr. Speaker

Never been there, never would go there and would never advise anybody to go there - even Russians :)

What's the website?

Squeaky P

I'm assuming you mean tours to Pripyat. Tours to the nuclear facility do not exist.

Yeah they generally know where the hot spots are so I would think its safe but I have no desire to test the accuracy of their methods.

xzorion54

I would not visit Chernobyl for a million dollars. I don't care what their radiation checks say there was a nuclear disaster there and any time spent there will probably take years off my life.

RÐµdisca

D: I can understand how you are curious. However, visiting Chernobyl (or rather, the city of Pripyat) is a dicey proposition. Preliminarily, you are not supposed to without a special permission. Officials in former Soviet countries are easily bribed, of course, but I still would not recommend breaking the law, especially in a foreign country -- and especially if (as I suspect) you are not familiar with how to play that game.

Even if you obtain permission, I would not trust local authorities or tour guides or whatever to give you adequate protection against radioactive contamination. Much like Russia, Ukraine has no culture of safety -- and precautions of this type are taken in a very loose fashion at best.

I have read reports by people (and have seen intriguing pictures) who claimed to have "sneaked" into the Alienation Zone via some back roads. To attempt something like that you must be proficient in local geography, possess a good command of Ukrainian or at least Russian, and have access to a reliable, nondescript vehicle. You also should have an understanding how radioactive fallout works. Twenty years after the disaster, most radioactive material in ordinary soil and ground water has been washed away enough to make a walk through the woods, without more, relatively safe. However, building structures are still heavily contaminated and should not be entered unless in full protective gear. Vehicle graveyards -- where buses and trucks used in evacuations lie half-buried -- should be approached with extreme caution.

In sum, if this is just a passing curiousity, it is more trouble than it's worth. In the unlikely event you do visit, please treat the place respectfully. Don't take anything (not only is this disrespectful, but it's also dangerous) and don't change anything. A few years ago, some German artists visited Pripyat' and painted "shadows" of fleeing people on many buildings. I am sure they meant well, but I consider this vandalism. This is the site of a tragedy, not an art project. Those Germans might as well have spray-painted tombstones at a cemetery. Until it is habitable once more -- which it will not be until sometime in the 23rd century -- people should leave the place the way it is: a powerful testament to Mother Nature's revenge against human ineptitude.

Bride2Be

You can visit the necular power plant but your only allowed to take a tour bus there. The tour last about 10 minutes. Its really not that bad.

Just me

Why on earth would anyone want to go there?

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