Ukraine - Chernobyl to open up for tourism

[NeoConMan]

Ukraine to Open Chernobyl Area to Tourists in 2011

By MARIA DANILOVA

The Associated Press

Monday, December 13, 2010

 

KIEV, Ukraine -- Want a better understanding of the world's worst nuclear disaster?

Come tour the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Beginning next year, Ukraine plans to open up the

sealed zone around the Chernobyl reactor to visitors who wish to learn more about the tragedy

that occurred nearly a quarter of a century ago, the Emergency Situations Ministry said Monday.

 

Chernobyl's reactor No. 4 exploded on April 26, 1986, spewing radiation over a large swath of

northern Europe. Hundreds of thousands of people were resettled from areas contaminated with

radiation fallout in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. Related health problems still persist.

 

The so-called exclusion zone, a highly contaminated area within a 30-mile (48-kilometer) radius

of the exploded reactor, was evacuated and sealed off in the aftermath of the explosion.

All visits were prohibited.

 

Today, about 2,500 employees maintain the remains of the now-closed nuclear plant, working in

shifts to minimize their exposure to radiation. Several hundred evacuees have returned to their

villages in the area despite a government ban. A few firms now offer tours to the restricted

area, but the government says those tours are illegal and their safety is not guaranteed.

 

Emergency Situations Ministry spokeswoman Yulia Yershova said experts are developing travel

routes that will be both medically safe and informative for Ukrainians as well as foreign

visitors. She did not give an exact date when the tours were expected to begin.

 

"There are things to see there if one follows the official route and doesn't stray away from

the group," Yershova told The Associated Press. "Though it is a very sad story."

 

The United Nations Development Program chief Helen Clark toured the Chernobyl plant together

with Baloha on Sunday and said she supported the plan because it could help raise money and

tell an important lesson about nuclear safety.

 

"Personally I think there is an opportunity to tell a story here and of course the process of

telling a story, even a sad story, is something that is positive in economic terms and positive

in conveying very important messages," said Clark, according to her office.

 

The ministry also said Monday it hopes to finish building a new safer shell for the exploded

reactor by 2015. The new shelter will cover the original iron-and-concrete structure hastily

built over the reactor that has been leaking radiation, cracking and threatening to collapse.

 

The new shell is 345 feet (105 meters) tall, 853 feet (260 meters) wide and 490 feet (150 meters) long.

It weighs 20,000 tons and will be slid over the old shelter using rail tracks. The new

structure will be big enough to house the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris or the Statue of

Liberty in New York.

 

The overall cost of project, financed by international donors, has risen from $505 million

euro380 million) to $1.15 billion (euro870 million) because of stricter safety requirements,

according to Ukrainian officials.

 

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which manages the project, said a final

estimate of the project's cost will be released after the French-led consortium Novarka

finalizes a construction plan in the next few months.

 

 

In this May 10, 2007 file photo a general view of empty houses in the town of Pripyat and the

closed Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the background. Next year, Ukraine will open up the

contaminated zone around the Chernobyl reactor to visitors who wish to learn more about the

nuclear tragedy that occurred there 24 years ago, the Emergency Situations Ministry said Monday

Dec 13 2010. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, file)

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/13/AR2010121301351.html?hpid=moreheadlines

[damian]

I'd give it a glowing review.....the beauty of the countryside is just radiating.......

 

Where else can one see six legged ducks, deer with two heads, and cows in udder dispair ????

 

" Two thousand visitors and gieger counting."

[Duende]

I'd give it a glowing review.....the beauty of the countryside is just radiating.......

 

Where else can one see six legged ducks, deer with two heads, and cows in udder dispair ????

 

" Two thousand visitors and gieger counting."

 

Often I write LOL as a figure of speech; but I really did 'LOL' then!!!

 

"Where else can one see six legged ducks, deer with two heads, and cows in udder dispair "

 

Damian!!! LOL

 

Matt

[damian]

Thanks Matt !! [thumbup] ..Just PUTIN my two cents, (or rubles)...

 

Besides, it's a better idea than the " Three Mile Island Running Track."

[MrNylon]

I want to go, so I can glow in the dark. I'll be able to save money on monthly electric bills, and won't need to buy batteries for flashlights.

[Bender 4 Life]

and never to be outdone by the Russians, the U.S. gov't will most likely open a walking tour of the West Anniston Al.(10 mi. from me) neighborhoods(now ghost-towns) that were forcibly evacuated due to P.C.B. contamination, allowing visitors to take home soil samples as momentos, and give kayak tours of the "Love Canal".

[LarryUK]

I'd bet the local resident guitar player could play a twin neck guitar well.

[damian]

I'd bet the local resident guitar player could play a twin neck guitar well.

 

 

And his goat !! .......

[damian]

and never to be outdone by the Russians, the U.S. gov't will most likely open a walking tour of the West Anniston Al.(10 mi. from me) neighborhoods(now ghost-towns) that were forcibly evacuated due to P.C.B. contamination, allowing visitors to take home soil samples as momentos, and give kayak tours of the "Love Canal".

 

 

Scary thought...........

[badbluesplayer]

Nothing like a good tragedy to keep the Russians going.

 

I can imagine hoards of hand wringing old women refugees trudging through the snow carrying their photos while the men fight over a bottle of cleaning fluid.

[stevef]

I want to go, so I can glow in the dark. I'll be able to save money on monthly electric bills, and won't need to buy batteries for flashlights.

 

gsgbass you'd look great on stage as well.

New band. (Nuke LaLouche and the Isotopes??)..

First cover song (Song has a strong Bass theme as well). Or you could try Dylan's Glowing in the wind.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=di3CLFj6_Ag

[ChanMan]

Just have a seat on the platform, and the tour will start shortly

 

[TommyK]

And the draw is what?

 

We are depending upon whom to tell us it's safe to take Mom, the kids and assorted pets in the family truckster for a vacation?

 

Am I correct in my understanding that the Chernobyl power plant has never been completely shut down that there are a couple reactors that are still in service?

[crazyhair]

I've got the perfect opening acts for it!

 

Glee, Madonna, and Mariah Carrie. I also heard Sarah Palin said for $100,000 she would endorse it!

[ChanMan]

I saw Mariah on her Christmas show. That lady can really still sing!!

[LarryUK]

Naughty one.

Two boys at school. Fred and bill. Bill asks Fred. 'what's a foreskin'?

Fred replies

 

'it's on Cher nob bill'

 

Bum bum!

[Tman]

I went to visit once.

[NeoConMan]

Am I correct in my understanding that the Chernobyl power plant has never been completely shut down that there are a couple reactors that are still in service?

Yes.

Identical to the one that exploded.

 

No containement buildings around them still.

 

But don't worry - it was human error that blew it up.

 

 

 

I say that - I understand they are still operating.

Coupla years ago they were.

 

Another ugly one - a hydro plant explosion a couple years ago killed a bunch of workers.

Leave it to the Russians to blow up a giant water wheel - but they managed to do it.

 

 

WTF?!?

[TommyK]

Yes.

Identical to the one that exploded.

 

No containement buildings around them still.

 

But don't worry - it was human error that blew it up.

 

 

 

I say that - I understand they are still operating.

Coupla years ago they were.

 

Another ugly one - a hydro plant explosion a couple years ago killed a bunch of workers.

Leave it to the Russians to blow up a giant water wheel - but they managed to do it.

 

 

WTF?!?

 

Yeah, I read about that one. Apparently, from what I read, the bearings were shot and the thing was vibrating for months. When she cut loose the water pressure from the dammed up lake shot the 1000 ton rotor out of it's moorings like Mentos from a Coke bottle.

 

Recently I read that the manufacturer had pegged the life span of those components at 30 years. She blew two months shy of 30 years. you think they got it fixed under warranty?

[mcmurray]

There's a whole lot of fascinating pics here;

 

http://englishrussia.com/index.php/2006/09/13/lost-city-of-chernobyl/