Boatbird
Well-known member
Wow. Just wow.
30th Birthday Party - Chernobyl
- Thread starter UrbanX
- Start date
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Ace report! Fair play to the missus, if you cant beat em, join em!
If i ever get out there im takin my fishin gear, that catfish is MINE!!
If i ever get out there im takin my fishin gear, that catfish is MINE!!
urbexfairy
Member
Amazing as always 
And number two, and three...and four...
Well it is for me I love the place. It's the only place ive been with a real Armageddon feel to it. Some people would hate it and wonder where the intricate architecture was!
Shame I can't post internals in this report, it's just meant as more of an update really;
So this weeks updates: There will be a dedicated zone radio station starting this month!
Also they have given the thumbs up (in principle) to repopulate parts of the zone which are now considered safe enough for human habitation.
I'm looking into the full legislation, but if it means full zone access, I will be putting an offer in for a property soon
Never get tired of seeing reports on this place and yours are just the tops mate, thanks for sharing
Lol, they’re not moving the reactor, they are covering it up!
The new building is a fascinating bit of kit in itself:
The size of the arch is breathtaking, its 270m across. Its being assembled 180m away from the reactor, and will be slid over the whole reactor without touching it. This is to reduce exposure to the people putting it together.
It’s no longer a long lost pipe dream either, the rails are in, the first arch is up. When the arch is complete it will be pulled (not pushed) into place. They were going to push it with hydraulic jacks, but they would need to be repositioned every time they get to their full extension. Whereas steel cables are long enough for it to be pulled in one go. It will be all be done in just one day.
9,000 tonnes of equipment will be hung inside the massive arches. This includes two beams which will have cranes on. These will be fully remote controlled and have different attachments – From Jack hammers, to cutting discs to vacuum cleaners! Where possible the waste (especially the low level stuff) will be extracted and disposed of a couple of miles away. I was lucky enough to see the concrete disposal racks in July, very impressive.
One crane attachment will have a pod (a bit like the London eye) but in thick lead.Yes it will be used to occasionally take people in. I’m not sure what the implications of a tourist going in would be, but it’d be well into the five figures.
Sorry, went adrift there. Back to your question.
*
If you Google it there are hundreds of tour companies. Essentially they are middlemen for the 11 Licenced government officials, so it doesn’t matter who you book with. The two most popular are Lupine Travel and SoloEast.
I can’t give you my word on either of them though as I always book directly through my government escort.
Beware of the tour companies making false promises tho - Both of the above state clearly, and in bold on their home pages that you cannot go inside buildings.*
Lupine:
Soloeast:
Although I have just noticed that Lupine is promising Duga 3 (Big radar aerial thingy) access, which I know is off limits at the moment, so do be weary of ones that promise things like this, they may not necessarily come to fruition when you’re there!
I was recently speaking with my escort about some of the problematic tour companies he said “They don’t care, they tell people what they want, they’re not here when I have to disappoint the tourists”
He told me of an incident recently where a large group were promised they could roam free around Pripyat. You cant. They started to wander off against the guides will, and military action was bought in, and all of the wanderers were arrested!
The 4 hour day trips are now well cheap, and even after all this time I’d still pay it just to wander round the city - I only done around 7 hours on my Bday, but I’ve now spent over 100 hours happily exploring the buildings in Pripyat
The new building is a fascinating bit of kit in itself:
The size of the arch is breathtaking, its 270m across. Its being assembled 180m away from the reactor, and will be slid over the whole reactor without touching it. This is to reduce exposure to the people putting it together.
It’s no longer a long lost pipe dream either, the rails are in, the first arch is up. When the arch is complete it will be pulled (not pushed) into place. They were going to push it with hydraulic jacks, but they would need to be repositioned every time they get to their full extension. Whereas steel cables are long enough for it to be pulled in one go. It will be all be done in just one day.
9,000 tonnes of equipment will be hung inside the massive arches. This includes two beams which will have cranes on. These will be fully remote controlled and have different attachments – From Jack hammers, to cutting discs to vacuum cleaners! Where possible the waste (especially the low level stuff) will be extracted and disposed of a couple of miles away. I was lucky enough to see the concrete disposal racks in July, very impressive.
One crane attachment will have a pod (a bit like the London eye) but in thick lead.Yes it will be used to occasionally take people in. I’m not sure what the implications of a tourist going in would be, but it’d be well into the five figures.
Sorry, went adrift there. Back to your question.
*
If you Google it there are hundreds of tour companies. Essentially they are middlemen for the 11 Licenced government officials, so it doesn’t matter who you book with. The two most popular are Lupine Travel and SoloEast.
I can’t give you my word on either of them though as I always book directly through my government escort.
Beware of the tour companies making false promises tho - Both of the above state clearly, and in bold on their home pages that you cannot go inside buildings.*
Lupine:
Soloeast:
Although I have just noticed that Lupine is promising Duga 3 (Big radar aerial thingy) access, which I know is off limits at the moment, so do be weary of ones that promise things like this, they may not necessarily come to fruition when you’re there!
I was recently speaking with my escort about some of the problematic tour companies he said “They don’t care, they tell people what they want, they’re not here when I have to disappoint the tourists”
He told me of an incident recently where a large group were promised they could roam free around Pripyat. You cant. They started to wander off against the guides will, and military action was bought in, and all of the wanderers were arrested!
The 4 hour day trips are now well cheap, and even after all this time I’d still pay it just to wander round the city - I only done around 7 hours on my Bday, but I’ve now spent over 100 hours happily exploring the buildings in Pripyat
I'd love to see them covering it sounds such a great task - really fascinating.
Really wish I got my arse in gear and got their before they closed all the buildings. I'll have a better look at a booking a tour and watch out for false promises which I was weary of when I looked before I knew it would be my luck to get their and the company wouldn't exist lol
I know I will get addicted and want to go every year and do more looking round etc like you do, I love all the reports you have done. I'll prob book a few of the 4hr trips find out if I can go different places I have friends in Romania so I can always skip over their afterwards.
Really wish I got my arse in gear and got their before they closed all the buildings. I'll have a better look at a booking a tour and watch out for false promises which I was weary of when I looked before I knew it would be my luck to get their and the company wouldn't exist lol
I know I will get addicted and want to go every year and do more looking round etc like you do, I love all the reports you have done. I'll prob book a few of the 4hr trips find out if I can go different places
I have friends in Romania so I can always skip over their afterwards.
me and one of my friends are planning to visit chernobyl next year, can you recommend a good tour company?
krela
Well-known member
Wow what a 30th dude, that is some reportage and imagery hats off and well done that man...and woman
KaraWilliams
Member
Oh man I'd give my left leg to go here... So it is true that you no longer need to wear radiation protection inside chernobyl? x
You must wear full clothing, long trousers and long shirt. Alpha and beta radiation can't penetrate skin or cotton. Gamma radiation will, you need concrete and lead to block it. Which is kinda impractical to wear, so you literally have to just limit your time exposed to it.
If you're interested some of my previous reports see me sleeping in Chernobyl, as well as showering there, brushing teeth with the water etc!
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And best not kneel in the moss taking pictures of the dogems, plays havoc with the readings....
Thanks for all that updated history fella, somewhere about a year ago, I saw a short film on the new Sarcophagus thru its construction made by the French company constructing it. Was really good. I will troll away and see if I can find a link for it.
Looky
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2011/apr/19/novarka-chernobyl-reactor-arch-video
Thanks for all that updated history fella, somewhere about a year ago, I saw a short film on the new Sarcophagus thru its construction made by the French company constructing it. Was really good. I will troll away and see if I can find a link for it.
Looky
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2011/apr/19/novarka-chernobyl-reactor-arch-video
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Stunning. AGAIN. Happy Birthday btw, what a way to spend your bday. Love it !
It never fails to be enthralled by your images and the story that always accomanies them. You're a legend in your own right mate.
Can you at least explain what was inside the buildings and why you are not allowed to display images? Thanks !
It never fails to be enthralled by your images and the story that always accomanies them. You're a legend in your own right mate.
Can you at least explain what was inside the buildings and why you are not allowed to display images? Thanks !
Stunning. AGAIN. Happy Birthday btw, what a way to spend your bday. Love it !
It never fails to be enthralled by your images and the story that always accomanies them. You're a legend in your own right mate.
Can you at least explain what was inside the buildings and why you are not allowed to display images? Thanks !
Of course Sir! Also there is a 'tag cloud' on the right hand side of the DP homepage, if you click on 'Pripyat' I have around 20-30 reports up. I went in a lot of buildings in April, the day before the ban came in, so am allowed to show them!
I may or may not have gone inside a few old favourites, my Wife had never been to Pripyat, so the sight of a whole carpet of gasmasks was a 'must see'. As was the Kindergarten with toys still in cupboards, and photos of the toddlers still on each crib.
We may have gone into a few new places too like the main supermarket, where you can still walk down the aisles! Oh and the swimming pool, may have been immense with just us two in there!
Lol, I tried to get a 'secret' password protected bit on my website but they want another £8 a month for it, so I'll try and set up a private photobucket account or something!
Oh on the subject of the arch, and it's scale... The New Chernobyl Confinement is 270m across, and the Wembley arch is 315m across, so they're of a similar size!
Cheers for the lovely comments.
Just amazing. Am so so jealous but at the same time, so so grateful that you're doing the visit to chernobyl and not me! lol
I think you could probably get a job there doing the tours yourself you've been that many times!
I think you could probably get a job there doing the tours yourself you've been that many times!
Just amazing. Am so so jealous but at the same time, so so grateful that you're doing the visit to chernobyl and not me! lol
I think you could probably get a job there doing the tours yourself you've been that many times!
To be a guide, you must complete 5 days touring the zone, then 5 days giving tours whilst supervised. I have well surpassed the first requirement, but haven't been let loose on any groups yet!
