RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service correspondent Yevhen Solonyna ventured inside Chernobyl's concrete sarcophagus for a rare and risky glimpse at the stricken power plant's radioactive ruins.
I’ve been hooked on chernobyl videos since the show on HBO came out. First time seeing the inside of the reactor. It would be nice to actually be able to take a look in the control room of reactor #4
This is not the actual reactor floor. This is the adjoining turbine hall (i.e. where the steam from the reactor is sent to produce electricity). The actual reactor floor is not safe safe to enter, even for brief periods. There is a video on RU-vid of a couple guys who probably shouldn't be there which shows the remnants of the reactor floor if you're still interested.
When they enter the highly radioactive room at 2:35, you see the white dots appear on the recording, almost like static. I think this might be caused by gamma radiation emiting from this room but I am not sure. Can someone do an estimation on how high the radiation level in that room is current day? Also, I can't seem to figure out how close this turbine 7 is to the reactor core itself. Is someone able to provide a decent map that shows this?
I've watched so many videos, now i can say if the radiation is over 1 rontgen of 1,000,000 micro rontgens dots will start appearing, 1 rontgen is very high!
I'll buy a vial, would be a very good test source for a HPGe detector. Especially when soild sampling for nuclear contamination, a good reference finger print
@@SaucyNetworkEntertainment yea, once or twice.. but if you work there and get exposure for short periods at a time, for a very long time it adds up. i dont think their skin would melt off in a months time. but they might get cancer in a few years..
You notice those momentary "spots" that show up near the end of the video, the ones that make it look like its an old VHS film? That is neutron radiation hitting the lens, you are literally seeing the radiation in a sense, it takes a LOT of neutrons to hit the lens for it to be captured like that. That means that area is still incredibly lethal, probably lethal if you were to stay in there just a few hours.
Fun fact, if you notice that the camera quality is decreasing and start to see white specs on the screen it's because of the radiation. Those white specs are the radiation. Best example: 2:32
@@chagi4334 Even if the camera was old, the most famous photo taken of the elephant's foot below Chernobyl was visibly grainy compared to other photos taken at that time in general. That graininess was caused by the radiation emitted.
@@Cricket_fan4 The radioactive gamma particles are hitting the sensor of the camera and since they have such high 'power' they are exciting said sensor, just like how normal light would when it hits the sensor but they are causing so much more power to hit the sensor that it 'maxes' it out and causes it to display the white dots
Didn't expect a virtual stroll through (probably) the most dangerous building in the world but here we are... I feel my skin peeling off just watching this! 😄🏴❤🇺🇦
@@LubckeEnjoyer yeah even so, not commenting on your expert calculation, that is a notable life reduction and not to mention expenses for health care and the work for health care providers. Quite unecessary to visit such places with such high radiation when there are high probabilities you will get cancers etc earlier than you should.
Even if the Accident occurred more than Four Decades already, you can still see radiation through those same green flickering light specks; all recorded on advanced camera equipment- unlike in the Original Video Tape Film Version- where Chernobyl Radiation is at its highest release…
I was not even a full year old when this happened. Its insane to me to think that the danger and radiation is still very present in Chernobyl even after all this time.
@@sly2792004 With more experienced people, the test could not cause the disaster. We cannot know it now, but probably jes. The team who should do the test during the day was ready in the afternoon, and the power of the reactor was lowered for that. But another nuclear central was not producing energy so the test was moved to the night, when less energy was needed. Anyway this caused (at least): 1. a different team did the test, not trained and ready for that 2. the reactor, after so many hours (since afternoon) on low-power became more unstable and dangerous because of production of steam and xeno.
@@ihabhatim5825 Ukrainian soldiers put the dome over it, what did Russian troops do other then hold the workers hostage and cut them off from the power grid?
I would really like to visit the ruins, check out the most interesting places such as the turbine hall, other reactor halls, the roof and reactor 4 hall aswell, though health risks are a little discouraging.
you can . takes plenty of money, around $250 NZ a day trip with lunch to see city building and damage, but not the control rooms that will cost a lot more, do a 2 day trip as it felt rushed just to see what we did. remember expect to pay
Health risks really shouldn't be too bad, to the best of my awareness the minimum received dose at which there's a clear observable increase in cancer rates is ~100 Millisieverts. They won't let you absorb that much, supposedly a flight from the USA to Ukraine might well give you a larger dose of radiation than a tour around Chernobyl. But that only applies if you're visiting Pripyat and not the station itself. At the station itself you likely will take quite a dose of radiation, still well, well below that 100 Msv figure, but yeah. They won't let you into Reactor Hall 4, and they won't let you into those turbine halls, or the control room. However, you probably can visit the unit 2 control room, reactor hall, and turbine hall. That would, however, be VERY expensive, still arguably worth it if you're into such things, but it won't be cheap.
I can remember it vaguely, and the way the curtain was slowly lifted about the disaster in the West, is what was most strange. That and the thing with cows and other livestock no longer being sent out to graze.
To think that Chernobyl became a battleground for a few weeks is wild Imagine shooting and sending rockets around a fucking exposed nuclear reactor that had both a meltdown and an explosion
also russians dug foxholes into the ground that is heavily radiated and probably they arent going to live too long after getting exposed like that.. only the top layer is "safe" but if you start digging, you are in for some serious life threatening radiation poisoning.
I'm going to write the 100th comment about white dots on the video from high radiation and you should too to keep up this cool trend on this youtube video.
The explosion wasnt exactly the reactor though,it was basically built up steam due to the xenon reacting to the graphite on the tips of the control rods...so ti wasnt exactly the reactor
No, that is what's left of the steam turbine. It appears that its attached generator has been removed, as has most the housing. Those "fins" you see should be enclosed in a housing. Given how....pristine.... the turbine blades look, it appears that someone removed the housing.
Well, they wear white because it's easier to check for fallout dust contamination, and the masks have activated filters that prevent radioactive dust from getting in your lungs. They can also scrub you and hose you down to "wash" excess radiation your body hasn't absorbed off of you so only the water is irradiated, not necessarily the person anymore.
The fact that anyone can walk in areas at all in that place is testament to how safe nuclear power is even when we fuck it up. And if all the hype, politics and the no sayers got out of the fucken way, the doers would be able to clean that place up in no time
Most of us couldn't give a damn about the new safety confinement building. We are interested in the old building. The one that contains reactor number 4. Not all of us, but some are interested in the new confinement building. However, most of us are interested in everything that was there when the accident happened.
It has been well documented why the reactor exploded. They were running a safety test and brought the reactor down to low levels. When they brought it back up (which they shouldn't have done) it went out of control and they pressed the emergency shutdown button. This lowered all of the control rods into the core with the intent to stall it. However, they had a fatal flaw. The tips of the control rods were made of graphite, which would not decrease but increase the reactivity. Then the reactor went boom
for me, this is the single most mysterious and enticing catastrophe that ever happened. For one, radiation on it's own is hard to grasp due to being invisible and it's damage happening slowly and steadily. But you get creepy indicators like geiger counters freaking out, metal taste in your mouth, discolored leaves, mutations etc. Also it is an unprecedented accident, happening in an extinct regime that tried to cover it up, giving it all a political secret service spin. The science behind it is fascinating. The human factor is fascinating, paired with the social impact a communist regime has on leaders and people led by them. The places and remnants are fascinating. The turbine hall, the control room, the water systems underneath. Prypjat and other vacant places, almost untouched since then. Although the more tourism happens, the more this allure will fade away. I bet soon you'll find graffiti, litter and other traces of modern life there. It is something that happened a long time ago, but still just before I was born, so it is kind of an indicator for me personally how much time has passed since I was born. People talk about this like it was ancient history. Which makes me ancient in that way. And so much more. Of course it's first and foremost a tragedy that could have been avoided. So there's also a lot of sadness and anger. This is something I will never forget and which will always be a part of me.
I still think the hype is overrated as to the actual reality of how bad this outcome has been. Its not as bad as it is portrayed. But people like drama i guess
Yeah well you cant. Given its been decades and the elephants foot has lost alot of radiation, its still one of the most radioactive things ever to exist.
@@mahor6287 not saying you dont know how radiation works, or physics in general, im saying that just becuase they are exposed to a radiactive source doesnt mean their skin will burn or turn red, you would need a relatively big exposure time to a radiactive enough source
The dangerous thing is the dust, which you can probably wash of in a shower. They'll know better than we do. A hazmat suit protects from the dust yes, but in terms of radiation shielding they might as well be butt naked in there, as a hazmat suit shield absolutely nothing
there is no suit that can stop radiation, it will go through hazmats no problem.. maybe if you have full lead suit, but its going to weight 100000 kilos and you die from lead poisoning.
That is mainly there to protect against dust. Alpha particles do not penetrate the dead layer of skin, Beta particles do penetrate deeply, but only a thick level of gear will protect you. That thick gear is very heavy and will slow down movement. Gamma radiation penetrates everything. You need dozens of feet of concrete, lead, or water to protect you. the best protection against radiation is to limit your exposure time, and prevent the inhalation of dust with alpha and beta particles (hence the masks).
I had an abdominal and pelvic CT and 8 chest x-rays over the course of 6 months, of which 6 x-rays and one in the last 3 months, what is the risk for my body? the total is 9
0% risk, a body absorbs more radiation from transoceanic air travel than from X-rays Chest X-rays is about 10mrem, pelvic 70mrem nothing to worry about, the important thing is that the medical problem that requested him has been resolved
To better explain for people who don't know much about radiation, 1 sievert is the most a person can have without having too many problems. 3 sieverts can cause death within months. 1 roentgen is 144.02 sieverts... this place has around 3.6 roentgens, so that's 518.472 sieverts... that's some radioactive shit right there
what do you mean bruh 1 roentgen is approx 0.01 sieverts, ARS starts at about 0.7 Sv. even if this place was 100 roentgens it would still be okay to look at it from distance for a couple of seconds because 100 roentgens is only about 1 Sv and radiation greatly decreases with distance. also where did you get 144 sieverts ans 3.6 roentgens from.
bruh where tf did you get that information? the local drunk guy???? 1 roentgen is not 100 sieverts, 1 sievert is 100 roentgen, that place most definetly doesnt have 3.6 roentgen either, to me it sounds like you got all your information off the HBO series
@@supernenechi The land outside of the plant will be safe since by 2065 all of the alpha-emitting isotopes will have decayed, the reactor and the building will be dangerous for 10,000 years however. Though by 2100 the building and the reactor will have been chopped up into small pieces and sealed in concrete caskets to be stored underground. That is why the New Safe Confinement was built in 2017, inside the new dome they are dismantling the reactor and the buildings using robots.
Hazmat suits will protect against the dust, but so will a suit and a mask like they wore as well as a shower afterward. So they might help a bit for that. To shield against radiation though, hazmat suits are useless.
