Three decades on, the world’s worst nuclear disaster site has become an unlikely tourist spot. Emma Thomson braves a visit
The Ukrainian winter bites like a wolf, but what I hear next chills me more. “I was 28 at the time of the explosion. I wanted to volunteer, but my wife said she’d divorce me if I went — she saved my life,” says our guide, Serhii Uzlov. He’s speaking of Chernobyl — the worst nuclear disaster in history.
Thirty-two years ago, on April 26, 1986, the crew of reactor number four switched off the safety systems in the early hours to test the turbine. The reactor overheated and generated an explosion the equivalent of 500 nuclear bombs. It blew off the concrete lid and sent a plume of radioactive material two kilometres into the atmosphere.
Nobody has an accurate count of how many died indirectly. Mortality rates have been obscured by propaganda, and reports were lost when the Soviet Union broke up. After the disaster, an 18-mile radius known as the ‘exclusion zone’ was set up around the reactor.
Remarkably, the site and the nearest town, Pripyat, have been open to tourists since 2010, but although scientists from other countries have corroborated Ukraine’s claims that it’s safe to visit, many are still nervous.
The experience starts at the 30km checkpoint outside the exclusion zone. I look at the form we have to sign before entering: I understand and realise staying in the area with high levels of ionising radiation can cause potential harm to my life and health. But Serhii has visited more than 200 times. “I’m sorry to say it’s safe. I know you wanted adventure,” he teases.
A wide avenue of tapered silver birch trees guides us towards the inner 10km checkpoint, where military men outfitted in camouflage and carrying automatic rifles come out to inspect us. “The exclusion zone is a state within a state — it has its own rules,” says Serhii.