Chernobyl Sarcophagus Q & A - Part II

1a. About security of transportation through Zone: so what you said actually means that it's possible to incidentally inhale radioactive particles, for example from dust generated by wind or wheels of your vehicle? What will happen in that case?
You are correct, it is very possible to inhale radioactive particles from dust or just blowing in the wind. If that happens, it happens - there is not much you can do about it at that point. While it can (and probably does) happen, inhaling a few radioactive dust particles should not cause you any health problems, just like having x-rays taken does not put your health in jeopardy (unless you have a huge number of them taken). That is part of the reason for avoiding the hot spots or wearing a mask over your nose and mouth in areas with higher radiation levels. If you have a measuring device with you, it helps identify those areas and you can quickly put on your mask.

1b. And are you (or any other visitor to Zone) 100% sure that he/she didn't carry with him/herself a radioactive particle - inside technical equipment, deep inside body/vehicle motor, etc?
Nobody is 100% sure they come out of the Zone free of radioactive particles. When you leave the Zone, you have to be checked by a dosimeter that is set at some threshhold level of radiation. If you exceed that level, the machine will indicate that and the security guards will deal with each case separately. I am sure that a single radioactive particle is not considered a problem and will not set off the dosimeter. Actually, I have no doubt that I had radiation on me when I left the Zone - most likely on my shoes. I wore an old pair of Nikes to the Zone, and threw them away in a dumpster in Kyiv after I got back to my hotel. I planned to do that before I ever got on the plane to Ukraine.

1c. I read your article about New Safe Confinement workers and I understood that extremely rigorous tests (lasting several days) were necessary in order to assess someone's exposure to radiation with absolute certainty. The tests performed on you seem very rudimentary. What the regular visitors to Zone (like your Ukrainian friends) think (and feel) about it?
Overall, it is safe to be in the Zone for relatively short periods of time. Keep in mind that in some areas, the radiation levels were the same as those we measured in Kyiv - totally normal. That is not the case in most of the Zone, but it is that way in several areas.

I have been told by many people that the radiation dose I received during my two days in the Zone would be equivalent to the radiation dose I received during my plane flights back and forth between Detroit, Amsterdam, and Kyiv. In reality, I am sure that my dosage was a little higher due to my tour inside the Chernobyl Plant and the Reactor 4 control room. The radiation tests visitors get when leaving the Zone is the exact same test as people who work in the Zone. The reason workers get more thorough testing is because the nature of their jobs requires them to spend much more time in the Zone. They are exposed to more radiation and it is important to monitor their overall exposure.

Many of my friends in Ukraine have travelled regularly to the Zone. They are not at all concerned about the levels of testing. If they were truly concerned about their radiation exposure, they would not go to the Zone as often as they do. With that in mind, they do take precautions such as wearing masks over their noses and mouths when in areas with higher radiation levels.

My friend Sasha, who lived in Pripyat at the time of the accident, told me that any dosage of radiation he gets from current trips to the Zone is nothing compared to the dose he received at the time of the accident. He feels these trips do not put his health in any more jeopardy, and he is probably right.

Personally, I knew the risks when I went there and trusted that my friends and our guide would keep me away from anything truly dangerous. I do not believe my trip has caused any health issues - I wasn't in the Zone long enough for that.

(2) In Wikipedia article about Chernobyl I read this:

Does anyone among people you know experienced this? Do you know something about possibly similar experiences of workers who currently work inside the Sarcophagus?
I do not know anyone that has experienced those symptoms and have not heard of any besides the firefighters and liquidators that worked on the accident cleanup. I have not heard any reports of any current plant workers experiencing these symptoms. The radiation levels are much lower now than they were 20 years ago, and better precautions are taken today to protect the workers' health.

(3) The similar question about visible effects: I read that Pripyat residents saw a cloud of a very strange appearance (covered with nearly mystical light). Is that true, has anybody told you something about it? Assuming that such lights were created due to the presence of unusual radioactive particles in the atmosphere, one could imagine that similar visual effects occur even nowadays in highly contaminated areas of the of the Zone during night. Anyone witnessed such a thing?
Reports of what was seen in the sky immediately after the accident vary quite a bit. Many people say they saw a reddish glow above the reactor. Some say that is due to the release of radiation, others say it was because of the intense heat from the fires. Apparently the cooling stack above the reactor was glowing red due to the extreme heat - this is what people may have mistaken for a "radiation cloud." I am not aware of anyone currently seeing that type of effect in the night sky. I did not see anything like it the night I stayed in the town of Chornobyl.

(4) Can you explain (using photos of the plant model) where is the radiation epicentre and where people precisely work inside Sarcophagus?
In the first model photo, the cylindrical rust-colored object is the main reactor chamber/core. The gray strands at the top of that chamber are fuel and control rods. The top of the chamber was blown off by an explosion and landed on its side. I believe that much of the radiation is there, though there are also very high levels in other areas surrounding it. I do not know precisely where people work inside the Sarcophagus, but they take radiation measurements in several areas and perform other maintenance as needed.

(5) Related to (4): I understood from your article that Sarcophagus will be dismantled when new NSC structure arrives on its place. Do you know something about the plans on how this will be achieved? Will it be more dangerous job than current work inside Sarcophagus?
I do not know specifically how it will be accomplished, but I assume they will use machinery whenever possible to limit human exposure. I think when they first start taking the Sarcophagus apart it will be less dangerous than currently working inside the structure, but as more of it comes down, it will probably become as dangerous if not more so than the current work inside. That's just my opinion, with no facts to back it up.

(6) And a bit unrelated, what is the origin of food and water you consumed in Chornobyl?
I was told that all food we consumed was brought in from Kyiv. We ate all meals in the dining room at the Chernobyl InterInform offices in the town of Chornobyl. Regarding drinks, they never served us plain water, and I really do not know if what they served us used bottled water or not. Actually, I do not know if water used in food preparation or cleaning dishes was bottled or from within the Zone. As mentioned in my article, Sasha, our guide Yuri, and Yana all ate some of the fish given to us by the elderly gentlemen from one of the villages in the Zone. He caught the fish in the local river and I refused to eat it. I may be a little crazy to travel within the Zone, but I will not purposely ingest contaminated foods.