October 2009 Archives

Regular readers of Chernobyl and Eastern Europe may remember a series of posts I wrote last April about a new photo exhibit entitled Inside Chernobyl: life goes on by my friend Michael Forster Rothbart.

Inside Chernobyl: life goes on
Inside Chernobyl Photo Exhibit

This exhibit was displayed for two weeks in Kyiv's Shevchenko Park and later in Slavutych, the city that replaced Pripyat as home for the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant workers.

Rothbart has since returned to the United States after completing a 10-month Fulbright fellowship, in which he spent time documenting life in Slavutych and villages near the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. He has created a second exhibit titled After Chernobyl, which details the daily lives of Chernobylites including samosels, former Zone residents and liquidators. This exhibit has recently been showing at the University of Wisconsin and is scheduled for other showings in the future.

If you are not able to see the exhibit in Wisconsin and are interested in seeing part of this show, Rothbart has just released a preliminary beta version of his new After Chernobyl web exhibit. This unique site is more than just a web gallery. It has been designed as a place where visitors can participate in meaningful discussions about the photographs by leaving either text or audio comments on each page.

This website utilizes VoiceThread to create a collaborative, multimedia slide show. It is different than any other Chernobyl site you have seen on the web and definitely worth your time. Check it out when you get a chance.

Rothbart is planning a second, much larger web exhibit for 2010. Upcoming shows of his Chernobyl photo exhibits are currently scheduled for:

• Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Art, Kharkiv, Ukraine - Autumn 2009
• National Chernobyl Museum, Kyiv, Ukraine - Autumn 2009
• Washington, D.C. - Spring 2010 (Details to come)

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is currently conducting a three-day seminar in Kyiv, Ukraine to discuss problems related to the decommissioning of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant's cooling pond.

The seminar, which was organized at the request of Chernobyl Plant management, includes experts from the United States, France and IAEA with expertise in the treatment of radioactively contaminated ecosystems. A date for decommissioning the cooling pond has yet to be announced.

The Chernobyl cooling pond is an artificial body of water that was created to cool the heat exchangers of four nuclear reactor units at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. As a result of the Chernobyl accident, the cooling pond was exposed to extremely high levels of contamination. The reservoir area has an approximate volume of 8.5 square miles, or 5,297,199,985 cubic feet.

The cooling pond is also home to a large number of huge catfish. It is not known what will eventually be done with the catfish when the reservoir is fully decommissioned.

This video shows a large number of catfish that live in the cooling pond at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. In the video, you can also see an albino catfish.

These catfish are huge, but their size has nothing to do with radiation or contamination within the cooling pond. They are large because there are no predators in the pond and they eat very well.

A popular local tradition during many trips to Chernobyl is to stop at the small store/bar in Chernobyl town and purchase loaves of bread. After arriving at the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant, visitors can step onto a small bridge, break off large chunks of bread and feed the catfish.

For more information about wildlife in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, visit http://www.chornobyl.in.ua

The following short video (in Russian) discusses plant mutations in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone's Red Forest.

The Red Forest was an area decimated by radioactive fallout from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident. It is called the Red Forest because of the ginger-brown color of the pine trees after they died following exposure to high amounts of radiation. During cleanup operations, the Red Forest was completely bulldozed and buried in trenches.

In the past 23 years, a new pine forest has emerged, but remains highly contaminated. My friend Sergey has posted more information about the current status of the Red Forest in English at http://www.chornobyl.in.ua/en/red_forest.htm and another article in Russian at http://www.chornobyl.in.ua/red_forest_today.htm




Photo courtesy of www.chornobyl.in.ua

On September 30, 2009, four men were arrested for catching fish from the Pripyat River in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.

The men, between 28 and 40 years old, had caught 217 fish in their nets worth more than 2,000 UAH (approximately $235 US). The men claimed this was the first time they were in the Exclusion Zone and were fishing only for their own consumption.

Authorities are now checking if any contaminated fish from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone are being sold in markets within the Kyiv region.

The offenders have been banned from future entry into the Zone. Authorities have opened a criminal case against them, under Article 249 of Ukraine's Criminal Code (Illegal fishing). All boats, motors and nets were confiscated.

Geez, 217 fish between four people and it was caught for themselves? Unlikely, unless they planned to cure and smoke it.

Obviously, wood and scrap metal are not the only things criminals try to remove from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. This makes me wonder if Kyiv's food supply is really safe.

My friend Sergey recently posted two videos of a wolf encounter at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine.  The wolf, which was apparently affected by rabies, tried repeatedly to enter a building at the Chernobyl Plant.

Here are the videos:





You can also read about wolves and the rabies problem in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone on Sergey's website, http://www.chornobyl.in.ua

Google translate version of wolves and rabies article

Destination Truth's Ghosts of Chernobyl episode finally aired on SyFy last night. I think the only good thing I can say is it was interesting to see Pripyat at night, though it seemed they only spent time in the hospital complex, the cultural center and amusement park. The thermal image of the ferris wheel was also pretty cool.

However, there was a bit of misinformation and redirection in the segment. Since I know the Chernobyl area pretty well, it was easy to identify misinformation and see how their editing took scenes out of chronological order. For instance, there is no "5 km checkpoint." The Dytyatky Checkpoint is at the southern entrance to the 30 km Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. The Leliv Checkpoint is located 10 km from the Chernobyl Plant. What Josh Gates said was the 5 km checkpoint is at the entrance to Pripyat, which is 2-3 km from the Chernobyl Plant.

Editing took viewers from the Pripyat Checkpoint directly into the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant parking lot where visitors can see a close up of the Sarcophagus covering Reactor 4 (the visitor's center is also located at this parking lot). In reality, they would have visited the Chernobyl Plant several minutes after passing the Leliv Checkpoint, not the Pripyat Checkpoint.

The Thyroid Shield additive and radiation protection suits were definite overkill. The group was way too concerned about their radiation exposure. They did not seem to be in any areas of Pripyat that are known to have higher levels of contamination.

There is absolutely no way their cumulative dose of radiation reached a dangerous limit in that short amount of time. I personally know people who spend a lot more time in Pripyat, including in areas with higher levels of radiation and they have never had a problem ... and never wore radiation protection suits. Either someone manually set off the alarm or they set their dosimeter to sound its alarm at a very low level, just for effect.

As far as their evidence, my first reaction to the thermal footage with the shape in the window was a reflection, which was later verified by Jason and Grant from Ghost Hunters. I also question the other thermal footage that was referred to as a "great piece of evidence." The Destination Truth crew may have all been in radiation suits, but the shape could have been one of their cameramen or it could have been their guide Yuri. Despite what they implied, there is no way they would have been left completely alone in Pripyat without a guide.

They also got all excited about the small light in the cultural center (second floor of the building). As Jason and Grant mentioned, it could have been an animal. Wild dogs are known to wander the streets of Pripyat. If they did any research on the city, they would also know that thieves have been looting Pripyat for more than 20 years and continue to do so today. Could it have been a looter's flashlight?

The EVP session was also a joke. Construction of Pripyat began in 1970, so it was a young city that was only populated during Soviet times. Why the hell would you ask questions of spirits in the English language? In this location, do you really think someone is going to be able to understand a question in English and respond in English?

Lastly, Jael's freak out when she was "touched" reminded me of a scene with a wrestler on one of Ghost Hunter's live Halloween specials. It was too much of an overreaction to be real. The Destination Truth group is supposed to be there searching for the paranormal. If every little thing is going to scare you, why would you go on such investigations?

Overall, I found the Ghosts of Chernobyl episode to be a disappointment. For me, it revealed major issues with the Destination Truth show - issues that were previously suspected, but now seem more true than ever. These people are supposed to be professionals, yet whenever they see anything suspicious, they jump to the immediate conclusion they experienced something paranormal. Josh Gates has worked with Jason and Grant from Ghost Hunters and should be quite familiar with their approach, where if something is experienced, you investigate and try to disprove it.

I guess I should end with what I thought was a fascinating and appropriate quote from Josh Gates at the end of the episode's second segment: "Panic is a powerful agent of  imagination." I think Gates and his crew proved that tonight in the Chernobyl segment, where the destination was not the truth.