On 26th of april 1986 reactor 4 of the nuclear powerplant of Chernobyl blew up and resultet in the worst nuclear disaster the world had ever seen. On the 18th of May 2012, equipped with a geiger counter and with a whole lot of courage, I visited the powerplant, 26 years after the disaster.
Unreal, horryfing and somehow still quite intriguing. The main question I was asking myself was why I was there. Why would anyone go to Chernobyl? The radiation readings were some places of the chart. Some hotspots measuring up to 30 microsievert. All in all the trip was actually pretty safe. The total dose of radioation we received was actually less than on a trans-atlantic flight. Still, there was a good reason I went there. I wanted to learn! Those who don’t remember the past are condemned to repeat it!
Chernobyl is a man made post apocalyptic hell hole! People can’t live there for the next 800 years. Jesus will most likely return to earth before people settles in Chernobyl again. How come humans can cause so much destruction? Can this happen again? I would say yes! Very much likely!
The city of Pripyat was mind-blowing. 50.000 inhabitants were evacuated within hours for never to return again. 26 years later the buildings are almost collapsing, trees and bushes have taken over the city and in the streets wolves and wild-boars are roaming freely.
The sarcophagh around the reactor, keeping the radiation conceled, is now almost broken. Cracks and rust is everwhere. The invisible enemy is in the air and on the ground, follwing you wherever you go. It won’t go away. Not for 250.000 years. This is Europe’s dark and dirty secret. A potential catastrophy just waiting to happen, if the sarcophag falls apart. This should be our priority number 1. Preventing further contamination and not hosting UEFA 2012 and overlooking the potential danger lurking in Chernobyl.
I have learned alot from the visit. It’s crucial that us humans learn from our mistakes. Learn from the past and look towards the future. That is what defines us as humans. Turn mistakes into knowledge. Failure into sucess. Let us never forget what happend on that day. Without the sacrifice of those men and woman on that day and during the months after, half of Europe would have been an unlivable place. The forgotten heroes of Chernobyl. We salute you!
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