Chernobyl Reactor 4 Control Room Open for Tourists
RandomFactor writes:
According Gizmodo, the control room of the badly damaged (and entombed) Reactor 4 at Chernobyl is now open for tourists. This comes
[...] following Ukrainian President Vladimir Volydymyr's July decision to proclaim the region an official tourist attraction (and perhaps not coincidentally, a surge of interest following the release of HBO's wildly popular Chernobyl miniseries).
According to CNN:
The Chernobyl nuclear power plant has seen a huge increase in visitor numbers in recent years as part of a growing global interest in dark tourism.
And now, intrepid travelers [will] be able to get inside the control room where the world's worst nuclear accident unfolded, Chernobyl tour companies confirmed to CNN.
Those who venture inside the highly radioactive area at the infamous Reactor 4 will be provided with white protective suits, helmets and masks for the brief visits. After leaving, they will be subject to two radiology tests to measure exposure.
According to the description on a YouTube video by Ruptly:
The destroyed control room is covered with an adhesive substance that does not allow dust to form. The ruins still emit 40,000 times higher levels of radiation than natural environment.
The Gizmodo story further notes:
Sergiy Ivanchuk, director of SoloEast tours, told Reuters in June that his bookings for tours had risen 30 percent in May 2019 (when the HBO miniseries was released) compared to years prior, while bookings for the summer months had risen some 40 percent. Tour guide Viktoria Brozhko told Reuters, "Many people come here, they ask a lot of questions about the TV show, about all the events. People are getting more and more curious... During the entire visit to the Chernobyl exclusion zone, you get around two microsieverts, which is equal to the amount of radiation you'd get staying at home for 24 hours."
The walkthroughs are guided by regular(!) tour guides. The control room itself is somewhat the worse for wear, although apparently in large part due to souvenir hunters.
Those interested can find more information or even book that dream vacation here.
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