# Chernobyl & Pripyat, Ukraine - April 11



## randomnut (Apr 12, 2011)

As we all know, this year is the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, so it seemed like a fitting time for my 2nd trip into the zone.

Pripyat was a city in the Ukraine built to house workers for the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. At its height it had around 50,000 inhabitants with provision for up to 70,000.

The city was built in a triangular plan and featured alternating five-story buildings and high-rises, with the city lined with broad vistas, open spaces, and the horizon visible from almost every corner. Unlike the old cities with their tiny yards and narrow streets, Pripyat had been initially planned to look free and vivid, all for the comfort of its inhabitants. Besides the calculated boost of street space, the goal had been achieved by making the streets and blocks symmetrical. Taken together, these solutions were intended to immunize Pripyat from such scourges of modern times as traffic jams.

Facilities in the city included:

- Population: 49,400 before the disaster. The average age was about 26 years old. Total living space was 658,700 m2: 13,414 apartments in 160 apartment blocks, 18 halls of residence accommodating up to 7,621 single males or females, and 8 halls of residence for married couples.

- Education: 15 primary schools for about 5,000 children, 5 secondary schools, 1 professional school.

- Healthcare: 1 hospital that could accommodate up to 410 patients, and 3 clinics.

- Trade: 25 stores and malls; 27 cafes, cafeterias and restaurants could serve up to 5,535 customers simultaneously. 10 warehouses could hold 4,430 tons of goods.

- Culture: 3 facilities: a culture palace, a cinema and a school of arts, with 8 different societies.

- Sports: 10 gyms, 3 indoor swimming-pools, 10 shooting galleries, 2 stadiums.

- Recreation: 1 park, 35 playgrounds, 18,136 trees, 249,247 shrubs, 33,000 rose plants.

- Industry: 4 factories with total annual turnover of 477,000,000 rubles. 1 nuclear power plant.

- Transportation: Yanov railway station, 167 urban buses, plus the nuclear power plant car park of about 400 units.

- Telecommunication: 2,926 local phones managed by the Prypiat Phone Company, plus 1,950 phones owned by Chernobyl power station's administration, Jupiter plant and Department of Architecture and Urban Development.

On 26th April 1986 an experiment involving a power-down of the reactor caused an explosion at Reactor 4. The resulting fire burned for over 9 days, sending radioactive clouds over most of Europe. The inhabitants of Pripyat were told to take a minimum of belongings for a temporary evacuation, and everyone was bussed out of the city over 48hours. Little did they know they were never to return, and this is the city today. 







View over the main square










Boxing Ring





Sports Hall





Restaurant





Swimming Pool Exterior





Swimming Pool





Classroom





Trees inside the city. Notice the redness from half way up, all the bark had died and fallen off.










Bumper Cars










The infamous ferris wheel





Abacus found in the hospital





Hospital





Hospital Desk





Hospital Staircase





Operating Theatre





Bus Station





Inside the Bus Station​
I didn't want to make this one of those 10 part extravaganzas, so i've tried to keep it fairly to-the-point.

If anyone is interested, the rest of the set can be found on my flickr page . I've still got thousands more shots to go through so i'll be adding them up there for a while yet.


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## Curious Dragon (Apr 12, 2011)

This is a subject that lies so close to my heart and I would dearly love to visit and pay my respects

Some superb photos there.
The swimming pool and the funfair are the two must-sees on the trip for sure.

From what I am told the atmosphere there is so strange, I heard someone once said you could almost hear echos of Papriyat before the disaster. The bustling streets and children playing.

I have always felt that Chernobyl has been so easily forgotten be so many, even though it was in so many of our lifetimes.

Thank you for sharing


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## Scaramanger (Apr 13, 2011)

Brilliant stuff. I can never see enough of this place. Would love to go there one day..


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## night crawler (Apr 13, 2011)

Wonderfull photo's , nature looks to be reclameing it own again..


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## UrbanX (Apr 13, 2011)

Nice one, ace photos. Did you use a filter for the first one or did you do it in PP? 
I can't wait to get back there next month for a special visit!


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## losttom (Apr 13, 2011)

Great photos- a place i would love o see!

Cant beleive the ferris wheel is still standing after all these years!


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## klempner69 (Apr 13, 2011)

I think you know my view on these already!!You are more than welcome to come with me n Tommo next year ok.


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## randomnut (Apr 13, 2011)

Cheers guys, glad you like them 

Klempner - cheers I may just take you up on that!


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## TK421 (Apr 14, 2011)

As with the others, I never tire of seeing photos from this place, and the statistical data you have provided shows that real thought went into the construction of this city, which makes it almost even sadder that it is now deserted, it once would have been full of hopes and dreams. Really excellent photographs, thanks very much for sharing them mate.


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## Foxylady (Apr 14, 2011)

TK421 said:


> ...the statistical data you have provided shows that real thought went into the construction of this city, which makes it almost even sadder that it is now deserted, it once would have been full of hopes and dreams...


Excellent point, TK. 
I love your photos, Randomnut. The colour treatment makes them really stand out...superb atmosphere. Cheers.


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## davidralph (Apr 14, 2011)

Great pics. I wonder what Pripyat would look like today, if the disaster never happened. Would these buildings still stand, or would they have eventually made way for 'progress'? As it stands, it's an incredible snapshot in time.


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## randomnut (Apr 14, 2011)

davidralph said:


> Great pics. I wonder what Pripyat would look like today, if the disaster never happened. Would these buildings still stand, or would they have eventually made way for 'progress'? As it stands, it's an incredible snapshot in time.



Thanks 

If you can find any images of Slavutich in the Ukraine, I would imagine very much like that. That city was built as Pripyat's replacement and is still going strong.


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## Concentration F (Apr 15, 2011)

Awesome pics, that first one's a killer

Been enjoying these coming up on my news feed over past week


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## MD (Apr 15, 2011)

excellent shots


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## stateless68 (Apr 23, 2011)

fantastic stuff this - i was there 2 days and i'm only just beginning to realise how much i didn't get to see and also beginning o think that i want to get back there to have another go/ I think my favourite here is the bus station, a very Soviet piece of architecture that, and the glass is still intact too! And the trees - was that shot taken in the football stadium?


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## TK421 (Apr 26, 2011)

25 years ago today that the explosion occured, where has the time gone eh?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13190411


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## hawkafr (Apr 26, 2011)

*cod*

the makers of call of duty got it just right in their looks


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## Snapshot (May 1, 2011)

What a great set of photos. I've not been there but these really seem to capture the evocative, almost ethereal feel we assume the place must have.

I understand from friends in Ukraine that the place has very much begun to return to nature and is becomming something of a wildlife "sanctuary", because people don't want to go there.

As I said in my reply to Stateless' post, I used to live in Ukr but never thought of going to Chernobyl - now I wish I had.


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