# Inside Reactor 5 - Chernobyl



## UrbanX (Jun 5, 2011)

So, I’ve been to Pripyat before on a day trip, it seems everyone has. 

What I really wanted to do was to see another side of Pripyat and Chernobyl: to gain a greater understanding of the area and see some stuff off the ‘tourist trail’. 

In order to do this I realised I would have to spend some considerable time staying there, so set about contacting the workers in the zone to convince them to let me stay with them for at least four days instead of four hours. Finally they relented and agreed. 

I set about phase 2: Getting drunk with them, then convincing them to take me places they shouldn’t. 






So next morning after a Ukrainian government standard issue breakfast (sausages and mash no less) to shake the hangover, we drove past the tourists outside Reactor 4 and headed straight over to Reactor 5. Coming off the tarmac road and onto gravel tracks the Geiger’s started to click uncontrollably. A pack of wild dogs began chasing our vehicle, most dropping off after a few hundred yards, except for one large Alsatian which chased us for a quarter of a mile more. Convinced we’d shook him, we gingerly got out. 






Reactors 5 & 6 were still under construction in 1986 when the accident occurred at Reactor 4. 





The scale of the place is vast, hard to convey even with a wide angle lens. This is 4 photos stitched together. 





I’m sure you can imagine how epic the acoustics were inside the cooling tower. The click of a camera shutter would come back to haunt you seemingly minutes after you pressed the button.





Looking up to an unfinished gantry:










I hear a squark, and realise that there are several birds of prey circling above me, riding the thermals created by the chimney. I wonder id they’re eyeing up me or waiting for a radioactive mouse to feast on. 





One of them flaps, fighting the stack effect and a feather floats towards me, taking a couple of minutes to hit the ground. 




















The background radiation here is quite high: Less than being right outside reactor 4, but higher than background anywhere in Pripyat, and 64 times higher than where I’m currently sleeping in Chernobyl. 










I notice some of the columns have dates on them. This one was cast on 26th August 1985. Eight months to the day before disaster struck next door. 










Used 9mm shells…worrying…





The concrete workers ladder leading up to the final five storeys of scaffolding (which is falling down pole by pole in high winds) 





Geek squad:





Much, much more to follow…I’m off to buy the guards more vodka...


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## MD (Jun 5, 2011)

Excellent work fella 
look forward to seeing the rest of the shots


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## Landsker (Jun 5, 2011)

wow, look forward to seeing more!


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## Priority 7 (Jun 5, 2011)

Nice work Urban I am jealous


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## urbanisle (Jun 5, 2011)

Great pictures, look forward to seeing some more..


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## lost (Jun 5, 2011)

Tremendous, great to see some bits off the tourist trail.


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## mr_bones (Jun 5, 2011)

Amazing. Will stay tuned for more.


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## King Al (Jun 5, 2011)

Can't wait for the next instalment!! super stuff urbanx


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## night crawler (Jun 5, 2011)

Good to see a place I doub't I'll ever go to, nice work.


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## nelly (Jun 5, 2011)

Brilliant mate, your photography is stunning


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## chelle (Jun 6, 2011)

*chernobyl*

You say everyone has been there........i haven't & i wont be goin with Stu next yr (Klempner69)


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## Krypton (Jun 6, 2011)

This is fantastic hats off to you for effort and cant wait to see what else you have


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## Snips86x (Jun 6, 2011)

This is great! This is one place I can only dream about visiting and its nice to see different sections of Chernobyl other than like you said the 'tourist' parts. Great work


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## Em_Ux (Jun 6, 2011)

Fantastic!

Really like the bird & ladder shots 

Look forward to seeing the rest of your reports


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## swanseamale47 (Jun 6, 2011)

Looking forward to seeing more.


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## heeftmeer (Jun 7, 2011)

what a great adventure. Can not wait for the next story


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## tommo (Jun 7, 2011)

this is what we have been waiting for, well done fella the cooling tower is cool and like u said its massive, nice to see the non tourist parts cant wait for the rest


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## UrbanX (Jun 7, 2011)

Cheers everyone! Its such an adventure to stay with the guides 24 hours a day, seeing how people in the zone work, their shift patterns, and a deeper understanding of radiation. 
Cheers tommo, are you still planning on a visit?


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## tommo (Jun 7, 2011)

yes mate all sorted now i think but cheers for your help, just need to get the pennies out, stu and chelle has come up trumps with some good cheap flights and mailing the trust over there, so looks like a good lengh trip planned but wont be till next year now, cant wait 

did u get any night shots  hurry up with the rest of the reports lol


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## UrbanX (Jun 7, 2011)

The one of the soldier was a night shot 

Thanks to Kiev's new airport being in a tent (I'm not kidding...)





I arrived in the zone in the middle of the night, which was an experience in itself. To know when you're driving, that you're the fastest person for the next 100km. The border guards were less than happy at my arrival time, but I still managed to get a few rough and ready hand held shots while they checked my papers: 

Looking back at the checkpoint: "NO FOTOGRAPH, NO FOTORGAPH!" 





The Road into the zone: 





I'll be putting a lot of "Social time in the zone" pics on my website in the next few weeks, but they were genuinely strict about us going out after dark. TBH with a lot of the wildlife round there I wouldn't risk it. Our driver was always 'tooled up' whenever we were outside the vehicle.


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## Ramsgatonian (Jun 7, 2011)

Amazing! This may be a bit of a tourist destination now (Nuclear Disneyland), but Chernobyl is still the holy grail for me. A friend of a friend took a photo at the checkpoint once and they took her SD card and snapped it


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## UrbanX (Jun 7, 2011)

Flyboy said:


> Amazing! This may be a bit of a tourist destination now (Nuclear Disneyland), but Chernobyl is still the holy grail for me. A friend of a friend took a photo at the checkpoint once and they took her SD card and snapped it



On the way in they were really sharp with me. After spending time living with them: when I left they let me spend over an hour with them photographing / posing!


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## KingLewis92 (Jun 7, 2011)

Super Set Of Pics


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## johno23 (Jun 9, 2011)

Awesome and interesting report!! hats off to you guys,looking forward to the next instalment.


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## Foxylady (Jun 11, 2011)

Excellent work, Urb. Absolutely superb.


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