would you want to be a tourist at chernobyl?

from yahoo

Ukraine to open Chernobyl area to tourists in 2011

By MARIA DANILOVA, Associated Press Maria Danilova, Associated Press – Mon Dec 13, 9:27 am ET

KIEV, Ukraine – Want a better understanding of the world's worst nuclear disaster? Come tour the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

Beginning next year, Ukraine plans to open up the sealed zone around the Chernobyl reactor to visitors who wish to learn more about the tragedy that occurred nearly a quarter of a century ago, the Emergency Situations Ministry said Monday.

Chernobyl's reactor No. 4 exploded on April 26, 1986, spewing radiation over a large swath of northern Europe. Hundreds of thousands of people were resettled from areas contaminated with radiation fallout in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. Related health problems still persist.

The so-called exclusion zone, a highly contaminated area within a 30-mile (48-kilometer) radius of the exploded reactor, was evacuated and sealed off in the aftermath of the explosion. All visits were prohibited.

Today, about 2,500 employees maintain the remains of the now-closed nuclear plant, working in shifts to minimize their exposure to radiation. Several hundred evacuees have returned to their villages in the area despite a government ban. A few firms now offer tours to the restricted area, but the government says those tours are illegal and their safety is not guaranteed.

Emergency Situations Ministry spokeswoman Yulia Yershova said experts are developing travel routes that will be both medically safe and informative for Ukrainians as well as foreign visitors. She did not give an exact date when the tours were expected to begin.

"There are things to see there if one follows the official route and doesn't stray away from the group," Yershova told The Associated Press. "Though it is a very sad story."

The ministry also said Monday it hopes to finish building a new safer shell for the exploded reactor by 2015. The new shelter will cover the original iron-and-concrete structure hastily built over the reactor that has been leaking radiation, cracking and threatening to collapse.

The new shell is 345 feet (105 meters) tall, 853 feet (260 meters) wide and 490 feet (150 meters) long. It weighs 20,000 tons and will be slid over the old shelter using rail tracks. The new structure will be big enough to house the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris or the Statue of Liberty in New York.

The overall cost of project, financed by international donors, has risen from $505 million (?380 million) to $1.15 billion (?870 million) because of stricter safety requirements, according to Ukrainian officials.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which manages the project, said a final estimate of the project's cost will be released after the French-led consortium Novarka finalizes a construction plan in the next few months.

I've wanted for a few years now to go see it.

It's too bad that they're opening it up for these guided tours, though. Something like that would completely ruin the experience.

lots of derelict buildings to see without have to go there

Well sure, but that many together, and uninterrupted?

In most areas, you see buildings of a certain function fall in neglect. Which is nice to look at, mind. But a whole previously inhabited area with every human function discontinued... I that seems like a special experience, and difficult to find.

25 years isn't long enough, everything just looks stale.......100 years would start to look interesting

I definitely plan to. I tend to wonder what becomes of the wildlife that are now the sole occupants of some areas, but I'll be there with boots on.

have you seen the documentary called "cats of chernobyl"? it's quite interesting.....and it has cats

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mr Karl

have you seen the documentary called "cats of chernobyl"? it's quite interesting.....and it has cats

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I did. It was a great documentary. I believe it was called "Heavy Water" though. My g/f found it on cable.

Im very captivated with abandoned places and the idea of urban exploration. So, yes this would appeal to me. I remember years ago when there was that person who supposedly visited Chernobyl away from the areas that the tour goes, using only her motorcycle. There is a belief that she may have been a hoax but the idea of going here captivated. If it is safe now, I would be game.

my first thought on hearing about this was something along the lines of, "if only the makers of the videogame S.T.A.L.K.E.R. had been allowed to see more of the Restricted areas." just imagine how much better the game would have been? while they did tour the site prior to making the game, they couldnt really go anywhere special. they were limited to just the areas that journalists were allowed to visit.

i would absolutely love to see the area on something like google earth; or be able to take a virtual tour of the grounds.