SCIENCE AND EDUCATION


Take a look inside radioactive ruins of Chernobyl’s reactor No. 4

A group of 15 journalists gained access to Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant’s fourth reactor control room on Wednesday as part a presentation of a new guide book on the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. 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. Tourist have been able to apply for a permission to visit the irradiated remains of the control room since September 2. The Chernobyl nuclear disaster occurred on April 26, 1986 as a series of explosions and subsequent fire at the fourth reactor released radioactive fallout which dispersed over nearby countries. More than eight million people were exposed to elevated levels of radiation as a result. To date, Chernobyl is still thought to be the worst civil nuclear accident in human history. The immediate death toll from the incident itself numbered 31, while thousands have since suffered radiation-related illnesses such as cancer and infant deformities.