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Radiation monitors in Sweden and Finland this morning are showing unusually high readings in places three times normal levels
At the moment the source of those emissions is a mystery, but speculation has arisen of a nuclear power plant accident inside the Soviet Union
It may seem difficult to believe but we know more about this nuclear accident of the people living in the Soviet Union the Soviet media
Down playing the disaster keeping the people there in the dark
Moscow television claimed the western media are spreading rumors
We will show a photograph taken by one of the workers at the Chernobyl nuclear plant taken just after
So there is no gigantic damage and there is no great fires and there aren't thousands of people dead
All day there was speculation that a meltdown had occurred in a second reactor at the Chernobyl complex
Tonight however that seems unlikely there are conflicting reports coming out of the Soviet Union
We do know that a zone of deadly radiation is being released from the damaged plant and the accident is far from over
Good evening a senior government minister admitted to the customs today that after Chernobyl it was no good scientists and politicians simply asserting that everything is alright with nuclear power
This is what the Soviet government tried to cover up a catastrophic nuclear accident something the world had never seen before
Reactor 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant had exploded releasing lethal amounts of radiation into the atmosphere
In this photograph taken by Igor Kostin radiation can visibly be seen as it contaminates the photographic film within his camera
In this control room Leonid Toptenov a young but senior technician begun an experiment which led to an extremely unstable reactor configuration
To this day many of the switches remain untouched still in the same position they were the morning of the accident
As the reactor core lay exposed a plume of highly radioactive smoke continued to rise into the skies
Chernobyl located 82 miles north of Ukraine's capital city Kiev was once a small town located in the far west of the Soviet Union
Nuclear fallout from the explosion was initially spread hundreds of miles carried by the wind in clouds neighboring towns and cities were heavily contaminated
However nearly 1000 miles from Chernobyl Sweden was the first country to detect that something disastrous had happened
The fallout had even reached the United Kingdom North Wales had been contaminated the worst and even to this day 330 hill farms have restrictions on them
The darker orange areas of this map are badly contaminated and the red areas are severely contaminated with cesium 137 an isotope released into the atmosphere by the reactor explosion
The result was and still is devastating Belarus was by far the worst affected life changing effects
Some of these effects are illnesses like thyroid cancer
Birth defects like dysplasia, deformation, intellectual disabilities, pain and suffering and all caused by an invisible force
London one of the largest and busiest cities background radiation can be found here and throughout the world
Detectable amounts occurs naturally in the environment of earth it is found in the soil, rocks, water and air
It is also emitted by everyday household electrical appliances
The normal background radiation level is considered to be between 0.10 and 0.30 microciverts a measure of radiation dose
It is also considered to be between 0.10 and 0.30 microciverts a measure of radiation dose
Pretty big house, I guess it was something like synagogue, religious building, religious structure
All of the villages surrounding Chernobyl have been abandoned, the buildings left to decay, many looted for anything valuable
These tanks were used during the evacuation of Chernobyl and Propriet, Nikolai explains more
Here it's already 16, closer it's increasing 9, so it's already 90 times more than normal, but I think it's absolutely enough
0.2, 0.15
That's it, that's it, come here, my good boy, come
It's shy
0.13, so it's okay
All places in Chernobyl are clean
So these robots, they have been on the roof of third reactor, of third unit
They were broken a few days after because radiation fields
The radiation level on the roof of reactor 3 was 50civerts, nearly 7 times a fatal dose for a human
The robots failed and a new plan had to be found to clear up the radioactive materials ejected from reactor 4
A few days after, people start to do this job
The administration had no choice but to send a group of men which they named biorebots onto the roof to continue the cleanup
Dressed in custom made lead suits, the men went onto the roof in groups of 3 and were allowed no longer than 45 seconds
Barely enough time for a couple of runs to the edge of the roof with a shovel
Over 10 days, 3,500 men took part in the cleanup, most of which had received huge doses of radiation that caused irreparable damage to their health
Pretty highly contaminated
A few days later
A few days later
A few days later
A few days later
A few days later
Those guys, they were heroes, those 28 firefighters, they came first, they came two minutes after the blast
So they didn't know anything about radiation, they didn't have any protection
And they received huge, huge doses of radiation and died a couple of weeks after
They sacrificed their own lives to save millions of another
Hot spot is here, 150
64
Come on, 200
64
Echo
Fireball
So, 0.3, but we try to measure this bone
5, 5.6
5, 5.6
It's like local fun, local entertainment
Everybody who go to the lunch to continue
Everybody feed this fish on the way back
A few days later
A few days later
A few days later
More
Excellent sound
A few days later
A few days later
This tank is one of the most contaminated things that Nikolai has found in the zone
3.4, 3.5, 6, 8
6 million, 6.2
Enough
A few days later
A few days later
A few days later
So, tomorrow we're going to be seeing Pripyat, we didn't get to see it today
So, tomorrow we're going to be spending a majority of the day in Pripyat
And we're also going to be speaking to some of the resettlers
They've actually come back over the years and they're now living within close proximity to the exclusion zone
So, we're going to be chatting to some of these people
I was told earlier the average age of the resettler is 65 years old
So, they're getting on an age and they are slowly passing away
But not because of any radiation related sicknesses, it's just old age
Which is another example of how kind of safe the area is as long as you obviously stick to the rules
So, today we're going to be talking to some of the resettlers
Where was he on the day of the accident? Was he working?
He worked here on a collective farm
They knew about the accident the next day
So they weren't told immediately
Did he perhaps lose any relatives or family in the disaster at all?
Did you lose your relatives after the accident?
Yes, I lost them
Who?
My relatives, my mother died
Your mother?
Yes
There was a sister and the other sister died and there was a man who died
There was a mother and a son who died
She lost his mother and both sisters
He is alone
And all my friends are dead
All those guys who were with him on the power plant, so all of them are dead
How is your grandmother?
She is sick, she is lying in the institute
She is a wife, but she is very sick now
So now she is in the hospital, now she is alone
I was in the Soviet government, I got into a fight, I didn't even pay a ruble, I didn't even lie in my own land
I was given a share and I was given a share
He says that he can feel radiation without any counters
Can you count the radiation without a shield?
I can
He can
He can feel it
He can feel it
What radiation?
If I got into the radiation, I would get dry right away
In the mountain
In the city
In the city?
Yes
And my head would spin, my head would spin
And that's it, you know I got into the radiation
And I would jump from there
And then he should leave the zone immediately
He can feel it
He can feel it
It was officially proclaimed a city in 1979, but was abandoned following the Chernobyl disaster
Propriat was a modern city, ahead of its time and home to around 50,000 people before the accident
Propriat is located less than two and a half miles away from the power plant
It had a defined city centre where the city hall, the largest shopping centres, major recreational facilities, restaurants and bars were located
It does now seem like that sometime in the last couple of days there's been perhaps the worst accident in the short history of the world's nuclear power industry
The Russians may have been hoping they could contain it without having to release the news
But the fact that they've had to reveal it and that there are casualties suggests they're deeply worried about the state
The day after the accident the city council of Propriat informed its residents the need to temporarily evacuate due to deteriorating radioactive conditions
They recommended its people to take their documents, some vital personal belongings and to ensure that lights were turned off, electrical equipment and water off and windows shut
The council insisted that everyone remained calm and orderly in the process of a short term evacuation
Propriat's people would never return
Propriat's people would never return
Propriat's people would never return
Propriat's people would never return
The main square of Propriat
That palace of culture and the rest of buildings are usual apartments
This palace of culture consisted of two departments, cultural and sport department
Cultural department includes theater, disco bar, small meeting hall and sport part consisted of big sport hall, small swimming pool, underground floor and boxing ring and different sport sections
Propriat's people would never return
The amusement park was due to open on the 28th of April, two days after the accident, as a result none of the rides were ever used
Propriat's people would never return
Propriat's people would never return
Propriat's people would never return
Propriat's people would never return
Propriat's people would never return
There was a period of cold war between USA and USSR, so every school, every kindergarten had a storage with a gas mask
See, it's a little size for children
This is the hospital basement where clothing of the 28th firemen was discarded
This is one of the most contaminated places in the whole of Propriat
Propriat's people would never return
Propriat's people would never return
This is the shoe of the firefighter
Another one, 400
Feather of the firefighter
This is a room with clothes
Let's check some, yes and...
400
This is an extremely radioactive place, it's very very contaminated
So we can imagine how much they received
As we attempt to leave the basement, we get a little lost
I don't think we came this way did we?
Yes
I don't think we came this way
Today, Chernobyl and Propriat are still amazing places, there simply is nowhere else quite like them
They were once thriving, full of life, but now they will be abandoned forever until nature breaks them down to the point where they won't exist anymore
Propriat's people would never return
Propriat's people would never return
3-4
Propriat's people would never return
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