Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Taking a trip to Chernobyl this summer.

TheAppleGeek

TheAppleGeek

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 18, 2010
752
43
St. Louis
This summer (mid-to-late July, is what I'm currently looking at), a group of friends and I are going to visit Chernobyl, the infamous nuclear disaster site in Ukraine. As of right now, the group seems to want to go, but I would love to have some advice for anyone who has been to Chernobyl/Pripyat.

1) What would be the most trustworthy tour guide to go through? I am looking at both Tour2Chernobyl and Tour Kiev. For anyone that has been, could you guide me to a trustworthy tour guide?

2) Currently, my group is about eight people. I'm aiming to get at least ten people going. The price in a "regular" sized group is about $140 - $160 per person and that is only the tour in Kiev, Chernobyl and Pripyat. Do the companies provide some help from getting from ____ to Kiev? I live in Texas, and would like to know the price in total.

I have emailed both websites about both, but I can never get a solid answer.

3) I am not worried about radiation like the world is, as I know I would have to spend at least two weeks straight before any sickness were to occur. But, because there is radiation, and I need a geiger counter, where would be the cheapest place to buy one?

Please let me know anything you have knowledge of, as I would highly appreciate it.

Thanks.
 
TheAppleGeek said:
3) But, because there is radiation, and I need a geiger counter, where would be the cheapest place to buy one?


Thanks.
Click to expand...

Really? Really? You'r going to cheap out on that? Really? Really? Oh btw it takes way less than a week of exposure to that amount of radiation to effect you. If you still want to go well, I have no sympathy for you.
 
First time I've heard of anyone who wants to head there. Send a postcard..
 
TheShinyMac said:
Really? Really? You'r going to cheap out on that? Really? Really? Oh btw it takes way less than a week of exposure to that amount of radiation to effect you. If you still want to go well, I have no sympathy for you.
Click to expand...

You are right. Shortly after posting, I did my own research and discovered Tour Kiev offers a Geiger counter for $140. Not bad.

Well, I have heard a lot of conflicting reports about the amount of time for it to affect you, so thank you. :)
 
Considering that the reactor shield is failing and they are worried about more radiation leaking I would say anywhere near the place at this point is not safe.
 
I was just talking to someone at work about this...

Apparently this guy knows some people who did a motorcycle tour through that area.

Bottom line is he said they never really stopped for any significant amount of time, never touched anything, and rode parallel to each other so that no one was breathing in any dust that may have been kicked up by the guy in front.

Have fun with that.
 
TheAppleGeek said:
You are right. Shortly after posting, I did my own research and discovered Tour Kiev offers a Geiger counter for $140. Not bad.

Well, I have heard a lot of conflicting reports about the amount of time for it to affect you, so thank you. :)
Click to expand...

I don't want to come across as harsh but really, you are asking for trouble heading over there now. As others have said the concrete "solution" is falling apart. As for my qualifications about this, my grandfather is an "X" X-ray technician and I have spent hours debating my own trip to the site too. For the sake of your long term health. Do not go.
 
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...-spark-plea-for-radiation-shield-2227550.html
Fears that the destroyed nuclear reactor at Chernobyl could collapse and again leak deadly radiation have prompted European agencies to seek hundreds of millions of pounds to fund the construction of a vast steel building to encase the site.
Click to expand...
The explosion at Chernobyl's Reactor Number Four occurred on 26 April 1986. About 30 people were killed instantly, and it is estimated that another 4,000 died prematurely in the aftermath, while many more still suffer health effects from the radiation. In the months after the accident, a "sarcophagus" of concrete was hastily erected over the destroyed shell of the reactor, with many of the workers involved being subjected to life-threatening doses of radiation to get the work done.

In recent years, the structure has become extremely unstable, with experts warning that if it collapses, a catastrophic amount of radiation could be released into the atmosphere. Stopgap stabilising work on one of the walls of the sarcophagus has reduced the chances of collapse and extended its life by around 15 years, but this might not be enough to prevent a disaster.

"Even after the stabilisation activity, there's still potential for the partial or complete collapse of the object shelter," said Laurin Dodd, the head of the Shelter Implementation Plan at Chernobyl. "It's only once we get the new structure in place that we can say it's safe."
Click to expand...
 
TheShinyMac said:
I don't want to come across as harsh but really, you are asking for trouble heading over there now. As others have said the concrete "solution" is falling apart. As for my qualifications about this, my grandfather is an "X" X-ray technician and I have spent hours debating my own trip to the site too. For the sake of your long term health. Do not go.
Click to expand...

MacNut said:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...-spark-plea-for-radiation-shield-2227550.html
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing that.

Oh my God. I suppose the trip can wait a while after all.
 
You can buy a CDV-700 on ebay for about $10 - costs about another $70 to have it calibrated.

That is, if you don't mind carrying a lunch pail around with you.
:)

Surprised you can't just wear a dosimeter.
 
Chernobyl, really? Of all the places one can go on this planet and you want to see Chernobyl. May I ask why?
 
rdowns said:
Chernobyl, really? Of all the places one can go on this planet and you want to see Chernobyl. May I ask why?
Click to expand...

Like I said above, something about the place absolutely intrigues me. Honest to God, I have an interest with abandoned places.

Morbid? Maybe.
 
How close can you actually get, I assume the place is still being guarded.
 
I wouldn't risk going to Chernobyl, but I think it would really be a good trip. I wouldn't want the standard tour though. I'd want to see the inners. I'd like to see the core and the general build of the reactor. I'd like to compare it to reactors in the US and other places. I just think it would be fascinating.
 
A Geiger counter can only tell you if you're being irradiated at the current time, not how much radiation dose you have accumulated. It also doesn't tell you what type of radiation you're absorbing, or what energy.

If this is actually possible in the US, find your state/country's Radiation Protection agency, one that will issue you with a thermoluminescent dosimeter (TLD) or something. Actually, they should issue you with two of them. Both should be carried with you on the flight to and from Kiev, but only one TLD should come with you on your tour of Chernobyl. They can use one as a means of measuring background radiation from the flight and your surroundings, and one to measure the dose you got on your tour.


Oh, and post the results. I want to see numbers. ;)
 
grapes911 said:
I wouldn't risk going to Chernobyl, but I think it would really be a good trip. I wouldn't want the standard tour though. I'd want to see the inners. I'd like to see the core and the general build of the reactor. I'd like to compare it to reactors in the US and other places. I just think it would be fascinating.
Click to expand...

Then the Internet is your friend, and barely radio-active.
 
I read a report that when they build this new containment dome that the workers can be inside for only a few minutes at a time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back