Chernobyl disaster: Here’s what you should know about the abandoned town of Pripyat

Team Udayavani, Apr 24, 2020, 2:24 PM IST

The Chernobyl disaster goes down in history as the world’s worst nuclear disaster. On April 26, 1986, during a test to see how much power was needed to keep the No. 4 reactor operating in the event of a blackout, it exploded causing fire, which led to huge damage of the building, releasing extremely dangerous amounts of radioactive chemicals into the air.

The town closest to the No. 4 reactor was Pripyat, founded in 1970 to house workers from Chernobyl. It had 15 primary schools, a large hospital complex, 25 stores, 10 gyms, along with parks, cinemas, factories, pool, amusement park.More than 49,000 residents left the city, which was just three kilometres from the plant and part of Chernobyl’s exclusion zone

They were told they would be gone for two or three days and advised to take the minimum identity papers, documents, food and clothing. Pripyat was declared radioactively dangerous for human habitation for at least 24,000 years

The city was never completely abandoned. Military, police, scientist and other public authorities use the city as base to clean radiation in the newly created zone of alienation.

Now, Pripyat is a haunting destination for tourists exploring the Chernobyl exclusion zone. Especially after the 2019 HBO series Chernobyl was released, it became an increasingly popular tourist destination.

To tour Pripyat, Chernobyl, and other surrounding villages, one must first obtain a day pass from the government. These passes can be obtained through the touring companies located in Kyiv, about 110 kilometers from the blast site.