The Ukrainian government is ready to turn the Chernobyl nuclear power plant into a real amusement park . If in July the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree aimed at giving a new life to this area of black past and regulating tourism (not officially authorized but with cases of people who had even taken objects from the place), now things are makes it even more interesting and it is possible to enter the control room of reactor 4 , yes, the same place where it is believed that Anatoli Stepanovich Diátlov, Chernobyl deputy chief engineer, instructed the operators to go ahead with a test safety, despite the significant power drop that occurred and that made it very dangerous to continue.
For fans of HBO’s 10-Emmys hit miniseries Chernobyl , this could be the blueprint of a lifetime. Of course, they will have to take into account that, for safety reasons, they will only be able to stay in the room for five minutes and it is estimated that the existing radiation is 40,000 times higher than normal . They will also have to put on a protective suit, a helmet, a mask and put on some industrial boots. And there is more, they will be examined twice at the exit to detect radiation.
The daring or reckless, each one who decides how to catalog them, visitors will not find the control room as it was on April 26, 1986, date of the disaster, since much of the furniture and electronic devices was confiscated to be used in the investigation that led to the 1987 trial in which Diátlov and five other people were convicted.
The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone currently occupies 2,589 square kilometers and is the most polluted space around the Ukrainian plant. It is illegal to live there , although there are families who have defied the law by returning to their homes, and those under 18 are prohibited from entering.
This year around 85,000 people have visited the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (since 2011 much of it has been open to tourism). Day tours cost around $ 100 per person .
For years, tourists arriving in the area could only visit the yards of abandoned schools, playgrounds and classrooms outside the nuclear power plant, areas that are no longer considered dangerous. In fact, you are more likely to receive a higher radiation dose flying over the area. However Reactor 4, where the explosion occurred, remained closed to everyone except investigators, cleaning workers and a few journalists, until now.
The Ukrainian government plans to develop new tourist routes , including waterways, as well as the construction of new checkpoints and restoration and improvement of existing ones to make the visitor experience even richer.
“We must give new life to this territory of Ukraine,” said President Volodymyr Zelensky, when he signed the decree in July. “Until now, Chernobyl was a negative part of the Ukraine brand. It is time to change it.”
